Issaries heroquests?

[Topi.242]

Hello 🙂

In my current Six Seasons campaign one of the players wanted to play an Issaries character, so we decided his character is the son of the local Goldentongue priest. Some tragic events have happened to him in the storyline recently and these could be used to kickstart his initiation rites from lay member to initiate in the Issaries cult. And since some of these initiation heroquests in this campaign (and Company of Dragon) have been written to be actually played rather than just settled purely in rules, i would love to do this in his initiation also. I tried googling for Issaries initiation heroquest ideas but could not find much. The cults book for Lightbringers gives some very general ideas how to do this, but i would love to hear more. I could also come up with the ritual with the player, but since I am the only one in the group with previous RQ experience, might be easier if I come up with these first heroquests and ease others into it gradually.

Also extra campaign stuff that could be used as part of the heroquest (maybe spoilers for Six Seasons here...?):

The player characters are currently going on a small journey to deliver some very bad news for the merchant father of the player character who is currently in Clearwine on a trade trip. Will be just a small journey with a quick combat encounter on the way back and some camping in the woods. None of the characters are currently initiates in any of the cults but they most likely are going to be two Orlanth, one Odayla and one Issaries.

 

Thank you!

[Joerg]

A typical easy quest would be the Spare Grain exchange feat. If that feat has to be done with less friendly participants, it might become something closer to an initiation quest, although there probably needs to be some "rebirth as..." aspect to the quest, too.

Issaries Guides the Dead would be that underworld and rebirth feature, but might be a little deep for an initiation quest as this is basically a short version of Issaries' contribution to the Lightbringers' Quest.

[mfbrandi]

35 minutes ago, Topi.242 said:

The player characters are currently going on a small journey to deliver some very bad news for the merchant father of the player character who is currently in Clearwine on a trade trip.

Couldn’t the PCs’ trip itself be the initiation? Navigation problems, temptations to abandon the trip part-way (straying from the path), opportunities to talk their way out of trouble, perhaps a chance to arbitrate a third-party dispute along the way, and temptations to soft-peddle or blurt the news (rather than doing it sensitively and fully) — it all sounds quite Issaries. Dress some of the incidents along the path in plausibly deniable supernatural drag. Have his companions see that look in his eye. If it is news of a recent death, you can maybe drag in Issaries’ psychopomp aspect — the would-be initiate (but no one else) seems to see the dead person walking with them? (If there is a chance to take some small package of trade goods to Clearwine on spec and offload it at a profit — but that is probably too on-the-nose if made much of.) The character doesn’t have to understand what is going on at the time, but when the trip is recounted to the father, one or both of them will understand, and the father will be able to put the finishing ritual touches to the experience (which touches, in themselves, will be unimportant to describe in detail).

Probably, I am just being really dim, and you had already assumed all of that but needed more.

[radmonger]

Having presumably gone through the general adulthood initiation rites, the PC will now know the secret of getting to Orlanth's hall, or Ernalda's Palace, on the hero plane. on the holy days of Issaries, he visits that location, and so can be met.

Initiation requires learning a spell, in order to provide a route for the exchange of mortal and divine energies. The default spell learnt at issaries shrines is _lock_, so that is likely the first myth acted through.

 

Something like:

In that time, King Vingkot's Second Son had not come into his wisdom, and was eating more than even a king's wealth could support. He ate a horse as a starter, and followed that up with 5 more courses, each larger than the last. When the hunger came on him, no argument could sway him.

Vingkot asked his first son, who said while violence was an option, noone could stop him without kinstrife.

Vingkot asked his wife, who said there is always another way, but turned back to her weaving without explaining what it was..

he went to see the Knowing God, who only talked nonsense about prophecies

Finally Vingkot came to Issaries for practical advice. He taught him the secret of the first lock, which kept the second son out of the food store. Not being able to sate his hunger caused ther second son to come into his wisdom, and he departed to fulfill Lhankhor Mhy's prophecy.

The pc takes the role of vingkot.

 

[1] By the third generation, Orlanth's line was actually starting to get the idea of forseeable consequences.

 

 

[Topi.242]

@Joerg I was thinking first of the Spare Grain also, but again, very little info in the Lightbringers book about it.

@mfbrandi Yeah, this is something I was also thinking of, but there's some really good ideas you mentioned. I had also totally forgot the psychopomp aspect of Issaries which could be worked into the events nicely. Also, before time when Issaries saw first Death and then Chaos spreading into the world and went to search for Light of Communication could be worked in nicely (since chaos was involved in the tragic events), but there's very little in the Lightbringers book about it. Don't have the new Mythology book yet, nor the old Book of Heortling Mythology so can't draw upon those either...

Edited October 30, 2023 by Topi.242

[Topi.242]

@radmonger That could be very much workable if I decide to run the initiation in the temple rather than as a journey from Haraborn tula to Clearwine delivering the message. Or maybe as the finale of the rite, with the journey being kind of the opening of the senses and then that would be the teaching of the first Issaries rune spell and finishes the initiation. 🙂

[jajagappa]

23 minutes ago, Topi.242 said:

very little info in the Lightbringers book about it.

Try the Book of Heortling Mythology, p.151. It's got a couple paragraphs describing the tale. 

There's also the tale of Garzeen the Middleman on p.149.

[radmonger]

Yes the other option is to ritually bless the journey at the village shrine/site. This just flags it up as 'interesting', and so ensures the eventful and potentially dangerous things happen on the way. This including speaking to people who suddenly find themselves playing up to archetypes[1], and stumbling across farms or even villages that are not on any map.

On the other hand, you definitely wont run into anything mythically anachronistic, like a lunar patrol.

At their destination, the spell pathwatch is learnt, as the pc now knows the secret of what signs of trouble to look for. As there is an actual element of risk and a fully-played out adventure, that spell is technically a heroquest reward rather than simply learnt, and so the usual restrictions on what can be learnt where do not apply

[1] You are my brother's wife's cousin; we drank together at Helda's wedding barely two seasons ago. Are you really saying you won't let me pass the gate without paying this ridiculous toll?

 

[Akhôrahil]

https://kingofdragonpass.fandom.com/wiki/Issaries_the_Concilliator

[Duff]

I had an almost identical situation, except we did the initiation before the doodoo hit the fan. You can find an Issaries initiation here at the top of the page (plus several others):

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by Duff

[soltakss]

Here are some ideas from the Issaries Myth in the Lightbringers book:

• "He was noted for his cleverness and smooth tongue and wanderlust. While still ignorant of his own powers, he was found wandering in distant realms." - Origin Myth maybe awakening his powers.
• "One story says that he was the messenger carrying the secret notes between Sky and Earth that led to the begetting of Umath." - HeroQuest to enable a courtship and secret birth.
• "He is sometimes found as a conciliator, as when he settled an early argument between Yelm and Orlanth." - Issaries Peacemaker HeroQuest.
• "He was sometimes aiding war, as when he taught Humakt a secret battle language in return for protection." - Using his skills to gain protection seems like a useful heroQuest.
• Silver People Myth - Making silver coins to promote commerce.
• "He prepared his Spell of Passage and set off to find the light of communication with which to rekindle the world." - Start of the Lightbringer Quest, from the Issaries viewpoint. More is said about the LBQ.
• "Issaries’s golden home is the Exchange Place on the slopes of the Spike, near Orlanth’s palace. From here, worshipers may exit to the Golden Age, Lesser Darkness, or Greater Darkness." - Good starting points for Issaries HeroQuests exploring those Ages.
• "In the Lightbringers cult, the god Issaries Goldentongue is also the spirit guide for the other cults, leading the dead souls in general to the Underworld." - Maybe a HeroQuest to guide a Spirit to the Underworld so that it cannot be Resurrected.
• "Mules are the favorite beasts of the cult. These are said to be an invention of Issaries, conjured up by him in order to make something to sell out of nothing. These animals are very useful to the cult as work beasts and as trade items. Also, they may claim these beasts as not-horses among horse-haters (such as Doraddi and Praxians), and as horse-kin among horse-lovers (such as Grazeland Pony Breeders and Pentans)" - That would make a great HeroQuest, establishing the Issaries cultist as a friend of both Horse-Haters and Horse-Lovers.
• "Issaries was absent from his golden home on the Spike when the disaster struck and robbed him of home and kin. He traveled on through the dangers, rootless, ever protective of his own place. He met Lhankor Mhy, who was the holder of many secrets, and the two became friends." - Maybe a HeroQuest to befriend a Sage.
• "Chalana Arroy received a wound which would not heal, Issaries lost his road, and Lhankor Mhy found a fact he could not know. But they all persevered and found their way." - A HeroQuest to triumph over adversity, when all is lost.
• "Orlanth claims to have forced Eurmal to help, Lhankor Mhy claims to have reasoned Trickster to the need, Issaries says he talked him into it, and Chalana Arroy says she convinced him with mercy and kindness." - A HeroQuest to be able to talk a Trickster into doing something would be useful.

 

 

[Dragon]

On 11/5/2023 at 11:40 AM, soltakss said:

A HeroQuest to be able to talk a Trickster into doing something would be useful.

Or a Heroquest to be able to talk a Trickster into doing something useful for a change. LOL.