You don't have to know all of Stafford's fictional world to play the game. Look at the text: there are 2 cults and models and a description of 1 or 2 guilds. All you need is to do as Johnstone suggests: make a map with neat spots. Now come up with 2 positive cults, 2 weird cults, and 2 evil cults for your bad guys to worship. Make up details about initiation and Rune Lord/Priest status as needed for your characters. Put their temples on your map and bang! Your players can choose to react with those however they wish. Let them set goals in this fictional space. Do NOT have the temple of truth COMMAND them what to do. Religion and magic are ways to advance characters and have fun NOT for the GM to railroad.

"That fits with many of the other things included in the game--especially a cool two page map of the Kingdoms of Sartar and Prax which, although not on a hex grid, is exactly right for exploration style adventures. "

Exactly. This is all you need. Look at that 2 Page History of Glorantha! That is all you need to set up a little campaign space and make an adventure area as Johnstone suggests. Look at the runes. All you have to do is look at the rune as say "humh, what rune-related stuff is there?" or "what opposing rune would want to mess around there" or "what would this guy way over here find of interest in this opposing rune way over here?"

1. Look over the character sheets and make note of their skills.
- set challenges high to make advancement hard
- set challenges low to speed up skill advancement
- given them communities there to help them advance their favoured skills IF they do such and such or IF they will join up. But give choices.

2. Treasure. So maybe there's loot hoards in monster-infested dungeons, or maybe there's just financial rewards for being a judicial champion or recovering falcons.
- financial rewards are all you need for the game mechanics
- to reinforce the fiction have communities approach them for their good deeds OR have opposing communities take them to task
- at least have the characters see the responses to their actions -- you don't always have to present them with drama every time they take an action

3. "The chance to die," of course means danger.
- Or crippling! Beginning characters in Runequest are fragile. Limbs get chomped all of the time.
- That means that characters need help from communities/organizations/temples/guilds. You want healing spells, you have to make nice with the healer cults, and make big contributions if you want resurrections. You need to get relics that contain healing spells and into which you can devote your personal power. (The idea that you project your own personal drives into magical items is very close to the psycho-anthropology of magic).
- To have real heroes there has to be real danger. Keep death meaningful in Runequest.

4. This usually goes without saying, but I like that it's called out in the text. Put in fun stuff! Try to make exploring this map and pursuing treasures and other opportunities as fun and exciting as possible.
- And meaningful.
- And hooked to reward and advancement.
- Advancement: skill use possibilities, items of special interest to temples and guilds that could get you skills and spells, COIN
- Reward: seeing your character get to use specialized skills successfully, interacting with allied magical powers (followers of the god of principles that the character follows), interacting with enemy magical/mythical forces, and CHANGING Glorantha. That can include participating in initiation ceremonies, undertaking the great challenges that one must pass in order to rise to higher levels like devotee, Rune Lord, and Priest.

Do all of this on your own. Do NOT try to wade through Gloranthaphilia to get your answers. Make stuff that will engage players. And provide POSSIBLE routes of progress, not railroads.