Chaosium Digest Volume 8, Number 1 Date: Monday, October 10, 1994 Number: 2 of 3 Contents: The Cult of Maluk, Part Two (Pascal Poizat) ELRIC! -------------------- From: poizat Subject: The Cult of Maluk, Part Two System: Elric! THE CULT OF MALUK [continued from V7.12] d) Priests All over the world 0-20 per University $: 20-40 per day given by the Knowledge Keeper 5 more per day from the treasurer 5 more per day if he teaches a student Must give 50% of the bronzes they got outside University to the University treasurer rights: see novices + 2-4 personal guards (see Elric! p111) paid by the University, 2-4 grimoires per year, a mule and travel expenses paid by the University (up to 1000 bronzes. for more, they must go before the Knowledge Keeper and defende their case). The job of the priest is to increase Maluk's power by finding all kind of information and secrets. There are two kinds of priests: those who travel the world to obtain information for the University and those who stay at the University to teach the Students and serve in the secret police. Each year, the Knowledge Keeper decides who goes where. Bad priests are often sent to obtain knowledge in Lawful countries. It's an honour to be the "mouth" of a student. Only the best priests are in charge of this work. Even if it's dangerous (if the student fumbles in the ceremony of "Revelation"), the priests always accept. Some priests sew their mouth and pull out one of their eyes to look like Maluk. This increases Chaos allegiance by 1 and Maluk allegiance by 10. But, this reduces every combat skill by 50% and search and track by 40%. If the priest doesn't know some of these spells, he can learn them if he is allowed to stay in the University for 3 months per spell: - all the spells of Maluk - Buzard Eyes - Demon's Ear - Demon's Eye - Liken Shape - Rat Vision These spells are called "priest spells". To learn them, a priest is given full access to the room of the hidden secrets of the University. The Knowledge Keeper must be with him, so, in fact, only great priests are given the right to learn spells. In the room of hidden secrets, one can also learn about demons, but only great priest (University Knowledge higher than 80% or POW higher than 19) usually do. Note that in the Maluk Cult, the use of demons is not restricted since it is seen as a way to get more knowledge (on demons: their names, etc) for the University. Maluk Priest - Secret Finder, age 30-... He decided to sew his mouth to get closer of Maluk. He also got rid of one of his eyes. Law: 5 Balance: 5 Chaos: 40 | |-Maluk: 71 STR 10 CON 12 SIZ 10 INT 18 POW 19 DEX 15 APP 7 HP 11 Damage bonus: none MP: 18 Weapons: Brawl 55%, 1D3 Dagger 70%, 1D4+2 Armor: Soft Leather, 1D6-1 (only when he travels through the Young Kingdoms) Spells: all the spells of Maluk Buzard Eyes (1) Liken Shape (4) Rat Vision (1) Skills: Insight 50%, Listen 55%, Young Kingdoms 55%, Oratory 45%, Fast Talk 45%, Being impressed by the Knowledge Keeper 65%, Finding a book in a library in less than 1 minute 70%, Scribe 50%, 5 languages (other than his own) 50%, (Memory or University Knowledge 65%), plus all the skills he had before he "decided" to worship Maluk e) Knowledge Keeper Only in cities One per University $: 50% of the money given to the University by novices and priests rights: see priests + 10D8 personal guards, 1D8 personal captains of the guard, a horse, a ship if the university is near the sea or a river. Decides the research policies of the University and is president of several juries and the chief of the city secret police. There is only one Knowledge Keeper per University. The first Knowledge Keeper of each University was the priest who funded it. One is Knowledge Keeper until he dies. There are two ways to become Knowledge Keeper. First, you can go and see the Great Librarian in order to ask him the right to fund a new University. You must already have some money and knowledge (e.g. books you wrote) to put in this University. Your request passes before a Great Jury of all the Knowledge Keepers. The president of this jury is -of course- the Great Librarian. This meeting is called "Birth of the Keeper". To pass this "test" a priest must: have 80% or more in University Knowledge, have 100 or more in Maluk allegiance, have writen 1D8 books or grimoires, know how to summon 8 different demons, know all the priests spells + chain of being + wisdom of slortar and have at least 40,000 bronzes. Note that your Knowledge Keeper must first allow you to go and see the Great Librarian. Then if your succeed, you will be given by each of the other Knowledge Keepers: Students (5), Novices (2), Priests (2), Books (8D8) and Money (1D8 * 10,000 bronzes) Note that this way is quite difficult since Knowledge Keepers are jealous people and they don't really want you to have a greater University than theirs. In the vote, the Great Librarian has 8 voices and each Knowledge Keeper 1 voice. The Great Librarian contacts Maluk himself in order to determine his eight voices. Second, if the Knowledge Keeper of your University dies (it can be quite a while since they usually use magic to live longer), the 3 greatest priests of the University will become pretenders. To be great, a priest must have 80% or more in University Knowledge, have 100 or more in Maluk allegiance, have writen 1D6 books or grimoires, know how to summon 6 different demons, know all the priests spells + chain of being and have at least 20,000 bronzes. Then, all the priests vote, and the winner becomes the new Knowledge Keeper of the University. This is called "Raise of the Keeper". Once per year, on Maluk's day, all the Knowledge Keepers meet the Great Librarian in order to listen to his research orders. The custom says that everyone should give a gift to the Great Librarian: Nanorions, Melnibonean Great Wheels, famous grimoires, new spells, etc. Each one tries to please the Great Librarian in order to become his favorite. Beware! If the Great Librarian feels insulted by a Knowledge Keeper gift, the Keeper could become priest again. Maluk Knowledge Keeper, age 60-... He decided to sew his mouth to get closer of Maluk. He also got rid of one of his eyes. Law: 5 Balance: 15 Chaos: 80 | |-Maluk: 171 STR 12 CON 14 SIZ 10 INT 20 POW 22 DEX 13 APP 12 HP 12 Damage bonus: none MP: 22 Weapons: Brawl 55%, 1D3 Dagger 120%, 1D4+2 Armor: Soft Leather, 1D6-1 + lesser demon (INT 2, POW 15) ability: demon armor, adds 2D10 Spells: all the spells of Maluk Buzard Eyes (1) Chain of being (4) Demon's Ear (1) Demon's Eye (1) Liken Shape (4) Rat Vision (1) Skills: Insight 60%, Listen 45%, Young Kingdoms 45%, Oratory 55%, Fast Talk 55%, Being impressed by the Knowledge Keeper 45%, Finding a book in a library in less than 1 minute 75%, Scribe 60%, 5 languages (other than his own) 60%, (Memory or University Knowledge 95%), plus all the skills he had before he "decided" to worship Maluk f) Great Librarian Only in the Great Library - choose where (a chaotic country) and mail the Digest ONLY ONE IN THE YOUNG KINGDOMS $: 50% of all Universities cash 60% of the Great Library cash rights: over any Knowledge Keeper in any University, President of all the juries (in Maluk cult). Decides, with the help of Maluk, the orders to give on Maluk's day. Receives wonderful gifts on Maluk's day. Owns a seat in all Maluk churches in the Young Kingdoms. The only ones above him are Maluk and the Theocrat. The Great Librarian is elected by Maluk himself. To become the Great Librarian, one must: be a Knowledge Keeper for more than 8 years and 8 days and have more than 200 Maluk allegiance points. In fact, the Great Librarian is the more important champion of Maluk in the Young Kingdom plane. See rules in Elric! p36. When someone becomes the Great Librarian, it's for a long, long time. It's only when Maluk get rid of him that he is replaced. The Great Librarian has a full access to any library and to the rooms of the hidden secrets. He is the only one who can go to the bright room in the Great Library. II) INCREASING MALUK ALLEGIANCE becoming a novice (entering high cult) 5 points working for a secret police 5 points finding secret or important information 5 points discovering a spell or a demon 10 points writing a book or grimoire 5 points sewing mouth 5 points pulling an eye out 10 points (forbidden until priest) meeting a Knowledge Keeper 5 points meeting the Great Librarian 10 points burning a book or grimoire -5 points letting a book or grimoire burn -5 points III) PLACES a) The Great Library The Great Library was the first of the Universities of the Silent Watcher. It is also the place where the Great Librarian lives and works. He never leaves. This huge black building is in a secret place known only by the high cultists (e.g. novices and above). All the building is covered with the symbols of Maluk. There is only one entrance, guarded by Sentinel demons and Bal'boosts. No one has ever managed to enter without being a high cultist, but only a few have tried. Inside, there are: * thousands of books (of all planes), including the entire methods to cast the spells and summon the demons of Elric! and the Digest (except those spells or summonings noted in the Digest to be unique). * more than 800 rooms (must use the skill "find a book ..."+40% to find A book) * summoning rooms * the room of the spirits, where the books containing the memories stolen by the "Knowledge of Maluk" spell lie. * the room of the hidden secrets, containing some dangerous books but not enough to be in the bright room. Access is granted to priests and above. * the living quarters of the Great Librarian, including his own summoning room and the bright room, the place where the more powerful books of the library are. The gifts given on Maluk's days are also kept here. These rooms are protected by two Sentinel demons. * more than 500 guards and some demons The students of the Great Library are only the children of the best families. There are also a few children kidnapped or bought, but only if they are of a higher than normal intelligence. b) Universities of the Silent Watcher Universities of the Silent Watcher are small copies of the Great Library. They are more or less depots. If books are really interesting, they are sent to the Great Library. In fact, they are more Universities than libraries, even if they contain hundreds of books. There usually are 50-100 guards and some demons in each University. The room of the hidden secrets of the Universities often contains things (books, stones, etc) analyzed by the great priests or the Knowledge Keeper of the University. c) Usual layout of Library/Universities _______________________________________________________ | E | * * | |--|---------| | | |__F______| * ________ * | * - - | | - a ______G_ * _d L M _ b | __| | |________| | | H | | J|----| * * | * | I c K | * * | |------|--|-------|-------------------------------------| a: cultists door - sentinel demon b: main entrance - sentinel demon c: bright room door (only in Great Library) - sentinel demon d: lectures door - sentinel demon E: students cells F: novice rooms (2 per room) G: cult room - room of the ceremonies H: priests rooms I: room of the hidden secrets J: room of the Knowledge Keeper/Great Librarian K: bright room (only in Great Library) L: library labyrinth - books and so on M: summoning rooms *: Maluk statues III) SPELLS Stolen Knowledge of Maluk is in V6.11 of the Digest. I'll do some more later. IV) OTHER NOTES All through this article, I've been talking of "University Knowledge" (UK). This is really important since it is mandatory to have more than x% in this skill to become a priest (x=60) or a Knowledge Keeper (x=80). At the beginning, give your character between 5 and 15% of UK. Being a student can make it increase up to 30-40%. To make it increase more, just use it. e.g.: Mr. Foo and his team are in a big city. They want to know more about an old legend. Mr. Foo is a Cultist (of Maluk) and decides to seach in the University of the city. First he uses his "Find a book in a library in less than 1 minute" skill to find a book related to that legend. This University is not the one he is related to, so the Knowledge Keeper only gave him 1 minute to search in the library. If he succeeds, he will be able to use his "University Knowledge" to remember what some term of the book means, where a city is, etc. University Knowledge can also be used in another way: some points can be given to other skills -> heal, potions, young kingdoms, etc. Knowledge skills (as seen in Elric! or in the Digest) are very related to University Knowledge. The Game Master may allow they players to increase University Knowledge by 25% when they increase other Knowledge skills. e.g.: Mr. Foo increases his potion skill by 8%. He can also increase University Knowledge by 2%. I hope other Digest members will write on other cults (or on the Maluk Cult). Some will perhaps write to give a better description of a University or of the Great Library itself. Note that I haven't given the characteristics of the Great Librarian. Just do it! (Try to make a less powerful Theocrat, but with high Knowledge skills and a University Knowledge skill of 120%). Pascal Poizat poizat@ensinfo.univ-nantes.fr -------------------- The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial discussion forum for Chaosium's Games. To submit an article, subscribe, or unsubscribe, mail to: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu. All articles submitted to the Digest remain copyright their respective authors, unless noted otherwise.