I'm working on a write up of West King Wind, the Pentan Storm God for one of my player characters and would like to know what people think of what I've written so far.
Mythos and History
Before Time
Long ago before men learned to ride was an age of peace when nothing much happened. No one knew of war and no one raised their hand against another. It was an age for slaves and women and unfit for men. Then came Windfather, a crude god of Storm and Strength, son of Sky and Earth, who tore his parents asunder to make room for himself. It was he who showed everyone how violence worked and changed things forever. Many gods learned from him and violence quickly spread.
Windfather fathered many children, most by rape. One of his many sons was West King Wind. His mother was one of the few who willing gave herself to Windfather out of love. She was a mountain goddess named Skyscratcher who can still be seen in the Pent Hills. West King Wind has loved mountains ever since.
At the age of five hours he left his mother behind and set off to seek adventure. All he took with him was a drum and a thong to tie his hair back with. Knowing himself to be destined to be leader of the people he went to the bright sun god Yu-Kargzant leader of the Pentans and challenged him to a series of contests. Yu-Kargzant looked down at the naked babe before him armed with only a drum from atop his high, rich throne surrounded by his Warriors and other followers and laughed at him. Go away and come back when the milk had dried on your lips1 he said. One who laughed the loudest was Arandayla, First Wife of Yu-Kargazant. West King Wind was infuriated and he boasted that he would come back armed with deeds and weapons and defeat Yu-Kargazant and win Arandayla for himself. He stormed off, face red as blood, to the sound of the laughter from those all around Yu-Karzant. He wandered and grew tall performing many mighty deeds and finally when he was strong and tall he went back to Yu-Kargazant and challenged him to another series of contests. This time Yu-Kargzant couldn't refuse West King Wind or he would have lost face with his followers so he agreed to a series of contests with the winner being the new ruler of the people and husband of Arandayla..
On one side was Yu-Kargzant, laughing and joking, every inch a king, Arandayla, beautiful and fertile, and his numberless, beautiful Warriors and followers, all richly laden with gold. On the other side was grim West King Wind and his three terrible brothers, North War Wind, South Rage Wind and the most terrible of all, East Sting Wind. The people would judge.
First was a dancing contest. West King Wind did a wild war dance while Yu-Kargzant performed a dance of power and rulership. Yu-Kargzant was declared the winner. Next was a contest of speed. The pair was to race from the Gates of Dawn to the Gates of Twilight. West King Wind set off running as fast as he could, as fast as the wind whose name he bore. He was sure that he would win the race but Yu-Kargzant passed him mounted on the back of Horse (the child of Arandayla and a secret that he had kept to himself) and easily beat him. West King Wind cursed and swore that he would learn Yu-Kargazant's dance and win Horse for himself. The third contest was a contest of arms. West King Wind had a weapon he had borrowed from his brother North War Wind named Death while Yu-Kargzant had a bow and arrows he named Sun.
Yu-Kargzant stood at a distance and fired deadly arrows at West King Wind. West King Wind slashed aside every arrow that came near him with the sword called Death and moved steadily closer to Yu-Kargzant. None of the arrows ever came close to harming West King Wind and he moved ever closer. Yu-Kargzant used up his last arrow and stood still as West King Wind came closer. "You mocked me when you could have just sent me away. You cheated and used Horse to beat me in a race when you should have run like I did. You kept me from what is rightfully mine. For all these things I am going to kill you". West King Wind took the thong from his hair and bound Yu-Kargzant's hand together behind him. Making him stand up and using his sword to prod him he forced Yu-Kargzant to return to the people who stood speechless in shock. There, West King Wind made him kneel before them and asked, "Does anyone here believe that I have not beaten this man fairly?" No one answered so West King Wind used Death to cut Yu-Kargzant's head off. As soon as Yu-Kargzant's head was cut off a darkness spread over the land and the people were scared. West King Wind told them not to be scared and that he would protect them.
Many of the people bowed and acknowledged West King Wind as their ruler. But more refused to follow him and left to follow one or another of Yu-Kargzant's sons. Fair Arandayla would not ackowledge him as her ruler and leaping on her child Horse she raced off. No one knew where she had gone. West King Wind continued to fight with his brothers at his side during this Darkness (known as the Lesser to differentiate if from the Greater Darkness to follow). His army was strong with many immortals and allies. West King Wind defeated son after son of Yu-Kargzant and when he had defeated the strongest of Yu-Kargzant's remaining sons, Yemalio he left him defeated and weak upon a battlefield where he was set upon by a dark Troll god who wounded him even more stealing some of his powers. This caused the fires of the world to grow even dimmer.
Cracks had appeared in the world because of all the wrongdoing and because of the dearth of light and through the cracks crawled monsters and demons. Beauty and Gods were lost forever and there was fear among the gods when Daka Fal spoke his visions of the future to them. The natural order slipped. West King Wind saw that his mother was dead, that his father was chained between the earth and sky and suffering so he took it upon himself to set right the wrongs which had brought such disaster about. Taking what tools and weapons he had at hand and calling upon his brothers they set off. The four met other companions along the way and after a long ardurous journey they found Yu-Kargzant in Hell and persuaded him to return to his place in the sky.
When West King Wind and his companions returned to the surface they found Yu-Kargzant's gratitude to be fleeting. His followers had hailed his return as a miracle that he had accomplished by himself and he made no attempt to disabue them of this notion. Instead of being hailed as the hero he was West King Wind continued to be reviled as a murderer and his followers considered traitors to the Pentan way. West King Wind was declared chief of the Air Gods and King of the Gods for this deed (and others) but many stubborn people and deities refused to acknowledge this. Many Pentans especially were still blind to West King Wind's supremacy remembering Yu-Kargazant's bright past and ignoring his dull present.
Note
West King Wind never did find Arandayla but did manage to find Airithra one of her daughters to be his bride. In his usual fashion West King Wind declared Arandayla deposed as the Horse Mother and Airithra to be her replacement.
Since Time Began
In the First and Second Ages few tribes were wise enough to follow West King Wind and his worship was not tolerated in those tribes that followed Yu-Kargzant. The Tribes following West King Wind had to fight or hide from their Pentan cousins leading a marginal existence in the worst of the Pentan lands or being forced to exist on the borders with the Kralorelans in the East, the Pelorians in the West or the Praxians in the South.
Tribes worshipping West King Wind were among those that followed Sheng Seleris in his war against the Red Goddess. Since The Nights of Horror more tribes have come to follow West King Wind but these tribes are still a minority of Pentans.
The primary runes of West King Wind are Air/Storm, Motion, and Mastery.
Footnotes
Thanks for your attention.
Oliver D. Bernuetz
www.geocities.com/bernuetz
bernuetz.oliver_at_cbsc.ic.gc.ca
End of The Glorantha Digest V7 #171
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