Heroquesting in Kothar and Jolar

[Gregory M]

If we define a heroquest as a procedure to bring back a part of the God Time into our world, what can be (form, goals...) a heroquest in Jolar and Kothar?

In these lands, the Gods' War seems to have had a weaker impact on the world: it is a world of plenty and peace and Pamalt is "alive" (although blocked in the "other world", like all the Gods) while Genertela is a land profoundly different from its God Time version, with wars and a dead "spirit", so that people need more to bring back the might and magic from the God Time. In comparison, in Kothar and Jolar, the frontier / difference between God Time and mundane world seems to be soft.

So, why do the Dorradi perform heroquests? Neither for crops / cattle nor for war, at least not so urgently than genertelan people...

Some answers that come to my mind:

• fight Chaos by re-enacting the magic of the Firefall or other anti-chaotic deeds
• re-enact events / deeds / magic from the Artmali period
• contact Agitorani who died during the God Time (the other ones are alive and can be found in the south of Pamaltela)
• contact powerful spirits / ancestors

Comments / other ideas anybody?

Edited June 9, 2017 by Gregory M

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, Gregory M said:

So, why do the Dorradi perform heroquests?

To keep back the jungle!  You never know where wild, unconstrained growth will erupt to engulf your village or crops, etc.  These aldryami spirits are evil, dangerous, and often deadly.  You need to find the right footpaths to keep them contained.

[Steve]

There must be plenty of blessings for the community that it would be useful to have - fertility, keeping diseases away, bringing the best sort of weather, animals to stay healthy and produce lots of young, etc.

[Darius West]

3 hours ago, Gregory M said:

other ideas anybody?

 

Help with diplomacy (Hero Quests are often about symbolic relationships) such as making peace after disagreements,

Finding Chiefs (i.e. Proof by ordeal)   Feeding tribal ambition (it always exists).  Disaster relief (things go wrong, balance must be restored).  Medicine (save a family member).  Find something important that was lost.    Understanding (Some questions are difficult and gods might help).  Summon Agent Orange against the Aldyami.

 

[Joerg]

I wouldn't say that the Gods War bypassed Pamaltela. Sure, coastal Pamaltela saw longer exposure to Chaos than the veldt, but both Kothar and Jolar were subjugated by the Artmali Empire, and experienced the invasions into the Artmali Empire like Desero's horde or Vovisibor.

The forests did invade the veldt - the Greenwood of Jolar was destroyed only in the Dawn Age, by internecine aldryami warfare called Aldrya's Woe, but it extended further south than the Taluks that form the accepted border between the southern plains and the jungle north of the mountain chains.

In Kothar, the Goblins of Sozganjio or the Chuchwe Marsh can be a problem, too.

While there is nothing wrong with the fertility of the earth in central Pamaltela, water is the limiting factor for agriculture and grazing. The Doraddi shaman boats might be related to bringing rain or keeping the rivers alive.

Pamaltelan Chaos tends to be huge entities, think Godzilla-sized monsters. In order to combat these, heroquesting appears to be the safest route. Given the later association of the Artmali with Chaos, anti-Artmali quests might be a solution in some cases.

 

The Kresh phenomenon and the Arbennan reaction against their advances are the biggest intra-Doraddi conflict. Everything else get settled by the example of the Meeting Contest. The Kresh themselves use heroquesting magic (and - to Doraddi - forbidden magic) in order to get the materials for their wagons in the largely woodless veldt.

 

 

[Gregory M]

Thank you for cool ideas everybody !

Aldryami, jungle : yes, good point, although my reading of the Guide makes me think that the presence of elves is not very strong in the plains of Kothar and Jolar (but of course it could change, and we know that with the Kresh empire etc.)

Fertility, diseases, weather, animals, etc. : OK but isn't that stuff mostly taken in hand by traditional relationship with spirits ?

Diplomacy, disaster, find something important that was lost, understanding : OK, good points, cool.

Pamaltelan Chaos Godzilla-sized monsters : oh... yes. YES. YES !

The Kresh themselves use heroquesting magic (and - to Doraddi - forbidden magic) : forbidden magic to the Doraddi... what are you thinking about ? Aldryami stuff ?

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, Gregory M said:

forbidden magic to the Doraddi... what are you thinking about ? Aldryami stuff ?

Wagon magic!  Most of the Doraddi move on foot.  But the Kresh have these massive wagon trains to move along.  Seem to be one of the rare uses of the wheel in Pamaltela.

Also while the Red Moon is a long, long way away hovering on the edge of the northern horizon, it must be triggering a resurgence in Artmali, tidal, and chaos related powers.  What do those mean to the Doraddi?  Likely they need to find spiritual allies to keep the earth intact.

[David Scott]

7 hours ago, Gregory M said:

If we define a heroquest as a procedure to bring back a part of the God Time into our world,

Better still if we use the definition in HeroQuest Glorantha it gives the basis for looking for what people do in Jolar and Kothar.

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Gloranthan heroes can journey to the mythic realms and bring back some of the magic of the Gods Age. Heroquesting is a magical act wherein the quester can transform herself, her community, or even her gods. It is the source of the most powerful Gloranthan magic; however, all but the most routine Heroquests come with a high cost and a great risk to the individuals and communities involved, often with lasting consequences. 

Firstly who are their gods and what did they do in the Gods Age. Heroquests are about enacting their mythologies in order to bring back their powers for yourself or your community to use. Most of this is covered on page 25 of the Guide: Pamalt, Aleshmara, Faranar, Noruma, Nyanka are the main gods in this animistic pantheon. We may not know exactly what they did in the God's Age, but like the North, the pattern is the same. If you've read hero with a 1000 faces, you'll know that basically underneath, all the stories of the gods are all slightly familiar to you, just a different cultural pattern. The major difference is that Pamalt lived, while Genert died.

So the HeroQuests will be very much like those in the North, as the ages progress from the Golden Age, through the Lesser Darkness, the Great Darkness, survival and then Dawn. Pamalt will have Leader quests, much like crown tests, etc.  @Darius West cover quite a few in his post.

 

[davecake]

On 09/06/2017 at 11:07 PM, Gregory M said:

Thank you for cool ideas everybody !

Aldryami, jungle : yes, good point, although my reading of the Guide makes me think that the presence of elves is not very strong in the plains of Kothar and Jolar (but of course it could change, and we know that with the Kresh empire etc.)

It's not very strong in part because of Doraddi HeroQuests. In earlier eras, the plains of Jolar and Kothat were jungle. And they still actively magically contend at the borders. 

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Fertility, diseases, weather, animals, etc. : OK but isn't that stuff mostly taken in hand by traditional relationship with spirits ?

Yes, but spirit relationships must be re-asserted via HeroQuest to access the greater powers. 

Note also that most relationships with animals are not fully native to the Doraddi magic tradition, but are acquired via interaction with the Fiwan tradition. There may be rites to re-establish connections. 

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Diplomacy, disaster, find something important that was lost, understanding : OK, good points, cool.

Pamaltelan Chaos Godzilla-sized monsters : oh... yes. YES. YES !

 

That's a bit of an exaggeration. There are a number of Godzilla size monsters, especially the various hydra, but there is plenty of smaller chaos. There is a tendency for Pamaltelan chaos to be a smaller number of more imposing, and more chaotic, monsters but it's a loose trend only. 

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The Kresh themselves use heroquesting magic (and - to Doraddi - forbidden magic) : forbidden magic to the Doraddi... what are you thinking about ? Aldryami stuff ?

Yes. Aldryami stuff. But sssshhh. It's a secret. (See the boxed info on page 590 of the Guide).