One way that a game communicates what it's really about is by what it spends its rules discussing. World Tree, for example, spends the first half of the book on an ethnography and travelogue -- no rules at all -- and yes, that's half the game. The magic section is *way* longer than the combat section, and yes, everyone uses magic in play extensively.

So what's Elthos about by this measure? A crude count gives:
combat: 11 pages
chargen: 6 pages
book material: 5 pages (title, index, etc -- and kudos for having an index!)
magic: 3 pages
gm material: 3 pages

You could get different numbers if you count more carefully, but the trend is pretty clear: the Elthos rule system is mostly about creating characters and having them engage in reasonably tactical combat.

Which wasn't what I had gathered about the intent of the game from the little I'd heard about it on the LRPG list.

So -- is that what is actually intended?