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?

That's about right. The thing is, like I mention in the Introduction, the areas that seem to be missing from this perspective are going to be delivered in the World Weaver's Guide, which will come along in due time. The Elthos ODS Book is just the core rules on conflict resolution, with taddy bits of the other stuff to indicate that it exists. The rules book itself should however be usable for running an RPG. It's just that the core rules don't focus on the other aspects of the game. Please read the introduction and let me know if it makes sense to you. Thanks!