The spirits of the Queen's Tomb

[Scorus]

There are over 100 spirits tied to urns in the Queen's Tomb. They will attack anyone who touches their urn, except an Orgorvale cultist. So there is obviously a loyalty there.

As my players start the cult and prepare the tomb for pilgrims, I'm wondering who they are, what they want, and what my players can do with them. My assumptions/thoughts:

1) I'm assuming that anyone buried there would have been important, or at least friends or relatives to the royal family?

2) I'm assuming that they died after Orgorvale and during her reign as the area's goddess (wyter?), so during the Dawn/First Age? I'm assuming they are all human.

3) I'm assuming Ulanin is NOT there. There may be a very few military people there, but I'm assuming it is more royalty, chiefs, counselors, courtiers?

So what do spirits like that want? Do they want ancestors to come worship them? Do they want to be freed? Do they want...what?

Any thoughts/ideas would be much appreciated!

[Joerg]

Any personal, face-to-face followers of Orgorvale (and Ulanin) would date back to the Vingkotling Age.

Any cult recognizable to modern Orlanthi would have used the methods introduced by Hantrafal, who was presumably a contemporary of Heort in the Silver Age.

Do we know the circumstances of Orgorvale's burial? There are know cases where a burial doesn't just mean corporeal death but an ascension to guardianhood, like Sartar entering his brazier. Given Orgorvale's past role as such a guardian, could she have undergone such a transforming rite rather than a normal burial?

It is entirely possible (and fairly normal) for people who died of natural causes (if you include warfare and other such grisly ends) to become guardian entities after their death. Even circumstances like the Night of Horrors haven't stopped the Hon-eel cult from manifesting.

 

Another source for these spirits could be temple spirits summoned and bound in the Dawn Age and possibly the earliest days of the Kingdom of Orlanthland. These could include notable descendants of Orgorvale summoned by their descendants.

 

Or they may be the spirits of the defenders of the temple against the EWF take-over, sworn to defend the temple even after their deaths (likely dragonfire incinerations or similar).

 

Any spirit will appreciate the chance to have a physical presence and to receive worship. Some of them may be available as allied spirits to rune masters of Orgorvale.

[Scorus]

8 hours ago, Joerg said:

Any personal, face-to-face followers of Orgorvale (and Ulanin) would date back to the Vingkotling Age.

Any cult recognizable to modern Orlanthi would have used the methods introduced by Hantrafal, who was presumably a contemporary of Heort in the Silver Age.

Do we know the circumstances of Orgorvale's burial? There are know cases where a burial doesn't just mean corporeal death but an ascension to guardianhood, like Sartar entering his brazier. Given Orgorvale's past role as such a guardian, could she have undergone such a transforming rite rather than a normal burial?

It is entirely possible (and fairly normal) for people who died of natural causes (if you include warfare and other such grisly ends) to become guardian entities after their death. Even circumstances like the Night of Horrors haven't stopped the Hon-eel cult from manifesting.

Another source for these spirits could be temple spirits summoned and bound in the Dawn Age and possibly the earliest days of the Kingdom of Orlanthland. These could include notable descendants of Orgorvale summoned by their descendants.

Or they may be the spirits of the defenders of the temple against the EWF take-over, sworn to defend the temple even after their deaths (likely dragonfire incinerations or similar).

Any spirit will appreciate the chance to have a physical presence and to receive worship. Some of them may be available as allied spirits to rune masters of Orgorvale.

The legend is that the gods themselves created the tomb, including the hill that the tomb sits atop of, to hold Orgorvale. She certainlly took the guardian role that you speak of. This matches my thoughts on who the inhabitants are.

Any other thoughts on what they would want? I'm thinking that some would want worshippers, others would want to be freed. What other options?

[Brootse]

My take is that they are buried Orgorvale's worshippers. Perhaps only priests and nobles?

[jajagappa]

4 hours ago, Brootse said:

Perhaps only priests and nobles?

Given Orgorvale's timeframe, she'd certainly have handmaidens, attendants, wise women, and the like with her in the afterlife.

[Scorus]

2 hours ago, jajagappa said:

Given Orgorvale's timeframe, she'd certainly have handmaidens, attendants, wise women, and the like with her in the afterlife.

That is what I'm thinking. And hopefully they waited until they died a natural death...

[jajagappa]

23 minutes ago, Scorus said:

And hopefully they waited until they died a natural death...

It probably does not matter.  Perhaps they simply descended into the barrow to assist their goddess in the afterlife and went to sleep, eventually their bodies dissolving to dust and ashes, and then placed into the urns while their spirits remained in attendance.

[Scorus]

So I've gotten this mostly figured out. Most of the ghosts are servants, handmaids, and guards. There are a couple of priestesses and one later ruler. There are also 3 "Other" whose remains were put in the place by someone later for who knows what reason.

I want at least one of the three to be a likely enemy, one to be a potential ally, and then perhaps one that is completely out of left field. Ideas in addition to these much appreciated:

An Orlanth Dragon Priest that was put in there during the EWF/Yerezum Storn's time.

A chaotic, snuck in there while both the dragon and Orgorvale were asleep. Would Orgorvale be able to detect that presence after awakening?

A non-human. Aldryami, Mostali, Uz, etc. Even from an extinct race, such as a Gold Wheel Dancer.

 A hero from the distant past. Rastalulf, perhaps?

 

[skulldixon]

Here is a thought; maybe a bad one. What f the urns in the Queen's tomb were placed there by the EWF when they imprisoned Orgorvale and replaced her with a delusional Dream Dragon? What if they were the original Initiates, Rune Priests, and Rune Lords of the Orgorvale Summer Cult. Removing them and replacing these worshipers with ones that would help the EWF cement the worship of Yezezum Storn in her place would the EWF succeed in this there goal.

 

This also opens up the possibility for the Players who reestablish her cult to later learn from these spirits what traditions and duties the cult lost. Like when a initiate gains the role of Rune Lord, one of the spirits manifests before them and instructs them in their new duties. This would also align really well with the rune spells that you gain through this cult.