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The Seven Storms, The Last Storm, Whitewall? & The Seven Winds

From Thunder Rebels, p 241.

Everyone knows the Four Fighting Storms, Orlanth's thanes who fight with him. Their defence is great, but they can be defeated. Once they defended the whole world, but now it is all they can do to defend their lord, Orlanth. The Lunars know that when they defeat these thanes with their false storms, the god will be weakened.

Everyone knows the Seven Storms, for they form the air around us. Their magic is great, but they can be defeated. Once they filled the entire world, but the Lunars have forced them into tiny prisons. Six storms have fallen to the evil sorcery of the Lunar Empire, and they have trapped the seventh within Whitewall. The Lunars believe that when Whitewall falls so too does the last storm.

But the Lunars know only what they can know. The Primal Air moves inside and outside the world, beyond the perceptions of normal men. Everyone knows the Seven Storms, but when they fail then the Seven Winds will come to fill the void at last.

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Who Are The Seven Fighting Storms?

Our challenge is to find and agree on a definitive list of the Seven Storms. The only other mention of them in TR is on 27 (not 227 as the index states). Its about Orlanth's camp, and names his six guardians set about the law Rock of Kero Finn.

Ohorlanth: Northwest

Valind: Northeast

Urox: Southeast

Heler: Southwest

Odayla Starbear: Above

Humakt: Below

Are there other, alternate listing of the Seven Storms?

<Chris> Note again John's quote of TR 241 and the explanation on TR 128 that Storms and Winds are frequently confused (implying that they are different things).

I think that Orlanth has seven storms: Daylanus, Hedkoranth, Helamakt, Ohorlanth, Vingkot, and Yavor all take the Storm affinity from Orlanth's Thunderous aspect, plus Vinga, whose Defender Storm subcult is the only ST subsult that has the Storm affinity other than Valind (see below). These are all "parts" or "children" of Orlanth. All of them are fighters.

There are also seven primal winds -- Orlanth, Valind (as heir to Vadrus), Urox, Humakt, Brastalos, and Kolat are six of them. None of these are parts or children of Orlanth. All are siblings. Orlanth's missing sibling is Ragnaglar, who won't be showing up (on Orlanth's side anyway), though he could be the evil wind or the dead wind or something. So, I think that Broyan figures out how to fill the gap.

I can come up with all sorts of theories: Yinkin is his other brother; Heler is an adopted brother; Ernalda is "another way wind" (TR 122); Doburdan ("dead air") or his Thunder Addi is Ragnaglar; Eurmal is the bound wind; etc. Broyan might not need to decide -- he could just call the "other wind". I once tended towards Ernalda being the 7th wind. Now, I think it is Doburdan, who is the ghost of Ragnaglar -- the dead wind that the empire of chaos brought back.

In terms of the cardinal directions, I'd put Orlanth above, Brastalos in the middle, Valind in the North, Urox in the East, Humakt in the West (where Arkat come from), and Kolat in the South (where the Hendreik wilderness used to be). I'd put the other one below (in the underworld, so Doburdan could be Ragnaglar's ghost, though the Heortlings might not know who Doburdan is yet).

In any case, the myth at TR 27 describing the storms that Orlanth put at six directions never resonated for me. My reasons are: (1) it mixes brothers, children, and foreigners and (2) since Orlanth is Ohorlanth, his whole is in one place while a part of him is elsewhere. However, I think it is just confusion over names, which TR 128 notes; the names in TR 27 are not important. I still like the identification of the officers and the corresondence to Kallyr's companions on KoS 135. </Chris>