Scorus

On 1/6/2024 at 5:45 AM, Cassius said:

Yes, I really liked the way Jeff played the character!

I've always suspected that Argrath was Jeff's character in the Chaosium house campaign! 🙂

 

Thanks for all of these, I've been mulling over how I can use them. The players are going to encounter Argrath in hell, in a highly bastardized version of Black Spear. He will be strung out and vulnerable, so they will see a side of him that he does not want others to see. On one hand, this will be a great contrast to his completely confident, messianic persona that this thread brings out. On the other, it will be consistent with that same persona's mystical side that draws on much that few can comprehend. One doesn't find answers when one gets to know Argrath, only deeper mysteries.

So my players are about to have the first of what I expect to be many meetings with Argrath (post-Dragonrise). I've read King of Sartar, Black Spear and other earlier pubs with him, but while those do well at his history and legend, they don't speak as much to his personality, so: How should I role-play him? By this time he is Illuminated and at least semi-Draconic, and influenced to one extent or another by Harrek, Giants, the Bison Tribe, the White Bull, his Colymar/Sartar upbringing, and who knows what else! I assume he is very strong in a wide variety of runes, including opposing ones since he is Illuminated. Would you play him as kind? tyrannical? just? power-hungry? arrogant? questioning of himself? mild-mannered (from Illumination)? volatile (as an Orlanthi)? extroverted? introspective? mature? immature?

And "Yes" may be accurate but is not, in fact, helpful. 🙂

*sigh* In an ambush of tusk riders, the following happened (with lots of NPC witnesses including two Wind Lords):

1) A Chalana Arroy initiate successfully slept two charging tuskers.

2) The Orlanthi Rune Lord who had ordered the sleep spells damages one of the slept tuskers with an arrow a few seconds later. He claims he was firing at the rider.

3) Less than a minute later, an Eurmali charioteer runs over the other tusker as it lays sleeping in the middle of the battlefield, killing it. He also claims that it was an accident, that he was trying to go around it (the CA was a passenger at the time).

What happens to these folks? Does it matter if it was accidental, given that these weren't obvious fumbles? Is it up to the CA to decide if he feels it was accidental (an Eurmali Fast Talk vs. CA Insight was inconclusive)? How is the CA negatively affected by this? What type and level of penance would be required if they are judged to be at fault?

Is this something where everyone but the CA folks laugh and they are denied healing until they do penance? Is it something that ruins their reputation for life (to the extent that the Eurmali has a reputation to ruin)? Somewhere between those extremes?

 

Please delete...

On 8/3/2023 at 5:52 PM, mfbrandi said:

 This set me thinking (the wise have stopped reading already):

The greatest compliment that anyone can give me is that something I said got them thinking! Thank you!

As a dedicated subjectivist that has spent way too many of my years thinking about time, I'm intrigued by your pictures. I would say that my viewpoint is a combination of the first (as mentally I'm still 12 even though my body tells me I'm several times that) and the third. There WAS an existential break point with the Great Compromise, one that forced a reconception of the "memories" of a pre-Dawn period just to preserve sanities, but that doesn't mean that there was no Y subjectivity axis in either existence.

The second is purely the result of limited thinking.

On 7/14/2023 at 3:21 AM, M Helsdon said:

If you read it carefully, 'when the Long Night ended and the Dawn had begun' that's the Grey Age before the Dawn. See the description of the Ages in the Guide to Glorantha.

I'm afraid you'll need to explain this one to me like I'm five. 🙂  The Night ends and the Dawn begins before the Dawn?

On 7/12/2023 at 2:53 AM, M Helsdon said:

Long retconed I fear.

The Prosopaedia has further retconned it such that both of us are wrong. The Aram ya-Udram entry has kept the old legend practically word for word but removed the EWF, but the encounter with Gouger occurs after the Dawn.

On 7/10/2023 at 5:46 AM, M Helsdon said:

Both the Guide to Glorantha and The History of the Heortling People place the Ivory Plinth as a site at the Dawn, so Arim slew Gouger before the Dawn, and the Arimites were riding tuskers before Time began. The Arimites became half-trolls much later. [THotHP has a half-troll king riding a tusker also called Gouger, but much much smaller than the child of Maran Gor killed by Arim Ya Udram.]

I was trying to reconcile GtG with the history of Aram-Ya-Udram written by Stafford in Wyrms Footnotes #3 that specifically places the battle with Gouger during the EWF period. I wasn't aware of the Heortling People reference, which is clearer than the GtG entry, so I guess Greg changed his mind. In this case the sending of Redeye could be a result of a heroquest replaying the myth of the sending of Gouger, and the way to kill Redeye would be to do so in a heroquest replaying Aram-ya-Udram's conquest.

Neither mention Maran Gor, where did you find that? WF#3 state that it was "the Earth Goddess" who was angry that the "tillers of the Earth" no longer "held feasts and gave sacrifice" to her. As tillers of the earth worship Ernalda and boars are a big thing for her (while Maran Gor prefers dinosaurs), it seems to make since that it in Ernalda.

The Story of Pig Hollow, or, in the main, a tale of unintended consequences of the Earth pantheon and two giant boars

(This draft tries to bring together things from GtG, WF #3, the RQG Bestiary and GM’s Adventure Book, and Vivien Prigent’s brilliant JC publication In A Merry Green Vale. All errors are mine, some intentional to set the tusk riders as a player nemesis past Defending Apple Lane. Corrections most welcome!)

In the Second Age, Ernalda’s priestesses chafed as the farmers and herders of Dragon Pass neglected her worship in favor of sacrificing to the dragons under the Empire of Wyrm’s Friends. A conclave of Earth pantheon leaders embarked on a heroquest which resulted in the spirit God of boars Gouger, long a favorite of Ernalda, manifesting in the heart of EWF territory and disrupting the empire’s trade and taxation as the Earth temples quietly spread the theory that Gouger was angry at the neglect of his Mistress. Gouger established its base in Dragon Pass’ wilds, summoning many of its children to what became known as Pig Hollow.

The EWF recognized the scope of this threat and at a military council Aram-ya-Udram volunteered to tackle the problem. Aram was an ambitious Orlanthi warrior and leader who had fettered a powerful darkness demon in the pre-Dawn. With its help, he led the humans of the northern Dragon Pass area as the kingdom of the Aramites near Dagori Inkarth, with whom he maintained good relations, and was immortalized as the human member of the First Council. Ever pragmatic, Aram recognized the potential of adding draconic power to his Air and Darkness abilities and signed himself and his people on with the EWF as a founding member. As the call to handle Gouger came, Aram and the demon devised a risky way to subdue the God and drain its power. As fighting a God was beyond the terms of the demon’s bondage, Aram could not pass up the opportunity to upgrade from a demon thrall to a God and offered the darkness demon its freedom in return for this service.

Aram and his men engaged Gouger and its children in what is now the Colymar Wilds. In a pitched battle Aram continually gave ground at a high cost of his troops, luring the creature to a hilltop near present-day Fairjowl where it fell into the embrace of the demon. Aram tortured the beast by rending its mouth open as the demon enveloped and infused its huge tusks, draining the creature’s pain and power into them. When complete, Aram ripped the tusks from Gouger’s jaw and delivered his death blow.

Armed with the now-magical tusks, Aram rounded up many of the boar left in the area and retreated to his city of Parantikor Bel with the remainder of his men, founding the Temple of the Ivory Plinth as the locus of his Cult of the Bloody Tusk. The tusks which form the core of the temple and cult were endowed not only with Gouger’s power, but also with the pain that it endured as it was forced to give birth to these powerful relics and an essence of the darkness demon. To this day, the cult worships a combination of Aram, his victim Gouger, and the darkness demon.

Aram used the new magics to breed the large tusker mounts. The cult’s worship transformed his Aramites into the hated tusk riders, whose once-human visage and Orlanth culture were irrevocably scarred by the intensity of their new relationship with Death, Darkness, and swine. Their bodies and spirits know pain, for them an aspect of Death to be valued and shared. Their scarred appearance, violent conduct, darkness connection, and headquarters near a troll stronghold lead many to mistake tusk riders as relatives of the Uz and they can be found working closely with some Zorak Zoran warlords, though the long memories of the Kyger Litor Mistresses are ill at ease with these products of the accursed EWF.

Despite the strong presence of Darkness in their spirits, the tusk riders remain tied to the Earth essence of their pig-God. They are reticent to sacrifice worshippers of Ernalda and her kin, though will do so when no other options exist. Part of their kills are always sacrificed to the Earth, usually in a mundane manner but also as part of rituals channeling the Earth’s strength. To the dragons, the tusk riders were no longer human and were largely spared during the Dragonkill War. Untransformed and a known leader of the EWF, their god-leader Aram-ya-Udram was not so lucky.

Gouger’s Jaw remains, now calcified into a large rock formation resembling the pointed lower jaw of a boar with its tusks removed, it extends unnaturally from the top of one of the Thunder Hills. After the dragons exterminated the humans of Dragon Pass, a tusk rider leader briefly claimed the Jaw and area. But this was not the Dragon King of High Wyrm’s idea of a good neighbor and they were driven away. Lacking worship, the magic of the site went fallow and, due to the lingering influence of Ernalda, became the site of an annual harvest fair after the human repopulation. The Antorling clan seat of Fairjowl takes its name from this custom.

In 1573, Colymar’s King Penterest rebelled, attempting to free the tribe from the rule of Sartar Prince Tarkalor Trollkiller. Scholars and Ernaldan priestesses brought the story of Gouger to the Prince’s attention and he supported their Heroquest at the Jaw, on Penterest’s own Antorling clan's tula. Redeye the Boar, a smaller spirit child of Gouger, manifested and, while not powerful enough to challenge the enigmatic town of Fairjowl or the well defended (and strongly Ernaldan) Colymar capitol of Clearwine, its rampages decimated trade and food production and were a major factor in Penterest’s defeat. After the rebellion, Redeye was drawn to and settled in its sire’s lair in Pig Hollow.

Tusk rider mercenaries led by Xiorgar Trough-Lord were part of Jar-Eel’s 1602 Lunar invasion force that followed the Arfritha Vale toward High Wyrm and the back entrance to Boldhome. They took the Antorling chief captive at Fairjowl, sacrificing him on the Jaw to reconsecrate the holy place with its dark and painful magics. Fazzur Wideread saw them as the only option to safely garrison the key pass of Birne’s Squeeze given Redeye’s presence and tasked the Lysang to supply the tusk riders as part of their tribute to the Empire. An indignity at all times, during the Great Winter it required them to raid essential supplies from other Sartarites to ensure the survival of the same tusk riders who were raiding them for humans to sacrifice. This further drove a wedge between the Lysang and Colymar, as intended by the Lunar administration, and the Lysang became the sworn enemies of tusk riders.

The tusk riders, never one to be invited to formal occasions, were not present at the Dragonrise. With no one left to pay and feed them, Xiorgar went home with about half of his charges but his lieutenant Xiobalg Screamgiver chose to remain behind with ca. 25 tusk riders loyal to him and twice as many tuskers. Xiobalg is a descendant of the tusk rider that attempted to claim the Jaw after the Dragonkill War and has single-mindedly pursued this goal, including capturing solo dragonewts to sacrifice for revenge. He worships Redeye as a descendant of Gouger and sacrifices to him, in addition to providing him with female tuskers to mate with. While this process always goes poorly for the sow and usually results in no useful spawn, it has begun to bear fruit and Tarndisi’s elves have recently felled a rampaging tusker much larger than any seen before. Xiobalg has trained one of these new generation of tuskers as his own mount and is working with his band to do so with the other males. Females that come from this process become Redeye’s new brides and, while they still do not survive the experience, they more frequently produce viable offspring.

With Alebard's band nursing their wounds from an ill-fated excursion into the Upper Marsh, there is little that the residents of Fairjowl can do but stay in on the Blood Tusk's holy day nights that bring the screams of their victims.

What would you say are the runes of Antirius? Sky and Stasis? Truth? Harmony? Man? Law?

We have this great list of Praxian tradition spirit plane landmarks: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com/home/gloranthan-documents/glorantha-2/cultures/praxian-spirit-tradition/

What would be some from the Quivini/Orlanthi/Sartarite tradition?

16 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

You can also roll special/crit while he doesn’t. This is the more likely way.

This was the piece that I was forgetting! Thanks!

12 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

We had a recent Shaman initiation, and he got out without losing a single round and winning a couple (which was admittedly lucky). 175% sounds overwhelming, but it really isn’t. Spirit Combat in excess of 100% is to be expected, and getting in a Special augment has good odds when you work on it, so I would expect the would-be shaman to enter with something like 125-140% Spirit combat. Since win-win is probably the most likely roll, playing defence is pretty doable.

It sounds like I'm misinterpreting something! The only way to win a round seems to be if the Bad Man rolls 96-100 AND you make your reduced roll. Is that correct and is that what happened multiple times in the initiation you are talking about?

16 hours ago, Shiningbrow said:

So, you've actually got a very good chance (really about 50%) of either getting a new ability, or a taboo.

I'm probably missing something in your argument, but to get an ability the Bad Man has to miss his 175% roll. If both make their roll, then there is no ability or taboo. So while the number of taboo are reduced by augmenting, etc., the chances of an ability stay at <5% per round.

The contest between the Bad Man and the shaman to determine the number of starting taboo and abilities doesn't make sense to me. The errata clearly indicates that the results of the contest are practically predetermined, even a master shaman will have to roll very well to get out with less than D6-1 taboo and the Bad Man has to roll a 96-100 for the shaman to even have a chance at getting an ability. The errata confirms that in response to a question. So why even have a contest? It strikes me as something out of Paranoia: trick the player into thinking they have a chance (if they don't know the Bad Man's spirit combat score).

I'm wondering if it was designed for a POW+CHA vs. POW+CHA style of spirit combat instead of the new skill-based system (just as the Spirit Block rune spell was written under the old system until changed by errata), and then awkwardly retconned to fit into the new system. A new shaman's POW+CHA would likely be around 30-35, so it would give them a real chance at getting at least one additional ability. And that would explain why it listed the Bad Man's POW (which is unnecessary) instead of its spirit combat skill (which is).

Has anyone used a different contest system to determine starting taboo and abilities for shamans in their game?

On 1/8/2023 at 11:31 AM, Agentorange said:

The nature spirits presented in the bestiary are all ( as far as I can see ) modelled on the idea of Greek nature spirits: Oreads,Dryads and so on. And so are all female.

Which begs the question are there any male ones  for RQ/glorantha ? I seem to remember that White Dwarf magazine had one back in the 80's called the Fossergrim ( associated with waterfalls I think ) and there are other examples in European mythology - the Slavic leshy springs to mind. I just wondered if any existed in Glorantha, even if they're pretty rare.

Unless the spirit is a deceased male or female, I generally assume they can manifest in multiple forms. A naiad could appear as a male or female humanoid, or as a wave, a fish, a water creature, a tower of coral, etc. How it chooses to manifest would depend on its mood and intent. In all cases a bit wavy so that the viewer understands it is a water form.

On 1/9/2023 at 12:58 PM, Bill the barbarian said:

Colour me old and senile.... and then remind me: Who is the Lady of the Wild, if you would.

Also known as Velhara. I have an NPC priestess of her in my game who does her thing in the Colymar Wilds.

My players have advanced to the point where they will have allied spirits, bound spirits, and a fetch soon. What am I getting wrong or missing here:

Allied Spirits are sent by the deity and accept their charges. They are in mindlink with the player and can perceive and target things through each other's senses. They can use each other’s spells, RP, and MP. They can learn spirit magic spells and sacrifice their own POW for rune spells. They get POW gain rolls, but only succeed on a 01-05.

Bound spirits are forced through magic into a spirit storage crystal or an enchanted item or animal. Assuming there are no restrictions on the enchantment, anyone in contact with the item/animal can communicate with the spirit, use its MPs, or command it to take an action (if in a form where independent action is possible). They can be taught spirit magic, which then can be used by anyone in contact with the item/animal.

A character awakens a fetch as part of the process of becoming a Shaman. They are in mindlink and can perceive through each other, including into the spirit plane. The shaman can use the fetch’s MP and may sacrifice its POW. The shaman can sacrifice POW to increase the fetch’s POW on a 1:1 basis, the only way that its POW can increase. A fetch may learn spirit magic spells. A successful Divine Intervention by the Shaman can fully or partially be paid for out of a Fetch’s POW. A fetch can cast spells into the mundane world but then exposes itself to attack from that world. A fetch can take control of a spirit that it reduces to 0. A shaman may use the fetch’s CHA to learn additional spirit magic. If a fetch dies (0 POW), then the shaman also dies.

Interestingly, Svensson's counter-factual version was probably a popular one in various circles after Argrath's rise.

I can see a popular pub argument in Colymar territory during this time being that the last three Sartar family leaders were such disasters that that great bloodline had become too diluted:

1) Salinarg's line founded the ill-fated but well-named Household of Death and then lost Sartar to the Lunars.

2) Temertain was a Lunar puppet.

3) Kallyr at least nominally led a disastrous uprising, didn't have enough confidence to try and light the flame, and embarked on a heroquest that brought a horrible year on Sartar.

Leika, on the other hand, had just snatched victory from what would have been a decisive defeat at the hands of the Lunars. In addition to her heroquesting and two trips to Snakepipe Hollow. If Sartarites were looking most especially for someone that could keep the Lunars at bay, she seems like a good choice.

In my game the PCs had successfully reunited the Lysang and Namolding back into Colymar via heroquest. So the Malani would never accept her as Prince and more than a few other tribes would be even more cautious than usual. She will unsuccessfully attempt to get Orgorvale Summer's support and blessing as Orlanth's granddaughter and a former ruler of the area. Then will send the PCs on the Black Spear quest to bring the White Bull.

 

Thanks! I ran my players through this scene last week. Leika brought her people together the night before, told them that it was time, showed up with them to relieve the guards the next morning, lit the pyre, and proudly marched her clan out of town.

Now the party has to go back to Boldhome just a few weeks later for one of them to be invested as an Orlanth Rune Lord. There will be some fireworks.

As per the Glorantha Sourcebook:

After her body had lain in state for over three weeks, untouched by rot or decay, the Colymar lit the pyre without notifying the other tribes. Queen Leika then led her followers out of Boldhome, leaving only fear and uncertainty.

What were the feelings in the immediate aftermath of this bold move by Leika? I imagine that some tribes were relieved that someone took the initiative to move things forward, in a very Orlanth manner, while others felt that she had overstepped her authority and perhaps even prevented Kallyr from coming back? What would have been the Boldhome Orlanth leadership's opinion? What factions/temples/races would have had extreme reactions to this, either pro or con?

On 5/2/2022 at 11:59 PM, Erol of Backford said:

I'd like a dead tree and PDF version please.

I'd like it just downloaded into my brain. Thanks!

10 hours ago, soltakss said:

Someone who was in Nysalor's Inner Circle would be very Illuminated. However, just a citizen would probably be Illuminated but no more than someone alive today. They might have some Illumination abilities that have been lost, so could teach that to other Illuminates.

...Does the imp Illuminate the Adventurers? If so, do they gain new Illumination abilities?

I'm thinking a spirit/demon in impish form, not "Inner Circle" level but one who spread the good word, possibly via Faustian-style bargains, in an effort to illuminate the adventures and perhaps others through them.

What would illumination abilities be like? I'm only familiar with the state of illumination and what comes from it from RQ2. Would these be similar to draconic abilities, with a Nysalor light theme?