Cult of the Cacodemon

Cacodemon

This cult first appeared in Griffin Mountain under RQ2 rules, I am updating it for Legend (and I haven't read it, but it will probably work for RQ6 as well). In my Griffin Mountain G+ game the players have just done for a gang of these creeps, but who knows, after reading this they might be tempted to join them instead.

The Cacodemon was one of the many horrible monsters that appeared in the armies of chaos during the Great Darkness. He was, according to legend, eventually slain by Waha, the great spirit of the Praxian nomads, and can now only return to the mundane plane with the aid of powerful magic wielded by his willing slaves. Each has a an avatar of Cacodemon of his very own, a vessel into which he can pour his corruption, greed and violence, but the beast yearns to be unleashed and act of its own free, mindlessly destructive will.

He is the traditional god of wild ogres, monsters who prey on humans from heir secret camps in the wilds, but many ogres who secretly live within civilised lands also follow him, dreaming of using his gruesome avatars to strike terror into their human neighbours and allowing their avatars corruption to mask heir own.

Follower
Anyone can join, but almost all of his followers are ogres, or humans who will soon become ogres as they consume human flesh as part of his worship. A follower must prove their dedication to Cacodemon by engaging in acts of violence and mayhem at the behest of their priests, and must join in the seasonal feasts of human flesh.

The cult will train its followers in Stealth, Disguise and Deception, and teaches the spell Boon of Lasting Night and Detection Blank.

Human followers will not detect as chaotic to any spell or ability unless they have a chaos feature.

Initiate
To be considered as an initiate a candidate must have Stealth 30%, Disguise 30%, Deception 30% and two other skills at 30%, preferably a weapon skill of some kind.

They must undergo the Heroquest 'Awakening the Avatar', rolling POW+STR x 3% or less. If they fail, an avatar of the Cacodemon of 1d4+1 dice (see below) will appear and attempt to kill him. If he lives, the rest of the cult will hunt him down and finish the job.

They gain a Pact with the Cacodemon and his mark, a severed hand, usually easily concealed. They can be taught any spell or skill heir cult leaders see fit, but Disruption, Befuddle, Goldentongue, Glamour and Mindspeech are favourites.

They must dedicate at least 1 POW to their pact, but no more than 1/4 of their total POW, and must learn as their first Divine spell Summon Cacodemon. They may also learn Blessing, Behold and Shield.

Any Initiate who gains a chaotic feature may transfer it to their avatar, if they manage to summon it - useful if they live hidden among civilised folk and get something not easily concealed and or something detrimental.

Acolyte (Claw)
A Claw must have 50% in five of the cult skills, and may include Theology (Cacodemon) and Pact (Cacodemon) amongst these. He must dedicate at least 3 points to his pact, to a maximum of 1/2 POW.

They may learn the Divine spells Disarm, Beserker, False Form and Dismiss Magic.

Priest (Talon)
A Talon must have 75% in five cult skills and must carry out a task of assassination or destruction assigned by their superiors. If they manage to kill one of their superiors, they are automatically their place in the priesthood. They must dedicate at least 6 POW to the cult, but no more than 3/4 or their total.

They may learn the spells Amplify, Extension, Create Skeleton and Create Zombie and must learn Ritual of Sacrifice.

High Priest (The Avatar Incarnate)
There is only one High Priest and he must have 100% Pact skill and devote at least 9 POW. There may not actually be a High Priest most of the time, and he keeps himself well hidden as the only way a lesser priest can be promoted is by killing him, usually with the aid of his personal avatar.

The High Priest can no longer summon the Cacodemon, he is transformed into a Cacodemon whenever he casts the spell, and when in ogre/human form he has all the chaotic features he may have offloaded onto his avatar given back to him, usually making him a twisted, mutant wretch of barely humanoid appearance.

Becoming an Ogre
When a human consumes human flesh (Praxian herd men don't count) he gains 1d6% in a new skill called Ogrishness, and must roll an opposed skill roll of Ogrishness vs his Persistence. If he fails he has become an ogre and rolls a new Str on 2d6+12 and a new Dex on 2d6+6. If these are higher than his current scores he gains 1 point per month until he reaches his new limit and his teeth become sharp and carnivore like. He is now a chaos creature, like it or not, and there is no way back.

Chaos Features
The quickest way of gaining a chaos feature is to join the cult of Primal Chaos and beseech the demons to bless you, but merely using certain corrupting spells may end up with the same result. As before, start a new skill called Chaos, add 1 point for each use of False Form, 2 for Create Skeleton or Zombie, 1 per dice of a summoned cacodemon, 2d6 for Ritual of Sacrifice, and roll for this skill vs Persistence (or just roll unopposed, some people actually want a chaos feature). Points may be added for particularly chaotic deeds committed. Once a chaos feature has been gained by this method, the skill is reset to zero.

Cult Special Spells
Summon Cacodemon
Duration Special, Rank Initiate, ranged

Summons the personal Avatar of the Cacodemon. This will have 1 dice in Str and Siz per 4 points of POW dedicated to the pact, 1 dice per 3 points if done on a holy day, 1 dice per two POW on a high holy day. The cultist must sacrifice at least one sentient creature of at least 10 POW and roll his Theology (Cacodemon) skill or under to control the demon once summoned, and again to dismiss it when he wants to. If it persists he must roll again once per day to control it, and again to dismiss it. An uncontrolled demon will kill anything it can reach. Killing the summoner does not dismiss the demon. A High Priest always uses the 1 dice per 2 points ratio, and personally transforms and thus does not have to roll for control.

Ritual of Sacrifice
Duration Special, Rank Priest, touch

A priest may find a holy place and sacrifice victims to boost the size and power of his demon. He gains 1 dice per 10 points of POW of his victims on a holy day and 1 dice per 8 points on a high holy day. For first victim roll the Pact skill to succeed, then at Pact -20% for the second and so on until the priest fails a roll and the demon has absorbed as much POW as it is going to and actually appears.

False Form
Duration 1 hour per 10% Pact, Rank Acolyte

Changes the form of a worshipper into that of an ordinary human of the same size, undetectable by any physical examination, magic or skill. Useful if one has a particularly noticeable Chaos feature, or a 100% foolproof method of disguising ones sharp teeth, or even (for the very brave) fooling priests of other cults long enough for you to make it through an initiation ceremony and stealing their secrets.

The Cacodemon
STR variable d6
CON 3d6
SIZ variable d6
INT 3D6
DEX 4D6
POW 2D6 + 1 per STR/SIZ dice
CHA 3D6 + 6 per STR/SIZ dice

Combat Actions 3
Strike Rank 12
Armour 1 per STR/SIZ dice

Skills
Brawn STR+SIZ x 2%, Resilience CON x 5%, Persistence POW x 3%, Athletics STR+DEX x 2%

Weapon Styles
Claw STR+DEX x 2%, Bite STR+DEX x 1.5%, Tail STR+DEX%, Kick STR+DEX x 1.25%

Weapons have three different Size, Reach and Damage, first for size 1-15, second for size 16-40, third for 41+

Claw Size S/M/L, Range S/M/L, Damage 1d4/1d6/1d8
Bite Size M/L/VL, Range S/M/L, Damage 1d6/1d8/1d10 + poison
Tail Size M/L/VL, Range M/L/VL, Damage 1d4/1d6/1d8
Kick Size S/M/L, Range M/L/VL, Damage 1d6/1d8/1d8

Chaos Features
Poison Bite with Blade Venom potency 20+5% per STR/SIZ dice
1 extra random chaos feature per 3 dice of STR and SIZ
1d3 Chaos Features on top of that

The demon is vaguely Broo shaped with a huge crocodile-like head, vestigal wings and a barbed tail, but the shape and size of the various body parts varies enormously.

Cacodemon and the Borist Church
At some point in the Second Age presumably some more than typically unhinged Godlearner sorcerer came across the cult and developed it into a whole Malkioni heresy. Borist towns are apparently very peaceful, sedate places with pleasant placid people, but in every basement there is caged up demon, embodying all the violence, lust and destructive urges the citizens do wish to deal with in the open. Most demons are very small, but who knows how big the secret demon of that pleasant, responsible householder who just wished you a nice day actually is.

Tharkantus in Balazar

Way back when Chaosium's 2^nd edition Runequest was the thing the cult of Yelmalio was pretty straightforward. Then, as discussed extensively on numerous Glorantha forums, Greg Stafford redid the whole business, adding Elmal, Tharkantus, Halamalao and whole bunch of other bits of mystical backstory and annoyed a few people and muddied the waters no end. This is how Yelmalio/Tharkantus/whatever works in my current Griffin Mountain campaign

Tharkantus

The mighty hero Balazar worshipped a god called Tharkantus, the Son of the Sun. Balazar founded shrines of this god at a number of locations throughout his newly conquered territory, and expected them to develop into the mighty Sun Dome temple colonies he had known back in Vanch, his homeleand. Instead they remained small shrines, each with its own small cadre of hoplites and the towns never expanded beyond castles in a stone age wilderness.

There are maybe 1500 worshippers of Tharkantus out of a total Balazaring population of 25,000 or so, mostly followers from among the pig tenders at the citadels, plus a few dozen initiates and acolytes among the Citadel Warriors and 14 priests, the leaders of the warriors and advisors and administrators for the kings. The cult is strongest in Dykene, moderately powerful in Trilus and fading in Elkoi.

The Balazarings are not entirely ignorant of the great upheavals in their only deist religion since the dawn of the Third Age; they have heard the names Yelmalio and Elmal from foreigners and know about Sun Domes, and a few have even visited such mighty Temples.

Taklong Woodheart of Elkoi is the accepted High Priest of Tharkantus for the whole of Balazar, though the other priests almost invariably put loyalty to their citadel above loyalty to him. He only has two subordinate priests at Elkoi, and a dwindling congregation as the local citadel warriors and pig tenders convert to Lunar gods.

The Sun Dome Temples at the Laramite Hills and the Daughter's Road are both claiming the dead hero Balazar as one of their own Templars, and thus dominion over the Balazar temples and the right to choose its High Priest and a tithe of their meagre income. Even worse the Daughter's Road lot are True Sun Revivalists, claiming to have rediscovered the ancient mystic practices of Yelmalio Daysenerus, while the Laramites are Disciples of the Third Emanation, followers of Monrogh's version of Yelmalio Tharkantus, both gobbledygook to Balazar's soldierly faith.

The Lunars interfere, as they always do, and are pressuring Taklong to take up the Daughter's Road offer, so he is openly courting the Laramites out of spite. Mostly he wishes the whole question would just go away. He is also heartily sick of the sight of his priests, one of whole he suspects is a tool of the Lunars, the other of whom IS a Lunar, or as good as, a half-Tarshite who is far too pally with that oleaginous goit Clodius Semprino, the Lunar 'Security Advisor'.

Tradition states that Taklong can name any priest he pleases as his successor, but he refuses to do it, as as soon as he does so he knows he will be poisoned, knifed or otherwise removed. He is looking to poach clergy from the other two temples, but none relish living in Elkoi.

The Trilus Temple has five priests (one died recently fighting the Moon worshipping Spiral Tribe) led by Chief Priest Tarkan Ormsfoe. Tarkan was exiled from Trilus by the last of the Gadaringer dynasty, and was instrumental in bringing Yalaring to the throne. He was a Black Lion, but has become a loyal Impala since the change in regime. While he has nothing but admiration for Yalaring's abilities as a warrior he is losing confidence in his talents as a ruler and losing patience with his tolerance of the Orlanth cult. Bluebird's position as tutor of Yalvann and advisor to the King is really bugging him as well; he was training Yalvann up to be the ideal lordly, stern and majestic Tharkanti King – might have spoilt the boy a little along the way – and he is afraid Bluebird will convert him to some weird foreign god.

The Trilus branch of the temple has a tradition of voting for a new Chief Priest among all the Temple personnel from initiate upward upon the death of an old one, a practice justified by an ancient standing order from Trilus himself about field promotion of officers. Tarkan's protégée, Zangil the Faithful, died, and he is looking for a new candidate to support who is sympathetic to his aims. Torath Manover keeps banging on about this god back in his homeland called Elmal, who he claims is Tharkantus in disguise or some such rubbish. The fact that in Torath's tales Elmal is always a loyal follower of Orlanth tells Tarkan all he needs to know about his ambitions.

In Dykene the Tharkantus Temple has no rivals and the citadel is all but a theocracy. King Skilfil appoints the Chief Priest personally, and has chosen his old friend and comrade Sylvanthi Brighteyes, who is a shaman of the spirit-cult of Balazar, which scandalized a few die hard traditionalists. They didn't say much about it though, Skilfil would have had them dismembered and fed to his giant hawks. There are another six priests (including Skilfil's daughter Starnia) and one shaman at Dykene and they regularly drill the populace in militia skills.

According to the traditions of Balazar the priests of Tharkantus must crown a king for him to be legitimate, and the king must be of the bloodline of Balazar himself and be an initiate of Tharkantus. King Glyptus of Elkoi has let his initiateship lapse and never bothers to turn up to temple at all. Yalaring never was a proper initiate having never taken the requisite gift and geas, but Tarkan crowned him anyway, and notes wearily that while Yalaring is always dutifully in the temple every Fireday he often falls asleep during the ceremonies. This, in his own opinion at least, makes Skilfil the only true and rightful king in Balazar, and thus his temple ought to be the most important, not the one in Elkoi, and all Tharkantus followers should obey his orders. Only a couple of worshippers have fallen for this propaganda, Elkoini fed up with Lunar overlordship.

Each citadel has an orb and mace-like sceptre that are part of the royal regalia, imbued with magic powers to enhance the abilities of the king. King Glyptus claims to hold the original Globe of Authority as passed on to Elkoi, his eldest son, by Balazar himself, and has a nice new silver(!) sceptre that was a gift from the Lunars. Yalaring has only the Sceptre of Trilus, the Orb was taken into the wilds by the fleeing Black Lion clan, Joh Mith had a pretty looking but magically feeble replacement made in Dragon Pass for him. The Orb and Sceptre of Dykene were recovered from the ruins of the old citadel during its reconstruction by the Dwarves. Taklong has collected information on these items and has made it known that once he has the true sceptre and orb of Balazar he will crown a High King of Balazar and end the centuries old civil war amongst the citadels once for all – some hope say the cynics.

Taklong would also like the Hawk Standard of the Golden Legion, last used to summon all the followers of Tharkantus and Balazar from the whole land to fight off Godar the Windwalker and his Army of the West Wind two hundred and some years ago. All of the Citadels claim it is interred in one of their royal tombs, but no one really knows where it is for sure.

Balazar is worshipped as an ancestor by many out in the wilds. The relationship between the Tharkantus worshippers and those of Balazar is usually cordial, and the priests recruit many of their best Templars from among the Hawk Warriors who claim to be descended from Balazar or his Golden Legion. However many of the Hawk Warriors of the Balazar cult are too full of themselves and too enamoured of the idea of being of the blood of kings to embrace the Tharkantus virtues of discipline and loyal service to the royal house wholeheartedly, and a few are hostile to the bossy know-it-alls in the stone huts, with their squiggly clay tablets, tribute records and fancy gilded bronze armour.

The Armies of Balazar

The three ancient and run-down citadels of Balazar each maintains its own army. These are more in the nature of retainers kept by oaths of loyalty and occasional feasting and gift giving than paid troops, but their favoured hoplite fighting style means they are well disciplined and well drilled.

Trilus has 65 men, 10 are light cavalry, 10 light infantry trained to rain down volleys of javelins or arrow fire, 10 are Yalaring, his brothers, immediate family and his more martial priests and advisors and 35 are hoplites. They will also field a varying number of hunters depending on how loyal the clan chiefs are feeling, what gifts and bribes are in the offing, what matters of honour at stake, who the enemy is - clansmen will turn out in large numbers to fight someone they have a long running feud with. They can rely on maybe a hundred as a minimum.

Dykene has 30 men, 5 hawk avilry, 5 personal bodyguards and priests with King Skilfil and 20 heavy infantry. They have horses, but leave them at home when going to war. They will also be supported by 100 or more armed pig tenders, kitted out with spear, shield and a helmet, and trained as militia by the temple of Tharkantus. This makes the Dykene phalanx impressively large, but only the first couple of ranks are any good. They too will have tribal support, including the Black Lion clan who can still field a few armoured hoplites, and the White Goat who will have men willing to join the militia.

Elkoi has two armies, that of Glyptus and that of the Imperial Governor. Glyptus has 30 warriors, 5 light cavalry and 25 smartly turned out but rather fat and lazy hoplites. His men have been reduced to a village police force as they and their King confidently expect the Lunars to defend their city should either of the enemy citadels attack. The garrison varies depending on the whim of the Provincial government. Currently there are 100 Pelandan peltasts and 100 Holayan medium infantry, but in the past they have sent Kastok light cavalry from the Redlands, hoplites from Sylila and even Shargashi troops from Alkoth, who made themselves very unwelcome very quickly. At one time slack and slovenly units were sent here as a punishment, but recently Euryptus has insisted on at least some reasonable quality troops to give a good impression of Lunar law and discipline to the locals. He is creating a locally recruited archer/skirmisher unit, but the clansmen's enthusiasm waxes and wanes more often than the moon and they only take orders from elected tribal chiefs, and then only when they feel like it.

The Great Hunt

Hunter's Hill

Every year during the Sacred Time hunters from all across Balazar converge on the citadel of Trilus for the Great Hunt. This ritual decides who gets to call himself 'Hunter', and count himself (and sometimes herself) an adult in their clan, and who amongst the Hunters is the greatest.

The fun starts up to two weeks before the event, as parties of hunters from the various clans come and camp on the Hunter's Hill, a ditch and rampart earthwork on a hill a couple of hundred yards from Trilus. All domesticated pigs and horses are kept out of the area as a mark of respect to Foundchild, (and because many hunters will kill them for meat, not accepting that it is possible to own a live animal). The only clan that sends no one at all is the Blue Bear clan, though attendance from a number of clans is low with many youths from eastern clans going to Taksmound to be initiated.

Within the circle all clan feuds are supposed to be put aside, and the Master Hunter's word is law. People who are judged to have broken the truce are given until the following dawn to leave the circle, and when they do they will be permissible prey for the duration of the following hunt.

The Games

The games held at this time used to be informal contests of skill between bragging hunters to pass the time until the ritual began, but since King Yalaring began offering prizes they have become more formal and for some hunters a more important part of the occasion than the hunt itself. When King Glyptus began offering a few prizes by way of keeping up with Yalaring, and King Skilfil of Dykene offered prizes for the hunters at the 'Old' Hunt at Taksmound, politics and prestige have got mixed in, much to the annoyance of the more serious minded and traditional Shamen.

On Freezeday of Truth week Yalaring, his chief priest of Tharkantus, the Great Hunter and whoever Glyptus has sent to represent Elkoi, open the games with libations and sacrifices, and wine, beer and meat are distributed to the hunters.

The sports vary every year, depending in part of whether Glyptus or Yalaring thinks his tribe can win the competition. Glyptus always sponsors distance running as the Grey Wolf clan almost always come first, Yalaring sponsors sprint as the Sables almost always win. Games such as the traditional wrestling, the 'catch the greasy boar' game, archery, javelin (accuracy as well as distance is important), hauling the carcass (a deerskin full of heavy sand is lugged up and down a hill then finally taken up a tree), dog racing and dog fighting, jumping and drinking competitions have all been part of the event over the last few years. 

Some prizes are well worth having; the distance running prize is a black loping dog from Glyptus own kennels and Yalaring offers a magic arrow for the sprint, but other prizes can be a bit more peculiar – enchanted bear fat for the wrestling, the boar itself and the guarantee that one will father a son in the next year for the boar catching, a headdress of yellow feathers for the archery, a smilodon skin cloak for the carcass hauling and so on. 

This year there will be a Shield Push contest, with teams from the Elkoi city guard and the Lunar garrison and from among Trilus' warriors. The prize will be a silver inlaid shield donated by the Temple of the Reaching Moon itself. The Lunars are quietly confident, the Triloi win over the Dykenean Tharkantus templars last summer was a fluke.

The Hunt

On Godday of Truth week, the shamen set up their drum and chant circles and the serious business of the hunt begins. Everyone swears the Hunter's Oath and gets the sacred warpaint mark of a participant in the Great Hunt. Some shamen offer other marks in return for sacrifices or as favours to men of their own totems. These give bonuses for the duration of the hunt (the two weeks of Sacred Time). The Pure Hearth mark offers +10% resilience, the Two Stone mark gives a temporary hero point to any hunting dog, Rigtaina's mark gives +10% Spirit Walk and +10% Tracking while in forests, the Darkness mark gives protection from trolls at the cost of being a target for elves, while the Old Tree Mark has the opposite effect, Balazar's mark gives +10% spear attack. Last year a Five Moon Shaman from Elder's Rock offered the blessing of the Red Moon, which tied the hunter to the Lunar cycle, weakening him on days of the dark moon, but making him much stronger when the moon was full. This year Throggar Giant Baiter will offer the West Wind mark, greatly enhancing missile range when shooting with the wind behind you. 

Some hunters will have sought other blessings at Hearth Spirit sites before the hunt begins and some shamen will offer fetishes with spirits who are bound to serve until the end of the Great Hunt only. Those who do not break the fetish on the last day are asking for trouble.

Only flint weapons may be used and only a loincloth may be worn. If the hunter made his own weapons (and most will have) they get 1 temporary hero point, and personally slew the beast that made his sacred hunting garment he gains +10% Survival.

The hunters disperse in all directions, many making forced marches of several days before looking for game to make sure they are well away from the mass of other participants. He who strikes the final blow gets the kill, and it is common practice (though strictly speaking not within the spirit of the hunt) for fathers to weaken a game animal and allow a young son to finish it off to gain their initiation. 

The beast must be of reasonable size (SIZ 10+) and either edible or capable of eating a man, and must be witnessed by a shaman of Foundchild in the field or the head taken back to Hunter's Hill. Succeeding in three hunts in a row and having sufficient skills and knowledge to satisfy the shamen of Foundchild makes you a Great Hunter. The Hunting Shaman who brings in the best beast is made Master Hunter. Ogolorph Windshaper won last year with the head of a huge Sabre Tooth tiger, but Willarnia Oakbow of the Great Sables says she is going after a Cave Troll this year.

Sacred Sites in Balazar

Where is Where

The various Clan Hearths are holy sites where mighty ancestor spirits dwell and important historical things have happened. According to Shamanic Lore there were many more, but their sites fell out of use or were destroyed in past conflicts. Three locations are known – the Citadels – but the rites to contact the Hearth Spirits there are unknown. Following a Hearth Spirit gives you access to various lesser servant spirits, common magics and heroic abilities.

Halberd Games Map of Balazar, from the Glorantha Wiki
EMBIGGEN

Redwyrm

A long mound shaped like a winding snake or wyrm from the mouth of which springs the stream that is the source of the Redwyrm river. The soil around it is red ochre on the days of the full moon, black ochre on other days and magic warpaint can be made from it. The kings of Elkoi used to muster their clans here before raiding the lowlands, but now the Redwrym warriors serve the lowland Lunars as scouts.

Flint Hill

A great hill that has always been a source of good quality flint, and the gravel beds here about are a source for many other kinds of stone, many of them magical, such as Sunstone, amber, God's Blood Crystal, Magnetite etc. A cottage industry chipping obsidian knives for export operates here and the Lunars are setting up some kind of shaft mine with slave labour, much to the annoyance of the traditional flint miners and workers.

Elder's Rock

A monolith on a bluff overlooking the Elf Sea marking the spot where Votank himself died resurrecting his dead half-brother, the Sun, and where the Sun went up into the sky. Also the place where Balazar was crowned King after his conquest of what was then Votankiland and his defeat of the Trolls. The spirits here supposedly impart wisdom, judgement and good advice, but of late the spirits seem to argue amongst themselves as much as the Shamen do, what with the differences in doctrine between the old Votank and Grandmother Sky Shamen and the new Five Moons and other shamen from around the Empire who have taken up residence.

Morak's Mound

Traditionally Balazarings leave their dead on platforms in trees in a form of sky burial, but the fallen bones are later collected by Shamen and put in barrows and burial mounds. Morak's Mound is the biggest, a huge artificial hill with many passages and chambers that act as ossuaries for the bones of many clans, some now extinct, and individual tombs for many mighty heroes long forgotten. The Shamen here can summon more ancient ancestors and know more songs and sagas than anyone else, and are very good at taming the unquiet dead.

Pure Hearth

This fire was lit by Grandmother Sky herself and has been kept burning since before the beginning of time. It was used to kindle the newly reborn sun on the First Day. The Pure Hearth followers do not like Balazar or Tharkantus, nor the cities he built, believing that Votankiland was better of with its traditional gods and ways. They are good healers though.

Crow Stone

A great rock like a huge flint knife sticking out of a plain littered with bones and broken weapons, the Crow Stone is the site of many ritual battles and the Crow Warriors are creators of much human carrion for the Crow spirits. A place to swear vengeance, fight duels and end feuds with payment of blood, though the current Crow Shaman is trying for a more peaceable approach to conflict resolution.

Taksmound

Another burial mound, but better known as the former site of the Master Hunter's lodge before Yalaring had it moved to Trilus. Many hunting spirits here, and many masters of hunting lore. If you need to know how to take down a Hadrasaur, or the best way to butcher a Walktapus, this is the place to go. Hunters who follow Tak can even pursue prey into the spirit world and track them by the imprint of their breath upon the forest leaves. There is still a yearly Great Hunt here during the Sacred Time, but the Trilus one is more popular as it is the only chance to be made Master Hunter.

Oldtree

Once an Aldryami totem, now tamed and used by men. The only place men can find readily useable tree spirits and, it is said, meet the lesser Aldryami such as runners and pixies on friendly terms. The Shamen here perform strange rites and consort with Dryads and Hunting Nymphs, and are a distant and peculiar bunch. More conventional types warn against the danger of being turned into an Elf, and say the Old Tree must be chopped down lest they re-establish their rule over the land.

Gravel Stand

Another site yielding flints and magic stones, and also the site of a hill fort and temple where in the White Goat and Griffin clans kept the memory of Dykene alive during the years the citadel lay ruined. The streams near here yield gold dust and nuggets, the source of Dykene's wealth, and the Dwarves have set up a smelter and mint for Balazar's first native coinage in 500 years.

Two Stone

A haunted and disturbing site where a permanent cloud lowers over a stone monument. Supposed to have been three stones, set up by the three sons of Balazar to signify their unity, Elkoi's has fallen, toppled by giants. The site is guarded by a huge dog spirit, and the spirits here are his offspring. Recently there has been much kerfuffle over the stones with interest from Dragonewts and Dwarves.

Tuno's Cradle

Here Votank turned himself into a bear and wrestled and defeated the giant Tuno, ousting the mountain spirit that had possessed him and turning him back into a man. Great place for bear spirits, wrestling matches (occasionally with bears) and finding healing herbs and honey.

Firepoint

A small hill that continually glows with an inner fire and occasionally spurts great geysers of flame. Around it are pools of bubbling mud and hot springs. If he can endure the painful ordeals a shaman can gain the service of fire spirits and elementals. The fact that the greatest geyser spouts once a week on nights of the full moon has made some traditional shaman suspicious of the spirit here however. It is also a site for dramatic suicides and has a number of ghosts.

Two posts in two days - yup, it's a Bank Holiday weekend.

The Tribes and Clans of Balzar

Who's who in Balazar

Following the Moon Design version of Griffin Mountain, below is the common knowledge about the tribes and clans of Balazar 

Elkoi Tribe

Black Dog Clan
The Citadel clan (ie they live in the citadel itself). Ancient clan that took in many Jajalorings from the nearby Dog Plains in Holay, breed excellent black hunting dogs. Firmly allied with the Lunars and include many Seven Mothers and Jakaleel worshippers. Some even live in farming villages.

Great Sable
Allies of Elkoi who have a lot of Redwyrm followers. Long standing feud with Crocodiles and Crow Warriors. 

Tiger
Territory is being absorbed by farms, some have even taken up farming themselves. Have many Seven mothers followers.

Grey Wolf
Internal feud over tribal cheiftainship. Rumoured to have many were-wolves despite ancient ban.

Blue Bear
Shunned by all other clans as they kill Eubucks, the sacred animal of Foundchild. No actual animal called the Blue Bear exists.

Cave Bear
Live in the harsh lands of the Dog Hills. Use massive spears to hunt the huge cave bears.

River Snake
Live along the Morande River and have some success dealing with the Water Wyrms. Say that one day one of their shamen will lift the curse that makes the rivers and Elf Sea impassable. 

Trilus Tribe

Impala

Citadel clan. Ordinary hunting clan until about eleven years ago when Yalaring took over the city of Trilus. Still finding their feet with this 'civilisation' business.

Sable
Live in the South Woods and currently fighting a long running feud with the Great Bisons. Their current residence is the result of a tactical retreat, NOT a defeat, and don't you forget it.

Red Sable
Possibly being turned by the Elkoi and becoming moon worshippers, or by the Dykeneans. Much dissent anyway. Foes of the Black Lions.

Barking Deer
Well connected and outgoing clan, chiefs have married their sons and daughters into many other clans. King Yalaring's wife Vania is a Barking Deer.

Thunder Lizard
Live in the far off Dangerground hunting dinosaurs. Some western tribes don't believe they really exist, even though the current Master Hunter, Ogolorph Windshaper, is one of them.

Silver Hawk
Perennially troublesome clan many of whom are devoted to Balazar. Suspected of being deeply implicated in the Spiral Tribe rebellion.

Crocodile
Stalwart warriors who admire the bloody nature of the Crow Stone. Prefer to trap their crocs rather than hunt them though, not safe to linger too long by the Dwerrow River.

Brown Boar
Very into the Pure Hearth spirit and distrusting of all the Citadels and of worshippers of Tharkantus and Balazar. Civilisation never did anyone any good they say, but pay occasional tribute to Yalaring as being the least worst of the Citadel Kings and because they might need his protection someday. 

Dykene Tribe

Tree Ghost Clan 

A clan formed only recently by King Skilfil's Great Uncle Hafranil to rule Dykene after its reconstruction by the Dwarves. No one knows what the Tree Ghost is.

Griffin
Very dedicated to Balazar and Tharkantus and in awe of their totem spirit rather than hunting them. Will keep horses to sacrifice to the Griffins. The hero Hafranil was a Griffin before he founded the Tree Ghost clan.

Great Bison
Numerous clan dominating the open spaces of the East Plain. Noted fighters of Broo.

Black Lion
Former overlords of Trilus, now a fugitive clan in the Dangerground. Have a history of dealings with trolls, which does not make them popular with the more devout Tharkanti. Allegedly actively plotting Yalaring's overthrow and also implicated in the Spiral Tribe rebellion.

White Goat
Unusually for a non-citadel clan they keep livestock, hardy goats that can survive on the tough grass and windswept tops of the Bear and Brother's Hills.

Welcome to Balazar

 Had a few new people turn up in my Griffin Mountain game recently and I realise I need a very quick intro to the setting and the rules.  

The Short Version

Stone age wilderness with Mycenaean outposts, plus Roman/Hindu – esque conquerors, Celto/Saxon – ish exiles and lots of spaced out shamen with weird tats. Long walks in the (sandbox) country meeting sabretooth tigers, trolls and dinosaurs. And ducks.

The Longer Version

The game is set in a backwoodsy corner of the world of Glorantha where the locals (you) are at a stone age level of technology. A few hundred years back a great hero, Balazar, invaded with a bunch of bronze age hoplites and built towns out of stone connected by roads. He went off to fight in the Dragonkill War, leaving his three sons in charge, and their descendants have been fighting each other ever since.

The Kings of the three vaguely Mycenaean citadels have groups of stone age tribes following them, but having a couple of dozen guys with bronze spears and few nags for light cavalry does not mean they have an easy ride of it. Controlling a population who can up sticks and hide in another part of the vast and trackless forest and prairie is almost impossible.

There is a back to this beyond, the Elder Wilds, an even more wild and woolly place inhabited by Trolls, Elves, Giants and a whole bunch of other dangerous critters, not least the Griffins.

The outside world is intruding. The Gloranthan equivalent to the Romans, the Lunar Empire, has invaded Elkoi, one of the three citadels, and are building a temple to their Red Moon goddess. A group of refugees (the Lunars say criminals and terrorists) from Dragon Pass have arrived in Trilus, the second citadel. And lurking in the background are the non-humans, the Dwarves, Elves and Trolls who once ruled this land, and might do again.

At the moment the party are followers of the King of Trilus, a heroic and charismatic hunter called Yalaring, who had traded in his flint spear for a crown. Follow him faithfully and promote his authority and you will be rewarded with real bronze weapons. The citadel has had a tough time of it of late though, and Yalaring might be hankering for the simple but harsh routine of the hunters life.
 
 The D&Ders version

Forget classes, forget XP points and forget alignment. Under the Legend rules, as with any BRP derived game, anyone can theoretically do anything. Your PC will start with a tribal background, a job (Hunter, Shaman, Warrior, Bard, Witch, Herder (if you live in a town)) and will have a mix of skills and a bunch of minor spells on top. If you want to get good at something then specialise, and get in with a local religion, they will give you access to all kinds of improved magic and special abilities.

Forget the 'generic fantasy' stereotypes for the various creatures as well. Gloranthan Dwarves, Elves and Trolls have their own quirks, and be ready for anything and everything to be intelligent and to have the equivalent of the old 3.5 'character levels', even the trees.

What kind of adventures do we do?

There are no dungeons, there is instead the Wilds, forests full of bickering tribesmen close to home but with ever more dangerous beasties the further away you get. Adventures so far have included fighting Trolls, werebears and zombies, settling tribal wars by ritual wrestling matches, finding abandoned cave-temples inhabited by weird and vile chaos monsters, traversing an elf-wood where the spirits have gone mad and the trees hate you, being chased by trollkin riding giant blowflies and rescuing ducks from the rotting interior of a dead bronotsaur, discovering ancient mysteries, fighting in a full scale battle, kidnap, murder, police work and becoming sporting heroes.

This is a sandbox, you can do whatever you like and go wherever you want, but don't expect bloody great signs saying 'dungeon here' and nor should you expect unambiguous 'baddies'. It is possible to make it to be a King or the greatest Shaman in the land, but it won't be easy.

More info here: 20 Questions about Griffin Mountain, Griffin Mountain on G+