Bagog (reprise)

From: Alexandre Lanciani <alexanl_at_...>
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 15:35:34 +0200

        This is a cult of Bagog, in a better shape than the one I posted here sometime ago. Are there any inconsistencies with AR (that I - still - don't have) or gross errors in Glorantha Lore or HW Rules lore? I'd like to know if it's more or less acceptable before trying and sending it to the website.

BAGOG [Animist] [Chaos] [Bagog] [Bagog]

        Bagog was one of the many creatures that entered Glorantha in the wake of the Devil. Her first urges were to slay and to eat, and she was fearsomely armed with her poisonous sting. But then she also felt the need to lay eggs, which hatched in creatures like her. Thus were born the Djurulgz (a word that simply translates as "the People"): the Scorpion Race. Her offspring had her same instincts and so killed living things, devoured them and then gave birth to other scorpion-creatures. In Dara Happan mythology she is slain by Shargash who offers her to Yelm Reborn in celebration of his self-resurrection. Note also the similarities between Bagog's cycle (destruction, devouring, rebirth) and Shargash's. Anyhow, she is now bound by the Compromise to live as a Great Spirit, embodied by her children's Queen, and her traditions provide the basis for the rough scorpion-men's social order.

Requirements: A would-be shaman must defeat the current one in duel and integrate his spirit, which then becomes his fetch. Usually the duel is preceded by a ritual to augment the integration's chances of success.

Physical Abilities: Craft Fetish, Draw Summoning Circle, Devour

Mental Abilities: Bagog Tradition Knowledge, Spirit Sight, Spiritworld Travel, Shamanic Escape, Spirit Combat

Traditional Spirits:
Ancestor Spirits (typically provide a single mundane ability or a personality trait)
Chaos spirits (typically provide a Chaos Talent - look for examples in the Narrator's Book, p. 89)
Scorpion spirits (include Hardchitin, Stinger, Venom)

Special Spirits: Sharpclaws, Manylegs

Spirit Ally: Bagog herself (provides her mundane counterpart the Talent of Rebirth)

Spirit Guardian: Scorpion spirits

Secret: Shapechange (like Hsunchen shapechange)

Sacrifices: The tradition holds the night of Freezeday/Illusion/Sea as the most auspicious night, though every Freezeday/Illusion night is sacred. Usually it's on these nights that the Rituals of Devouring and of Rebirth are performed.

Worshippers: Only the Djurulgz worship Bagog. Someone who does not belong to the People must first undergo the Ritual of Rebirth.

Manifestations: Bagog is manifest in her mundane counterpart, the Queen of the Tribe who thus acts as a bridge between the Mother of the Djurulgz and her children, and in the cycle that is the foundation of the People's way of life.

Other Side: Bagog roams the outer fringe of the Spirit Plane, close to where it borders the Realms of Chaos. She perpetuates her cycle there just as her children perpetuate it in the Middle World. The bodies and souls of defunct scorpion-men are Devoured by other tribesmen, thus giving the children of Bagog eternal life as they are continuously reborn in their brothers.

Other connections: As a Great Spirit of the Chaos tradition, Bagog is connected with many monstrosities. In particular she has close ties with Primal Chaos, the source of her power. Her children are on friendly terms with broos, and often form alliances.

Disadvantages: Besides being a Chaos monster hunted by all sane people, there is no particular disadvantage in being a Djurulgz.

Other Notes: Two special rituals have been mentioned above, the Ritual of Devouring and the Ritual of Rebirth.

        The former is usually performed on a living victim (although a fresh corpse - no more than a night old - will do as well). The victim is killed and devoured at the end of the ritual, and the ritual's bonus is split between the feast's participants and applied to their Devour ability. The ritual's effect is to release from the corpse a spirit for every ability that the victim possessed in life, whose might equals the ability's target number. These spirits can be fought with the augmented Devour ability and then forced into a fetish or integrated, as usual.

        The latter, the Ritual of Rebirth, can only be performed by the Queen. This ritual aims at augmenting the Rebirth ability. To reproduce, the Queen eats several live prisoners, then, a few days later, lays an egg for every prisoner devoured. On any victory with her Rebirth ability, these eggs hatch after a season, and new scorpion-creatures are born, their upper bodies similar to the species devoured. But if the victory is complete, and only one prisoner is eaten, then the newborn scorpion-creature has all the memories of her former life.

SPECIAL SPIRITS OF THE BAGOG TRADITION Manylegs
Might 10-20w

        Manylegs's power works like that of a passion spirit. It gives a bonus equal to a tenth of his might (rounded down) to the user's movement abilities. For every bonus point, though, the user sprouts a pair of scorpion legs. This is one of the three spirits that a scorpion-man must integrate to be able to learn the Shapechange Talent.

Sharpclaws
Might: 10-10w

        Sharpclaws can turn the user's arms into large scorpion pincers. The claws' rank is determined as an edge according to the Augmentation Resistance Chart. This is one of the three spirits that a scorpion-man must integrate to be able to learn the Shapechange Talent.

--
Regards,
Alexandre.

"Cinq milliards de races d'hommes sur Terre,
Est-ce assez pour croiser le fer...?"

Powered by hypermail