Summons of Evil - As a method of sabotage?

[Zebraman1]

I am currently running a game that started in 1624ST and is building towards the Dragon Rise. My players are new to Glorantha and I figured it would be best for them to fully understand the significance of Lunar occupation and the Dragonrise by playing through it.

Anyhow one of the players happened to end up with Summons of Evil as a Rune Spell for their pretty novice character which is probably an oversight/inappropriate not to check on my part but that's another story.

In a recent session there was some entertaining discussion about potentially using it to draw out a specific Crimson Bat Initiate that was hunting the party (long story). The plan was abandoned on the basis that it would be incredibly difficult for them to contain the evil spirit that might arrive. The idea of the group inadvertently summoning the actual Bat was also discussed.

But to the point of this topic.... it got me thinking. Why don't the Sartarite's use Summons of Evil on Tatius and other celebrants at a crucial moment (or indeed just periodically from 1619-1625) of the Reaching Moon ritual to disrupt and sabotage it?

I'd have thought getting a couple of spies and a way of relaying messages about timings would be comparatively easier than Kally's Heroquest escapades.

But then it got me thinking can Summons of Evil simply be dismissed or defended via Counter Magic or Dismiss Magic?

Just food for thought. I'm likely missing something obvious but the idea of Summons of Evil being used to pull enemies out of position rather than force a full confrontation seems like an interesting novel strategem (albeit dangerous and high risk)

 

Edited November 26 by Zebraman1

[EricW]

1 hour ago, Zebraman1 said:

But to the point of this topic.... it got me thinking. Why don't the Sartarite's use Summons of Evil on Tatius and other celebrants at a crucial moment (or indeed just periodically from 1619-1625) of the Reaching Moon ritual to disrupt and sabotage it?

I'd have thought getting a couple of spies and a way of relaying messages about timings would be comparatively easier than Kally's Heroquest escapades.

But then it got me thinking can Summons of Evil simply be dismissed or defended via Counter Magic or Dismiss Magic?

Just food for thought. I'm likely missing something obvious but the idea of Summons of Evil being used to pull enemies out of position rather than force a full confrontation seems like an interesting novel strategem (albeit dangerous and high risk)

 

In "King of Sartar" "Orlanth is Dead", King Broyan uses the Summons of Evil. The Lunar commander immediately loses contact with Tatius, but decides to follow his orders to pursue King Broyan anyway. The Lunar commander had no awareness the summons had been used. 

I don't think Summons of Evil can be deflected or even detected in any way, but the caster has no control over the magnitude of the evil which answers the summons. Instead of summoning the Crimson Bat initiate, the caster might instead summon the Crimson Bat itself - the greatest enemy of the caster might be the bat, not the initiate who is acting on behalf of the bat. Or a major Lunar hero who has taken a vague interest in the PCs might show up. Or an entire regiment of Lunars might unexpectedly arrive. Very dangerous spell. 

I think you could turn this into a learning experience, let the PCs carry on their folly, though give them plenty of warning (NPCs who warn them not to meddle with dangerous powers), but when they finally succumb to temptation, the enemy which shows up is totally out of proportion to their ability to handle. They escape by the skin of their teeth, but the enemy they fled does something awful to the people who didn't escape. It's all their fault! That way they'll learn consequences, know better than to carelessly mess with hero level magic next time. 

Edited November 26 by EricW

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, Zebraman1 said:

Why don't the Sartarite's use Summons of Evil on Tatius and other celebrants at a crucial moment (or indeed just periodically from 1619-1625) of the Reaching Moon ritual to disrupt and sabotage it?

How do we know they didn't? 

In 1622, a horde of Gagix' scorpionmen comes out of the Footprint to attack surrounding clans.

In early 1625, Argrath leads an army across Prax to attack Tatius. At the Battle of Hender's Ruins, the monstrous Cwim arrives and pretty well annihilates Argrath's forces.

In Fireseason 1625, Broyan prepares to lead an army from Heortland to attack Tatius. Instead, a darkness demon with very sharp teeth arrives, kills Broyan (a hero) and wreaks havoc on his army.

 

[John Biles]

You would need to give away the position of your temple to the person being summoned, who will gather a force to bring with them.

Also, the target can't cancel it, but I would assume someone strong enough to be the Reaching Moon ritual probably has allies who could recognize what is going on.

 

[Zebraman1]

8 hours ago, EricW said:

In "King of Sartar" "Orlanth is Dead", King Broyan uses the Summons of Evil. The Lunar commander immediately loses contact with Tatius, but decides to follow his orders to pursue King Broyan anyway. The Lunar commander had no awareness the summons had been used. 

I don't think Summons of Evil can be deflected or even detected in any way, but the caster has no control over the magnitude of the evil which answers the summons. Instead of summoning the Crimson Bat initiate, the caster might instead summon the Crimson Bat itself - the greatest enemy of the caster might be the bat, not the initiate who is acting on behalf of the bat. Or a major Lunar hero who has taken a vague interest in the PCs might show up. Or an entire regiment of Lunars might unexpectedly arrive. Very dangerous spell. 

I think you could turn this into a learning experience, let the PCs carry on their folly, though give them plenty of warning (NPCs who warn them not to meddle with dangerous powers), but when they finally succumb to temptation, the enemy which shows up is totally out of proportion to their ability to handle. They escape by the skin of their teeth, but the enemy they fled does something awful to the people who didn't escape. It's all their fault! That way they'll learn consequences, know better than to carelessly mess with hero level magic next time. 

Oh I was quite happy to let it play out, but saner heads prevailed within the group itself, (The Lhankor Mhy Initiate and Daka Fal Assistant Shaman). They are new to Glorantha but not rpgs and after 20 years they know my style lol

 

 

 

Edited November 26 by Zebraman1

[Scotty]

On 11/26/2024 at 1:35 AM, Zebraman1 said:

Anyhow one of the players happened to end up with Summons of Evil as a Rune Spell for their pretty novice character which is probably an oversight/inappropriate not to check on my part but that's another story.

That's fine. Someone has to know it. It's one of the three core Rune spells of al Orlanth initiates.

On 11/26/2024 at 1:35 AM, Zebraman1 said:

But then it got me thinking can Summons of Evil simply be dismissed or defended via Counter Magic or Dismiss Magic?

Don't forget that the target of the spell is unlikely to realise what's going on as it is likely is acting as it would normally. The target's countermagic doesn't work against the spell as it's a passive action using the universe as it vehicle. Likewise there's nothing to Dismiss.

On 11/26/2024 at 1:35 AM, Zebraman1 said:

Just food for thought. I'm likely missing something obvious but the idea of Summons of Evil being used to pull enemies out of position rather than force a full confrontation seems like an interesting novel strategem (albeit dangerous and high risk)

There's quite an extensive Q&A on the Summons of Evil, covering a lot of what you are asking. See 48. Summons of Evil.

[Darius West]

Summons of Evil is like the most mini Hero Quest you can get.  

It is also very good for getting enemy leaders to come out for a confrontation.

Say for example, you have trolls in a nearby cave complex who are dug in like ticks.  You "summons of evil" Darkness and effectively call out their best warrior, and then work your way down their list.  Eventually they will get scared and go away.

[Scotty]

10 hours ago, Darius West said:

and effectively call out their best warrior,

actually no. It summons the most powerful representative of the enemy within the range of the spell. In this case, this is likely to be the Kyger Litor priestess and her Karrg's Sons. Be careful what you wish for with this spell. 

[ViktorD100]

11 minutes ago, Scotty said:

actually no. It summons the most powerful representative of the enemy within the range of the spell. In this case, this is likely to be the Kyger Litor priestess and her Karrg's Sons. Be careful what you wish for with this spell. 

Or if there's no Kyger Litor priestess it'll summon every Zorak Zoran berserker in your area code. 

Likewise if you want to Summons of Evil a local suspected cult of Thanatar, you wouldn't only summon the high priest, you'd also summon his strongest acolytes and all the rabble besides because the temple turned out to be bigger than expected and a short walk away from where you built the effigy.

[French Desperate WindChild]

On 11/27/2024 at 11:54 AM, Scotty said:

It's one of the three core Rune spells of al Orlanth initiates.

I m surprised to read it. I see this ritual as very hazardous for all the community (necessary but hazardous). So it should be teached to few people (or at least selected people). Or I may misunderstand your sentence (not the first time 😛 ) or what I understand of this ritual :

 

As a GM, the risk I want to avoid with this spell is to consider it as "summon [the specific opponent players (characters) want]"

For me it is more "summon [the specific opponent the Cosmos understand the players (characters) want]". Aka it is up to the GM to decide who comes.Not to give more power to the GM and to frustrate players. Just to demonstrate the hazardous side, the ritual preparation importance, etc..

 

For example a use case:

the pcs clan was attacked by a local lunar garrison led by the vicious red woman. Pcs want revenge, the guarrison is the most important power in the region, so they are confident to summon the evil red woman.

from a background perspective

a clan summons the evil, expecting the red woman, and maybe a part or all the garrison will come and will be ambushed.

- and the red woman comes with a part or all the garrison

- but no luck, at this time there was another lunar force, more dangerous than the garrison,  maybe the change of the garrison is now and the clan faces both the new and the previous troops. Maybe a little squad of very powerful lunar priests are travelling, maybe a red emperor cousin is leading some expedition...

- but the "artist" made some mistake and the moon rune is understood by the cosmos as a darkness rune. And unfortunately a mistress troll priestess is visiting the area with all her guard (2 Karg of sons, 10 shamans from Gorakiki/KL/... and 500 trollkins...)

- but as the clan assimilate lunar and chaos, the cosmos understand that the evil is chaos and not lunar, and there is just a snaill, less powerful than the guarrison but because the country is clean, the snaill is the most powerful chaotic form in the area

 

so different cases from a GM perspective.

- GM wants a specific opponent to come because the campaign needs a specific confrontation. It could be the red woman, it could be someone else.

- GM has no specific plan so summon the evil is the MGF conclusion (or just is one MGF step-) of the scenario

and it depends a lot of the players preparation (I say player and not character here, not a confusion, I consider the time they spend to discuss how they will prepare and lead the ritual). For example, saying "ok we make the effigy, roll the dices, ok it works" is really different than "I have cut some hair of the red woman, I ask the best sculptor of the clan to create the effigy, put the lunar runes, the regiment runes, the name of the red woman on it....". In other words, more effort the players do to "secure" the ritual, more chance they have to obtain the target of the ritual

 

I may be wrong in my understanding.

In all cases the power I "give" to the GM is not "hey I m powerful I do what I want and I will destroy you"

All I say here should be shared with the players before the play: "Any ritual needs preparation. More the ritual is important for the story, more I expect preparation, discussion from you my dear players to help me to determine the outcome of the ritual"

 

 

[EricW]

On 11/26/2024 at 11:03 AM, John Biles said:

You would need to give away the position of your temple to the person being summoned, who will gather a force to bring with them.

Also, the target can't cancel it, but I would assume someone strong enough to be the Reaching Moon ritual probably has allies who could recognize what is going on.

 

The summoning of evil creates an inevitable future event. The powerful allies of the summoned would decide not to intervene because it fits in with their plans. Or they would also answer the summons because they sense their friend is walking into a trap.

I don’t see this spell as overpowered, the consequences of careless use are enough to discourage casual casting.

There are other spells which are immensely powerful but dangerous to abuse. Trickster lie  spell “I’m actually a lunar spy, let us go about our business” might help your party pass the suspicious Lunars. But the consequences for the trickster might be unfortunate.

[Zebraman1]

On 11/29/2024 at 1:32 PM, Scotty said:

actually no. It summons the most powerful representative of the enemy within the range of the spell. In this case, this is likely to be the Kyger Litor priestess and her Karrg's Sons. Be careful what you wish for with this spell. 

My initial opening post question regarded a situation where the Sartarites used Summons of Evil at just the right time to pull Tatius the Bright out of the consecration of the Temple of the Reaching moon and disrupt the ritual. Whether they actually manage to force a confrontation or they end the spell prior to that is irrelevant. The point is Tatius has walked out of the ritual at a crucial point and expended all the MP for nothing  at the very least.

But it seems that whilst this would be possible there are equally various counter strategies the Lunars could try.

1) It's not always clear it will be a specific individual. Tatius may have summoned an ungodly powerful Allied Cult Spirit expressly go on his behalf if summoned.

2) There may conceivably be unwritten sorcerous or ritualised Rune magic that protects or shields an individual from Summons of Evil. Not really practicable to use generally but helpful if you cannot be disturbed during a specific given time period.

3) It occurs to me that as a Rune Spell granted by Orlanth, if used for a purpose other than at least attempting to force a confrontation then the spell may simply not work. Orlanth isn't providing the ritual for that purpose. Though YGMV on that point.

Conversly I note that the spell explicitly says heroquesting enemies will attempt to be summoned in addition to the effigy summoned enemy. This seems to make the Lunars particularly vulnerable during the consecration of the Reaching Moon no? The whole thing was a massive Heroquest to recreate the Perfect Sky on the Dance Floor of the Temple Grounds. 

 

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, Zebraman1 said:

where the Sartarites used Summons of Evil at just the right time to pull Tatius the Bright out of the consecration of the Temple of the Reaching moon and disrupt the ritual. Whether they actually manage to force a confrontation or they end the spell prior to that is irrelevant. The point is Tatius has walked out of the ritual at a crucial point and expended all the MP for nothing  at the very least.

So, here's my thought on that if you read King of Sartar or the Composite History of Dragon Pass:

• "When spring came, he dispatched no troops or magicians to confront the new threats, but relied entirely upon his own magic."
• "In Prax, Argrath White Bull raised a huge army and marched upon the city of Pavis...., and then the howling, blood‑crazed army marched against Sartar. Tatius sent a demon which had two arms, and an extra one, against them. The nomads were slaughtered..."
• "In Kethaela, King Broyan marched north with a small volunteer army. Among the Kitori, a little bright light was snuffed out, and a demon which had many sharp mouths was let out of its skin. It sought vengeance, and fell upon the army of King Broyan while they slept...." 
• "The Grazeland Horse Folk also revolted and sent the Lunar tribute‑gatherers home with only dirt. Tatius ignored this..."

You want to keep in mind that Tatius is a heroic priest of Yelm. Yelm is the EMPEROR. Yelm cannot be summoned. But, Yelm can readily direct his magic and forces against the Rebels. He is mythically able to do so, even if the Sartarites use Summons of Evil.

Tatius sent the monstrous Chaos horror Cwim against Argrath. Tatius may have been responsible for sending the Darkness Demon against Broyan.

If the threat is anything less than an army, Tatius can ignore it. If it is an army or a hero, then Tatius might: cast a massive Sunspear upon them, unleash Gagix and her scorpionmen from the Footprint, unleash Chaos from Snakepipe Hollow, or even send Yelm's Hell Furies against them. It's going to be VERY, VERY HARD to get Tatius to turn his attention away from his project.

[Zebraman1]

1 hour ago, jajagappa said:

So, here's my thought on that if you read King of Sartar or the Composite History of Dragon Pass:

• "When spring came, he dispatched no troops or magicians to confront the new threats, but relied entirely upon his own magic."
• "In Prax, Argrath White Bull raised a huge army and marched upon the city of Pavis...., and then the howling, blood‑crazed army marched against Sartar. Tatius sent a demon which had two arms, and an extra one, against them. The nomads were slaughtered..."
• "In Kethaela, King Broyan marched north with a small volunteer army. Among the Kitori, a little bright light was snuffed out, and a demon which had many sharp mouths was let out of its skin. It sought vengeance, and fell upon the army of King Broyan while they slept...." 
• "The Grazeland Horse Folk also revolted and sent the Lunar tribute‑gatherers home with only dirt. Tatius ignored this..."

You want to keep in mind that Tatius is a heroic priest of Yelm. Yelm is the EMPEROR. Yelm cannot be summoned. But, Yelm can readily direct his magic and forces against the Rebels. He is mythically able to do so, even if the Sartarites use Summons of Evil.

Tatius sent the monstrous Chaos horror Cwim against Argrath. Tatius may have been responsible for sending the Darkness Demon against Broyan.

If the threat is anything less than an army, Tatius can ignore it. If it is an army or a hero, then Tatius might: cast a massive Sunspear upon them, unleash Gagix and her scorpionmen from the Footprint, unleash Chaos from Snakepipe Hollow, or even send Yelm's Hell Furies against them. It's going to be VERY, VERY HARD to get Tatius to turn his attention away from his project.

I get what your saying, but my point is that RAW, Summons of Evil when cast (if it identifies Tatius as the most powerful representation of the Effigy), then Tatius has no choice but to turn his attention away from his project. And for the number of Rune Points spent it could end up being a very effective tool of sabotage.

But I do take the point that potentially those demons and things Tatius brought forth could actually represent what ended up being summoned and indeed have been held in reserve for just that eventuality. 

With regard to being a priest of Yelm, it is perfectly possible for the effigy to be that of Yelm or indeed Tatius himself as an individual. And then the most powerful representation of that effigy is summoned. The trick from the Sartar Pov is ensuring that representation is Tatius himself and not simply a Spirit or someone else with a higher POW than Tatius.

[jajagappa]

10 minutes ago, Zebraman1 said:

I get what your saying, but my point is that RAW, Summons of Evil when cast (if it identifies Tatius as the most powerful representation of the Effigy), then Tatius has no choice but to turn his attention away from his project. And for the number of Rune Points spent it could end up being a very effective tool of sabotage.

So if we look at the Summons of Evil text, here's how I'd interpret its effect:

It requires an effigy of an enemy (which may be an individual, a deity, a species, etc.) of the caster to be made. The effigy is typically made of wicker or wood. When cast, the spell animates the effigy with a malevolent spirit associated with the enemy. It also summons the most powerful representative of the enemy it can during the duration of the ritual.

• They can target Tatius, although Tatius is just the Choreographer (Pole Star) for the dance. We can assume they've figured out that Tatius is the central character (though there may well be a backup in the event of unexpected issues as with the performance of any ritual/play).
• The effigy is animated with a malevolent spirit associated with Tatius. Could be one of Yelm's Hell Furies, could be a Shargashi Hellman, could be the spirit of a Star Captain - lots of options and likely at the upper end of power. 
  • The spirit summoned typically has a POW between 4D6+6 and 5D6+6, but more powerful spirits are not unknown.
    • I'd put this automatically at POW 30 or higher, maybe even POW 40.
  • During this time, it will fight back with any abilities it possesses, whether magic or otherwise
    • Will depend on the type of spirit and time of day. If summoned during the day, I'd make it a Sun Spirit that has Rune magic and can unleash Sunspears. If summoned at night, it might be a Hellman with internal hellfire and allow it to burn away the wicker and free itself to attack (and effectively end the summoning since the effigy did not contain the spirit).
• The most powerful representative of the enemy will likely be a battalion of Lunar soldiers. This is what happened when Broyan conducted the Summons of Evil in 1621 and got regiments from the Lunar army. If Tatius feels the pull of the spell himself, he has spells to Command Worshipers or Priests to respond for him. Depending on where the summoners are and their distance from the New Lunar Temple, they will get whatever representative is in range. As Tatius has units guarding the proceedings, this is likely something anticipated. Potentially you might even get a unit of Sun Dome Templars arriving as representatives of the Sun.

I think the thing to keep in mind is that Tatius is a powerful heroquester who will have set mundane and magical protections for himself and the temple. Those defenses will cross into the Spirit World as well and includes units from the Lunar College of Magic. Tatius might even be able to project himself (or have his agents do so) through the Spirit World against foes (like the Lunar College of Magic units can) if you really distracted him.

Now having said all that, if you really want to get Tatius responding, do so! But this is someone who has shrugged off Argrath and Broyan, two hero-level figures, so it shouldn't be simple/easy, and the results should not just draw Tatius alone. If he responds, he will come armed, dangerous, and invoke unexpected powers of the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, and the Underworld.

 

[Akhôrahil]

On 11/27/2024 at 11:54 AM, Scotty said:

That's fine. Someone has to know it. It's one of the three core Rune spells of al Orlanth initiates.

It's also perhaps the most corner-case Rune Spell in the entire rulebook. If one person in the clan knows it, that's plenty.

Edited Monday at 11:45 PM by Akhôrahil

[Geoff R Evil]

My campaign included their Pol Joni clan working with Pavis post Agrath leaving. They were sent to a Pavis County village to protect it from a tusk rider raid…yep Apple Lane part two moved.

They found the village priestess had summons evil. They decided they wanted to force the tusk riders to attack on the PCs terms so they could put their defences into full effect. So a Summons Evil was done with a Tusker effigy. It worked, summoning the tuskers who were hungry to attack anyway and it did not take much to tip them into a headlong ill advised attack with little preparation.

However during the ritual, the Eurmali with a magical spirit flute, criticalled his play flute. The music reached the ears of Redeye, who was also worshipped by the tusk riders and thus linked to the ritual.

After the fight and when the PCs celebrated…the Eurmali in the Uleria temple taking his reward, felt the ground shake as Redeye approached. Luckily the Ernaldan in the group specialed her orate in earthtongue and placated it a little, but it demanded tribute including the flute to be replayed. So the Eurmali was summoned, naked with all signs of a Uleria worship on full display, and did as asked, playing for the giant boar. This allowed a further Ernaldan orate and a bargain was struck, feed the boar once a year in the village and it may assist in its future defence…..they are now realising the cost of this is more than the annual food take of the village environs, creating a new dilemma, fight Redeye…also sacred to earth cultists like the Ernaldan….or feed it. So the PCs find a healthy chunk of their annual adventuring income goes to feeding the pig, orchestrated by their Issaries player.

A fun low level set of consequences of using Summons Evil. They are certainly more circumspect of using it again.

[Zebraman1]

On 12/2/2024 at 7:52 PM, jajagappa said:

So if we look at the Summons of Evil text, here's how I'd interpret its effect:

 

• The most powerful representative of the enemy will likely be a battalion of Lunar soldiers. This is what happened when Broyan conducted the Summons of Evil in 1621 and got regiments from the Lunar army. If Tatius feels the pull of the spell himself, he has spells to Command Worshipers or Priests to respond for him. Depending on where the summoners are and their distance from the New Lunar Temple, they will get whatever representative is in range. As Tatius has units guarding the proceedings, this is likely something anticipated. Potentially you might even get a unit of Sun Dome Templars arriving as representatives of the Sun.

I think the thing to keep in mind is that Tatius is a powerful heroquester who will have set mundane and magical protections for himself and the temple. Those defenses will cross into the Spirit World as well and includes units from the Lunar College of Magic. Tatius might even be able to project himself (or have his agents do so) through the Spirit World against foes (like the Lunar College of Magic units can) if you really distracted him.

 

I like the interpretation that a representative of an enemy could be a more open ended thing like a squad, battalion or army!

Also agree he'd likely have non-RAW spells protecting him.

I actually don't want the PCs pulling him away like this (and they haven't suggested it in fairness) but so far have resisted using GM fiat on any of their other actions!

[Zebraman1]

On 12/3/2024 at 8:59 AM, Geoff R Evil said:

My campaign included their Pol Joni clan working with Pavis post Agrath leaving. They were sent to a Pavis County village to protect it from a tusk rider raid…yep Apple Lane part two moved.

......

This was a great yarn!

[Joerg]

On 12/2/2024 at 8:52 PM, jajagappa said:

they can target Tatius, although Tatius is just the Choreographer (Pole Star) for the dance.

I had the impression that Tatius took on himself the role of the Imperial Sun, hence his collapse as night fell. (King of Sartar p.126)

Quote

At the same time the distant Black Moon, hanging in the sky, flickered too, to the rhythm of her breaking voice. Tatius collapsed, and night fell.

Quote

At last, amid much carnage and death, Orlanth’s Ring reached the center of the ceremony. Pole Star, the ceremonial choreographer stood there, utterly lost in prayer and concentration, and the folks of Orlanth’s Ring did not disturb him with their own prayers until they could not help it. The Broken Circle called for Orlanth. The Pole Star priestess opened her eyes, and she saw the Orlanthi rising, up into the air, bearing their bleeding corpses among them

Quote

then rose again and swallowed Tatius, who had just been wakened;

But then I have played through a Dragonrise scenario where the ascent of the rebels ended at the constellation of the Dragon outside the Celestial City, following Umath's spiral path into the sky.

 

[Zebraman1]

My campaign is heading towards the PCs playing their own small (and largely forgotten) part in disrupting the consecration of the New Temple of the Reaching Moon.

Consequently I have been scouring every source I have for what actually happened on Clayday Earth season 1625. My interpretation is similar to @Joerg. Tatius plays the role of the Imperial Sun.

Now massive YGMV but my understanding is that the Lunars are trying to recreate the Perfect Sky on the Dance Floor with each star being a celebrant (priest or priestess). There is also some kind of Heroquest taking place with Yelm (Tatius?) killing the dragon Burburstus which Kallyr disrupts in some way.

This is significant because the remains of Burburstus' parts are represented in the Perfect Sky by various celestial bodies forming the Draconic Consellation although his head (the Dragon Head) forms part of the Broken Planet (Orlanth's Ring).

Note that I believe the Dragon Head itself is missing when Kallyr and her Heroquesters arrive on the Dance Floor via Stormgate (and likely travelling in the Heroplane on the Boat Planet).

My take on things (and a fair amount of me just adding things for effect) is that 

1) Tatius dedicates the ceromony to Yelm and the Empire. He wants to recreate the Perfect Sky. Various heroquests take place so that each participant takes on the aspect of their planet. This will culminate in Tatius being the Imperial Sun and then Enerian Scarlet taking on the role of the Red Moon.

2) Kallyr heroquests and finds the Sky Ship (Boat Planet) and Burburstus. Your milage may vary, but essentially I think she essentially makes a deal with the dragon and warns him or something (unclear) and Burburstus subsequently evades rather than fights Tatius/Yelm. (This is partially in a Heroquest adventure I think called Gathering Storm?)

3) This crack in the Heroquest isn't enough to stop the consecration (the dragon fleeing is still Yelm victorious) and the Lunars think the Heroquest is successful enough. However for some reason (unclear) it allows Kallyr to slip through Stormgate and for Orlanth's Ring to appear within the Perfect Sky.

4) The entire ritual has been completed under the auspices of the principle As Above So Below. Burburstus is not dead and Orlanth's Ring is missing the Dragon's Head. To even out the equation the True Brown Dragon of Stormwalk rises in the Middle Air. Hence the Dragonrise. Likely a very unintended consequence.

I may well be talking a lot of nonsense but this is roughly what I am going for in my game!

(For the record, and why I raised my OP my players are starting to think about how to sabotage the ceromony with what few resources they have available. As things will transpire the Temple of the Reaching Moon is still a Temple to Yara Aranis and the Lunars in Sartar are sacrificing a true Pentan in a Temple adjacent to the Dance Floor. This will be the players' target). 

 

 

 

[Rob Darvall]

13 hours ago, Zebraman1 said:

...To even out the equation the True Brown Dragon of Stormwalk rises in the Middle Air. Hence the Dragonrise. Likely a very unintended consequence.

...

Or concievably an outcome for which Orarlont Dragonfriend was aiming. With a sub-plot (or not) of him being an unwitting (or, once again, not so unwitting) agent of the dragons. Which is not to say that's what Kallyr intended, or perhaps it was one prong of a multifaceted attack she planned with her confederates.