I think heroquests vary somewhat in their response to modification. The majority seem pretty elastic, possibly because the myth is somewhat vague -- "Orlanth set out hunting one day. He took his bow, his alynx, a pack with a blanket, bread, and meat, and a rope. He crossed five hills and three streams. In a clearing, he saw the Silver Stag and knew that he must catch it for the good of his people...." You could do this heroquest on any tula anywhere, as long as you could muster up the "ingredients" -- bow, alynx,etc. In Saird, the alynx is replaced with a dog, and the myth and heroquest still work, because that's what their culture demands.
Other myths are more specific about the setting. "Under the great Thunder Oak in front of Orlanth's Hall, Hedkoranth and Helamakt had an argument about who was the greatest warrior. They each set out to slay a foe of the Storm Tribe to prove their power. Hedkoranth went north, into the Trolllands, and there he.... In this case, you need a "Thunder Oak." Hopefully your clan has a ritual oak you can use; there may even be an understanding in your tribe that the Thunder Oak refers to Old Stormweather, the mighty oak that stands in front of the Chief's Hall on the Apple tula. In that case, for the best results, you would want to start your quest there.
Still other myths/quests are extremely specific -- "In Ernalda's Eye, the sacred valley in Esrolia, Heort came to ask for aid from the Earth. The Avenging Daughter appeared before him and threatened him with her terrible visage. Because he was brave and did not flinch, and because he was just and had never wronged the Earth, she let him live, and they set out to slay the Stones That Speak...." For this one, you'd better start from Ernalda's Eye. Besides, the temple (or shrine or whatever) there will have the most complete version of the myth, which might be useful if you don't want Ms. Gor hacking you into chum at the conclusion of the quest. Sure, you could tell your clan what you did (unless the Earth has asked you not to during the quest), but maybe you don't know exactly -- you know what is was like to be Heort doing these things, but not necessarily exactly what was done. Also, there may be elements of the myth that you don't get to see -- perhaps for it to work, Ernalda has to hear Heort calling for aid, then ask B. Gor to aid him, and extract a promise from her not to kill him if he does the right things. Without this secret Ernaldan ritual, Heort's getting the axe at some point on the path -- so you could do it elsewhere, but you won't survive.
In a less contrived situation, maybe it's just way way easier at the right place. Vinga does something in Tarsh. If you leave from the ruins of the correct hill fort there, you get +40 to cross over, and some other benefits. if you do it from a Vingan hill fort elsewhere, you might get a +10 to cross over, but no other benefits. If you do it from some random hill fort, you get no benefits, and all the foes get +20 to their TNs. If you don't start from a hill fort, it's worse. Vingans in the area of the Tarsh hill fort know secrets of the myth, as above, or might be willing to help you (in which case you may not learn the secrets), etc.
Just my take on this, of course.
Peter Larsen
Powered by hypermail