Enemies of Ernalda

[Bohemond]

I'm running a scenario that is going to involve an Ernaldan ceremony, and I want to have it invaded by enemies that the PCs (who are pretty inexperienced) will need to fight off. But this led me to wondering what sort of enemies might show up?

The most obvious is the Undead, since Nontreya is her biggest enemy. But I'm hoping for options. So what other groups might attack?

Daga is an enemy of hers, but he's not actively worshipped, so he doesn't have a 'constituency' that would fight for him, although I suppose there are spirits of drought that could show up.

Dwarves don't actively engage in agriculture, so far as we know, so I suppose they might be doing a ceremony to discourage plant fertility. 

Trolls? They don't engage in much farming either, but do they have a reason to oppose her? 

Anyone else? 

[Ali the Helering]

Anyone who is a cereal killer 🤪

[Cassius]

Any Chaos' god fits well. Why not Malia ? She certainly has Spirits of Disease under her command, who can infect crops, poison men and women and make them sick or sterile.

[Tatterdemalion Fox]

It could be a matter of more mundane politics: enemies of whoever benefits from the ritual, seeing an opportunity to deny their opponents the blessing of the Good Green Earth. And yes, of course, they’ll do their best not to offend Ernalda herself, perhaps even going so far as to don straw coats and wooden masks: after all, everyone knows that Chaos or the Undead might oppose Ernalda, and that scapegoat identity can be shucked after the ritual is disrupted. Some ritual purification, and surely Ernalda would never connect them to that unfortunate business…

[Nick Brooke]

1 hour ago, Bohemond said:

I'm running a scenario that is going to involve an Ernaldan ceremony, and I want to have it invaded by enemies that the PCs (who are pretty inexperienced) will need to fight off. But this led me to wondering what sort of enemies might show up?

If the Ernaldans belong(ed) to the Esrolian Red Earth faction, I suppose fanatical anti-Lunar types might try to disrupt their peaceful worship ceremonies. Think of Storm Bulls, Orlanthi, or other barbarian foes of fertility, harmony, peace and prosperity.

[Ali the Helering]

A husband-protector rival if you set it in Esrolia?

[Yazurkial]

Elves could be mad that the humans cut down their forest and plowed the land. If they are new players, it could be that it’s just a few elves plus some runners, without much support from the dryad. Or it could just be one ploy that the dryad will use over a decade and they are now in her bad books. 

[Bohemond]

The game is set in Pavis, so no Esrolian political factions. 

[Akhôrahil]

Lunar shenanigans.

[The Prettiest Parrot]

A few years back, I did a scenario with a sort of Earthy Summons of Evil component. Mice showed up. Because they get into storehouses and eat grain, mostly. I don't know if that's the vibe you want but it worked great for taking my players by surprise.

[mfbrandi]

7 minutes ago, The Prettiest Parrot said:

A few years back, I did a scenario with a sort of Earthy Summons of Evil component. Mice showed up. Because they get into storehouses and eat grain, mostly. I don't know if that's the vibe you want but it worked great for taking my players by surprise.

I am not knocking this idea — I like it! — but doesn’t it position the Earth Goddess as a servant of farmers, rather than the other way about? A way to make players — and possibly PCs — confront the narcissism of much of what passes for reverence?

The temple snakes probably thought of it as Summons of Food.

[jajagappa]

4 hours ago, Bohemond said:

But this led me to wondering what sort of enemies might show up?

You've already noted undead, and others have covered a few additional choices.

Darkness - yes, whether trolls, hags, or other Darkness creatures, Darkness inhibits the life of the Earth (which generally prefers the Sun, the Storm, and the Fire within the Earth). Trolls will raid to eat. Some might attack to put the Earth to sleep or turn it to cold stone.

Water - the Seas and Rivers invaded the Earth and continually tear apart the Earth. Sometimes by little bits when the rains wash away sediments, sometimes greatly when the seas tear away the shore. Naiads with their undines or merfolk allies are the most likely, but you could also envision sea monsters, rains of fish, etc.

Violent deities like Oakfed or Gagarth, or dreaded deities like Daga or Valind. These are the bad sides of Fire and Storm that might destroy or tear apart the land, or shackle it with heat or cold.

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, Bohemond said:

The game is set in Pavis, so no Esrolian political factions. 

Trolls, Oakfed, Daga, Gagarth are then likely choices (plus Chaos).

[Bohemond]

21 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

Trolls, Oakfed, Daga, Gagarth are then likely choices (plus Chaos).

I thought about Oakfed or Daga, because this is happening in Fire Season when they would be strong. But do either of those have enough actual followers to produce a good fight scenario. I would imagine more spirts or even something like fires breaking out, but that's a lot harder to do an RQ style fight, especially with character who are very green and who would therefore have a lot of trouble with even just one spirit.

[The Prettiest Parrot]

57 minutes ago, mfbrandi said:

I am not knocking this idea — I like it! — but doesn’t it position the Earth Goddess as a servant of farmers, rather than the other way about? A way to make players — and possibly PCs — confront the narcissism of much of what passes for reverence?

The temple snakes probably thought of it as Summons of Food.

I think you can definitely take it that way! If grain is Ernalda's gift to the farmers, then the mice aren't really hurting the goddess, are they? On the other hand, sometimes you get imagery about crop and seeds (or the goddesses thereof) being Ernalda's daughters. If you take it from that direction, then they're protecting her. Very Orlanth. If you take the angle that grain is the body of the goddess, like the Sartar Companion does for Reaping Day, then the mice are kind of cannibals. I have not taken that route but now that I'm thinking about it I kind of want to run a game about Chaos Mice. Either way, multiple interpretations feel pretty mythic to me!

Edited January 26 by The Prettiest Parrot

[jajagappa]

44 minutes ago, Bohemond said:

I thought about Oakfed or Daga, because this is happening in Fire Season when they would be strong. But do either of those have enough actual followers to produce a good fight scenario. I would imagine more spirts or even something like fires breaking out, but that's a lot harder to do an RQ style fight, especially with character who are very green and who would therefore have a lot of trouble with even just one spirit.

Don't confine yourself to "cult followers"! 

You've noted this is going to be an Ernalda ceremony - i.e. it's a ritual that brings the Gods World close to the mundane, so it opens it up to various possibilities.

For Oakfed, they notice that the torches seem to be brightening, enlarging beyond expectations. Suddenly small salamanders (fire elementals) descend from the torches and start to touch sacred objects (grain, or whatever) and those burst into flame. They are attacking ritual objects and may cause the ceremony to fail if the fires go unchecked and the elementals aren't destroyed. (Or you could come up with other alternatives to elementals - Agimori might be a choice, and they are trying to steal a ritual object that will bring their fertility back, but at a consequence to the village...)

For Daga, you could use the Agimori noted above, but the consequence of their action is that it frees Daga from his iron box, and then additional quests are needed (probably allying Zola Fel cultists) to defeat him. Or maybe some sort of dry, clay golems rise up from the bare earth and they begin to touch everything nearby - their touch withers anything living turning it to dust. (Whether such an attack also affects people is a question, but perhaps if they do enough damage to a hit location by bringing it to 0, it does.)

[Joerg]

Don't overlook the omnipresent rivalries between the elemental tribes.

Darkness wants to eat whatever Earth has to offer, without regard for Earth's well-being.

Sea invaded Ernaldela during the Flood Age, and that may repeat.

Vadrus ravaged the lands, without any of the respect Umath may have had for his Earth wives. Followers of many of his sons wouldn't think much

Yelm usurped rule over the world from Earth (championed by Molandro), and this assault may be repeated. Lodril's wrestling underground was an assault, too.

And any foe of the regional husband protector (or Earth King) is a possible assault perp, too, proving the inability of the current protector(s) to protect.

[John Biles]

Yelmalions on a heroquest about Ernalda's days with Yelm who mistake the whole thing for a kidnapping.

[jajagappa]

6 hours ago, Joerg said:

Don't overlook the omnipresent rivalries between the elemental tribes.

And that's also a good point regarding others who might attack in a Pavis setting.

Ernalda is a goddess of settled agricultural communities. The nomads likely don't want such to succeed. In line with their elemental affinities: Morocanth for Darkness foes; High Llama for Water foes; Impala for Fire foes (as well as previously noted Agimori); Sable Riders for Moon foes. And any group of outlaw, renegard Praxians for Gagarth.

[French Desperate WindChild]

a question could be

do ennemies attacks because

- they hate Ernalda ?

- they hate agricultural communities ?

- they hate Pavis ?

- they hate human beings ?

- they want to plunder, no hate, just money ?

 

I mean Ernala is not the only reason why some would attack an Ernaldan festival

[soltakss]

22 hours ago, Bohemond said:

Trolls? They don't engage in much farming either, but do they have a reason to oppose her? 

In Cults of Prax, Zorak Zorani trolls attacked an Ernalda ritual. Trolls love eating Ernalda's bounty.

Bandits might show up to steal grain.

Chaos might appear to steal or befoul the harvest.

[Bohemond]

Great suggestions all! Many thanks. After a lot of thinking, I decided to make it a vampire backed up by a couple of ghouls and a bunch of skeletons. The Babeester Gori and the Snake Guardians will handle the big baddies, while the PCs will have to fight the skeletons (which are about their level) and might have to step in to assist with the sacrifices so the ritual is completely properly. My goal here is to show the PCs how opposed mythology works while giving them a little combat experience and giving them a connection with the Earth Temple. 

Edited January 28 by Bohemond

[Ynneadwraith]

21 hours ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

a question could be

do ennemies attacks because

- they hate Ernalda ?

- they hate agricultural communities ?

- they hate Pavis ?

- they hate human beings ?

- they want to plunder, no hate, just money ?

 

I mean Ernala is not the only reason why some would attack an Ernaldan festival

It doesn't even need to be this big of a motivation.

Do they attack because their leader hates the priestess leading the ceremony? It could be really petty stuff...

[Bohemond]

3 hours ago, Ynneadwraith said:

It doesn't even need to be this big of a motivation.

Do they attack because their leader hates the priestess leading the ceremony? It could be really petty stuff...

When heroquesting, you can't really pick an enemy that way (unless you have really powerful heroquesitng magic, like the Lunars do). In most cases, you have no way of knowing the identity of the people whose ceremony you're intersecting with, because they look like the god to you, and vice-versa. 

[jajagappa]

3 minutes ago, Bohemond said:

In most cases, you have no way of knowing the identity of the people whose ceremony you're intersecting with, because they look like the god to you, and vice-versa. 

From a God-time perspective, you just need to cast them as the Rivals of Ernalda. These might be any of the Serpent-beasts - hsunchen foes, for instance - or they could even be Ernalda's sisters (e.g. Maran Gor, Esrola, etc) or other Earth goddesses who claim sovereignty (e.g. Kero Fin who marries Umath, King of Storms). Maran Gor could send dinosaurs in to stomp upon the ceremony. Gata gave birth to the amphibians and the reptiles, so they may be rivals, and you could have Cliff Toads or crocodiles as foes. Ernalda may have to find Another Way to prove her sovereignty over those.