Humakt

Another updated cult, the ever popular Humakt, god of sword wielding hardcases. First appeared in Cults of Prax, Chaosium's first cult publication and updated for every edition since. I will be sort of basing this on Issaries publications' Storm Tribe, with some innovations for my own campaign. As previously, Legend stats/skills are in RED, RQ6 in BLUE.

Who is Humakt?

Way back in the god's age Humakt was one of Orlanth's brothers. He discovered a new power in a secret place, and showed it to another god, who then lay on the floor and didn't move. Humakt was used to fighting (in fact he was damned good at it and had beaten all his brothers) and being knocked down and put out of action for a while, but up until that point everyone had eventually got up and walked away. This was new, this was Death, it was permanent and it sent people to hell. Humakt resolved to take great care about how he used it. 

However Orlanth had a terrible rivalry with the Emperor Sun and Eurmal stole Death for him to use. Humakt was toweringly unamused, as was the rest of the universe when Orlanth killed the Sun and it was deprived of light and the Lesser Darkness began. According to the Humakti version of the old tales their god actually killed Orlanth to send him to hell to fetch the sun back, but conventional Orlanthi scoff at this.

Who worships him?

Humakt is a very widely worshipped deity, with followers among the barbarians of Ralios, Maniria and Fronela and even in Carmania in the western reaches of the Lunar Empire. Humakti make good gladiators, and a few can be found fighting in arenas all over the Lunar Heartlands.

These worshippers are professional warriors, frequently misfits who choose to cut all ties with their tribe and family, sometimes ordinary soldiers who have gone a bit loopy with battle fatigue, sometimes outright sociopaths, and more than a few who find a glamorous attraction in being the ultimate badass. They hire out as mercenaries and bodyguards, trying to stay above mere politics (though a few have become kings), and striving to act within the tenets of honour laid down by the cult. This honour code is not much like western chivalry, it has more in common with Japanese Bushido than anything else. If Clint Eastwood's 'Man With No Name' or Dirty Harry' characters lived in Glorantha, they would be members.

Though most of his worshippers are human, Humakt's temples are willing to take anyone who can keep the code. He is popular among Dragon Pass Ducks (as Hueymakt the Death-Drake) as he is an implacable foe of the undead and they live right by a zombie infested swamp, and a few exceptionally even tempered Trolls are members, though most Troll warriors go for one of their own bloody-minded and savage beserker gods instead and regard Humakt as being a bit of a wuss.

At the moment the cult of Humakt is undergoing a bit of an expansion in Sartar. Many warriors who would have otherwise followed Orlanth are joining up. Though the cult as a whole is supposed to be neutral many individual members are acquainting themselves with death before a final showdown with the Lunars.

Lay Member

Every tribal soldier is a lay member just before a battle, praying fervently to any number of gods to see him through alive and to Humakt that if he must die, he at least dies fighting and goes quickly, stoically and unequivocally without being a coward about it. Other than that he might get a prayer when undead are about – a blessed death rune drives away vampires so they say – and when an exceptionally dire oath is being sworn a Humakt acolyte or priest might be called in to witness it or even get the participants to swear on their swords, which will make dire curses fall on their heads if they break it.

Otherwise Humakt is avoided. His more dedicated followers are eccentric and aloof and liable to kill you over odd points of 'honour', and there is more than one tale of Humakti going bonkers and massacring civilians. Having a 'Death House', as they call their temples, in your town or village is a mixed blessing – lots of skilled swordsmen to fight off enemies to be sure, but they are creepy buggers to have walking the streets. People only go over the threshold of the temple if they really mean to join up.

Initiate

If you want in the first thing you have to do is have a sponsor who is already a member, then you have to have a sword fight to test your mettle. The temple priest may have all the potential prospects fight it out among themselves, or he may sic a bunch of initiates on you, or he may batter you senseless himself. If you don't have at least 50% in at least one combat style involving one or two handed swords you don't stand any chance, and he will be looking for competence in five skills out of the following list:

Skills:

Legend: One handed sword and shield, two handed sword, Resilience, Brawn, Athletics, Evade, Insight, Lore (Tactics)

RQ6: Any combat style involving swords, a second combat style, Endurance, Brawn, Athletics, Evade, Insight, Lore (Tactics)

If you don't know Bladesharp already they will definitely teach it to you, and half price training is available in:

Legend: Sword, 2H Sword and possibly Shortsword, Rapier, LH Main Gauche or Dagger depending on temple, Theology (Humakt), Pact Humakt, First Aid

RQ6: Hu Swordsman style (Intimidating Glare, 1h Sword, Med Shield, Sm. Shield, 2h Sword, Dagger) and possibly Rhigos Duelist (Swashbuckling, Rapier, Main Gauche, Thrown Dagger) and/or Shock Infantry (Formation, Siege Warfare, 1h Sword, Med Shield, 2h Sword, Dagger), Devotion (Humakt), Exhort (Humakt), First Aid

Depending on the temple initiates may also be able to learn Craft (Bronzesmithing) and Ride as well.

Initiates must forswear any other god, losing any divine magic, but they are protected from divine retribution by the Severing ritual that takes away any earthly ties on their allegiance as well.

Initiates are required to answer any call to arms by superiors in the Temple mercenary company, but are entitled to a share in any pay and loot. Humakti regiments in Sartar at least specialise in breaking up the ever popular shield wall, charging in with double handed swords and 'hand-a-half' long swords to hack chunks out of the shields and open holes in the formation to be followed up by tribal cavalry.

The first point of power devoted to Pact or Devotional Pool is spent on choosing one of Humakt's gifts, which always comes with one or more geases, and no more than ¼ POW may be dedicated.

Gift:

Increase any sword related combat style by 10%

Never use a non-sword weapon

Increase Combat Actions by 1

Never refuse a challenge to one on one combat

Increase Strike Rank by 1d3

Never trust (d6 roll) 1- Dwarves, 2-Elves, 3- Trolls, 4 – Dragonewts, 5 – Solar Worshippers, 6 – any non-Humakti

Increase a cult skill by 10%

Remain silent one day per week

Increase STR, CON or DEX by 1 point

One random geas

Increase SIZ or INT by 1 point

Never sleep in a building that is not sacred to Humakt +2 random

Gain a Sense Assassin ability at POW+CHA or increase it by 10%

Never participate in an ambush or attack from hiding +1 random

Increase Resilience or Endurance vs Disease and poison by 25%

Never use poison +1 random

Gain a Sense Undead ability at POW+CHA or increase it by 10%

Always bless a fallen friend or foe

One specific sword is blessed to have +2 armour points and +5 hit points

Never accept magical healing from a non-Humakti

One specific item of armour or shield gains +2 armour points in one location, or +1 AP in two locations (for a set of greaves, a hauberk etc.)

Two random geases

When in battle can modify battle table results by +/-1-2 at will

Never retreat from a pitched battle and never surrender

Gain +25% to Insight when trying to detect a lie

Never lie

Random Geases: Roll on Mongoose Cults of Glorantha table p 223. If the random geas duplicates a mandatory one then no further geas is taken.

Initiates may never be resurrected. Their souls go to guard the Paths of the Dead, keeping the dead in hell or whatever afterlife their god has chosen for them and guiding those souls in danger of getting lost from harm by Shamen and Demons. They may never be reanimated as undead.

Senior initiates may become a Ten-Thane (or Decurion or Sergeant, titles vary from region to region) with up to nine others under his command. In practice it is rare for a Temple battalion to get anywhere near the thousand men prescribed by the hero Efrodar Blackhands, the warleader who created the first all-Humakti regiments in the Gbaji Wars.

He must devote at least 10% of his income to the cult in offerings (black chickens, rams and cattle for sacrifice is fine, but a bit of silver doesn't go amiss either).

The initiate's sword becomes, in the eyes of the cult, an embodiment of his soul. Humakti always keep their swords immaculately polished and lavish their wealth on ornamental hilts, fancy baldrics and scabbards and are willing to pay serious cash for a well made blade. Having such a fancy sword will add +1-3 CHA when dealing with fellow Humakti, and may impress a few other folk as well.

Divine Magic:

Legend: Bless Corpse, Truesword, Fear, Shield, Gleam, Detect Truth

RQ6: Lay to Rest, Truesword, Fear, Shield, Steadfast, Detect Truth

Acolyte

Humakti who have been Initiates for at least three years may be promoted to acolyte. They get first dibs on Hundred Thane (or Centurion, Captain, whatever) positions, with up to a hundred men at their command in battle. These places tend to go to those with decent Lore (Tactics) or Oratory skill who have been in a pitched battle or two.

They must devote at least 3 POW to the god, and no more than ½ their total POW and may gain another of Humakt's gifts if they so choose. They must give 50% of their wealth to the temple, but do get a cut and to negotiate terms when hiring out men of their hundred as mercenaries.

They must have 70% in a sword related combat skill and three of the following skills:

Legend: A second sword combat skill, Theology (Humakt), Pact (Humakt), First Aid, Craft (Bronzesmith), Sense Assassin, Sense Undead, Lore (Tactics), Resilience, Brawn, Insight

RQ6: A second sword related combat style, Devotion (Humakt), Exhort (Humakt), First Aid, Craft (Bronzesmith), Sense Assassin, Sense Undead, Lore (Tactics), Endurance, Brawn, Insight

Divine Magic:

Legend: Amplify, Heal Wound, Turn Undead, Oath

RQ6: Heal Wound, Turn Undead, Oath

Acolytes may also learn Craft (Ironsmith), a rare skill in bronze age Glorantha.

Priest

Humakti priests are not usually particularly priestly, they are hard bitten warleaders and fanatical warriors who can allegedly strike a man dead with a glance, and even if they can't always pull that one off they still put the heebie jeebies into anyone daft enough to cross them. They scare the hell out of their own men as much as inspire them, and news that a tribal king has engaged a Sword Priest to help in his wars is enough to cause weaker willed enemies to throw in the towel there and then.

They must devote themselves full time to the cult, though the odd priest does decide to take himself off on a quest, or is told to go by the head of a temple. There is only one Warlord (or Comes, General, Swordmaster etc) per Temple, and every other priest must be happy as a Hundred-Thane or ship out. No Humakti would never stoop so low as to off their Warlord to take his place – in any case the boss would spot it coming a mile off and have the ambitious underling's head off his shoulders in under a second, if he doesn't do a Darth Vader and kill him with a nasty glare – but they may freely leave and found their own warband.

Priests need only have 50% Theology (Humakt) or Devotion (Humakt); piety takes second place to being a warrior, but must also have at least 50% Lore (Tactics) and 90% in a sword related combat skill.

They must have 90% in two other skills from the list:

Legend: A second sword combat skill, Theology (Humakt), Pact (Humakt), First Aid, Craft (Bronzesmith), Sense Assassin, Sense Undead, Lore (Tactics), Ride, Oratory, Insight

RQ6: A second sword related combat style, Devotion (Humakt), Exhort (Humakt), First Aid, Craft (Bronzesmith), Sense Assassin, Sense Undead, Lore (Tactics), Ride, Oratory, Insight

Priests may, if they wish, take a third gift from Humakt and the attendant geases, and devote up to 3/4 or their POW to the god.

Divine Magic:

Legend: Break Weapon, Excommunicate, Consecrate, Enchant Iron Sword

RQ6: Break Weapon, Excommunicate, Consecrate, Enchant Iron Sword

A priest who gets to 120% Pact (Humakt) or Exhort (Humakt) may learn Sever Spirit, the awesome ability to kill with a glance.

High Priest

There is no high priest of Humakt, no one man who can command the loyalty of all the worshippers of the god. In the past there have been warleaders who have commanded thousands - Efrodar Blackhands is the most famous – and once the Hero Wars get going there will almost certainly be leaders who will try and unite the various Humakti warbands into a formidable Army of Death.

The Curse of the Swordbreaker

Anyone who breaks the Humakti Code is cursed by Humakt himself so that any sword they pick up is hit with 1d6 damage per 10% of their original Pact (Humakt) or Exhort (Humakt) skill, all their gifts are removed and all their divine magic taken away, while their geases remain. A lapsed Humakti who breaks a geas gets hit with a Disruption spell to remind him to make amends.

Cult special spells

Bless Corpse

Duration Instant, Rank Initiate

A body blessed with this spell will hopefully not return as an undead (opposed roll of Raise Zombie vs Pact/Exhort of caster should an attempt be made), and his soul will be sent to the appropriate afterlife without any evil shaman abducting it (again opposed rolls for any shaman trying to contact/bind otherwise mess with the spirit of the dead). Several cults have some version of this spell, but Humakti can also use it on active zombies and skeletons, doing 1d4 damage to 1 hit location per 10% Exhort/Pact skill. The caster must have a blessed Death rune or a a sword in his hand.

Detect Truth

Duration Minutes, Range (Meters), Rank Initiate

Adds Exhort/Pact skill to Insight when detecting verbal untruths within range. Cannot be resisted but countermagic will reduce the effectiveness of the spell by 10% per point.

Turn Undead

Duration Minutes, Range Meters, Rank Acolyte

Ghosts, Zombies and the like cannot approach within a range of one meter per point of magnitude of the spell, though ranged and magical attacks can still be made. Any undead that succeeds in a Persistence vs Pact/Exhort roll may penetrate the barrier, but takes 1 hp per location per round while within it, and/or loses 1 POW per round (no big deal for skeletons and zombies, but bad for ghosts, wraiths and vampires). The caster may back an undead into a corner and force it to come within range of the effect. The caster must again have a blessed Death rune or sword.

Oath

Duration Special, Range Touch, Rank Acolyte

Creates a binding oath between two willing participants. The severity of the oath is decided at the swearing, with a maximum magnitude of the casters Pact/Exhort skill, as are the terms of the curse which will fall on an oathbreaker. Breaking this oath requires a roll of Persistence vs the magnitude to resist the curse. The usual penalty is 1HP damage per 10% magnitude to all hit locations, or loss of 1 stat point per 5% magnitude, though curses may affect skills or have other effects as well.

Break Weapon

Duration Instant, Range Touch, Rank Priest

The caster can use this spell to make one special Damage Weapon combat manouver especially effective, doing normal damage with his sword plus 1d3 per magnitude of the spell. If the sword breaks the target must save vs Persistence or Willpower or be demoralised into the bargain.

Enchant Iron Sword

Duration Permanent, Range Touch, Rank Priest

A lengthy ritual which permanently reduces the casters magic points by whatever cost it takes to cast both this spell and the divine or common magic spell to be imbued into the blade. The results can be quite powerful - a permanently Bladesharped sword is not to be sniffed at, nor is a permanent Truesword, or a sword with a permanent Shield or Protection spell round its user. However the spell does have one drawback – a random geas is rolled associated with the enchantment and if the owner does not follow it then the sword ceases to function.

Heroquests to learn further enchantments are known. One famous one is the Soul Severing enchantment – the wielder of the sword may slay one enemy irrevocably and permanently beyond all hope of resurrection, at the cost of suffering the same fate himself.

Consecrate

As per the standard spell, but Humakti may enchant swords to become mobile shrines to their god. The weapon must be iron and preferably enchanted, the magic point used to create it is permanently lost, and the Theology bonus is 1d3% per point of magnitude.

Subcults

There are several hero cults openly honoured, Efrodar Blackhands who mastered tactics, Indrodar Greydog and Li Phanquann who fought undead, Inginew Redson who crafted magic swords, Makla Mann the loyal bodyguard and so on. And there is one special sub-cult, Arkat Humaktsson, about whom more will be revealed later...

Orlanth

As the PCs in my Griffin Mountain game are wandering around Dragon Pass, and my new River of Cradles game includes a lot of Sartarite NPCs its about time I wrote up the cult of Orlanth for RQ6 and Legend. The Legend skills spells etc. will be in RED, the RQ6 in BLUE.

The first version of Orlanth appeared way back in the days of Chaosium RQ1, this version is more or less based on the writeup from HeroQuest found in 'Sartar, Kingdom of Heroes', with bits of 'Thunder Rebels' thrown in, and the odd spell from the MRQII Cults book.

Who is Orlanth?

He is the King of the Storm Gods, the mightiest warrior deity, the father of men and bringer of freedom. He conquered all that was worth conquering back in the Gods Age, hundreds of tales are told about his deeds, including how he killed the Emperor Sun and nearly destroyed the world. His greatest quest was to admit his mistake and bring the sun back from hell.

He has 49 names, each embodying an aspect of this mighty god. Some aspects are Orlanth under a different name, some are brothers or close kin of his and yet others are heroes who worshipped him. An individual may worship different aspects of Orlanth at different times of his life, he may worship several, or he may stick with one. And it is usually a he, Orlanth is the embodiment of men's virtues and roles in Heortling society. Women usually worship Ernalda, though as always with these freedom loving people there always plenty of exceptions.

Lay Member

Anyone may be lay member, all they need to do is turn up to a ceremony and make a small donation to the person in charge. The only possible difficulty may come with finding a ceremony and getting permission to attend. Orlanth worship is currently being suppressed in Sartar and worship often takes place in secret or on far off hilltops, and interlopers who worship Lunar and Solar deities (apart from Elmal) are quite definitely not welcome. Some ceremonies associated with a sub-cult or hero cult (see below) are still allowed by the authorities.

Initiate

Initiates are expected to pay a regular tithe to their priest, the amount varying depending on the priest and their circumstances. In Sartar many people pay a tribute to their clan chief and he passes a potion of this onto the cult on the clan's behalf.

Requires 50% in five cult skills, these being:

Legend – Athletics, Sword and Shield or Spear and Shield, Craft (any), Theology (Orlanth), Evade, Resilience, Influence

RQ6 – Athletics, Fyrdman Combat or Thegn Combat, Craft (any), Devotion (Orlanth), Endurance, Evade, Influence

The cult favours the following Common/Folk Magics

Legend – Bladesharp, Endurance, Mobility, Push/Pull

RQ6 – Bladesharp, Vigour, Mobility, Shove

Skills and spells can be learned from higher level cult members for a donation.

Initiates may also devote up to ¼ of their POW to the god, devoting at least one, and can gain the following Divine spells

Legend – Amplify, Blessing, Channel Strength, Dismiss Elemental, Shield

RQ6 – Dismiss Sylph, Perseverance, Shield, Steadfast

Acolyte

Requires at least 50% in Pact (Orlanth) or Exhort (Orlanth), 50% in Influence, and 70% in three other cult skills.

Acolytes can devote up to 1/2 of their POW to the cult and must devote a minimum of three.

Acolytes are expected to lead the defence of their god and his people, and donate as much as a third of their income to their priests and temple funds. They aspire to be the embodiment of Orlanth, just, bold, boastful and in command of every situation. They usually learn Oratory to help give their arguments force.

They can learn the following Folk/Common magics

Legend – Thunderer's Voice

RQ 6 – Shock, Glamour, Voice

Divine Magic -

Legend – Call Winds, Summon Sylph, Telekinesis, Consecrate

RQ 6 – Summon Sylph, Call Winds, Consecrate, Telekinesis

Priest (Wind Voice)

Wind Voices are greatly respected and powerful members of Sartarite society, and though custom dictates that clan chiefs and tribal kings have precedence, they are sometimes over-awed by Wind Voices. Many Wind Voices are wanderers by nature, and many have to keep on the move given the Lunar suppression of their religion, travelling in carts full of religious paraphernalia and with an bodyguard of acolytes.

To become a priest one must have 90% Pact (Orlanth) or Exhort (Orlanth), 90% Theology (Orlanth) or Devotion (Orlanth), 90% in one other cult skill and 50% Oratory. He must know the divine magic Consecrate.

They spend all their time and money on promoting Orlanth and furthering his worship despite the oppression, and though there is still some money coming in, they can't expect the riches they used to get before Lunar taxes sapped the wealth of the land.

Divine Magic

Legend – Excommunicate, Extension, Soul Sight, Bless Woad

RQ6 – Excommunicate, Extension, Soul Sight, Bless Woad

Aspects and subcults

How subcults work under RQ/Legend rules

There are a basic set of cult skills that are common to all Orlanth cults as detailed above, and a couple of skills that are associated with each subcult. A Follower who just wants to be an initiate of Orlanth is his most general form follows the requirements above. A Follower who wishes to become an initiate of one of the aspects of Orlanth substitutes the two cult skills for ONE of the general cult skills above. For example, Oroling wants to be an initiate of Desemborth – he needs 50% in FOUR of the cult skills noted for initiates above, not five, and MUST have 50%+ in the Desemborth skills of Stealth and Deception as well.

When a person joins a subcult as an initiate they gain a Theology (subcult) or Devotion (subcult) skill in the subcult equal to half their equivalent Orlanth skill, and this skill is used for any Divine magic they gain from the subcult, and to determine their subcult rank as they progress.

A person may join as many subcults as he likes, but can only be an acolyte or priest of one. Each subcult will expect its own donations/sacrifices though, and joining too many may impoverish the person. A priest can theoretically lead worship of any aspect of the god, even one he himself has never followed. Any skills used as part of this worship are reduced however, a Priest of Barntar the Plowman isn't going to get much of a hearing from Orlanth Thunderous.

The list below is by no means exhaustive. Some subcults are long defunct, some are now considered outright heretical by modern Wind Voices, like Orlanth the Dragon, popular in the Wyrm's Friends days, and some are only recognised by a single tribe or clan.

Desemborth the Thief

Orlanth stole many items from other deities back in the God-time, going under the pseudonym Desemborth and hanging around with that unpredictable reprobate Eurmal the Trickster. The Sartarites have the quaint belief that taking other people's stuff doesn't count as theft if the victim is not of your clan. Though their Kings and High Kings like to rule that everyone in their tribe or country is part of the 'family of the kingdom', there are still people who take liberties, and clan chiefs who let them get away with it. No-one advertises their membership of this cult too loudly though. It is most common in the cities and is especially popular in New Pavis, the City of Thieves.

Skills: Stealth, Deceit

Common/Folk Magic:

Legend – Bandit's Cloak, Luck

RQ6 – Coordination, Bypass, Incognito

Divine magic

Legend – Initiate: Dark Walk

RQ6 – Initiate: Dark Walk

Acolytes may heroquest for the Sandals of Darkness, the item Desemborth stole from Kyger Litor which enabled him to pull off even more daring heists.

Dar the Chieftain/Orlanth Rex

Only those who are elected chief by their tribe may become members of the cult of Dar the Chieftain, and only those whom the chiefs decide is to be king of the whole tribe can join Orlanth Rex. In Sartar there is yet another level, the cult of the hero Sartar himself, who instituted the rites of High Kingship which unified the kingdom.

Skills: Oratory, Insight. In addition chiefs must have Culture/Customs 75%+, Kings 90%+

Common/Folk Magic:

Legend: Thunder's Voice, Glamour

RQ6 – Glamour, Voice

Divine Magic:

Legend: Initiate: Outlaw, Summon Moot

RQ6: Initiate: Outlaw, Summon Moot

Destor the Adventurer

A son of Orlanth, or according to some legends another pseudonym of Orlanth, Destor was an explorer and gadabout, afflicted with wanderlust and a tendency to get himself into trouble wherever he went. He was especially adept at sword fighting, making daring escapes from the most difficult situations and bragging about it afterwards. Popular amongst young Orlanthi everywhere, especially in Pavis where reckless worshippers plunge into the ruins and sometimes even come out alive.

Skills:

Legend: Perception, Evade

RQ6: Perception, Wild Wind Combat style (Swashbuckling, Dagger, Shortsword, Longsword, Broadsword, Buckler, Med. Shield)

Common /Folk Magic:

Legend: Coordination, Mobility, Luck

RQ6: Coordination, Fanaticism

Divine Magic

Legend – Initiate: Telekinesis, Acolyte: Wind Words

RQ6 – Initiate: Telekinesis, Acolyte: Wind Words

Mastakos the Charioteer

A companion of Orlanth, who drove the god's chariot in any number of battles and close escapes. Chariots are not much used in Sartarite warfare these days outside Ralios, cavalry are far superior for hit and run attacks and the ever popular cattle raid, but many Kings, Chiefs and Priests keep one for ceremonial parades and there are shrines with sacred chariots in many hill forts, and sometimes a Mastakos cultist to drive it.

Skills:

Legend: Drive, Javelin

RQ6: Drive, Charioteer Combat Style (Charioteer, Axe, Sword, Javelin, Long Spear, Lance)

Common/Folk Magic:

Legend: Mobility, Speedart

RQ6: Mobility, Speedart

Divine Magic:

Legend: Acolyte: Teleportation, Priest: Guided Teleportation

RQ6: Acolyte: Teleportation, Priest: Guided Teleportation

Ormalaya the Hunter

Ormalaya is a son of Orlanth who helped him explore the world back in the early God's Age. The Orlanthi have two other hunting gods, Yinkin and Odayla, followed by those who make hunting a way of life, Ormalaya is followed by those who hunt for recreation and those who are forced to supplement their farm income with a bit of game to get by.

Skills:

Legend: Resilience, Survival

RQ6: Endurance, Survival

Common/Folk Magic

Legend: Speedart, Clear Path

RQ6: Speedart, Pathway

Divine Magic

Legend: Initiate: Sureshot

RQ6: Initiate: Sureshot

Hedkoranth the Thunderbolt

Hedkoranth is a brother of Orlanth and embodies the thunderbolt, striking down enemies with a mighty crash of electricity and noise. Hedkoranth slingers are the bane of the Lunar patrols, lurking in the high mountains and blasting their troops in hit and run attacks. Possession of a thunderstone is a capital offence in occupied territories. Their best warriors, those who can wield lightning, do not carry metal weapons and armour, often just fighting with a bit of woad, a sling and a flint knife. They are also on good terms with the Kolating shamen so expect them to have a few air spirits on hand as well.

Skills:

Legend: Sling, Resilience

RQ6: Hedkoranth Slinger (Skirmishing, Sling, Thrown Rock, Spear, Dagger), Endurance

Common/Folk Magic:

Legend: Speedart, Chill, Detect Enemies

RQ6: Speedart, Chill, Find Enemies

Divine Magic:

Legend: Initiate: Enchant Thunderstone, Acolyte: Crash of Thunder, Lightning Strike

RQ6: Enchant Thunderstone, Acolyte: Thunderclap, Lightning

Vanganth the Flyer

Vanganth is another of Orlanth's many brothers, who rejoiced in the art of flying on the winds. Again the Lunars have learned to fear this followers, nothing is quite as disconcerting as having a squadron of barbarian fanatics swooping over your column chucking javelins and even swords. The Flight spell precludes wearing heavy armour so they often just wear woad by way of protection. Possession of the bent Vanganth throwing sword is also a capital crime in Lunar occupied Sartar.

Skills:

Legend: Thrown Sword, Acrobatics

RQ6: Vanganth Flyer (Swashbuckler, Sword, Javelin, Thrown Sword), Acrobatics

Common/Folk Magic:

Legend: Speedart, Mobility

RQ6: Speedart, Mobility

Divine Magic:

Legend: Initiate: Flying

RQ6: Initiate: Flying

Vinga the Avenger

Vinga is the daughter of Orlanth and Ernalda, a red haired warrior who seeks to avenge wrongs done to her tribe and family. It is open only to women who are already initiates of the earth goddess Ernalda, and membership may be temporary, the woman only dying her hair red and taking up arms as long as it takes to get revenge on someone who has wronged her or her kin.

Skills:

Legend: Athletics, Survival

RQ6: Athletics, Survival

Folk/Common Magic:

Legend: Speedart, Mobility, Detect Enemy, Pierce

RQ6: Speedart, Mobility, Find Enemy, Pierce

Divine Magic

Legend: Initiate: True Javelin, Aegis, Heal Wound

RQ6: Initiate: True Javelin, Aegis, Heal Wound

Vingans may go on a Rite of Vengeance heroquest to gain a special bonus against a particular foe, and further heroquests re-enacting Vinga's noted victories may gain bonuses against whole classes of enemy – rapists and slayers of children are particular favourite targets.

Other subcults

There are a whole slew of peaceable and mundane subcults devoted to the ordinary tasks of Orlanthi tribesmen; Barntar the Plowman, Durev the Householder, Orolman the Herder, Orstan the Carpenter etc. Another set cover the more mundane warrior roles: Finovan the Raider, Strakval the Frydsman, Tatouth the Scout. Yet more are devoted to combating a particular foe: Orvanshagor Dragonslayer, Vingkot Champion (hates trolls), Vingkot Victorious (hates sun worshippers). Another set embody Orlanth's roles as ruler and keeper of tradition: Drogasi the Skald, Andrin the Lawspeaker, Jarani the Lawstaff, Vingkot the High King, and yet other aspects are associated with cold, wet and stormy weather.

Who worships Orlanth?

Orlanth is one of the most widely worshipped deities in Glorantha, with followers in Fronela, across Ralios, through Maniria and at one time much of western and southern Peloria.

Across much of his old range in Peloria his worship has faded. In the Lunar Provinces some aspects of Orlanth are now regarded as separate deities and worshippers of such have limited access to his more warlike and stormy magics, and have forgotten the old association of their gods with mighty Orlanth. 

Barntar, Starkval and the one time Orlanthi hero Alakoring Dragonbreaker are popular in Tarsh, a version of Vinga is the major deity of Holay, in Imther and Vanch the old trade and farming aspects are still worshipped, and in Talastar and Aggar a reasonable range of Orlanthi cults linger on, though Orlanth himself is worshipped only by rebels and bandits.

In Sartar the suppression of Orlanth is only just beginning. Orlanth's temples are being demolished, his holy hills and mountains are being desecrated and occupied and his priests are fugitives. As in Tarsh worship of a few of his more peaceable aspects is allowed, as long as Orlanth is not praised or mentioned in the course of the rites, though Vinga, which has vague similarities with some Lunar cults, has been left alone as long as her followers don't cause trouble. The worship of foreign storm gods is being encouraged such as Doburdun, Molanni and Brastalos, though these meek and submissive deities bear no resemblance to the aggressive, forthright and heroic king of the gods Orlanth. They have few worshippers in Sartar, and few of the foreign priests drafted in to proselytise the populace have fared well.

I is for Icehenge

I have lifted this idea wholesale from Kim Stanley Robinson's 1985 novel Icehenge.

Icehenge is a circle of columns of ice, each slightly different, averaging 3m wide and 9m tall. They can be found on an otherwise dull and unexciting ice ball, the outermost planet of the Kibara system (007 Aquila). The ice-liths all have sloping upper surfaces and it looks more like a slightly smarter modern art version of the Callanish stone circle than Stonehenge, with is lintels and nested circles and horseshoes of stones.

What the hell is it doing there? Endless quantities of cranks have theorised about the place, coming up with the usual blather about prehistoric starfaring cultures from Earth and extinct aliens, interstellar ley lines, astronomical alignments and so on.

Serious archaeologists know only that the ice is local (they checked the chemistry), the site was smoothed off before construction and that they have no idea how old it is, dating ice left standing out in a near vacuum is not something they have any firm idea about. It is also damned far from anywhere, getting there even at 6G acceleration from the system's inhabited world takes a couple of weeks and the amount of comet debris nearby makes a short warp inadvisable. Someone tried it once and got their ship smashed to bits, giving the tin foil hat brigade plenty of theories about curses and warp distorting defences to witter about.

Standing as it does on a flat white plain so far from it's sun that Kibara Prime is lost in the starfield and with a ragged ring of ice chunks that orbit the planet hanging in the sky above it, it is a very beautiful and spooky place and tourists are willing to pay a pretty steep price to go and see it.

Adventure Hooks

• It is a meeting place for space druids. Various eccentrics from around Known Space built it and they have built others yet undiscovered in systems more less in a line back to Earth. On the appointed day all the rings will be occupied by twits in spacesuits with pointy hats waving freeze dried mistletoe and they will supposedly telepathically contact each other. Will it work? Who knows, but the PCs have a bunch of nerdy computer programmers and accountants calling each other by made up celticy sounding names led by a systems analyst calling himself Arthur with a ice sword he keeps in a bucket of liquid hydrogen willing to pay oodles to be taken out there. Lets hope they don't have a theological split along the way eh? Or get too riled if it doesn't work, or too over excited if it does.
• It really was aliens. It will soon be midsummers day on this isolated world, which only happens every 300 years and that's when the true alignments will come right, according to anyone who knows anything about megaliths on Earth. Various rival scientific expeditions are setting out to see what happens. They know the stars the alignments will point at already from computer models, this is just a sightseeing trip really, but some are a bit curious to see what happens. Does a space portal crossing hundreds of parsecs open? Do disembodied alien intelligences appear and dispense ancient wisdom? Or do the various squads of scientists squabble and have a fight and miss it all?
• The main tourist carrier is Jellaby Lines, founded by Douglas Jellaby, they guy whose starship fell out of warp in the outer system and who found the ring by accident 40 years ago. Or that's his story – he actually built the thing himself as a money spinner. A boffin with an answer to dating the thing properly is aboard his ship, along with the PCs. Is he going to fall out of an airlock?
• The Duke of Hereford from England, not having anything better to do, is on his way to the place. Terrorists from New Dorset, a colony trying to secede from the English Empire will be there to meet him.
• The bit about astronomical alignments is pish, a PC realises, its places on the planet that are important, like that big ice mountain on the line from lith 18 to lith 6... what is under there?
• It's a graveyard. A scout ship with a crew from the Western Isles of Scotland crashed here a hundred and seventy years ago, well supplied, but with no comms and no way off the world and at that time precious few ships passing through. They built it as an homage to Callanish back home to pass the time and maybe, just maybe, a signal to passing vessels to come down and save them. Deep seismic probes, only useable with big explosives, will find the graves and deep buried ship.
• A bored teenager throws a chunk of ice at a lith while the PCs are there, and the thing vibrates. Now there's no sound in a vacuum, but perhaps there's a way to listen to the noise with a contact microphone – what tunes can you play, and what happens when you do?
• There is a lake under the ice – liquid nitrogen mostly, it being effin cold out here in deep space – is that why the henge is here? Drilling down into it awakens the Elder Thing lurking within, and as it squawks its spawn, frozen for aeons in the ice chunks in the rings above begin to wake...
• It was aliens, no kidding, really it was – they put this here as a marker for a strange matter waste dump that would warn any sensible species to stay well away. And what kind of buffoonish species couldn't read the clear warning signs from the variations in height of the liths, reflecting the extended tentacles of a Multiploid Quercate in pain? The overgrown monkeys digging a ruddy great tunnel under the site with laser drills, that's who.
• The liths were built by drug smugglers. Why take the risk of having a maser or electromagnetic beacon for your dropped drug packages when a visual sign will do? Make it something suitably weird and silly and no one will suss it out.

H is for Hobbits

Known Space has hobbits. Doctor Shin Wei Chung was possibly a visionary (or possibly a lunatic), and during the late 21^st century when global warming became a massive issue he decided the only way humanity was going to survive was by using less resources, and that meant less humans, or at least less biomass of humans. So why not have the same number of people, but each individual smaller, more efficent? His agricultural research station in an out of the way corner of Tibet had successfully produced miniature cattle and he now set about sampling all the known human mutations that reduced size and worked on the genome around them to mitigate some of their less healthy consequences.

His first generation of small people were sent out into the world with false IDs to study in the best universities and they soon took over the project themselves. After three generations the result was a population averaging 3 foot six inches tall, well proportioned and agile, robust with no serious long term health problems, breeding true with no occasional big people, just humans, but little; Homo sapiens minimus.

However the worst of global warming was past, fusion power and mass interstellar colonisation had seen to that, and they were not going to inherit the Earth from their bigger (and in their opinion more short sighted and wasteful) brothers.

They existence of the project had gradually become known over its first century, and the Chinese authorities who had (unwittingly at first) funded it kept doing so, hoping to use the hobbits as cheap starship crew – you could after all fit twice as many into a starship, cutting life support costs considerably – and put the project under military control. People inevitably didn't quite take them seriously, a source of great annoyance, and when tourists took to coming to gawp at them and the military talked about abandoning the project and finding them jobs in Tolkein theme parks, they got pretty angry. In the end they staged a revolution, throwing out their military trainers and demonstrating their complete grasp of guerilla tactics in the wilds of the Himalayas. They ended up in Nepal and Bhutan, and eventually got enough money together to fund a colony ship. They now live happily in the mountain valleys of Tau Ceti Prime, and can be met anywhere in Known Space. They still don't like being called 'hobbits', or 'halflings', or any other literary or mythological name for little people. They aren't going to start a bar fight over it (well not often anyway), they know they would probably lose, but they are certainly verbally scathing about people idiotic enough to make an issue out of their height.

Hobbit characters

STR 1d6

DEX 2d6

END 2d6+1

INT 2d6

EDU 2d6

SS 1d6+1d2

Hobbits can be any profession. They only need two tons of life support as starship crew, not four, and at a pinch four can fit in a standard stateroom. They have few entirely hobbit crew starships, and these have smaller bridges unusable by anyone over four feet tall and tiny corridors that big people have to creep down.

Hobbit military forces are not to be messed with. Just because you are short doesn't mean you can't drive a tank or fly a grav-bomber, and they are well trained in infiltration and the use of laser carbines. Weaponry has to be specially made to their size though, even a normal size pistol is unwieldy for them, and this is not available anywhere except their homeworld unless specially made.

Adventure Hooks

• Fricking aliens have landed! After two centuries of looking the human race has finally met the Little Green Men! Or is it a bunch of Hobbits having a laugh with big yokels on a backwater planet? Or doing something else secret, landing their starship way out in the desert?
• Hobbit mercenaries have been deployed in an ongoing brushfire war. Their opponents say they are really child soldiers and all kinds of treaties have been violated. Go and check it out for the UN and try not to get a laser beam between the eyes.
• A starport city has a problem. Big people are accusing recently arrived hobbit immigrants of taking their jobs and things are getting ugly. A hobbit undergound has grown up, the little bastards are using the ventilation ducts to get all over the domed colony and firebomb heightist bigots.
• Hobbit punks have a new sport, dog jousting. You get a big dog and ride it into an arena to fight, bloody dangerous but good fun. They need more dogs though, and they are banned in the hobbit state, can you help smuggle in some rottwielers please?
• A hobbit couple are seeking their wayward son, who ran way to space many years back. They fear he may have committed the ultimate betrayal and become a growth hormone addict, he might not be easy to find.
• The main hobbit religion is Buddhism, their culture developed in Tibet after all, and one  sect have concluded that all big people are reborn as smaller ones, and that there is a direct link between reduced height and spiritual development, the shorter you are the more holy you are. A group of hobbit monks looking for the latest incarnation of the Mini Lama have found that he is to be born on planet Simba, mainly inhabited by Masai, and feel they might need bodyguards and a trained diplomat to help look for him.

G is for Gene Splicing

In Known Space a certain amount of genetic tinkering is regarded as perfectly acceptable and normal, but there are still people out there who regard it as 'unnatural', and researchers and technologists do sometimes go to far.

'Digestifs'

On many worlds there are developed ecosystems, and most of these are based on local variations on proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates and fats. These are not always close enough to Earth's native biochemistry to be easily digested, so genetic engineers put synthetic enzymes into normal gut bacteria to help things along. Eat a yoghurt with the bacterial mix and over a few days (not usually accompanied by diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach cramps) your gut flora will adapt to local food.

Starship crews who skip from planet to planet frequently hate this and try and stick to imported food, but medical officers will passenger vessels will administer the bugs while aboard ship.

For any planet where this is action roll 4+ vs Endurance plus skill of medical officer supervising. A failed roll will result in 1d6 days of illness reducing END and STR by 2 and all skill rolls by 1.

Transplants

From TL9 onwards it becomes possible to take stem cells from a sick person and grow quite complex organs in the lab. This makes transplants of most of the viscera and even replacement bone and muscles far easier. The 5000Cr cost to replace lost characteristics due to injury are reflected by this and this can be used to replace those lost by ageing as well, but only 1 point per characteristic.

At TL 10 one rather stupid but popular implant are specially crafted steroid glands. They will increase STR by 2, but the cost is advanced ageing, with ageing rolls made each 3 years rather then each 4.

At TL 11 'improvements' become possible. Livers that can synthesise Vitamin C and essential amino acids are a comparative doddle, hard wearing kidneys less prone to kidney stones, lungs with better self cleaning capacity etc. For 15,000 Cr (give or take), a PC can improve END by 1.

Also at TL 12 it becomes possible to put in improved muscle fibres and strengthened bones, giving +1 STR for 20,000 Cr, to a max of 3 STR as various parts of the body are improved. The appearance of these at higher levels can be quite ungainly, for each point gained over 12, one point of DEX is lost.

Gene selection

At TL9 knowledge of the functions of the thousands of genes means that embryo selection is possible. A batch of egg cells are fertilised artificially and DNA analysis is used to select the 'best' by the lights of the parents. At TL 7 and 8 this is used to eliminate embryos with inherited genetic disease, but at TL 9 'positive' features can be selected, though the influence of genes is not absolute. If a person has SS 9+ and TL 9+ they can swap 1d3 stat points between STR, END, DEX and INT. At higher TL it becomes cheaper and easier, SS 8+ at TL 10, SS 7+ at TL 11+.

Germline modification

Germline modification means any changes made to the genes is passed on to the next generation, creating the risk of a 'genetic aristocracy'. Different cultures take different views on this, mostly negative, but fortunately it isn't that easy to do. Even at TL 12 implanted genes are slightly unstable, and the genes either have no effect, or even cause disabilities.

The wild and wacky stuff

Secret projects to radically modify human beings have taken place, but they have always thrown up many failures. Rumours that this or that corporation or dictator has financed such a secret project float about regularly. Nothing has been proved however.

Adventure Hooks

• A PC discovers that he has been subject to peculiar experiment – he has Einstein's brain. The DNA from Einstein was stripped of its immunological markers, the PCs own substituted and, as an embryo, the stem cells that lead to the brain substituted. Who did this? Has it made any practical difference? Did it even work?
• In a care home for people with learning disabilities a doctor has made a troubling discovery – scraps of DNA that look like tags from a gene implant. The person they come from has a shadowy history, being abandoned in a hospital as a child, and severe autism means they are not at all communicative about what happened. Where did this person come from?
• A clinic is offering a rather silly modification – pointy and other modified ears at knock down price. They have become all the rage among the fashionistas. Thing is it's being run by Plesios PLC, and unsavoury rumours link them to a neo-fascist regime. What else are they putting into their patients while the ears are being sewn on?
• Some twit has implanted roid glands into Alsatian dogs, and with a cybernetic jaw, IR vision eyes and natty bullet proof dog coat you have a fantastic guard dog. Just introduced as starport security, and already marmalised half a dozen thieves out by the warehouses. You have packs of cyber implanted, steroid crazed bullet proof hounds between you and your starship and there's no sign of the handlers.
• The Metelli family are very wealthy, have produced great scientists, a number of eccentric artists and have a politician or two in the family. Gerald Metelli is in the running for president of the colony of New Campagna, his rivals want definitive proof that they have been using germline genetics and do bit of rabble rousing. Get DNA from one of the clan and don't get caught.