Darkness-runed Orlanthi PC ?

[jpk]

Hi all,

We are a few sessions into a Red Cow Heroquest CS/11L campaign, and I am looking for some cult options to present to a PC who does not seem a natural fit for the 'usual' Orlanthi deities. He chose runes in Darkness + Death + Mastery to see where that might take him.. Character-wise, he's best described as a relentless and restless warrior, strong in the Darkness rune, bit of an outsider who does his best for the clan. He struggles with Orlanthi virtues as his instincts tend to secrecy and knife-in-the-dark behaviour. His Abilities include a troll-like ability to find his way in darkness and an ability to sense chaos (which presents as an itchy moon-burn and strong Lunar animosity).

Humakt and the Truth rune seem to be a mis-match for him, and he's looking for something outside Orlanth and the Lightbringers. I was looking at Valind as a storm tribe option, but have no idea how that cult or initiation might represent in Sartar (secretely, I imagine). I see also the Red Cow are allies with the Erlending/Torkani which potentially opens up troll / darkness opportunities. Ideally, I ideally would like a deity/hero-cult option that would allow him to keep his strong clan ties.

If anyone has any ideas or inspiration to share on this, it would be great !

Many thanks
 

[Tindalos]

I mean with death, darkness, and a hatred of Chaos, he could make a good Zorak Zorani (a bit of a contradiction in terms I guess.)

This would put him at odds with the clan's Humakti, however. But given the close presence of the Satzdorf, the voice of Orsta Trades-With-Trolls, the friendship between Zorak Zoran and Storm Bull, and a potential connection to the Shadow of Black Glass at the Black Glass Ruins their could be an interesting position for them.

[Ali the Helering]

3 hours ago, Tindalos said:

I mean with death, darkness, and a hatred of Chaos, he could make a good Zorak Zorani (a bit of a contradiction in terms I guess.)

What exactly leads you to this massive judgment????  Good is in the eye of the beholder.  We know, we gouged it out earlier, and very good it tasted too👹

[Bill the barbarian]

6 hours ago, jpk said:

He chose runes in Darkness + Death + Mastery to see where that might take him.. Character-wise, he's best described as a relentless and restless warrior, strong in the Darkness rune, bit of an outsider who does his best for the clan.

Interesting, I mean, the almost default human darkness and Uzphile cult is Argan Argar, but it is not a close fit here. An argument could be made for a hooman being almost as good as a good “Value Trollkin” and if said warrior was a spearman it would narrow the differences so there is your death and darkness... Again, interesting, I am looking forward to seeing what folk come up with for an answer to your question. 

1 hour ago, Ali the Helering said:

What exactly leads you to this massive judgment????  Good is in the eye of the beholder.  We know, we gouged it out earlier, and very good it tasted too👹

Two fifty for an eyeball
And a buck and a half for an ear
Happy hour, happy hour
Happy hour is here

Either The Tragically Hip or a great Troll cover band!

[jpk]

22 hours ago, Tindalos said:

I mean with death, darkness, and a hatred of Chaos, he could make a good Zorak Zorani (a bit of a contradiction in terms I guess.)

This would put him at odds with the clan's Humakti, however. But given the close presence of the Satzdorf, the voice of Orsta Trades-With-Trolls, the friendship between Zorak Zoran and Storm Bull, and a potential connection to the Shadow of Black Glass at the Black Glass Ruins their could be an interesting position for them.

That's a good idea, I'll talk to him about Z.Z. and see - thanks Tindalos !

[soltakss]

Urain might be a good fit. He was the dark and angry cloud that came out of Orlanth when he had a really bad headache.

He is the god of violence for violence's sake, the dark storm cloud that blocks out the sun.

He is like an Orlanthi Zorak Zoran.

[Darius West]

17 hours ago, soltakss said:

He is like an Orlanthi Zorak Zoran.

Correction... He is like an Orlanthi Zorak Zorani who also pees everywhere.

[g33k]

On 1/27/2020 at 11:32 AM, Bill the barbarian said:

... Either The Tragically Hip or a great Troll cover band!

The Tragically Hip WAS a Great Troll cover band, but Great Trolls aren't so great with articles, so Tragically Hip.  Or adjectives, so Tragic Hip.  Then they got hungry, and ate the nearest joint, so Tragic.  Also trullz dunt spel so good, so Trajik.

Everyone's happier that way.

[Bill the barbarian]

1 minute ago, g33k said:

Everyone's happier that way.

...and a fair shake more confused needless to say (yes, I am saying it anyway). Well, the above conversation g33k was having all by himself explains many things. Like for instance, where that joint got to that I was saving for the occasion of a Great Troll Cover Band wandering through!

[af Granskär]

He could also be just an orlanthi with Darkness in him.

I'm playing a character in RQ with similar temperament and with the Air & Darkness runes as strongest runes. He's quite devoted to Orlanth, but is vengeful, likes to play it dirty etc. Good stuff.

I don't think cults like ZZ would be appropriate inside orlanthi clan. 

Anyway, mortal people can and should be 'imperfect', and if someone goes against some of the cultural virtues, is a new / specialist cult is always needed? Iit's very 'Umath' to be unwanted and make a space for yourself, by force if needed.

One mythical option to explore: in Orlanth & Aroka myth Orlanth consorts with "Dark Woman" (Kyger Litor / Deloradella) who later gives bith to "Crushing Noise". Were he to approach Orlanth's Hall, and accepted inside, he would become part of Thunder Brothers. Ok, one without much Thunder, but hey, nobody's perfect.

[Joerg]

 

1 hour ago, af Granskär said:

I don't think cults like ZZ would be appropriate inside orlanthi clan. 

If the clan has some regular trouble with foes of ZZ, a few ZZ warriors may be corralled alongside the Storm Bulls and released for mayhem when required.

Such a sworn warrior would be under constant observation, perhaps not to the extent that a Trickster is mistrusted, but likely with someone responsible accompanying that biker type to prevent the worst excesses.

 

1 hour ago, af Granskär said:

Anyway, mortal people can and should be 'imperfect', and if someone goes against some of the cultural virtues, is a new / specialist cult is always needed? Iit's very 'Umath' to be unwanted and make a space for yourself, by force if needed.

Orlanth and the Thunder Brothers have a couple of personal Darkness enemies, usually because Orlanth or the Thunder Brother took something useful from Darkness, and Darkness objects. There isn't much friendship between Storm and Darkness prior to I Fought We Won. Argan Argar and possibly Xiola Umbar are the only Darkness entities welcome in Orlanth's village, unless you count Inora's cold and reflective powers as a form of Darkness.

 

1 hour ago, af Granskär said:

One mythical option to explore: in Orlanth & Aroka myth Orlanth consorts with "Dark Woman" (Kyger Litor / Deloradella) who later gives bith to "Crushing Noise". Were he to approach Orlanth's Hall, and accepted inside, he would become part of Thunder Brothers. Ok, one without much Thunder, but hey, nobody's perfect.

Crushing noise has been brought into connection with Zolan Zubar, the Darkness spirit of the Kolating tradition, and patron of Varzor Kitor, the first human to become a Kitori Shadowlord. This entity shares many aspects of Zorak Zoran.

 

[Qizilbashwoman]

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

Inora

I believe Inora is a Darkness deity, canonically. She is certainly part of the Uz pantheon.

[David Scott]

On 1/27/2020 at 12:58 PM, jpk said:

Darkness + Death + Mastery

An excellent candidate for Orlanth approached through his Mastery rune, he can struggle with his innate leadership abilities and lack storm or movement . The Darkness aspect is Orlanth's sandals of Darkness stolen from the trolls. The Death rune is just that Death is Orlanth's sword. Will be a cool character. 

[jajagappa]

4 hours ago, Qizilbashwoman said:

I believe Inora is a Darkness deity, canonically. She is certainly part of the Uz pantheon.

She is the daughter of Himile and Kero Fin, the goddess of Mountain Snow, so specifically the Cold aspect of Darkness.

[af Granskär]

1 hour ago, David Scott said:

An excellent candidate for Orlanth approached through his Mastery rune, he can struggle with his innate leadership abilities and lack storm or movement . The Darkness aspect is Orlanth's sandals of Darkness stolen from the trolls. The Death rune is just that Death is Orlanth's sword. Will be a cool character. 

And, this way the clanfolk will think "scary, but it's great to have him on OUR side" rather than "maybe useful now but let's get rid of him asap" which would be the fate of a ZZ follower.

[Akhôrahil]

On 2/2/2020 at 7:56 PM, soltakss said:

Urain might be a good fit. He was the dark and angry cloud that came out of Orlanth when he had a really bad headache.

He is the god of violence for violence's sake, the dark storm cloud that blocks out the sun.

He is like an Orlanthi Zorak Zoran.

Urain is a chaos god, though? That's unlikely to go over well.

I was thinking AA, since Humakt is off the table. Can you even worship ZZ as a human?

[Qizilbashwoman]

46 minutes ago, Akhôrahil said:

Can you even worship ZZ as a human?

yes. he's not one of the gods that is, uh, "uzish", that is to say "by uz for uz". like argan argar, and quite a few other deities, he's a darkness deity who the uz have as a real focus but who isn't uz-only.

he's got non-uz cults in uz-dominated regions, even.

as for whether he's present in Orlanthi lands... well, there are uz in Theyalan territories and there's no reason you can't have a deeply unorthodox background. but i deeply, deeply doubt you'd find ZZ in Theyalan communities. If you did, it would be one that was so deeply influenced by the uz and so far from Dragon Pass that it would likely be considered questionably Orlanthi.

[Jolt]

On a related note, in Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes, it insists that all initiates of Orlanth must have the Air rune.  Do most people ignore that?  Could a priestess of Ernalda not have the Earth rune, for example?

[Qizilbashwoman]

49 minutes ago, Jolt said:

On a related note, in Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes, it insists that all initiates of Orlanth must have the Air rune.  Do most people ignore that?  Could a priestess of Ernalda not have the Earth rune, for example?

a priestess of Ernalda is not an initiate of Orlanth, she's a priestess of Ernalda? I think you are confused. All Orlanthi are not Air rune. Only active worshippers of Orlanth are, not people who show up to holy days out of respect. Orlanth initiates do the same for Ernalda high holy days and they don't have the Earth rune.

Edited February 7, 2020 by Qizilbashwoman

[soltakss]

4 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

Urain is a chaos god, though? That's unlikely to go over well.

It depends who you ask. It was a chaos god in Book of Drastic Resolutions, but I never liked the rationale. I much prefer it being the dark, unrestrained violent temper of Orlanth, which can cause problems when allowed to rage unchecked.

4 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

Can you even worship ZZ as a human?

Yes, of course. It is unusual but not impossible.

1 hour ago, Jolt said:

On a related note, in Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes, it insists that all initiates of Orlanth must have the Air rune.

I'd ignore that. Someone with Movement and Mastery would still be a reasonable Orlanthi, but without Storm Powers.

 

[Akhôrahil]

1 minute ago, soltakss said:

It depends who you ask. It was a chaos god in Book of Drastic Resolutions

I got it from Lords of Terror.

[soltakss]

21 minutes ago, Akhôrahil said:

I got it from Lords of Terror.

Right, I didn't realise it was a chaos god there. I still like the version in King of Sartar that said Orlanth had a really bad headache and threw off a big, dark, violent thunderstorm that was Urain.

[Akhôrahil]

1 hour ago, soltakss said:

Right, I didn't realise it was a chaos god there. I still like the version in King of Sartar that said Orlanth had a really bad headache and threw off a big, dark, violent thunderstorm that was Urain.

LoT has a (IMO) nice interpretation that Urain is when someone gets completely lost in berserker rage, to the point where they have to be put down. 

[Ali the Helering]

IMG it would be a matter of local perception, some seeing the disorder he embodies as chaotic, others as what happens when someone 'goes totally urain'.  Differences in understanding could provide interesting social conflict hooks. 

Of course, it can be an option as a cult change due to relife sickness - Urox without the social niceties, Ereltharol without the cheerful disposition.... 

Edited February 10, 2020 by Ali the Helering

[JonL]

Arkat (sshh, don't tell).

Edited February 17, 2020 by JonL