[HQ Ignorance] Re : Scene 69: The Wild Temple

Wed Aug 20 00:35:47 UTC 2008

Quick post before I head to WA (nope, not Washington)

Kalen asks about the snails, "Do they make good eating?  At least they are well packaged"

He also asks the duck if he knows of the town where Rotterex's wizard was last know to be 

Sorry - can't remember the name of the town

--- On Sat, 2/8/08, Lev Lafayette <lev at mimesisrpg.com> wrote:

> From: Lev Lafayette <lev at mimesisrpg.com>
> Subject: Re: [HQ Ignorance] Re :  Scene 69: The Wild Temple
> To: "HeroQuest Glorantha" <ignorance at mimesisrpg.com>
> Received: Saturday, 2 August, 2008, 9:46 AM
> (Apologies to Sam and Loran in advance!)
> 
> When the duck finally wakes up he engages Azhur in
> conversation along
> the journey to the Wild Temple. He seems remarkable - and
> quite
> unnaturally - adept at riding a horse.
> 
> "J. Gawkip Pucewattle is my name. I am a snail herd
> and merchant."
> 
> He pauses for dramatic effect.
> 
> "I herd and sell snails.", he elaborates
> helpfully.
> 
> "To the Lunar Empire. They have a certain taste for 
> large snail,
> especially when pan-fried in garlic and shallots according
> to my trading
> partner. Personally", he remarks, "I prefer them
> raw".
> 
> 
> On Thu, 2008-07-31 at 07:59 +0000, Loran wrote:
> > All along their journey, Azhur had felt lost and
> astound. The desolation of the fabled land of Dragon Pass
> was pitiful: dead crops in the fields burned by a chilling
> coldness, beings endowed with reason reduced to the last
> repulsive survival reflexes… These despairing visions woke
> an old wound in Azhur’s heart, seeing the hand of death on
> the land made him feel it again in his Essence. Since that
> time, in a depressed and melancholic mood, the western
> nobleman rode closer to his followers, especially
> SwordSinger with whom he seemed to commune speechlessly to
> some universal and evident but not fully comprehensible law
> of the Invisible God. Some evenings, his friends could see
> him, the old Banner of the Red Valor in his hands, praying
> apart, either with his copy of Good King Siglat’s truths
> or with the original version of the Abiding Book until the
> stars showed up, then he generally stood up in the night,
> observing in his hands a small and brilliant
> >  tin jewel with a careful attention.
> > 
> > When the fellowship saved the duck-man, he enquired in
> few words about his name. With charity he offered his
> unloaded war charger as mount, this until the duck-man died
> or could decide himself his own fate, then Azhur went back
> to his silent state.
> > 
> > At the Wild Temple, the debate between the Beastmen
> and the orlanthi hero left him uncertain, his sense of duty
> fighting against his feelings. He knew that he had to stay
> neutral for the sake of the Quest but the call for action of
> the bearded devotee was appealing. Saint Worlath as savior
> of the world during the great darkness was a revered saint
> in Ralios and Azhur wasn’t so sure about the weird wisdom
> of the Red Moon now that Aalmon has left and that the
> Abiding Book has revealed the secret face of the ambivalent
> Arrolian.
> > 
> > He looked for Karala and Eurynome, hoping that a
> female and restrained point of view would be more useful
> than his male reflexes. Not all problems could be solved
> with swords and battles, especially when life was so weak
> and death all around. 
> > 
> > ----- Message d'origine ----
> > De : Lev Lafayette <lev at mimesisrpg.com>
> > À : HeroQuest Glorantha
> <ignorance at mimesisrpg.com>
> > Envoyé le : Mercredi, 30 Juillet 2008, 15h20mn 43s
> > Objet : [HQ Ignorance] Scene 69: The Wild Temple
> > 
> > Scene 69: The Wild Temple
> > 
> > Nauticles was very pleased that the increasingly
> legendary Fellowship
> > has decided - or so it seems to him - to aid the
> Satarites in the
> > revival of their dead god, Orlanth. "You must
> quest to the Wild Temple
> > in Beast Valley", he informed those gathered.
> "There you will meet the
> > famous Lhankor Mhy sage Minaryth Purple of the Iron
> Ring who is seeking
> > to bring the beastmen into the fold of rebellion
> against the Lunar
> > oppressors."
> > 
> > As the Fellowship prepares to depart, Nauticles hands
> Eurynome a golden
> > braclet with cruel teeth along its edges. "Take
> this to Minaryth. I
> > borrowed it from him many years ago, and by returning
> it he will know
> > that I have sent you and your new friends."
> Eurynome found the braclet
> > unpleasant to touch and the teeth almost seemed to
> bite into her skin
> > when she handled it. It bore the runes of chaos and
> hunger, symbols of
> > Krasht, the devouring goddess. Yet the golden metal is
> sacred to the sky
> > pantheon of Yelm, the Sun God and it also bore runes
> of Storm and of
> > Fire. The meaning of this strange object was beyond
> Eurynome and
> > Nauticles avoided all questions of its significance.
> > 
> > As the Fellowship prepared to head northwards, Kalen
> acted as a
> > go-between for the Fellowship and the Dwarven engineer
> who operated the
> > King's vessel and sought askance from the royal
> leader where he wanted
> > to rendez-vous with their boat. "The elementals
> may be worn out if the
> > wind does not blow again. Whilst the boat can make do
> with sail if this
> > doldrum extends eastwards only as far as it did
> westwards, the engineer
> > believes he can continue - albeit at a slower
> pace."
> > 
> > Once preparations were made, the party set out on
> their journey,
> > travelling northwards along the Lysos River, passing
> through the many
> > populated villages that make up Esrolia. It would be a
> journey of of
> > some seventy-five leagues, hugging the west and south
> ridges of Shadow
> > Plateau, the home of the terrible Vampire Delecti,
> before reaching the
> > fabled Beastlands.
> > 
> > The air was crisp, cool and still and even breathing
> was strangely
> > difficult. Rain fell from the sky in a constant
> drizzle  which became a
> > dreary and cold downpour of sleet as the party turned
> north-east along
> > the river. "And this is supposed to be
> spring!", remarked Icthya, and
> > the journey became an march through near-frozen mud.
> Then the frozen mud
> > turned to snow. 
> > 
> > Still heading northwards through the snow-storm, the
> party encountered a
> > most grisly find - a mound of corpses half-eaten by
> wolves or worse.
> > Closer investigation revealed that the bodies were
> not, however human,
> > but rather of that most peculiar race of Orlanthi, the
> sapient and
> > humanoid duck. Among the many bodies there was one
> survivor, delerious,
> > frost-bitten and perhaps somewhat insane if the
> tangental conversations
> > were to be of any account. "The temple... we
> sought refuge at the
> > temple.. The old god is dead, the cold.. The cold has
> taken all my
> > fellows... and the beastmen.. the wolfmen.. They set
> upon us. We could
> > not resist and we fell... Food for the
> carnivore.."
> > 
> > Taking pity on the poor creature the Fellowship
> wrapped him in a blanket
> > and recovered a jug of brandy which he grasped
> greedily for. After
> > consuming far more than what his small size could
> possibly indicate, the
> > drulz fell into a deep sleep, and required being
> propped on Blackmane,
> > Azhur's faithful steed.
> > 
> > Eventually the party made their way into Beastland
> proper. Here there
> > were villages and hamlets of the various human-beast
> crossbreeds, which
> > Icthya and Karala felt comfortable with, reminding
> them of both their
> > homes and even more so the Castle Coast region of
> Seshnela. A community
> > of centaurs, of satyrs, some Telmori and others even
> more strange
> > treated the party cautiously when announcements were
> made and did not
> > hinder their progress.
> > 
> > Finally, weeks after setting out, the Fellowship made
> it to the great
> > standing stones of the Wild Temple which were
> emblazoned with the runes
> > of Beast, Man and Spirit among many others. In the
> middle of the circle,
> > illuminated by many campfires, stood a man with a dark
> goatee and wild
> > coat. He carried a two feathered staff, and the runes
> of Truth and Law
> > were emblazoned upon his face. He was appealing to the
> assembled
> > beastman of many varieties, clearly leaders of their
> kind. He called for
> > them to join a rebellion against the Lunar Empire, to
> end the bitter
> > winter so that Orlanth may breath freely again. 
> > 
> > But his message was not being well received. "Our
> magic works, and yours
> > does not", claimed a centaur. "Why should we
> put faith in a dead God?".
> > "Your people hunted us because of the mark of
> chaos that we have no
> > control over", howled a Telmori. "The
> Lunar's have treated us with
> > sympathy and offered us a peace that your kind never
> did." "The cold may
> > be great, but we still have food and warmth from
> fire", said a Morocanth
> > trader as his fur was groomed by a gern. "We
> survive and humans must
> > come to us for trade. Tell us why this is a bad
> thing."
> > 
> > It was in this wild babble that the Fellowship
> arrived.
> > 
> > 
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