EricW

The heroic version of lie spell bends reality, so whatever is said becomes the truth, with supporting evidence. Of course horrible things happen if the trickster tries to use the magic for personal gain, or just because ;-).

I did have an idea of say a trickster stepping in front of the black eater, saying “excuse me”, and swallowing Nysalor instead. I doubt Trickster’s stomach would be vulnerable to the absurdity of illumination. Unfortunately it wouldn’t end well for the trickster, enraged black eater denied her meal, and the insolent thief standing right in front of her.

What exactly is the Lunar Moon Wind? Is it one of the Young Elementals, the missing air elemental? Is it a corrupted version of Orlanth? What magic does it provide to worshippers?

A lot of stuff which should probably be hidden. So for example, if you tell the player to make a spot hidden, the other players will want to make spot hiddens as well. This might fit in the scenario, if you want players to find something, but if you make mysterious dice rolls, look at their character sheet then roll, they won't know WTF is happening - they'll be completely paranoid, worried something is sneaking up on them, IMO a reasonable state of mind for someone who has encountered something worrying while wandering around a Cthulhu scenario 😉

I doubt serious heroes would be so one dimensional, especially if they brought some friends to help. My point is Delecti is a being of extraordinary power, protected by who knows what mythical perversions, dragon magic, god learner magic and twisted hero quests. He has spent centuries focusing on self preservation at any cost. Not an opponent a PC is likely to defeat. The last human to defeat a twisted, versatile highly magical opponent like Delecti was Arkat.

No that was 2016... 🙂

I suspect defeating Delecti would be as difficult as getting rid of Ralzakark or the Red Emperor. Delecti has withstood centuries of attacks by Humakt heroes and others. His swamp was created very rapidly using god learner like skills to twist local myths. His swamp was designed to protect Delecti from multiple dragons. Is your PC someone who could take on a horde of dragons and survive? Delecti did. I’m sure Delecti is fine with heroes reclaiming a few yards of swamp. It just encourages them to be more ambitious, return with more followers.

Ha - but Delecti’s agents would produce fake evidence, accuse the leader of collusion with the Lunar Empire or worse.

You could have some real fun with this - the old family friend who turned out to be a lunar spy or worse, who uses their connections to help the escape. Do you avenge yourself on the chaos worshipper who saved your life, for no reason other than genuine friendship?

Remember implausible lies will be exposed fairly quickly - the example given somewhere is if the Trickster says the sun won't come up the next day, various priests will perform divinations to figure out how to fix whatever the problem is, and will rapidly discover the Trickster was lying. So even though the lie spell is very powerful, lie works best when the untruth is a little lie. In any case, you can't rely on a bonded trickster to use lie to your advantage. What if your trickster thinks it would be funny to see you getting butt punished by a bunch of lunar tax demons? Good vengeance for taking your bonded trickster for granted - and for not sharing that delicious pie last freeze day!

She swallowed chaos and light, the light which unmakes the world. Did Kyger Litor become illuminated? The reference to adamant claws could be a metaphor, an attempt by trolls to explain the dreadful change to their mother.

Trickster drinks all the morning star coffee - a minor quest which leads to the creation of an Eurmal shrine which teaches “hasty exit”.

I think it should take an event of significance. For example, if a local hero helped villages to fight off a band of chaos monsters attacking the village, and the hero led the villagers in prayer to give heartfelt thanks to their god for giving them the strength to save themselves and their families, all that emotion and feeling, they might suddenly find they had relearned all of their rune magic. If they then build a memorial to that event and hold a service ever cult holy day to remember their sacrifice and achievement, the shrine would be maintained.

What is the Trollkin curse, exactly? Why is it so difficult to reverse? I've read some material, interested in other people's thoughts - what hero quests have been attempted, where they went wrong.

I think I remember reading that Orlanthi use magic woad as armour, maybe even tattoo themselves with woad for permanent protection.

Blood of Orlanth was very clear that the cult of Telektios Ascendant is a perversion of the true path. Telektios is introduced as a desperate wannabe, powerful, dangerous, no longer entirely human. The horror of Telektios' ascension is he finds a way to pollute a true dragon with his madness, the Blood of Orlanth cult is presented as one of the few means (maybe the only means) by which humans can directly access dragon myths in a HeroQuest. Obviously everyone can take a view, but I thought Blood of Orlanth / Telektios was an interesting idea of how EWF ambition and draconic research could go horribly wrong.

I like the description of Telektios Ascendant out of "Blood of Orlanth" From Greg Stafford in 2001; If Elemenoria is a failed EWF experiment, she could be a perversion like Telektios Ascendant, providing a dangerous shortcut to unspeakable powers, at who knows what awful price.

There’s a terrific fiction book The year of the Horsetails, about a refugee from a Eurasian horse nomad army who assassinated a senior officer finding shelter with peaceful villagers. Then the nomads hunting the refugee find his refuge, and report back what the found - a people ripe for the plucking. Great reading for a bit of inspiration into the life of that period.

All over in 5 seconds... 🙂

Eurmal probably provides a “become mistress race troll” spell at some shrine somewhere, for tricksters who fancy a bit of troll mama action. Spell lasts until someone accuses the trickster of not acting like a troll.

Not being funny but why not make it out of spray painted 3D printed or moulded plastic? If you need weight make it hollow and fill with concrete, like gym machine weights. Solid metal sounds cool but it’s just a prop isn’t it? You’re not actually trying to perform a ritual which requires an aluminium disk are you? (yikes)

The fence to whom Lanbril sells stolen goods might well be a Krarsht worshipper, maintaining a public facade of respectability. From Cults of Terror; It could even be fun to deceive PCs into forming a relationship with a useful supplier of illegal services and information, then when they are utterly dependent, taunt them with inconclusive evidence (supplied by a captured enemy) that their "friend" is actually a chaos cultist. If challenged the "friend" would deny everything, maybe ask the PCs to come back later that night to help work out which assistant is the real chaos infiltrator. Please don't bring Storm Bulls, they would tear up the shop and ruin his livelihood even if they didn't find anything, he has a reputation to uphold!

They could learn about some Krarsht tunnels. That could get very interesting - why would an informant betray such a secret? What is their real motivation? Who or what is lurking in the tunnels?

Agreed. You asked for suggestions, I provided a suggestion. You don’t have to accept it.

I think you're being very kind to your PCs, allowing them to quest for such power with their sanity intact. You could spice it up, in Imprisoned with the Pharaohs, HP Lovecraft introduces Nyarlathotep as a false friend, someone who deliberately leads people astray. In The Haunter of the Dark, Nyarlathotep takes the forms of a monstrous being which accepts sacrifice and provides insane insights which may or may not provide any value whatsoever for the recipients. Another story, Dreams in the Witch House, Nyarlathotep is attracted to a seeker of knowledge who ultimately meets his doom. In the story Nyarlathotep, the god brings doom upon the entire world (maybe), leading those he meets into desolation by entrancing them with wonder. I wonder if Nyarlathotep could take the guise of a cat of Ulthar?