Redeye the Boar – I summon the wisdom of the collective for aid

[Bren]

My players (who have just named their group The Heroes of Apple Lane) are in the midst of the adventure, "The Dragon of Thunder Hills," from the GM Adventures.

(Mild Spoilers for the adventure follow.)

Spoiler

They’ve just met with Tarndisi who has sent them off to get a tusk from Redeye the Boar. They briefly encountered Redeye while rescuing a prisoner from Xiobalg’s band of Tusk Riders. After they had defeated the Tusk Riders, Redeye arrived. The PCs chose the better part of valor and ran away from Redeye.

Faced with having to defeat mammoth-sized Redye, they have come up with an interesting potential solution for how to get the tusk. The Apprentice Shaman has some Hazia and she suggested they use Hazia to cause Redeye to Discorporate. Then while his spirit was away from his body, they would cut off one tusk. That way they could get the tusk, but they wouldn’t have to kill Redeye. Which they don’t seem to actually want to do.

Doping Redeye is hilarious and it actually seems rather clever. Currently, they plan to get Redeye to eat the Hazia by mixing it with acorns and mushrooms.

They sent two characters to Clearwine to buy more Hazia. A lot more Hazia. They have the funds to buy 40 doses.

We are off next weekend, so I have about 10 days to prepare.

How easy should it be to get Redeye high enough to Discorporate? What do you see as the potential complications and how would you suggest running this?

[jajagappa]

11 minutes ago, Bren said:

How easy should it be to get Redeye high enough to Discorporate?

If 1 dose is enough for a human of normal SIZ, just work out how many doses based on Redeye's SIZ.  Assuming Redeye eats the hazia, it shouldn't be that difficult to get Redeye discorporated.

However, the discorporation may well leave Redeye's spirit in close proximity to its body and its sacred area. Redeye is not a shaman, so not likely to venture far away. One likely complication is that Redeye's spirit will attack in Spirit Combat whoever first touches its body. As long as Redeye's spirit is engaged with that individual though, others can work to get the tusk. 

If you want more complicated, than when Redeye discorporates, it actually shifts the entire grove, including the PC's and Redeye's body, into the Otherworld. They may still be able to get the tusk from the sleeping boar, but Redeye's spirit is more free to "charge" at individuals (using Spirit Combat attack and either Spirit Combat to fight back or Spirit Dance to dodge those attacks). Other spirits friendly to Redeye might join in as well.

[Dragon]

The fun part may be that Redeye eats all this Hazia. That sounds like the Potency gets really high, e.g. up to 40d10 'the POT effect is cumulative' (bestiary p 199). That should have a pretty good chance to overcome Redeye's CON. Hence, Redeye becomes addicted. And wants more, lots more. So Redeye goes on a rampage towards wherever. And boars have a legendary ability to sniff out plants. So the local Hazia black market(s) get attacked. "Hey, adventurers you caused this problem!"

I like it.

[Austin]

Jajagappa's advice is really good. Also want to note that I love your players' creativity, this sounds hilarious and you damn well better tell us how it plays out!

If you want an additional complication, I'd suggest that eating hazia won't do anything (or won't do much), because the drug is usually inhaled (by smoking), not ingested. That doesn't mean it won't work! It just means they need to find some way to drug Redeye with the smoke. I can see the Increase/Decrease Wind spell, the Wind Warp spell (keeping the smoke all in one place), or Summon Air Elemental being useful here. Build a big fire, chuck a bunch of hazia in, and blow the wind the right way.

Of course, smoke increases the likelihood that other entities are gonna get drugged (including the players)...

[Dragon]

44 minutes ago, Crel said:

Jajagappa's advice is really good. Also want to note that I love your players' creativity, this sounds hilarious and you damn well better tell us how it plays out!

If you want an additional complication, I'd suggest that eating hazia won't do anything (or won't do much), because the drug is usually inhaled (by smoking), not ingested. That doesn't mean it won't work! It just means they need to find some way to drug Redeye with the smoke. I can see the Increase/Decrease Wind spell, the Wind Warp spell (keeping the smoke all in one place), or Summon Air Elemental being useful here. Build a big fire, chuck a bunch of hazia in, and blow the wind the right way.

Of course, smoke increases the likelihood that other entities are gonna get drugged (including the players)...

Everyone must get stoned. Bid free for all on the Spirit Plane!

Yeah, Redeye doesn't have the digestion of a troll - who are stated as eating it for the effect.

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, Crel said:

I'd suggest that eating hazia won't do anything (or won't do much), because the drug is usually inhaled (by smoking), not ingested. That doesn't mean it won't work! It just means they need to find some way to drug Redeye with the smoke.

In which case they need to set fires around the grove with the hazia so that it will surround Redeye. And the use of wind spells or elementals to contain the smoke and drive towards Redeye makes sense. 

[Bren]

I really appreciate the suggestions and comments. Thanks to all of you!

On 5/14/2023 at 9:43 AM, jajagappa said:

However, the discorporation may well leave Redeye's spirit in close proximity to its body and its sacred area. Redeye is not a shaman, so not likely to venture far away. One likely complication is that Redeye's spirit will attack in Spirit Combat whoever first touches its body. As long as Redeye's spirit is engaged with that individual though, others can work to get the tusk.

I like this! It's a reasonable (even predictable) consequence and it will give the Apprentice Shaman a chance to do something she is uniquely good at. Thanks!

23 hours ago, Dragon said:

The fun part may be that Redeye eats all this Hazia. That sounds like the Potency gets really high, e.g. up to 40d10 'the POT effect is cumulative' (bestiary p 199). That should have a pretty good chance to overcome Redeye's CON. Hence, Redeye becomes addicted. And wants more, lots more. So Redeye goes on a rampage towards wherever. And boars have a legendary ability to sniff out plants. So the local Hazia black market(s) get attacked. "Hey, adventurers you caused this problem!"

I like it.

I like it too! Definitely using that. Assuming they can deal with Redeye and the Dragon, this will give the PCs something new to do. They also did the Broken Tower adventure and they didn't really sort out the main opponent in that one. I am sensing the potential of an angry earth themed set of obstacles.

21 hours ago, Crel said:

Jajagappa's advice is really good. Also want to note that I love your players' creativity, this sounds hilarious and you damn well better tell us how it plays out!

If you want an additional complication, I'd suggest that eating hazia won't do anything (or won't do much), because the drug is usually inhaled (by smoking), not ingested. That doesn't mean it won't work! It just means they need to find some way to drug Redeye with the smoke. I can see the Increase/Decrease Wind spell, the Wind Warp spell (keeping the smoke all in one place), or Summon Air Elemental being useful here. Build a big fire, chuck a bunch of hazia in, and blow the wind the right way.

Of course, smoke increases the likelihood that other entities are gonna get drugged (including the players)...

I also found it hilarious. Very loud and long laughter on my part. I will definitely report back.

I was hoping they were going to burn the Hazia, because clouds of make-you-high-and-then-discorporate-you smoke has a Cheech and Chong level of funny and silly. But one of them rolled critical on their Plant Lore so they are aware that Trolls eat it and their conclusion was, "It must affect them or they wouldn't eat it." While the logical flaws on that are big enough to run a Great Troll through, I don't want to nerf their idea. They usually take a long time to come up with ideas, so I need to provide some reward for this one. In addition, Hazia seems like it is more or less a fantasy Opium that actually does let you travel in your "dreams." There is an oral route of administration for opium. Laudanum, for example, was alcohol laced with opium and people drank that and it worked. So it seems reasonable that eating it will work, but I think that eating it is probably a less effective route of administration (except, perhaps, for Trolls). So I may weaken the effect if they go with that administration method.

19 hours ago, jajagappa said:

In which case they need to set fires around the grove with the hazia so that it will surround Redeye. And the use of wind spells or elementals to contain the smoke and drive towards Redeye makes sense. 

That is what I was hoping for. The Orlanthi hasn't focused on Wind spells, but they have access to at least one air elemental, so they could use that. Perhaps they will rethink the method of administration.

[Austin]

16 minutes ago, Bren said:

But one of them rolled critical on their Plant Lore so they are aware that Trolls eat it and their conclusion was, "It must affect them or they wouldn't eat it."

Fair enough! I didn't remember that detail. Sounds like a fun plan. 😄

[French Desperate WindChild]

a question by the way. How can you find Hazia in Sartar ? Is there stock ? Is it "legal" ?

Some hook for a scenario withlocal thugs maybe ? (or ... Eurmali.... never make business with Eurmali except if you want to roll more dices 😛 )

[Nick Brooke]

2 hours ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

a question by the way. How can you find Hazia in Sartar ? Is there stock ? Is it "legal" ?

People only ever thought hazia was “illegal” because the Lunars insisted it should be a taxed monopoly, and the Sun County puritans didn’t like people using it religiously or recreationally. In post-Lunar Sartar, those constraints don’t apply.

[Bren]

Good qu

5 hours ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

a question by the way. How can you find Hazia in Sartar ? Is there stock ? Is it "legal" ?

Some hook for a scenario withlocal thugs maybe ? (or ... Eurmali.... never make business with Eurmali except if you want to roll more dices 😛 )

Good question. I have the same understanding as Nick Brooke. The Assistant Shaman had previously acquired several doses of Hazia. So I assumed she knew a seller. I did think about using a shady contact from the Jonstown Compendium Cups of Clearwine / Dregs of Clearwine supplements, but I decided against it since I didn't want to add obstacles when the players were being unusually quick in coming up with a solution. So I had them purchase from Sora Goodseller who barely made her bargain roll. They have cleaned most or all of her current supply. Which may be a problem if Redeye ends up addicted as Dragon suggested. It will probably be most interesting if Sora still has a little bit of Hazia for Redeye to sniff out. That way there are two possible targets. Clearwine and the assistant Shaman PC.

[jajagappa]

6 hours ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

How can you find Hazia in Sartar ? Is there stock ? Is it "legal" ?

1) ask the shamans or priests who use it.

2) as with 1.

3) who is there to declare it "illegal"? Now quite likely the clan chief and leading priests/priestesses are going to tell tales about how dangerous it is, and keep cultivation strictly tied to the Earth shrine or the like.  Those tales are undoubtedly True, as well. People lost in the Spirit World - their bodies empty and quickly dying, or possessed by demons, etc. - or driven mad or fear-ridden are the cautionary tales on why you don't go around doing this. 

[Bren]

28 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

3) who is there to declare it "illegal"? Now quite likely the clan chief and leading priests/priestesses are going to tell tales about how dangerous it is, and keep cultivation strictly tied to the Earth shrine or the like.  Those tales are undoubtedly True, as well. People lost in the Spirit World - their bodies empty and quickly dying, or possessed by demons, etc. - or driven mad or fear-ridden are the cautionary tales on why you don't go around doing this. 

I assumed that most, if not all, Hazia is imported. But the Bestiary entry on p199 says that the plant is "native" to the Stinking Forest, which allows the possibility that it is cultivated elsewhere.

Other Sources on Hazia:

• The main rule book and the Weapons in Equipment book provide no additional information beyond what is in the Bestiary.
• The Well of Daliath entry, "Top Seven Drugs of Glorantha" tells us that Hazia is "secretly grown deep among the barley fields of Sun County." This is Sun County in Prax, not the Sun Dome Temple in Sartar, so still an import.
• "Jaxarte at the Sun Dome" adds that "It is said that deep in fields some farmers illicitly grow the banned narcotic Hazia, though I saw no sign" and that "Hazia is illegal, but greatly-sought after in the Lunar Heartlands." So an import from Sun County to the Lunar Heartlands and also, presumably, to Sartar.
• "Lunar Imports" confirms that Hazia is imported to the Lunar Empire from Prax.

 

So it appears that it is cultivated in Sun Dome County, Prax among the barley fields, which seems like a very different environment than the Stinking Forest. If you can grow it in forested hill country and in Prax, it seems reasonable that it could be grown in Sartar, which seems like a much closer environment to the Stinking Forest than is Sun County. I wonder if the Sun County hazia is stronger or weaker than the native plants.

 

[Nick Brooke]

5 hours ago, Bren said:

So it appears that it is cultivated in Sun Dome County, Prax among the barley fields, which seems like a very different environment than the Stinking Forest. If you can grow it in forested hill country and in Prax, it seems reasonable that it could be grown in Sartar, which seems like a much closer environment to the Stinking Forest than is Sun County. I wonder if the Sun County hazia is stronger or weaker than the native plants.

Something to consider: hazia grew much better in Sun County after the magical events of the Summer of Love (Red Count Varthanis II’s inaugural heroquest), if it even grew there before. The Aldryami of the Garden had a lot to do with that: see Sandheart Volume One for details (such as they are). So with Aldryami magic it can flourish in surprising places.

(We know of another source in Dragon Pass from the scenario The Smoking Ruin, and I expand on that in The Duel at Dangerford, Appendix 2.)

[French Desperate WindChild]

23 minutes ago, Nick Brooke said:

We know of another source in Dragon Pass from the scenario The Smoking Ruin,

Wait wait wait are you saying that the Ruins are smoking Hazia ? 🙂 

 

more seriously thanks all. I was convinced this kind of stuff was prohibited, by the only source I have (sun county) and probably by my « irl today society ».

it could be interesting to know what is prohibited by law in the different countries.

cults define a lot of thing but there are few of « secular » rules

(ok murder steal robbery…)

i even don’t know if wearing a heavy armor is « just » prohibited in Pavis under lunar occupation or is a standard in any big cities

[Nick Brooke]

1 hour ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

Wait wait wait are you saying that the Ruins are smoking Hazia ? 🙂 

If you don't want to read about drug-crazed Zorak Zorani victory orgies (featuring tireless troll zombie sex-slaves), stay well away from my book.

1 hour ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

I was convinced this kind of stuff was prohibited, by the only source I have (sun county) and probably by my « irl today society ».

 Yeah, it was annoying that Sun County went full-on "war on drugs" (of course hazia is illegal), without thinking about the broader context. My article "Letter from a Monopolist" (reprinted in A Rough Guide to Glamour) gives a more nuanced picture of Lunars, the hazia trade and smuggling in Pavis and Prax.

1 hour ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

i even don’t know if wearing a heavy armor is « just » prohibited in Pavis under lunar occupation or is a standard in any big cities

If you roam around the streets and back alleys of any normal city looking like you're tooled up and asking for trouble, the local watch and garrison will keep an eye on you and will be ready to step in.

There's an interesting nuance to the Lunar ban on Sartarite types wandering around heavily-armed and armoured: you can't properly perform some Orlanthi ceremonies unless you're wearing and carrying the right wargear. More on this in my Manifesto, of course.

[DrGoth]

12 hours ago, jajagappa said:

3) who is there to declare it "illegal"? Now quite likely the clan chief and leading priests/priestesses are going to tell tales about how dangerous it is, and keep cultivation strictly tied to the Earth shrine or the like.  Those tales are undoubtedly True, as well. People lost in the Spirit World - their bodies empty and quickly dying, or possessed by demons, etc. - or driven mad or fear-ridden are the cautionary tales on why you don't go around doing this. 

Exactly. I'm not even sure many (or any) Gloranthan cultures would have the concept of "banned substance".  Highly taxed, sure. Confiscated, maybe.  But I don't think real world bronze or iron age cultures thought about things in terms of 'banned substance'.

 

[Beoferret]

On 5/14/2023 at 2:34 PM, jajagappa said:

In which case they need to set fires around the grove with the hazia so that it will surround Redeye. And the use of wind spells or elementals to contain the smoke and drive towards Redeye makes sense. 

If using an air elemental to corral the hazia haze, maybe even let it make an attack roll on Redeye as the elemental directly channels the smoke up Redeye's nose (which, if successful, results in a penalty to Redeye's resistance roll.

[Nick Brooke]

And hope your air elemental isn't affected by all that hazia smoke...

[Bren]

28 minutes ago, Nick Brooke said:

And hope your air elemental isn't affected by all that hazia smoke...

It's not a problem. Sylphs don't inhale.