John Biles

I think one of the key factors in Gods dying is that if Chaos kills you, you are far more likely to stay dead. Death is just another Rune to a God, which is why Yelm could be brought back once he stopped whining. Whereas Genert was busted up by Chaos. On Orlanth and Ernalda... This is a particularly large version of what a local Heroquest could do. If you bungle the Lightbringer's Quest, Orlanth may die and stay dead for *you*. Until you do it right. The Lunars did this to a large area, but Orlanth and Ernalda were *not dead outside the area*. If you were a Ralios Orlanthi, you could still draw on their blessings. Globallly killing Orlanth and Ernalda is probably impossible in Time, unless the whole planet teamed up to do it or Chaos was involved. Reviving Genert would require Lunar level resources most likely and you'd end up with something Genert-like. So now all of Prax becomes covered with belts of clover and grass and groves of fruit trees.

Blue Moon Assassins (Based on the Lunar Assasin, but a bit tougher) 5th level spoiler [humanoid] Initiative: +9 Blue blade +10 vs. AC—8 damage, and 8 special ongoing moon damage (no save; this special damage only ends if the creature affected uses a standard action to shake off all the special ongoing damage) Miss: 5 damage. R Moonbeam (vs 1 nearby target, bypassing any sort of cover; the ray comes straight from the moon at them, passing through obstacles) +10 vs PD, 15 moon damage If the Lunars are sharing the Escalation Die: Add the Escalation die to the damage of all her attacks. Blue Moon adept: The Lunar assassin doesn’t start the battle in play. Its enemies don’t even know it is present. While out of play, on its initiative the Lunar assassin rolls an easy save (6+). If it succeeds, the assassin enters play anywhere in the battle, uses a standard action (normally that means attacking an enemy it engages when it appears) with a +4 attack bonus, and ends its turn. This is a once per battle ability. Scramble: The Lunar assassin can choose to roll an 11 whenever it rolls a disengage check. (In other words, it can get away from any one normal enemy; it takes multiple enemies or disengage penalties to force the Lunar assassin to actually roll the check.) AC 20 PD 17 HP 70 MD 17 Blue Moon Sorceror 5th level Caster [humanoid] Initiative: +9 Blue blade +10 vs. AC—6 damage, and 6 special ongoing moon damage (no save; this special damage only ends if the creature affected uses a standard action to shake off all the special ongoing damage) Miss: 5 damage. R Poison Ray of Moonlight (vs 1 nearby target, bypassing any sort of cover; the ray comes straight from the moon at them, passing through obstacles) +10 vs PD, 10 poison damage and 10 ongoing poison damage. If the Lunars are sharing the Escalation Die: That unlocks the following spells: On a 2: Faintness of Heart (vs a nearby target) +10 vs MD - 10 psychic damage and the target cannot use the escalation die (save ends) On a 4: Moonbeam Trap (vs a nearby target) +10 vs MD - 10 psychic damage and stuck (save ends) On a 6: Moonbeam Trap (vs 1d3 nearby targets, bypassing any sort of cover; the ray comes straight from the moon at them, passing through obstacles) +10 vs MD - 10 psychic damage and stuck (save ends) Blue Moon adept: The Lunar sorceror doesn’t start the battle in play. Its enemies don’t even know it is present. While out of play, on its initiative the Lunar sorcero rolls an easy save (6+). If it succeeds, the assassin enters play anywhere in the battle, uses a standard action (normally that means attacking an enemy it engages when it appears) with a +4 attack bonus, and ends its turn. This is a once per battle ability. AC 19 PD 15 HP 70 MD 21

Session 3: Team PCs continued escorting the caravan home; they had to fight a force of raiders from the Blue Axes, a war clan. Blue Ax Raiders These guys come from a rival clan. What they really want is the Clearwine. But violence is okay too. 2 Blue Ax Heavies 1st level striker [humanoid] Initiative: +3 Great Axe +6 vs AC - 5 damage Natural 16+: They inflict 5 ongoing damage (save ends) Critical: They also push the target adjacent to an ally, who gets a free attack. They then move to engage another foe. AC 17 PD 15 HP 27 MD 11 8 Amateur Blue Axe Raiders 1st level mook [humanoid] Initiative: +3 Axe +6 vs AC - 4 damage Natural 16+: They can disengage and move to another foe within nearby. R: Shortbow +6 vs. AC—3 damage AC 17 PD 15 HP 7 (mook) MD 11 Mook: Kill one mook for every 7 damage you deal to the mob. Blue Axe Leader 2nd level Leader [humanoid] Initiative: +7 Battle Ax +7 vs. AC—6 damage Natural even hit: He commands a nearby ally to make a basic attack. During the distraction, he moves to engage the same foe. AC 18 PD 16 HP 36 MD 12 Blue Ax Shaman of Kolat 1st level caster [humanoid] Initiative: +6 Staff of Winds +6 vs. AC—4 cold damage 😄 Burst of Winds +6 vs PD (1d3 targets) - 3 cold damage and the target is pushed to nearby range and is now prone R: Focused Wind +6 vs PD against 1 nearby target - 5 cold damage and dazed until the end of the Shaman's next turn. AC 13 PD 13 HP 27 MD 17 The Heavies and the Amateurs rushed the PCs, who had several strokes of luck. Bill (Humakti Duck) got lucky with one of his powers and hit the mooks which attacked him three times. Thumpson (Troll Windlord) also began smashing the mooks up. By the end of round 2, all the mooks were down and the other guys ran for it; they will be ransoming their captives to the Blue Axes later. They got to the tula, then discovered it had been invaded from the land of their neighbors, the Golden Ospreys, by Chaos Weasels. These guys are based on an article from one of those men's adventure magazines from the forties and fifties. Being chaos weasels they were covered with feathers and the players briefly feared Velociraptors were attacking them. But they chopped up the weasels and delivered the clearwine and were rewarded with a silver armband for each PC (worth 20 gold coins or a cow). They then went to see the Ospreys, who apologized for the incursion slipping through. They basically are a clan in very bad shape. A peace clan, they offended the Lunars and lost all their men of adult age; they now have only old men and boys, though they kept most of their women. Their chieftaness is an Ernaldan and they only have 4 Vingan thanes and two barely initiated boys (Orlanthi). They asked the PCs to help initiate some boys into Odayla and Yinkin in the Heroquest I posted last time. They encountered the ogres, got suckered and would have eaten tainted meat save for the Trickster, who is a Chef, scoring a 23 on Int + Level + Chef and realizing the trap. Thumpson slaughtered one of the junior ogres with the Sandals of Night and then they took out the other ones. Bill was acting as Odayla and managed to get the Hungry Bears to leave despite being lousy at Charisma checks and the quest was a huge success. The Golden Osprey, who need husbands, are now studying the PCs for that, though they'd have more interest if the party wasn't mostly non-human. (A Troll, a Half-Orc who hatched from a cosmic egg like Nysalor, an Elf, a Duck, and two NPC humans). They also drove off some wolves which had invaded the tula, then went home and helped during Earth Season; ironically, the Trickster Chef was the biggest help because of his skill at preparing food, though everyone is kind of nervous about eating things he prepared. Then, in Dark Season, Lunar Dead invaded the Tula, coming out of the mass graves from the Battle of the Creek-Stream River and invading several tribes worth of lands. They had been buried hastily without respect. The Humakti led the party in taking out a squad and next time, the fyrd will be called for a big fight.

Jaldon can trash your clan hold in King of Dragon Pass.

Here's an example clan! The Red Example Clan Your clan has the following Attributes: Diplomacy: 0 Health: +3 Lore: +2 Magic: +1 War: -1 Wealth: 0 Clan Type: Peace Temples: Elmal +1, Ernalda +2, Eurmal +1, Orlanth +1 Runes: Fire +2, Death +1 Heroquests Known With Secrets: Uralda's Blessing Ancient Enemies - Half-Folk New Enemy - Rokari, Lunars Ancient Allies: Ducks New Friend - Sorcerors. Treasures: Eurmal's Lucky Coin, The Star Seed Abilities: Clan members gain +2 to hit with attacks that do fire damage. Hatred of Zombies (+2 vs Zombies), Fear of Blue Moon Assassins (-2 vs BMA). The Red Example Clan has evolved into a prosperous but vulnerable clan of Ernalda Worshippers, a successful Peace Clan. Women act as the Queens of this clan, chosen from among Ernalda's worshipers; this draws Ernaldans from other clans to worship here; Ernalda's husband-protectors are Orlanth Thunderous, Elmal, and EURMAL? He is seen as Eurmal the Luckbringer here. The clan's massive vegetable gardens and fruit orchards haven't made it rich but it isn't poor and they are extremely fertile with many, many children and good health. But they are also wise; they don't have a proper Lhankor Mhy temple, but the old ruins is home to a community of scholars which produce scrolls, teach children to read, assist heroquests and maintain tribal lore. Sorcerers quietly visit, consult, and pay well for the privilege. Then Rokari somehow show up and try to fire-bomb the lore house, but since this clan is strong in fire... The Duck alliance allows the clan's Humakti to train with the Ducks and help protect the clan from the dead. Living near the Upland marsh is dangerous. Despite this, the clan's greatest weakness is the need to hire mercenaries for protection as the clan's war magic is weak save for smiting the already dead. Question 1: What rune were your original clan founders aligned with? Fire: You were of the Hyarlings, who followed Elmal into the Storm Tribe. You brought with you the astronomical wisdom of Peloria. +1 Lore and +1 Fire and Elmal Temple +1 Question 2: At the wedding of Orlanth and Ernalda, what did your clan do? Ran the Feast: We helped run the whole ceremony, ensuring plenty of food and drink, housing, clothing, stopping brawls, and so on. Ernalda Temple +1 Question 3: Which great adventure was your clan involved in? Some of these were before Orlanth married Ernalda, others were after and some... happened but the God Time is confusing. (Your clan knows secrets of that myth as well as the bonus before) Uralda's Blessing: Uralda first brought her cows to live with *your* clan! +1 Health Question 4: Who came closest to wiping you out in the Great Darkness? Theft of Cattle: They demanded you feed them cows, when they lived in the middle of fruit trees and fields of wild wheat and barley! You refused of course, for you were barely surviving, so they mounted the biggest of all cattle raids, still remembered in the songs of your people. But you disguised enough of your livestock as stands of barley to slowly rebuild your stock. Ancient Enemies - Half-Folk Question 5: Who aided you in your hour of need? The People of the Abandoned Boat: You found an abandoned boat drifting down the river by your tula, full of huge eggs the size of a human head. You carefully put them in nests, keeping them warm at great cost, in hopes of getting giant chickens. Instead, Duck-People hatched from the eggs, and you raised them as your own to worship Orlanth. Their parents found them, eventually, and swore eternal friendship with you for your kindness to them and taught you secrets from their fallen homeland, Ganderland. Ancient Allies: Ducks Question 6: What God stuck by your people during the Great Darkness to the very end? Orlanth: Though he descended into the Underworld, you remained in touch with him and he still answered your prayers through the whole thing somehow. Orlanth Temple +1 Question 7: Many clans collapsed in the Great Darkness. You took in the remains of a clan, helping to replenish your own losses. Who was it? The Limoges: Refugees from the west, they served Lankhor Mhy and brought ancient secrets he had recorded. +1 Lore Question 8: What artifact do you retain from before the Great Darkness to the present day? Eurmal's Lucky Coin: It enhances your luck in gambling and trade. +1 Wealth Question 9: How did you survive the Great Darkness? Conmen Supreme: You fooled a lot of stupid foreigners into dying in your stead, giving you things, etc. Eurmal Temple +1 Question 10: How did you contribute to the Unity Battle? Teaching: We knew the weaknesses of Chaos and taught them to everyone. +1 Lore. Question 11: The World Council of Friends, known also as the First Unity Council, set out to bring the news of the Dawn and the end of the Great Darkness to those still living in Darkness. How did you contribute? Spreading The Story of the Dawn: We brought the story of the Lightbringers to everyone and helped them get back in touch with the gods. +1 Magic Question 12: The World Council of Friends had to become the War Council, or the Second Unity Council, to defeat the Pentans who had conquered Peloria. Once that was finished, a new purpose was needed. Some of the council decided to turn a Cosmic Egg into a new God of Light to unite the world. The Dragonnewts and Trolls turned against this and so did many Orlanthi before it was done. This led to WAR. At the Battle of Night and Day, did your ancestors... Stay home, tend your fields, sell things to both sides, get punished by the winner for doing so.: +1 Health or +1 Wealth, your choice. (Chose +1 Health) Question 13: Out of the West came Arkat, who fought an endless war against Nysalor, who he called Gbaji, becoming a Knight, a Humakti, a Troll, probably a potato too. He mastered new secrets of Heroquesting and finally confronted Nysalor in Dorastor, leading to its ruin. Then he became human again and founded the Stygian Empire in Ralios, then ascended to godhood, or so his followers claim. Did your clan... Take one good look at Dorastor as it sank into Chaos and decided to *get out*: +1 War from all the amazing fighting you did up to that point. Question 14: In the Second Age, the EWF spread the gospel of Draconic Mysticism, Draconizing religious cults, teaching Auld Wyrmish, and building a giant spiritual pyramid scheme. Did your clan... Lose most of your men in the Dragonkill, so the women took over: +1 Diplomacy Question 15: The Godlearners were evil sorcerors who tried to usurp divine power; in the end they were destroyed, but your ancestors may have fought them, worked with them, or even tried to become them. Everyone *claims* their ancestors hated them, but you know how that is. How did your ancestors interact with them? Ever-Burning Flame: There is a hole in the ground and fire jets out of it all the time; it's probably inside your chief's hall now, keeping it warm and cooking food. Clan members gain +2 to hit with attacks that do fire damage. Question 16: You lived in Heortland for several centuries, but when the Pharoah came in the 1300s, you fled Heortland into Dragon Pass, which had been depopulated in the late 1100s by the Dragonkill, then banned to humans. This forced you to start over in many ways. What kind of clan did you turn yourself into? Peace Clan: Focused on producing crops and goods. +1 Health and +1 Wealth Question 17: What did you discover on your tula upon your return to it after long exile? The ruins of a Lhankor Mhy Temple: +1 Lore Question 18: What temple was still standing on your tula? Pick one from: Ernalda Add +1 to the rating of that temple Question 19: Who did you come to feud with in the new land? It must be someone different than your Ancient Enemy. The Boring Book: This old holy man of the West came to you and preached at you about how you were all going to burn in the hells because you couldn't read his book. Your Lhankor Mhy priest studied it and pronounced it THE SOURCE OF THE GOD-LEARNERS. So you declared him an outlaw and he was eaten by a bear. Probably Odayla's revenge. But now periodically more 'Rokari' show up and start wrecking havoc, or worse, lecture you until you pass out from boredom. You can't take this if you befriended the Malkioni. New Enemy - Rokari. Question 20: : Who did you first befriend in Dragon Pass in the Third Age? Friends From the West: Fleeing persecution, a group of sorcerers appealed to you for sanctuary. You got them all to convert to Lhankor Mhy worship and to help your tula and you gave them land and a nice hall. Various groups have come and gone but you have mystical friends you can call on for help. New Friend - Sorcerors. You might not want to advertise this to other clans, though! Question 21: What was your clan's greatest adventure before the coming of Sartar? The Journey to the West: +1 Lore Question 22: How did your clan help Sartar? The Alliance with the Telmori: +1 Diplomacy Question 23: What treasure did he give you? The Star Seed: This contains an infant star, placed in red crystal by Elmal during the Great Darkness. It adds +1 per tier to any attack that inflicts fire damage and any fire damage you inflict adds +1d6 per tier of the target +1 Magic. Question 24: When Monrogh of the Many Suns and his followers defected from Elmal to Yelmalio worship, your clan added Yelmalio to your minor gods worshiped without abandoning Elmal. They're siblings!: +1 Magic Question 25: When the Lunars conquered Sartar, your clan set several temples of the Seven Mothers ablaze before defeat: +1 Fire Question 26: : During Starbrow's Rebellion in 1612, your clan slew a major Lunar leader before defeat: +1 Death and New Enemy - Lunars Question 27: When the Lunars put a bounty on Ducks, you... Defended the Ducks: New Enemy - Lunars and New Friend - Ducks Question 28: When Kallyr led a rebellion against the Lunars, did you join it? We neglected our lore studies to produce food for the armies: +1 Health, -1 Lore Question 29: Did we support Argar before he lit the Flame of Sartar? We hid under a rock: +1 Health Question 30: What horrible Chaos Creatures did we help fight at the Battle of The Stream-Creek River? (You gain hatred of that creature, +2 to hit such creatures). Zombie Hordes Question 31: What horrible Chaos Creature killed so many people it scares us? (You get a Fear of that creature, suffering -2 against it). Use the same list but pick something different. Blue Moon Assassins

Barntar hitches Urox to his plow and they cut ruts into Aroka's tongue, then collect the blood to use as fertilizer. He severs Aroka's genitals with a scythe for reaping.

Inspired by the Heroquest ones, and adapted from the one I did back then. Clan Creation Your clan has the following Attributes: Diplomacy: How good your clan is at getting other clans to do what it wants and make deals with them. Health: The general sturdiness of the clan and its plants and animals. Lore: How much your clan *knows*. Magic: How much magic your clan has. War: Your ability to fight and defeat other clans Wealth: How rich you are. Each of these is rated from -2 to really high. They can be loaned to the PCs if they have the support of the Clan. Example: The PCs are leading a raid, so they are loaned the clan's War ratiing, which they can add whenever making a relevant background check. At the beginning of Clan Creation, every Attribute is set to -2, reflecting your wretched state in the Great Darkness, then rises or falls as you make choices. Note: You may accumulate a LOT of temples from this; take the top 4 and the rest are just small shrines. The rating of the temple can be used to support activities supported by the temple. Question 1: What rune were your original clan founders aligned with? Air: You were members of the Storm Tribe from the start, aligned with Air. You worshipped Orlanth. +1 War and +1 Air, Orlanth Temple +1 Darkness: Your clan, under the protection of Trolls, got all the *gold* they didn't want. And the silver too. You worshiped Argan Argar, Troll God of Trade. +1 Wealth and +1 Darkness and Argan Argar Temple +1 Earth: You followed Ernalda into the Storm Tribe. +1 Health and +1 Earth and Ernalda Temple +1 Fire: You were of the Hyarlings, who followed Elmal into the Storm Tribe. You brought with you the astronomical wisdom of Peloria. +1 Lore and +1 Fire and Elmal Temple +1 Water: Once, you roamed the seas, but when the sea invaded the land, you were left behind once it retreated and needed new allies. But you kept the secrets you found in the many islands of the sea and it made your magic strong. Heler aided your joining the Storm Tribe. +1 Magic and +1 Water and Heler Temple +1 Communications: Guided by Issaries, your clan helped everyone get what they needed to survive and you made many friends. +1 Diplomacy and +1 Communications and Issaries Temple +1 Question 2: At the wedding of Orlanth and Ernalda, what did your clan do? Drank the 100 Drinks: We got drunk off our ass and had fun. Orlanth Temple +1 Ended Feuds: We circulated, smoothing over conflicts and ensuring no one stabbed each other, working out deals for the future. Issaries Temple +1 Guard Duty: We stood guard over the stead, while the other men got drunk off their ass. Elmal Temple +1 Made Deals: We piled up wealth by making good deals with drunk fools. Argan Argar Temple +1 Made Alcohol: We ensured the 100 drinks were there to be drunk. Heler Temple +1 Ran the Feast: We helped run the whole ceremony, ensuring plenty of food and drink, housing, clothing, stopping brawls, and so on. Ernalda Temple +1 Question 3: Which great adventure was your clan involved in? Some of these were before Orlanth married Ernalda, others were after and some... happened but the God Time is confusing. (Your clan knows secrets of that myth as well as the bonus before) The Contest of Barntar and Urox: You helped Barntar in a contest with Urox which ended with Urox having to pull Barntar's plow, leading his children to have to help plow in the future. +1 Wealth Chalanna Arroy Heals the Scars: Your clan helped her perform her four great acts of mercy, in which she discovered the secret of Fighting Without Hurting. +1 Health Ernalda Feeds the Tribe: When Ernalda's children went missing, your clan helped her find them and return them so the land and everyone would flourish. +1 Health The Hill of Gold: When Orlanth met Elmal and brought him into the Storm Tribe, you were there. +1 Diplomacy Issaries the Conciliator: You helped Issaries (Lhankhor Mhy and Storm Bull helped too, to be fair to them) resolve a trading dispute between the Long-Noses and the Big-Teeth, who were ruining the tulas of the Digging Stick People in the far south land of Pamelta. +1 Wealth Lhankor Mhy Finds the Truth: Issaries traded the truth away for cows, because he can't stop trading any more than a drunk can stop drinking. So you helped Lhankor Mhy go to Pamelta and *find the truth* and get it back. +1 Lore The Making of the Storm Tribe: You accompanied Orlanth as he went on a series of adventures which enabled him to unite many clans and form the Storm Tribe. +1 Diplomacy Orlanth and Aroka: You helped Orlanth end a great drought by slaying Aroka, a dragon who had eaten Heler, God of Rain. +1 Magic The Sword Story: Some of your ancestors helped Humakt come to understand the riddle of Death and helped bring him and Orlanth to a new understanding after Humakt severed his blood ties so he could wield Death impartially. +1 War The Three Contests: You aided Orlanth in his taking on the Emperor in three contests over who should rule the world and absorbed some of the Emperor's power when he died. +1 Magic Uralda's Blessing: Uralda first brought her cows to live with *your* clan! +1 Health Question 4: Who came closest to wiping you out in the Great Darkness? Corn Is Murder: The Elves demanded you hand over half your cleared land to them, and you refused. They then tried to turn all your fields and pasture into forest and nearly succeeded. It's a good thing you already knew the secret of FIRE. Unfortunately, a giant burning forest then killed most of your clan through smoke inhalation. This left no one happy. Ancient Enemy - Elves. Death by Rock-Pipe: They demanded your clan's most precious artifact to 'repair the World Machine', whatever that means, and you refused, so they sent armies of rock-pipe armed troops to try to mow you down and you barely survived by poisoning their canisters of 'food' (it looked like some kind of mortar to you). Ancient Enemy - Dwarves Death of a Star: In the Great Darkness, a Talking Star tried to force you to serve him, so you chopped him up and used his burning remains for many purposes. Then a bunch of people in star togas showed up and did some kind of rite with looking tubes which caused all the bits of Talking Star to explode, killing most of you. The looking tube people still hate you and vice-versa. Ancient Enemies - Dara Happans Earthquake Extortionists: They demanded you make big, expensive sacrifices to their goddess. You refused, pointing to your temple of Ernalda. So half the Tula fell into a huge crack in the Earth one day. Damn them all. Ancient Enemy - Maran Gor cultists. Invisible Bastards: The Invisible People, who served an equally invisible God, came to your tula, begging aid and offering lore. But those who learned it turned invisible like them. The last of you fled before you could be converted. You've heard they're visible now but their god is still invisible and they're still seductive. Ancient Enemy - Malkioni Telmori Massacre: They ate all your livestock, ALL of it and burned your crops and danced in the ashes. They also killed and ate everyone. Only your clan hunters survived that disaster. Ancient Enemy - Telmori The Egg-Parents' Revenge: You didn't *mean* to make their children into omelets, but they were so tasty. Okay, you did mean to make the omelets, but you didn't know they were talking Duck eggs; you'd never heard of such creatures. When you found a boat drifting past your tula on the river full of eggs the size of a human head, you were so hungry, you decided to eat them all. Then their parents showed up, enraged. After they cooked and ate most of your children, you would never forget. Or forgive. Ancient Enemy - Ducks The Helian Expedition: Your defeat of the Helians brought no surcrease from your hunger, for your plants had died in the darkness and your livestock died and they had no food either, it turned out. So most of the clan ate the Helians and turned into ogres, then tried to eat those of you who refused to become monsters. So you fled into the night. Ancient Enemy - Ogres. The FIRST Dragonkill: You *had* allied with them, but then they demanded you all kill yourselves for some reason and when your refused, they killed you. Even now, after many deaths and rebirths, you still sometimes dream of the great slaughter in the middle of the night. Your clan fought the EWF from square one, knowing this could only lead to being butchered by Dragonnewt bastards. Ancient Enemy - Dragonnewts. The Great Horror: You try not to dwell on the horrors you suffered at the hands of the Broo, but your ancestors pretended to enjoy it, which caused the Broo to lose interest and leave while some of you remained merely injured and not so tainted with chaos you had to be burned alive. Some of you. Ancient Enemy - Broo. The Pajamas Slayers: The Dragon-Sage came to you, teaching secrets to your clan; many followed him, but you knew Dragons eat people, so you hacked him to hamburger, then left his remains to be found and eaten by wild animals. Now, periodically, people in black show up and slaughter you. Bastards. You did what had to be done to save your clan! Ancient Enemy - Kralori. Theft of Cattle: They demanded you feed them cows, when they lived in the middle of fruit trees and fields of wild wheat and barley! You refused of course, for you were barely surviving, so they mounted the biggest of all cattle raids, still remembered in the songs of your people. But you disguised enough of your livestock as stands of barley to slowly rebuild your stock. Ancient Enemies - Half-Folk Trolls Found You Tasty: They demanded tribute. You refused, so they crushed you in battle, ate everything they could, even the Chief's Hall, then left you in the ruins. You still hate them. Ancient Enemy - Trolls. You cannot take this if you have a temple of Argan Argar. Tusk-Riders: Look, some people are freaks, so you kicked them out of the clan and they stole a bunch of pigs. This was before the Great Darkness. Somehow they popped out of a cave during the Great Darkness which had been empty and wrecked so much havoc, you barely survived. Fortunately they were not too bright and some of you hid in the woods up trees because pigs can't climb trees. They rode off but they still find ways to reach and raid you *no matter where you go*. Freaks! Ancient Enemy - Tusk-Riders Weird Animal Thieves: Your clan had accumulated many strange animals in the Great Darkness, abandoned when their clans who owned them died. The Praxians demanded you hand them over to them one day, and you said no, for you had grown used to them. Led by Wahahahahaha or whatever his stupid name is, they raided you and stole all your unusual animals to take home and have sex with. You're pretty sure that's why the Praxians ride freakish things now. Because your clan relied on these animals, you nearly starved, saved only by Ernalda's priestesses. Ancient Enemy - Praxians. When the Sea Invaded the Land: When the sea invaded the land, they tried to turn your entire tula *into a lake*, but you survived on a small island until the sea retreated. But you still hate them for doing it. Ancient Enemy - Mer-Folk Question 5: Who aided you in your hour of need? A Dragon: Your original clan tula WAS a dragon, so its children, the Dragonnewts allied with you; when things were at their worst, they guided you through a ritual of death and rebirth; you all awoke in the soil of your tula and dug your way out into a world which had been reborn, green and bright. Your clan helped *start* the EWF, but you never went axe-crazy like other clans did with their lunatic 'turn half of Genertla into the World Dragon' plan. So the Dragonnewts warned you and you escaped in time to avoid the Dragonkill and once it was time to return, you lead the way, whatever the Colymar may claim. Ancient Allies: Dragonnewts. Artifact Trade: They demanded your clan's most precious artifact to 'repair the World Machine', whatever that means, and you agreed, for you had seen that the world was falling apart and needed to be fixed. When your ancient enemies moved against you, the Dwarves took you in, sheltered you in their fortress and gave you a new precious artifact to help you after the Unity Battle. Ancient Allies: Dwarves A Star Captain: While Elmal did his best, his light could not match that of his father and once the Great Darkness came, often you could not even see his light. But from the heavens, a star descended and shone over your tula, giving you the light you needed to survive. He taught you secrets and those secrets let you befriend Dara Happans, who accept you as brothers, despite the ancient feuds of Orlanthi and Dara Happans. Ancient Allies: Dara Happans Gift of Cattle: They were starving and you gifted them cattle at cost to yourself because you pitied them, for they were starving in the midst of plenty, for they could only eat meat. They repaid you later, when you were starving, with gifts of the fruits and grains they could not eat. Since then, you have been trading partners and friends. Ancient Allies: Half-Folk Maran Gor Worshippers: When earthquakes plagued your tula, they came to you and taught you how to worship Maran Gor, who kept the evil earthquakes sent by Chaos away and defended you by trapping your enemies in huge cracks in the Earth. In return, you make sacrifices to her. Ancient Allies: Maran Gor cultists. Telmori Alliance: They eat meat; you can live on vegetables, though you do like meat. You shared your cattle with them and helped them hunt and they helped slay your enemies who wanted to steal your land. They eventually moved on, but both of you remember the old friendship when you saved each other in the Great Darkness. Your clan keeps dogs even if it pisses people off and you don't worship Yinkin. Ancient Allies: Telmori The Call of the Sea: When the sea invaded the land, they flooded most of your tula, leaving you only an island in a lake; this, however, drove off the broo and other enemies and you learned to fish and make boats and befriended your new mer-folk neighbors. While the sea was driven back, some sea things remained in your tula and you have a miniature sea with sea creatures where you can worship the sea gods as well. Ancient Allies: Mer-Folk The Dragon-Sage: When you were on the verge of hunger and death, a sage dressed like a dragon, but a man in body, came to you, and taught you how to transcend hunger. This enabled your ancestors to live without food until the Great Darkness ended. At times, he returns to you, bringing wisdom and help and teaching you strange mystic secrets. Ancient Allies: Kralori. The Forest Pact: When your crops failed, you made a deal with the Elves, doubling the size of your tula's forest, but their powerful magics made the rest of your land bloom even without the sun. This enabled a remnant of your people to survive everything. Ancient Allies: Elves. The Lost Children of Danmalstan: Desperate and hungry, they stumbled into your tula, begging you for help after demons sank their homeland of Danmalstan; you took them in, fed them, and helped them to find a land of their own to set up in. In gratitude, they taught you the existence of the Runes and how to use them and other secrets. You're still not sure why their god is invisible, but you have had many good interactions with them ever since. Ancient Allies: Malkioni The People of the Abandoned Boat: You found an abandoned boat drifting down the river by your tula, full of huge eggs the size of a human head. You carefully put them in nests, keeping them warm at great cost, in hopes of getting giant chickens. Instead, Duck-People hatched from the eggs, and you raised them as your own to worship Orlanth. Their parents found them, eventually, and swore eternal friendship with you for your kindness to them and taught you secrets from their fallen homeland, Ganderland. Ancient Allies: Ducks The Survival Trade: In the Great Darkness, Great Khan Waha came to you with his people and they traded you cows and horses in return for a bunch of weird animals you had that were harder to take care of than horses and cows. Weird animals still show up on your tula and you trade with Praxians once a year, getting horses and cows for these weird 'rhinos' and 'emu' and whatnot. Ancient Allies: Praxians. Troll Alliance: Ezkanekko's people offered you protection against your foes in return for food. You took the deal and they protected you when the Darkness came; you still worship Argan Argar, who enables you to be friends with trolls. They are good friends if you keep them well fed and they fight Chaos with great power. Ancient Allies: Trolls Tusk-Rider Deal: Their ancestors are *your* ancestors. When the clan got too big, you split into two groups and had three contests to see who would stay and who would go. They won all the pigs and rode off on them after losing the other two contests. But you remain friends and help each other out; you have new pigs they brought you during the time of the Unity Council. The *greatest* pigs. Half of them can never be eaten; they just go into the woods and vanish when they get old. But they all fertilize your fields and the ones you can eat are *so* tasty. Ancient Allies: Tusk-Riders Question 6: What God stuck by your people during the Great Darkness to the very end? Orlanth: Though he descended into the Underworld, you remained in touch with him and he still answered your prayers through the whole thing somehow. Orlanth Temple +1 Ernalda: She was not dead, merely sleeping and she talked in her sleep a lot, guiding you through everything. Ernalda Temple +1 Elmal: He stood guard over your stead through the Great Darkness, shining his light and making your crops grow. Elmal Temple +1 Babeester Gor: Ernalda was dead, but she stood by your side to guard Ernalda and together, you slew many, many foes. Babeester Gor Temple +1 Flamal: Many say he died in the Great Darkness, but you can't kill a plant; it just comes back when the sun and the rain return. You knew the songs which sustained him so he could sustain your crops and thus your livestock and thus *you*. Flamal Temple +1 Heler: Your streams never ran dry and he coaxed the crops and grass to grow so your livestock and you survived. He also brought you copious fish. Heler Temple +1 Humakt: Death can't die, so he remained alive and by your side, striking down Chaos and Death as they came for you. Food was a huge problem, but without him, you would have all perished. Humakt Temple +1 Mahome: Her cunning management enabled the clan to squeak through the darkness, while Ernalda slept. Mahome Temple +1 Question 7: Many clans collapsed in the Great Darkness. You took in the remains of a clan, helping to replenish your own losses. Who was it? The Hengyang: They arrived on the back of a dragon, which then died. You took them in and they taught you secrets which strengthened your clan's magic. +1 Magic. The Kavadartsi: Disciplined warriors from the North who taught you the secret of the Shield Wall, strengthening your fyrd and thanes. +1 War. The Limoges: Refugees from the west, they served Lankhor Mhy and brought ancient secrets he had recorded. +1 Lore. The Longbeards : Very short, heavily bearded humans who look sort of like the Mostali, but since they eat normal food, have normal sex, and don't act crazy, they can't be Mostali; your ancestors found them mining in a cave; they brought secrets of craftsmanship which helped you survive the Great Darkness and later made you rich. +1 Wealth. The Nalda Bin: All they had left were sheep and healing lore. But those let you make warm clothing and heal the sick. +1 Health. The Sanyani: Dark skinned and curly haired, they came from a distant land across the southern ocean; you found them stranded and confused and took them in. They were great tale-tellers and negotiators and they became your beloved envoys. +1 Diplomacy. Question 8: What artifact do you retain from before the Great Darkness to the present day? Amulet of Ernalda: Helps show you how to find another way to handle things with less violence. +1 Diplomacy The Bag of Winds: Its bearer can command the winds. +1 Magic The Book of the Sky: An ancient tome given to your ancestors by a Sky Captain with the lore of the stars and the sky. +1 Lore The Book of Runes: A primer for knowledge of the Storm Age, copied from the writings of Lhankor Mhy. +1 Lore The Dragon Chariot: A self-moving, dragon-decorated, roof-covered chariot which holds four and moves a day's walk in an hour. +1 Magic Dwarf Food Maker: Nasty but nutritious, you have a machine into which you can pour slop and it produces a brown paste which is packed with what you all need... and tastes awful. But it still means more healthy food! +1 Health Eurmal's Lucky Coin: It enhances your luck in gambling and trade. +1 Wealth The Klanth of Orlanth: When your warleader carries it, your whole warband hits harder. +1 War. The Klanth can be loaned out to people who the clan supports; it functions as a +1 per tier of its wielder martial weapon; it does +1d8 damage per tier of the creature you hit with it. Mahome's Oven: It bakes fresh, healthy bread on a grand scale. +1 Health The Metal Mule: Warns you of bandit attacks. +1 Wealth The Secret of the Thundershakers: Your thanes ride to war atop great armored beasts who shake the land when they move. +1 War The Silver Tongue: Helps your leaders negotiate by giving them glib speech. +1 Diplomacy Question 9: How did you survive the Great Darkness? Babeester Gor Killing Everything: Babeester Gor roamed the lands of our tula in the Great Darkness, killing anything that entered from the outside. Enough of that was edible for us to survive. Babeester Gor Temple +1 Cat People: We were so closely allied to alynxes, you might have mistaken us for Hsunchen. Their aid, sent by Yinkin kept us alive. Yinkin Temple +1 The Cave of Maran Gor: We thought at first she was trying to kill us, but then we realized we'd been dropped into a cave with glittering gems in the ceiling and huge forests of fungi and running water. Life was hard, but we survived and raided the monsters of the caves to sacrifice them to Maran Gor. Maran Gor Temple +1 Cliff Dwelling: Zorak Zoran attacked your clan and ate half of it, then threw anyone and anything that didn't look tasty off a cliff. You all landed on a shelf partway down. For some reason, everything at the bottom of the cliff was on fire *all the time*... which gave you enough light and heat to grow crops and grass for your animals, and a waterfall brought you water. Eventually, Argan Argar found you and lead you back to the surface once the Great Darkness ended. Argan Argar Temple +1. Conmen Supreme: You fooled a lot of stupid foreigners into dying in your stead, giving you things, etc. Eurmal Temple +1 Elmal's Light: Elmal shone over your clan lands, holding the Great Darkness at bay; it was rough, but you made it. Elmal Temple +1 FIRE: You kept the fires of Mahome's shrine lit by burning anything burnable and that light let you grow enough food and grass for you and your livestock to survive. Mahome Temple +1 Forged the Bronze Fortress: You built a great castle out of Bronze and lived in it, laughing at Chaos' pathetic efforts to break in, then raided for what you needed. Gustbran Temple +1 Guardians of Issaries' Wealth: When he joined the Lightbringers, Issaries asked you to guard his wealth. By cunning use of it, you kept yourself afloat *and* even increased it! Issaries Temple +1 Heroic Queens: Most of the men died, so the women had to take over; Vinga crowned a queen and your women did it all until the Great Darkness ended. Vinga Temple +1. Your clan still crowns Queens, though you now have an equal number of men and women. (If your Vinga temple is higher rated than your Orlanth temple, you *only* crown Queens.) Hid in the Still Wind: You were strong allies to the spirits, so Kolat asked his daughter Brastalos to shelter you; she carried you off to her stead, a place no one ever thinks to look for Orlanthi, for she is the Goddess of Still Air, who defines Wind by being its opposite. There, you learned more of the ways of the spirits. Kolat Meadow +1 Hunting Skills: Your skill at hunting enabled you to get enough food when your animals and crops died. Also, you hibernated through the worst of it. Odayla Temple +1 Lightbringers: We went down into Hell with Orlanth and helped bring back the Sun! Orlanth Temple +1 The Light of Truth: Lhankhor Mhy entrusted us with The Truth before he joined the Lightbringer's Quest. Its light enabled us to find clever ways to sustain ourselves in the Great Darkness. Lhankhor Mhy Temple +1 We became fish: As evil closed in, you went to the river and prayed to Heler, and he transformed you into fish until the Great Darkness ended. Heler Temple +1 We became slumbering trees: You begged Lord Flamal to aid you and he turned you into trees; in that form, you could sleep out the long winter. Flamal Temple +1 We fought Chaos: It's kind of a blur, but you're pretty sure you ran around with Urox, killing everything that moved. Urox Temple +1 We lived in the Upland Marsh: Following Humakt, you battled undead, fished, and ate aquatic plants. This enabled you to survive even though you were following the God of Death. Humakt Temple +1 We slept like Ernalda: You found a cave and went to sleep and stayed asleep until the First Dawn awoke you. Ernalda Temple +1 Question 10: How did you contribute to the Unity Battle? Fighting: We joined the army raised by Ezkankekko and cast down Chaos! +1 War Healing: We healed the injured before, during, and after the battle. +1 Health Sacrifice: We awakened the gods through powerful sacrifices so they fought alongside us all. +1 Magic. Summoned Ancient Allies: We convinced our Ancient Allies to join the battle. They proved critical to victory. +1 Diplomacy Teaching: We knew the weaknesses of Chaos and taught them to everyone. +1 Lore. Weaponmaking: We had large stocks of bronze and copper, enabling us to arm everyone for battle. +1 Wealth. Question 11: The World Council of Friends, known also as the First Unity Council, set out to bring the news of the Dawn and the end of the Great Darkness to those still living in Darkness. How did you contribute? Book Bringers: We brought the Runes and literacy to all and helped circulate the most important books and scrolls. +1 Lore Cleansing the Land: Led by Ernalda and her court, we helped cleanse the lands of Chaos and make everything bloom. +1 Health Monster-Hunting: We hunted down the remaining monsters which oppressed people. +1 War A Seat on the Council: We had a seat on the council! Top that, stupid neighbors! +1 Diplomacy Spreading The Story of the Dawn: We brought the story of the Lightbringers to everyone and helped them get back in touch with the gods. +1 Magic Trade: We built trade networks, so all could share what they had too much of and get what they lacked. +1 Wealth Question 12: The World Council of Friends had to become the War Council, or the Second Unity Council, to defeat the Pentans who had conquered Peloria. Once that was finished, a new purpose was needed. Some of the council decided to turn a Cosmic Egg into a new God of Light to unite the world. The Dragonnewts and Trolls turned against this and so did many Orlanthi before it was done. This led to WAR. At the Battle of Night and Day, did your ancestors... Join the Third Unity Council to defend the new God, Nysalor.: +1 Lore or +1 Magic, your choice. Fight desperately against Nysalor and the Orlanthi traitor Lokamayadon.: +1 War or +1 Diplomacy, your Choice. Stay home, tend your fields, sell things to both sides, get punished by the winner for doing so.: +1 Health or +1 Wealth, your choice. Question 13: Out of the West came Arkat, who fought an endless war against Nysalor, who he called Gbaji, becoming a Knight, a Humakti, a Troll, probably a potato too. He mastered new secrets of Heroquesting and finally confronted Nysalor in Dorastor, leading to its ruin. Then he became human again and founded the Stygian Empire in Ralios, then ascended to godhood, or so his followers claim. Did your clan... Reject Arkat as a freak trying to exploit the gods from the start: +1 Health because you didn't spend your time getting chewed up in wars. Support him until he became a Troll, then bailed out: +1 Wealth because of the fat loot you collected. Support Arkat the Troll in his war but you missed the final battle because he had you guarding something: +1 Diplomacy from exposure to other lands Do Heroquesting with him before the final battle: +1 Lore Take one good look at Dorastor as it sank into Chaos and decided to *get out*: +1 War from all the amazing fighting you did up to that point. Fight Nysalor's Guards while Arkat went head to head with him: +1 Magic Question 14: In the Second Age, the EWF spread the gospel of Draconic Mysticism, Draconizing religious cults, teaching Auld Wyrmish, and building a giant spiritual pyramid scheme. Did your clan... Fight this from the start: +1 Magic Go along with it for a while: +1 Wealth Fight the Godlearners and rebels with your full strength to expand the EWF: +1 War Hold fast to the EWF until the Dragonnewts betrayed it and its magic failed: +1 Lore Lose most of your men in the Dragonkill, so the women took over: +1 Diplomacy Do something that somehow killed everyone but you were reborn in a cave in Heortland and you still don't know what happened, but it may have involved friendly Dragonnewts, Eurmal, or both: +1 Health Question 15: The Godlearners were evil sorcerors who tried to usurp divine power; in the end they were destroyed, but your ancestors may have fought them, worked with them, or even tried to become them. Everyone *claims* their ancestors hated them, but you know how that is. How did your ancestors interact with them? Chaos-Slaying Monolith: There is a basalt monolith on your tula, possibly in someone's barley field, which can be invoked to gain benefits to fight Chaos. Your clan's War rating rises by 2 against Chaos. Ever-Burning Flame: There is a hole in the ground and fire jets out of it all the time; it's probably inside your chief's hall now, keeping it warm and cooking food. Clan members gain +2 to hit with attacks that do fire damage. Permanent Water Spout: There is a pond with a permanent water spout up to a perpetual cloud. You can ride it upwards and then walk around on the cloud; from here, you can see for a very long way and your clan has a permanent sentinel here. Getting down... surely Orlanth has blessed you with flight, right? Though if you're crazy strong, you can swim down the water spout. (Riding up the spout requires a DC 15 Strength or Dex check to not fall; swimming down is DC 20 Strength or Dex) Because your clan always has a sentinel, any roll to see if raiders are noticed rolls twice and takes the best result. They forced you to learn sorcery: Sure they did. But whatever really happened, add +1 to the rating of your Lhankhor Mhy temple. They tried to steal one of your treasures, but you stole one from them instead: Pick a treasure from Question 8; you don't get the stat bonus. They tried to usurp one of your Heroquests, but you instead got better at it: Pick a myth from Question 3; you know the secrets of that myth; you don't get the bonus, though. We beat them up and took their stuff: They never got near your home; you just stabbed them and looted their bodies. Your clan is good at killing sorcerors, gaining +2 to hit sorcerors and wizards and the like Question 16: You lived in Heortland for several centuries, but when the Pharoah came in the 1300s, you fled Heortland into Dragon Pass, which had been depopulated in the late 1100s by the Dragonkill, then banned to humans. This forced you to start over in many ways. What kind of clan did you turn yourself into? Peace Clan: Focused on producing crops and goods. +1 Health and +1 Wealth War Clan: You focused on hunting, raiding, and mercenary work. +1 War and +1 Magic Balanced: You do a mixture of both. +1 Diplomacy and +1 Lore Question 17: What did you discover on your tula upon your return to it after long exile? A cache of high quality weapons and armor: +1 War A cavern where you can harvest runestones each season: +1 Magic A cavern with ore which you turned into a mine: +1 Wealth A variety of medical herbs in your forest: +1 Health A wise talking stone who told you about your neighbors and still does: +1 Diplomacy The ruins of a Lhankor Mhy Temple: +1 Lore Question 18: What temple was still standing on your tula? Pick one from: Argan Argar, Babeester Gor, Barntar, Chalana Arroy, Elmal, Ernalda, Eurmal, Flamal, Heler, Humakt, Issaries, Lhankor Mhy, Mahome, Maran Gor, Odayla, Orlanth, Uralda, Urox, Vinga Add +1 to the rating of that temple Question 19: Who did you come to feud with in the new land? It must be someone different than your Ancient Enemy. No Need For Flamal: The Elves had built a temple of Flamal on your tula. You demanded they leave. They refused but lost a fight with you. You burned it down, but now, every so often, they take shots at you. Too bad for them that violence is always an option. You cannot take this if you already have a rating in Temple of Flamal. New Enemy - Elves. The Iron Mine: The old, crumbling shrine to Asriela now lead down into a mine. The Dwarves demanded you leave until they extracted all the ore. Instead, you extracted all the Dwarves. Now they periodically wreck havoc on your tula. New Enemy - Dwarves Yelmalio to Helmalio: A bunch of Yelmalions showed up and tried to tell you what to do and treated your ladies badly. So you beat them up and gave them to the Esrolians, who you knew would make their lives hell. Unfortunately they apparently had a *lot* of kin and now every so often, Dara Happans come take a shot at you. It's especially bad because now the Dara Happans are flunkies of the Lunars and *take it out on you*. New Enemies - Dara Happans Earthquake Extortionists: They demanded you make big, expensive sacrifices to their goddess. You refused, pointing to your temple of Ernalda. So half the Tula fell into a huge crack in the Earth one day. Damn them all. You can't take this if you have a Temple rating with Maran Gor. New Enemy - Maran Gor cultists. The Sorceror King: A potent sorceror came out of the west, calling himself Guillame the Mighty. He turned your chief into a potato and made himself king, then tried to force you to live in this weird system of rules that made no sense. Also, he disapproved of alcohol and sex. To be fair, you could kick anyone's ass. But eventually, you couldn't take it any more and poisoned him, then chopped him into pieces and sent each piece to one of the corners of the Earth. You can't take this if you befriended the Malkioni in the Great Darkness. New Enemy - Sorcerors Telmori Massacre: They stole a bunch of your cattle, so you raided their camp one winter and slaughtered them. Turns out there's more than one camp and they all hate you now. This made the years where they worked for the Kings of Sartar... kind of rough. Now it's easier to fight back. New Enemy - Telmori Nest Wars: A bunch of them had taken over your tula and somehow turned it into wetlands. So you kicked their ass and dried out the land, but not too dry. Now, it's not safe to go near the water alone. New Enemy - Ducks The Long Winter: The Long Winter basically started in late Earth Season, wrecking the harvest, then continued until *Fire Season*. Starvation set in and one of your bloodlines took up raiding and eating people from other clans, turning into Ogres. You killed most of them, but some escape and somehow, they keep turning up. New Enemy - Ogres. Dragonnewt Chief Murder: Every so often, the Dragonnewts show up and stab your Chief to death, or a member of the Ring, or in one case, the *entire Ring*. So you hack them to pieces when you can. But you're cautious because you remember the Dragonkill. New Enemy - Dragonnewts. Broo Feud: You killed off the Broo who had infested your tula. Their distant descendants show up every so often to try and reclaim it. You assume they're in Snakepipe Hollow, freebasing Gorp or something the rest of the time. Really, who wants to know? New Enemy - Broo. Expedition Gone Wrong: In 1587, the Holy Country sent a fleet to Kralorela, after the Closing ended. Members of your clan went, seeking adventure and their ghosts returned and warned you they had been killed and most of the fleet's souls eaten by the evil dragon who rules Kralorela. Now, every so often, he sends monsters or people with strange powers to attack you. You want to retaliate... but it's kind of a loooong ways off. New Enemy - Kralori. Theft of Cattle: They demanded you feed them cows, when they lived in the middle of fruit trees and fields of wild wheat and barley! You refused of course, for you were barely surviving, so they mounted the biggest of all cattle raids, still remembered in the songs of your people. But you disguised enough of your livestock as stands of barley to slowly rebuild your stock. New Enemies - Half-Folk Cragspider: You were exploring Dragon Pass and found Cragspider's court, an ancient half-divine Troll-Spider-Thing. She ate all but one of your people and told the survivor to stay off her land. So when Trolls entered your land, you killed them and sent one back to tell her that you accepted the deal. But because she is a treacherous cannibal, she keeps sending Trolls to kill you. New Enemies - Trolls Tusk-Riders: They keep raiding you; you keep killing them. It's a simple, traditional story. New Enemy - Tusk-Riders FREAKS: The Praxians are a bunch of freaks who steal weird animals from each other so they can do freakish, inhuman things with them that even Broo won't stoop to. They keep raiding you, even though you only have normal animals. They don't even have any real treasure if you kill them. Admittedly, their weird animals *are* tasty. New Enemy - Praxians. The Magical Lake: The Merfolk turned your *entire tula* into a lake; you destroyed the dam and it drained and those too dumb to follow the water away. Now you have recurring problems with any source of water much bigger than a barrel. Good thing Minlister invented beer! New Enemy - Mer-Folk The Boring Book: This old holy man of the West came to you and preached at you about how you were all going to burn in the hells because you couldn't read his book. Your Lhankor Mhy priest studied it and pronounced it THE SOURCE OF THE GOD-LEARNERS. So you declared him an outlaw and he was eaten by a bear. Probably Odayla's revenge. But now periodically more 'Rokari' show up and start wrecking havoc, or worse, lecture you until you pass out from boredom. You can't take this if you befriended the Malkioni. New Enemy - Rokari. Question 20: : Who did you first befriend in Dragon Pass in the Third Age? Everyone Loves Flamal: The Elves had built a temple of Flamal on your tula. Conveniently, they built it in the woods, out of your way. (Or you added your artifacts to it if you already worshipped Flamal). So you worked together to rebuild the Tula; they live in the forest and you live in the meadows. New Friend - Elves. The Iron Mine: The old, crumbling shrine to Asriela now lead down into a mine. The Dwarves demanded you leave until they extracted all the ore. You produced ancient contracts showing that while the Dwarves owned the Ore, you own the land over it. So you cut a deal where they pay you in bronze for the right to take the ore. New Friend - Dwarves Reminded Them Of The Great Compact: A bunch of Yelmalions showed up and tried to tell you what to do and treated your ladies badly. So you taught them about the Great Compact and how Yelm and Orlanth had reconciled. They were very embarrassed and made good gifts of apology, then went home and every so often, they come stage the Reconciliation Festival with you. New Friends - Dara Happans Treasures of the Earth: They demanded you make big, expensive sacrifices to their goddess. So you did... and then you found gems of greater value in the ravines of your tula! And sometimes you can make a deal to smite your foes. Everyone wins. Except your enemies. New Friend - Maran Gor cultists. Friends From the West: Fleeing persecution, a group of sorcerers appealed to you for sanctuary. You got them all to convert to Lhankor Mhy worship and to help your tula and you gave them land and a nice hall. Various groups have come and gone but you have mystical friends you can call on for help. New Friend - Sorcerors. You might not want to advertise this to other clans, though! Telmori Friendship: When King Sartar befriended them, your clan helped him do so and you've kept friendly ties ever since. New Friend - Telmori Hidden Nest: When the dead hard pressed the Ducks, you guarded their eggs from attack. Now you are long allies who aid each other in the darkest hours. New Friends - Ducks Dragonnewt Chief Murder: Every so often, the Dragonnewts show up and stab your Chief to death, or a member of the Ring, or in one case, the *entire Ring*. But each time they do this, you learn they were part of the Golden Horde which tried to murder all the Dragonnewts in a past life. Over time, this has happened less and less often. Further, the people they kill usually turn out to have been on the road to causing some disaster. So you let it happen and periodically, the Dragonnewts bring you gifts. Probably as weregild for the dead. Other clans think you're crazy but we'll see who's laughing when their chief goes bonkers and yours does not. New Friend - Dragonnewts. Expedition Gone Wrong: The Sage of New Ways fled Kralorela when Sheng Seleris took it over. Your clan hid him and he taught you secrets and now every so often, people from his clan send you things or come help you or bring you wisdom, and being good people, you always send them home with gifts. New Friend - Kralori. The Fruit Trade: They demanded you feed them cows, when they lived in the middle of fruit trees and fields of wild wheat and barley! So you taught them how to harvest the food and give it to you for cows! Everyone wins. New Friends - Half-Folk Mother Night: Mother Night lives in a cave on your tula. As long as you let her kids visit her every so often, she helps protect your Tula and teaches you secrets of Darkness magic. No fearing night raids for you! New Friend - Trolls Tusk-Riders: You kicked their ass... then refused to kill them, sending them home with gifts. This completely threw them for a loop. (Admittedly, it threw a lot of the clan for a loop). But your chief at the time told about how Orlanth had befriended Elmal and Heler, so why not befriend the Tusk-Riders too? Their pigs come each year to feed in your forest and they share some of their loot with you. And, well, the dung makes good fuel and fertilizer. New Friend - Tusk-Riders The Exiled Bloodline: Defeated by other clans, the remnant of a clan found refuge on your tula. They're integrated into you now but you know how Praxians think and how to get along with them. New Friend - Praxians. The Nymph Goddess: Your tula was flooded; you cut a deal with the Nymph Goddess to preserve a 'sacred lake', which is more like a pond and in return, her people aid you; you have to throw a lot of worms and plants and things as sacrifices, but hey, you know the game and how it's played. New Friend - Mer-Folk Be All You Can Be: So this preacher came from far, far, far, far away. He preached about rising through all the stations of life to the top and... well, a lot of harder to understand things. But after he threw a spear through five broo, you knew he couldn't be all bad. You have a little shrine to his gods and sometimes other of his people come to worship at it and re-enact his broo-killing feat. They always bring gifts, so you welcome them. New Friend - Loksalmi Question 21: What was your clan's greatest adventure before the coming of Sartar? Descent Into Wonderhome: +1 Magic Into the Heart of the Upland Marsh: +1 War Raiding the Sky Dome: +1 Magic The Cleansing of the Dark Bog: +1 Health The Fourth Unity Council: +1 Diplomacy The Lost Treasure of the Golden Horde: +1 Wealth The Great Pilgrimage of Chalana Arroy: +1 Health The Horseman With Five Heads: +1 Lore The Invasion By Goldentooth: +1 War The Journey to the West: +1 Lore The Wedding of Ungrosh and Flintalia: +1 Diplomacy (Ungrosh is a male troll, Flintalia is a female dwarf.) The Secret of the Silver Lode: +1 Wealth Question 22: How did your clan help Sartar? The Alliance with the Telmori: +1 Diplomacy The Building of a City: +1 Health The Building of the Roads: +1 Wealth The Lighting of the Flame: +1 Magic You bodyguarded Sartar: +1 War You contributed to the Royal Library: +1 Lore Question 23: What treasure did he give you? Blacktail the Bull: An ageless bull who spawns strong young. +2 to any roll related to livestock. +1 Wealth The Bronze Turtle: He once bore Vinga on his back on her adventures around the world, where she made many friends (and slew many foes). He can grow to the size of the Chief's stead and carry you and your goods and your friends inside his shell for water travel. +1 Diplomacy The Chariot of Erenkos: A flying chariot! Great for traveling and battle. +1 War The Ever-Flowing Keg: This produces endless ale, which is great if you want to party all the time or loosen people up. +2 Forward Ongoing to Carouse actions on your tula. +1 Diplomacy The Giant's Rattle: They say this came from one of the Cradles on the Zora Fel. It brings health and prosperity to your children; you can reroll any bad random event which hits your children. +1 Health. The Gift-Bracelet of Charlan: From this single bracelet, given him by his chief for slaying wolves that attacked the chief's herds, he rose from stick-picker to a wealthy Thane. Anyone who bears it can treat the clan's Wealth as 2 points higher than it is. +1 Wealth The Golden Tablets: Inscribed in the Great Darkness by a Sky Captain; it lays out many ancient stories. It gives the secrets of a Heroquest of your choice. +1 Lore. The Shrine of the Ancestors: This shrine helps your ancestors to manifest, so they can commune with you. +1 Lore. The Seedbag of Ernalda: Your crops are always healthy and strong; if the clan gets a famine event, reroll the first time. +1 Health. The Silver Sword: This is the Sword of Humakt. It adds +1 to hit and damage per tier of its user, and while the escalation die is 3+, you deal +1d8 damage whenever you hit with this weapon (champion: +2d8; epic: +4d8).. It does double damage to undead on a roll of 16+. +1 War. The Star Seed: This contains an infant star, placed in red crystal by Elmal during the Great Darkness. It adds +1 per tier to any attack that inflicts fire damage and any fire damage you inflict adds +1d6 per tier of the target +1 Magic. The Tears of Ernalda: This small vial contains the tears Ernalda shed just before going to sleep during the Great Darkness. It adds +2d6 per tier to any damage healed by its wielder. +1 Magic. Question 24: When Monrogh of the Many Suns and his followers defected from Elmal to Yelmalio worship, your clan added Yelmalio to your minor gods worshiped without abandoning Elmal. They're siblings!: +1 Magic bought their old regalia for a pittance and sold it for a profit: +1 Wealth couldn't understand Monrogh's babbling about Elmal and Yelmalio being the same god, but you built a little shrine to Yelmalio in your Elmal Temple just in case, so you're on good terms with them: +1 Diplomacy. If you have no Elmal Temple, add +1 Temple of Elmal. Weirdly, Elves sometimes come worship at it, calling him 'Halmalio'. It's... confusing. prayed to Ernalda for guidance and she told you to stay out of the whole argument and focus on growing more fruit. So you did: +1 Health. sent envoys to study about Yelmalio at the Jonstown Library. Your Lhankhor Mhy concluded that Yelmalio got his ass whipped at the Hill of Gold, where Elmal met Orlanth and they became friends. So you stuck with Elmal, but every so often, you hold a pity party for poor Yelmalio, who is now a eunuch: +1 Lore was angered and began raiding the Yelmalio traitors: Remove any Yelmalio points you accumulated; if you had any, add +1 to your Elmal Temple. . +1 War accepted Yelmalio as the real deal, flushed Elmal down the toilet. Convert any Elmal temple to Yelmalio, If you already had a Yelmalio Temple, add +1 to the new Yelmalio rating. +1 Magic. Question 25: When the Lunars conquered Sartar, your clan eagerly joined them, allowing the Red Goddess in: New Friend - Lunars and +1 Moon stayed neutral and tried to negotiate but ultimately submitted: +1 Communications allied with Trolls, but had to submit in the end: +1 Darkness set several temples of the Seven Mothers ablaze before defeat: +1 Fire fought guerrilla style, but eventually submitted: +1 Air pretended to join them, betrayed them... got crushed hard: +1 Water Surrendered to them quickly to protect your children, then counseled mercy to other clans: +1 Earth Question 26: : During Starbrow's Rebellion in 1612, your clan Helped crush the rebels!: New Friend - Lunars and +1 Moon sold the Lunars what they would need to beat the Rebels: +1 Communications kept your head down and avoided trouble: +1 Harmony slew a major Lunar leader before defeat: +1 Death and New Enemy - Lunars fought guerilla style against the Lunars, but eventually submitted: +1 Movement acted as healers: +1 Fertility stayed out of the fighting, avoiding defying either side: +1 Stasis tried to play both sides against each other: +1 Disorder hid your tula with magic: +1 Illusion composed a grand history of the whole affair: +1 Truth Question 27: When the Lunars put a bounty on Ducks, you... stayed out of the whole affair: No change Killed lots of Ducks: New Friend - Lunars and New Enemy - Ducks Defended the Ducks: New Enemy - Lunars and New Friend - Ducks Question 28: When Kallyr led a rebellion against the Lunars, did you join it? We fought the whole time... and got crushed when she died: +1 War, -1 Health We helped recruit other clans... but it was expensive: +1 Diplomacy, -1 Wealth We burned a lot of magical resources, but learned a lot: +1 Lore, -1 Magic We had many successful heroquests, but neglected our fighting skills: +1 Magic, -1 War The Lunars paid us to aid them, which angered many: +1 Wealth, -1 Diplomacy We neglected our lore studies to produce food for the armies: +1 Health, -1 Lore Question 29: Did we support Argar before he lit the Flame of Sartar? Yes: We gain Ally: Argath We supported Queen Leika of the Colymar for the Throne. We gain Ally: Colymar Clan We hid under a rock: +1 Health Question 30: What horrible Chaos Creatures did we help fight at the Battle of The Stream-Creek River? (You gain hatred of that creature, +2 to hit such creatures). Walktapi Jack-O-Bears The Crimson Bat!! Five-Headed Pentans Scorpion Men Karshtkids Tusk Riders Jar-Eel the Razoress Gorp Karshtkids Beat-Pot Aelwin Zombie Hordes Vampires Ghouls Elite Tork Forces Bugbears General Pharedes Broo The Rokari Beast Alchemical Giant Lunar Priests Lunar Sorcerors Blue Moon Assassins Big Rats Harrek the Berserk Chaos Spiders Chaos Half-Men Question 31: What horrible Chaos Creature killed so many people it scares us? (You get a Fear of that creature, suffering -2 against it). Use the same list but pick something different.

He could be something on the level of say the Emperor, Harrek, etc, but if you're shooting for god and you don't get one, but you act like you got one, you have a schmuck. Though part of the problem is that all we really know about Nysalor is that he spread infectious illumination and didn't care about his worshipers. And died fighting Arkat.

It was the whole point of the project to make him. So there was an awfully pointless mess if he was just a random schmuck.

The Malkioni either assimilate you or declare you Krljarki or however it's spelled and try to wipe you out. (Though you could argue that women effectively are the Shudra caste of the Malkioni system.)

To the extent that the term Devil is used in Glorantha, it usually means Wakboth.

Death and disease are not high minded philosophy, base vendetta, or abstract conflict. They are concrete realities that humans wish to throw down the stairs for entirely good reasons.

This is a heroquest which may happen in the next session or the one after that: Odayla and Yinkin Flush the Game Step 1: Odalya and Yinkin know the game are hiding from them; they must go into the wilderness and find the game. This is a simple huntng skill check, DC 15. If they make it, they go to step 2. If they blow it, they end up in Step 1 - B. Step 1-B: Ogre Ambush They encounter three hunters, Ivar, Corwin, and Blarin. They are *Ogres*, but only Ivar is a full-power one. Corwin and Blarin are less potent. They invite the PCs to a feast. The PCs must beat DC 15 for someone to realize it's a trap. If they eat it, they are dazed (save ends). Then the Ogres attack. DC 20 to see through disguises. Ivar Once a member of the Fire Flowers, he went cannibal in his initiation and is now a low-level priest of Cacodemon Large 3rd level leader [humanoid] Initiative: +5 Spear Thrust +8 vs AC - 21 damage Grab +8 vs PD - 14 damage and grabbed (DC 15 to break free on Strength.) Bite +8 vs PD on a grabbed foe - 21 damage and 5 ongoing damage 😄 Encourage. Quick Action 2/Battle. Blood Drink: Whenever his foe takes ongoing damage, he heals twice that amount. Haunted by Victims: His dead swirl around him; while he lives, he has resist 11+ against weapon damage... but when he is staggered, they chew on him and he takes 4d6 damage. AC 19 PD 16 HP 90 MD 12 Corwin and Blarin Seduced by Ivar, they now serve Cacodemon and wish to grow in power; this is a heroquest for them to gain gifts from Cacodemon. 1st level Troop (Humanoid) Initiative: +5 Spear Thrust +8 vs AC - 5 damage Natural 16+: They also inflict 5 ongoing damage. Blood Drink: Whenever his foe takes ongoing damage, he heals twice that amount. Haunted by Victims: His dead swirl around him; if he reduces anyone to zero HP, he gains resist 11+, but any attack on him does +5 damage. AC 17 PD 15 HP 27 MD 11 However, if the PC playing Yinkin is staggered, Orlanth intervenes and each round on Yinkin's turn, he drops a lightning bolt on whoever last hit that PC - +8 to hit and it inflicts 10 lightning damage; it attacks Ivar if it has no Yinkin-hitter to smite. After this, they can try to find the right way, DC 15. Blow it twice and they drop back to reality. Otherwise, go to 2. Step 2: Disguise themselves as Deer and infiltrate the herd. DC 15; failure means they may be trampled for +8 to hit AC and 10 damage. Passing out or failing 3 times means you drop out of the Quest. Step 3: Guide them to a watering Hole. DC 15 again; failure means they may be trampled for +8 to hit AC and 10 damage. Passing out or failing 3 times means you drop out of the Quest. Step 4: Hunt the game! Everyone makes a DC 15 check; the more success, the more game. Only there is one problem. After everyone rolls once... DC 15 to hear trouble coming. 6 Hungry Bears rush in to devour the deer; Odayla can use charisma skills to convince them they don't have the right (DC 20), otherwise, you have to fight them. 6 Bear They flee once 3 bears are dead. 2nd level troop [beast] Initiative: +4 (Average) Bite +7 vs. AC—6 damage Natural even hit: The target takes +1d6 damage from a claw swipe. AC 18 PD 16 HP 36 MD 12 But if you can beat them... you can eat them! They effectively add 1 success per dead bear to the hunt. (A neighboring clan lost all its adult men and has only old men and children for males, though it has a full set of women. They need this done to initiate some hunters and each PC gets paid a cow for it.)

Someone probably said this already, but the real secret of Dwarf Food is that it is marimite.

The biggest difference between Sheng is that he takes 'none of this is real' as an excuse to unleash his ID and slaughter people for pleasure, break everything, and generally be an asshole casual mass genocider of people, while the laughing mystic simply seeks more enlightenment and escape. It's pretty clear that if only fear of consequences holds you back before enlightenment, it will only make you a monster. The Kralorelans didn't understand that or they would have never tried to enlighten Sheng.

I would expect a Shaman could try to negotiate with any God of whatever pantheon he is linked to, so a shaman of Kolat could approach the Storm Gods, though he will likely end up with a poor bargain.

Session 2: Okay, so the PCs joined the Blue Quartz and their allies the Green Snakes and fought some Tusk Riders. The PCs invoked the Harmony rune to help the Clans cooperate, invoked the Man Rune to have some wandering trolls show up and eat some of the Boars of the Tusk Riders. And used the Air rune to hamper enemy missile fire. The PCs had a fight with a bunch of footmen and that went reasonably well, save for Thumpson, the Wind Lord, forgetting to use his Sandals of Darkness. Afterwards, they went to go check on the boys and see if they made it to Uncle's Lodge, only to find that a group of outlaws had captured the boys and planned to haul them off to sell as slaves. An intense argument ensued in which the PCs decided to send Sanria, Priestess of Ernalda, to negotiate. She scored a critical on her diplomatic roll and talks them into accepting a small fee for 'protecting the boys during their initiation' along with a bath and some food and moving on. It was the greatest moment of the night. We then skimmed over Sea Season in which they helped out with the sowing of crops and other clan tasks, then in Fire Season, they headed for Clearwine to trade loot from the Tusk Riders for Clearwine and special seeds for next year. They encountered an area of burned chaos plants; the Trickster took some seeds because, well, Trickster. They then met a patrol which warned them that the Oak Leaves Clan was having huge internal discord and they might want to detour. Instead, they went in and found that a marriage to reconcile two clans had been disrupted because the bride was pregnant by a guy from a third clan. The Ernalda Priestess talked them into reconciling and bringing a lawsuit against the third clan. They beat some Stone Crabs, but the Trickster used the seeds as part of one of his flustering attacks. This will come back. Then they reached Clearwine and the Issaries they escorted made the deals. The Priestesses asked the Ernalda Priestess and the Trickster to be part of a small Heroquest. Because I had not planned enough, Ernalda now has a daughter named Cynthia, who they saved after Eurmal lost her in the woods. They got lost trying to find her and had to save Barntar from an alligator. They talked the alligator into trading Barntar from fish; the Trickster dove into the water, caught a bunch in his mouth (he's a troll) and spat them into the alligator's mouth. Greatest Troll moment. They found Cynthia and the new plant and brought her home. A very simple quest. They started home and had to fight chaos vines where the Trickster used those seeds. They burned the vines and hoped they'd fixed it and we ran out of time. That's where we stopped.

Someone has to have theorized Nyzsalor used Thed's aid to cause the Curse of Kin as Thed's revenge on Kygor Litor. And connected, that his previous incarnation as Rashoran was infected with Chaos when the people who opened the way to Chaos murdered him, thus producing Gbaji. (Perhaps his ritual murder was part of opening the way to Chaos - Illuminating a patch of the world so it no longer resisted Chaos.)

The gods being real and the gods being shaped by human belief are not on the same axis. They can be both. My own line of thought is that humanity didn't create the gods; they existed before Time, but without time, they couldn't be the kind of solid, locked down beings that time requires. And they remain beings who are in a sense, living probabilities rather than living certainties and thus remain subject to change because of the reciprocal interaction between them and believers, whose beliefs lock them down by re-enacting specific versions of the myths in a given location. Think of it as quantum metaphysics. But there are limits to what belief can do without pushing too far, as shown by the Godlearners. Not every possibility is equally true and some are rare, high energy states and when the state crashes, that energy may well go into you. One clan sees the Little Sun as Elmal. Another sees it as Yelmalio, a third thinks they're brothers. That's not too far. But the one who says Yelmalio is a potato with delusions of grandeur and that Mostal is Uleria's husband is probably in trouble.

The Party, all young adults initiated two years earlier: 1. Robby Flay, Troll Trickster searching to recreate the perfect meal he had during his initiation 2. Mercutio, A Seshnelan whose village was wiped by raiders and ended up in Dragon Pass as a priest of Lhankor Mhy (home brew class posted on this forum.) His purified grimoire gave him reskinned Magic Missile as an at-will, which he used a LOT. 3. Bill, a Duck Humakti whose father, a great Duck General, was slain by the Lunars during the Duck Hunt 4. Sanria, an Elf raised by the Ernalda Priestesses, who is now an Ernalda Priestess 5. Thumpson, Half-Orc Wind Lord, who was found in a mysterious cosmic egg as a baby and no one knows what a 'half-orc' is, since he seems to be entirely present. What ensued was a scenario where everyone tried to figure out their abilities and I, the DM, screwed up and had made encounters too brutal for them, though technically not overpowered. I had created weaker Tusk Riders, but they came in a pair of a level 1 troop and a large level 2 troop. So two riders and two boars and that was far more brutal than I realized. The PCs had to scout in the woods around the men's initiation for the year, protecting five boys. They stumbled on the tracks of two tusk riders and their mounts, who they followed and ambushed. Sandals of Darkness proved a brutal power for Thumpson, as he basically vanished just before the attack and on round 1, cut one of the riders in half. A brutal fight ensued in which we learned: The lower access to healing was brutal. The trickster, the windlord, and the humakti all got knocked out at least once. Feckless strike is a really good power. Tricksters in general seem very effective. The Earth Priestess basically sucked. Possibly none of us understood how to use her, but she was mostly worthless unless she used a daily. She was awesome at negotiations, though (Charisma 18 and a +3 relevant background.) All the other PCs did well, but I'd made the encounters too hard. They did win, alert the Blue Quartz Clan, and get help from another clan; next time, I'm going to add a healing oriented NPC (a reskinned cleric of Chalanna Arroy) to help them and avoid any large creatures until they have more HP.

Bat-whispering is a pretty good description for what the Bat-handlers do and I can totally see that basically being how it works. Going back to the original topic of this - Illumination is a cheat code that lets you abuse divine power. Nothing could be more in the spirit of illumination than being illuminated, initiating to Storm Bull, then using chaos detection to have sexy hookups with Chaos creatures. Sure, this means you're occulted and doing wrong, but doing wrong seems much more common than doing it right.

I hate Tex-Mex food; much of it makes me ill just to look at it. If I was illuminated, I would stop hating it, but I would still be able to tell the difference between that and Italian cuisine. It's not that an illuminate thinks they're the *same* in every way. It's that he stops hating chaos (or law, if he was an illuminate chaos critter.)

People incarnating Jaldon can raid Sartar, so I would assume Waha could ride you all the way to plunder Glamour if you didn't die first.

In the real world, branding has been around since 2700 BC. So it makes sense to me that it would exist in Glorantha.

The black ops wing of Project Blue Book.