Very brief introduction to Chaos in Glorantha

Glorantha represents a bubble in an infinity of chaos; order randomly formed. In forming, the world came from disorder to a condition of order. But the Gods War weakened that order, and admitted chaos into the world, where it still exists.

Chaos tends to reestablish itself. This tendency threatens the existence of Glorantha and its deities. Though chaos is in itself formless and structureless, mutual corruption of chaos and order occurs at the weakened seams of the world where chaos leaks in. This corruption, like all of Glorantha, is personalized -- embedded and manifested in disgusting, cruel, and evil living things.

The living manifestations of chaos naturally parody the kinds of life of Glorantha, since they represent corruptions, perversions, or reorganizations of it.

Chaos comes therefore in many forms -- broos, gorps, disease spirits, walktapi, scorpion men, succubi, and so on. Some aspects of chaos steal life force, other aspects break down ways of organizing (such as government and religion), and yet other aspects simply destroy everything possible.

Intelligent mortal beings naturally fear obvious forms of chaos. Atrocities against nature are easily recognized. But chaos also includes good, at least according to those who embrace the Lunar religion. Through Illumination they can overcome fear and resist the soul-blasting temptations which their attitude risks. Most Gloranthans do not believe this, however.

The battle against chaos is integral to the mythology of Glorantha; without it, the world as it exists is not understandable.

Creatures of Chaos

Broos: Broos are ubiquitous in Glorantha despite drastic efforts to eradicate them. They are a bruise upon the face of the cosmos: a rank chaos species, long since polluted by foul practices. Their parentage is often totally indistinct. Each may differ from his brother, though most which survive are vaguely humanoid. The great majority have horns.
Broos are a reliable enemy, never known to be trustworthy or good. It is their heritage to spread disease and to exult in vandalism and destruction. They are brutal beyond words. The less said about them the better off we are.

Ogres: Ogres look very human, generally passing for men in all walks of human civilization. They are thought to have originated as a human tribe which took the side of chaos during the Great Darkness. Their teeth are very sharp, and they are known to eat humans and other intelligent creatures. They are also very strong, and often are handsome or beautiful.

Scorpion Men: More scorpion than man, they are similar to centaurs, with the chest, arms, and head of a human or other creature, but the abdomen, tail, and rear six legs of a scorpion. They are left over from the Great Darkness, and live in small villages in the high mountains, the Wastes, and chaos pits like Dorastor.
Scorpion Men are relatively unintelligent, and so their warbands show a consequent lack of organization. Often the grouping is no more than a dominant mother and her children. They make their living raiding and hiring out to optimistic employers who forget their essentially chaotic nature.

Some Chaotic and Evil Gods

These gods dominate only in smaller places wholly given over to chaos and evil -- Dorastor, the Forest of Disease (in Laskal), or the Acid Lakes of southern Zamokil. Not all the gods noted in this entry are chaotic, but all are usually recognized as evil. Some, like Thanatar and Thed, are wildly frightening and destructive, annihilating those unfortunate enough to meet them, while others (like Gbaji and Ompalam) subtly spread evil. Both continents have worshipers of Malia, Thed, Krarsht, and Thanatar, while Vivamort, Cacodemon, and Nysalor/Gbaji are confined almost entirely to Genertela. Pocharngo, Ikadz, Seseine, Gark, and Ompalam primarily are found in Pamaltela.

An Array of Evil Gods

Malia: mother of disease
Thed: chaos source of the broos, goddess of rape
Thanatar: the Severed One, chaos god of headhunters
Vivamort: chaos vampire god
Krarsht: chaos god of hunger and intrigue
Ikadz: god of torture
Gbaji: the Deceiver
Pocharngo the Mutator: chaos god, the Cosmic Cancer
Gark the Calm: chaos god of eternal peace, eternal life, and zombies
Ompalam: god of coercion and slavery
Cacodemon: chaos god of anarchy and ogres
Seseine: chaos goddess of temptation

The Devil: Wakboth and Kajabor

Wakboth the Devil is the moral evil of the world. This senseless and terrifying entity is caused by wanton disregard for life, and he supports continuous brutal destruction. Twisted and foul, Wakboth is the world defiler. His existence was pure insult, since the world was doomed anyway, and he worsened the pain for all involved.

The terror spread by such foulness gave the incentive for individuals to fight on and win the I Fought We Won battle and helped even gods to take heart and attempt the impossible, but in the short run Wakboth offered immense advantages to his followers, and in their fear many of the world joined him, swelling the strength of chaos and bringing all creation to a crisis.

Kajabor is mistakenly called 'the devil' in some older documents, confusing him with Wakboth. They are similar, for both were great gods for a short time, and had many worshippers, and both turned on their followers. But you must know that Kajabor did it because he had to, and that Wakboth did it for delight.

Kajabor wields entropy in the world. Often called God-Killer or Black Hole or Great Fear, he destroys all vestiges of matter or energy, annihilating all possibilities of individuality or unity. Entities slain by Kajabor have never returned, and often even their names have been lost after being pulled from the universe.

Kajabor is the Great Fear, and this motivator was important to the actions of the gods. Some say the Great Fear drives people or gods to follow such corruption as Wakboth. For those reasons Kajabor is as much an enemy as true evil, even though it is utterly impersonal and, some say, as natural as the forces of creation.