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the "drinking giant's cauldron" heroquest (prince of sartar)


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Dear all

Is there any info about Argrath managing the heroquest ?

I m interested by :

When it happened (before 1621 I believe :) ), who were his companions ?

What were the stations  ? who were the gods ?

Then the meeting with Gonn Orta, was it in mundane world, or still during the heroquest ?

 

My only source is http://www.princeofsartar.com/comic/75-ruined-home/

 

 

 

 

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Orlanth’s HHD in 1620. You can see Elusu, at least. Is it Yazurkial with the blue face? Some Yelmalian, Rurik supposedly? Word of God says the final one is Jarang.

Myth: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com/home/gloranthan-documents/glorantha-2/the-drinking-giants-cauldron/ . Main participants are Orlanth and Daliath.

Pretty sure Gonn Orta is encountered in the mundane world.

Edited by Akhôrahil
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Meeting Gonn Orta was not part of the quest - having done the quest was what gained/will gain him Gonn Orta's aid for his glorious return for the Battle of Gargantuans.

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Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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4 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Meeting Gonn Orta was not part of the quest - having done the quest was what gained/will gain him Gonn Orta's aid for his glorious return for the Battle of Gargantuans.

It presumably also triggers the release of the Cradle, now that the giants think the have a shot at it (and may even be crucial in the conception), which may be the bigger favor for the giants.

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6 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

It presumably also triggers the release of the Cradle, now that the giants think the have a shot at it (and may even be crucial in the conception), which may be the bigger favor for the giants.

I think that the trigger of releasing the Cradle may have been the awakening of Pinchining through the worship Urrrgh the Ugly gave to his gold hoard. Urrrgh was reborn as a crew member of the Cradle (and actually improved his dump characteristics).

The description in the Well of Daliath document suggests that the Drinking Cauldron counteracts the dwarves in some way. Did Greatway stand in the way of building new Cradles? Who exactly built the 1621 Cradle?

Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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Other references to the Drinking Giant's Cauldron in general include:

Guide page 459 (same as Genertela Book page 90)

Eleven Lights pages 124-126

There's also a few gems in Hardy's excellent Glorantha mail list engine:

https://glorantha.steff.in/digests/swish-wrap.cgi?query=The+Drinking+Giant's+Cauldron&submit=Search!&metaname=swishdefault&sort=swishrank

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Search the Glorantha Resource Site: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com. Search the Glorantha mailing list archives: https://glorantha.steff.in/digests/

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Let's break the quest down a little bit too.

Firstly, what's the symbolic meaning of the quest? What's going on here?

The Cauldron gives the Sea Gods magic which makes them impossible to defeat, for they always return to vigor and health by drinking from it. The Cauldron can be used to produce a drink called Loka, which makes you stronger. The Cauldron belongs to Daliath, who possesses a well of water that brings wisdom when drunk. The Cauldron is believed to be linked to the Baths of Nelat, which are a kind of universal solvent used to determine/bring out the purity of things.

So there are at least three, possibly four substances here. The Well of Daliath version suggests they overlap quite a bit.

Who is here? Orlanth is here. This is a very young Orlanth. Perhaps we might even say it's his first heroic feat, and place it before he kills Yelm. But certainly, this is Orlanth before he can reasonably claim to be King of the Gods.

Daliath is here. Other sea gods might be here, companions of Orlanth might be here. There is the king of the nemiwi.

Why is Orlanth here? To steal the Cauldron and eliminate the advantage the Sea Gods have over other gods, of extra immortality. Or, to put it another way, Orlanth is here to learn how to be immortal from a sagely god.

To lay the stations out in basic terms:

- Orlanth departs, armed with thunderbolts.

- Orlanth arrives at the Great Deep and enters.

- Orlanth engages in a series of contests, between one and five, with Daliath.

- Orlanth takes the cauldron and goes.

- Orlanth possibly confronts a monster on the way back and demonstrates his newfound power.

- Orlanth then gives the cauldron away.

There are obviously going to be lots of variations here, based on whether Orlanth sneaks in, fights his way in, or enters via hospitality. The exact nature and number of the contests. Whether Orlanth wins the cauldron fairly, steals it, fights his way out, walks out. Whether Orlanth fights monsters. And although Orlanth is generally agreed to give the cauldron to the "king of the nemiwi", just who that is probably differs from version to version.

I think one of the most common contests is a drinking one, or at the very least, there's some kind of drinking going on, since Orlanth is frequently filled with Loka when he departs even on hostile terms. This might allow you to bring in the Baths of Nelat, if you like.

What may be the skeleton of the myth is that Orlanth confronts a Strange God, learns the Strange God's magic of change and renewal, and comes away stronger. So some important things to test might be flexibility in general.

As an example:

Orlanth has arrived in disguise. Daliath decides to challenge this disguise. You might want to use Acting, Disguise, a Lore skill, Fast Talk- the point is that Orlanth must successfully pretend to be someone else. Then Daliath decides to bring out a game of darts or target practice, which forces Orlanth to use his thunderbolts to deal with the difficulties of doing so underwater (any ranged weapon skill works here, or just a pure Air rune). Finally, Daliath offers this capable young man a drink from the cauldron. Orlanth must try to survive the purifying effects of this drink (Passions, Air, Movement, Stasis, Harmony, Death, all might be appropriate). With that done, Orlanth is filled with power and steals the cauldron. He's then chased by two big sea monsters, and without his thunderbolts is cornered. But then, he turns his used-up thunderbolts into shiny new ones, using the cauldron's magic, and defeats the sea monsters with ease.

And then the PCs could stop here and leave with a suitable reward, or they could continue further, and be tested on their generosity with the cauldron's magic, and once again with a (shorter) confrontation with a Strange God. Or you could take your reward and use it altruistically or give it away carelessly in the Middle World, as Argrath did, and complete the quest in a "deeper" fashion that gives a flashier but less immediate reward.

That is of course one variant I concocted on the fly. Tailor the particular variants to the things going on in your campaign. Perhaps it's a quest to get magic medicine for a chronically or terminally ill person, or perhaps it's a test of worthiness where Orlanth proves his right to the cauldron. Perhaps it's even a test Orlanth fails, where he comes away with power rather than the wisdom of Daliath's well. There are lots of ways to take it.

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