Quest to Revive the Rebel King from The Ice Refuge

[Jim]

The source of the quote below is the Heroquest Glorantha book, but this is not a topic related to any system. I was wondering is anyone knew more about the quest to revive to rebel king (Bryon) from the Ice Refuge?

Heroquest Glorantha P.85 "Whitewall fell, and the gods were trapped in the Underworld by evil Lunar magic. The winter would not end and the gods could not be reached, even after our heroes quested to revive the Rebel King from the Ice Refuge. They rescued King Broyan the Vingkotling as part of the unfolding Cragspider prophesy."

I read into this that Bryon was trapped after the fall of Whitewall and the Great Winter started.

From the map in the Guide to Glorantha on P.733 I wondered if he had escaped from the siege of Whitewall to the Ice Refuge and that this refuge was in fact the Stormwalk Mountain. Or the Ice Refuge is a place on the Heroplane whose entrance/exit is via Stormwalk. Perhaps the Ice Refuge is a place related to Valind, who would delight in trapping the incarnation of Orlanth (Bryon) given the enmity between the two gods. That's my working theory, I'd be interested on the thoughts of the tribe.

[John Biles]

40 minutes ago, Jim said:

The source of the quote below is the Heroquest Glorantha book, but this is not a topic related to any system. I was wondering is anyone knew more about the quest to revive to rebel king (Bryon) from the Ice Refuge?

Heroquest Glorantha P.85 "Whitewall fell, and the gods were trapped in the Underworld by evil Lunar magic. The winter would not end and the gods could not be reached, even after our heroes quested to revive the Rebel King from the Ice Refuge. They rescued King Broyan the Vingkotling as part of the unfolding Cragspider prophesy."

I read into this that Bryon was trapped after the fall of Whitewall and the Great Winter started.

From the map in the Guide to Glorantha on P.733 I wondered if he had escaped from the siege of Whitewall to the Ice Refuge and that this refuge was in fact the Stormwalk Mountain. Or the Ice Refuge is a place on the Heroplane whose entrance/exit is via Stormwalk. Perhaps the Ice Refuge is a place related to Valind, who would delight in trapping the incarnation of Orlanth (Bryon) given the enmity between the two gods. That's my working theory, I'd be interested on the thoughts of the tribe.

The PC group in Heroquest Glorantha, who perform this quest off stage, are a Priestess of Ernalda, an Orlanthi warrior thane, a Humakti, a Praxian shaman, a Lhankor Mhy scribe, and a renegade Lunar.

I like your idea of Valind being the villain here; given it's about rescuing a King, it strikes me as something where Ernalda organizes a rescue of her husband, with the aid of Humakt, Kolat, and Lhankor Mhy and some hangers on (Elmal probably stays behind to run things while Ernalda is in the field)

 

[Nick Brooke]

I think you could usefully base this on Frozen, or any other Snow Queen retellings.

(Ursula Vernon has a very good one, inc. lesbian antics among the caribou herders, if I remember right)

[Nick Brooke]

Ah, yes: "The Raven and the Reindeer," by T. Kingfisher. Great fun, like everything she writes.

[Akhôrahil]

Hijack a Lunar Icebreaker! They won’t see that coming!

[Nick Brooke]

Full tech specs for Lunar icebreakers are in A Rough Guide to Glamour, qv.

[jajagappa]

4 hours ago, Jim said:

From the map in the Guide to Glorantha on P.733 I wondered if he had escaped from the siege of Whitewall to the Ice Refuge and that this refuge was in fact the Stormwalk Mountain. Or the Ice Refuge is a place on the Heroplane whose entrance/exit is via Stormwalk.

Yes, I believe Broyan escapes from Whitewall to the Ice Refuge.  And I place Ice Refuge high on Stormwalk Mountain (it is snow-capped after all).  Of course, it is a place on the Hero Plane as well with entrance/exit on Stormwalk Mountain just as Orlanth's Storm Home is also on the Hero Plane and also at the peak of Stormwalk Mountain, and of course Storm Bull's home is there as well (how many Storm Gods can dance upon the peak of a mountain? 😉 )

While Ice Refuge could be Valind's home, I think Inora the Snow Queen is the logical choice - one with an icy grasp and who doesn't like to let her lovers go (and that all fits very well with Ernalda seeking to rescue her husband and the varied Snow Queen themes that @Nick Brooke notes as well as the White Witch of Narnia).

 

[jajagappa]

These are my working notes on Ice Refuge:

This is the home of Inora, the White Queen, and goddess of the mountain snows. Heortlings know that she dwells here atop Stormwalk in the fabled hall called Ice Refuge.  From the icy hall she casts her gaze upon all the mountains around, and sometimes descends far below to claim valleys or ridges for her own. Praxians know her as the White Princess, and their shamans will call her from the trails below to favor them and descend for a while to bless them with her gifts.

Those who climb Stormwalk in search of Storm Home are as likely to end up at Ice Refuge in the presence of Inora as they are to reach Orlanth's famous hall unless they know the right markings past Ice Ridge.  From the outside, Ice Refuge looks like a great chieftain's hall though coated with snow. There are a pair of doors carved of ice which open into Inora's hall.  At the far end of the building is a narrow tower of ice, flat and open on top. Fierce mountain winds, loyal to Inora, circle and swirl around Ice Refuge, ever vigilant against intruders and armed with chilling darts and freezing breath. A pair of snow wyrms wait within an icy stable near Inora's ice-carved sleigh.

The hall is large and long with a high arched roof and is made entirely of a frosty ice, decorated with the finest snowflakes, each one unique. Icicles hang down from the edges of the roof.  In the center of the hall is a long table with benches on each side - those, too, are made of ice.  Upon the benches sit many men and some women, though they are all frozen and immobile and no one knows the words and magics to awaken them. Small icicles hang from the noses or beards of some. Before them on the table are fine frozen roasts and crystal goblets of frozen ice wine. Tales among the Heortlings say that Hendrik hides here, and that Broyan hid here too during the Great Winter before he was rescued or escaped.

At the far end of the table is a tall chair carved entirely of pure white snow.  Inora often sits here with her "guests", her dazzling white crown that looks like a castle upon her head, and dressed only in a long flowing robe of purest white that glitters when she moves. Her skin and hair are also white, though her eyes sparkle brilliantly like reflections of sun upon a thousand snowflakes. She is stately and stunningly beautiful, and it is very difficult to resist her icy charm.  Ice nymphs and small snow deities attend to her needs.

Beyond the hall is the door to the tower. Her private chamber is here, filled with gifts and decorations from her admirers. Carved steps of ice lead up to the top of the tower from where Inora gazes upon the world beyond and occasionally answers those who call her.

[jajagappa]

Btw, there's also this little bit from HotHP p.67, part of Harmast's Saga from the period when Harmast was among the Hendriki:

Hendrik:  Ha ha. Well, Berenething, do you know the old men of Ice Stead? Can you tell me how to wake them, and thaw their roasts?
Harmast:  No, I don’t think so.

Hendrik: What good are you to us, then?

[Minlister]

Quote

Perhaps the Ice Refuge is a place related to Valind, who would delight in trapping the incarnation of Orlanth (Bryon) given the enmity between the two gods. 

The "hijacking" by the cult of Valind of the Lunar masterplan for "killing Orlanth" in order to provoke the Great Winter is at the heart of my in-house campaign.