The Nameless Earth Spirit by Bo Rosen
Introduction
This mini-scenario in Prax is equally suitable for a lone adventurer as for
a group of experienced veterans. It features no combat, unless the GM chooses
to, and will give the adventurers few immediate rewards. However, players who
solve the task will gain standing in their own Cult and culture and respect
from most Earth cults.
Background
During the battle between the Storm Bull and Wakboth the lands were torn and
many beings suffered greatly. When Eiritha gave her strength to the Storm Bull
even the land and those of it suffered. One of these was a young earth spirit
who had her name torn from her as the strength of the soil was drained.
She often manifests as a cloaked young girl, perhaps ten years of age,
sitting on the ground as if she was waiting for someone. She is often found
near the borders of the Dead Place and will patiently wait for someone to
approach her. Since the battle she has sought to regain her name but is
unable to do so herself and will ask any moderately friendly male to help her.
Encounter
When the travellers skirt the outer edges of The Dead Place one of them
suddenly sees what appears to be a young girl sitting on the ground.
She is cloaked and hides her face with a fold of her cloak. She will not
talk to strangers unless they approach her in a friendly manner.
She will tell her story, what she understands of it and ask the players to
help her. She has no idea what they are supposed to do other than recover
her name. During the conversation she will not willingly reveal her face,
but if pressed she will remove the cloak. The players may be take aback by
the fact that she has no face but it is also an indication that she doesn't
know who she is.
How to help
There are several ways the players can help, though at least one of them
highly unlikely to succeed. Any rewards will depend on what they do.
The easiest way to help her is to take her to the Paps (she will be able to
travel with the party) where the priestesses have two options, either to try to
find her name through a Divination, which is not very likely to succeed or to
have her reborn as a normal child who will be given a new name.
The adventurers will be well received if they do this and will probably be
offered some training or spells.
The second way to help her is to embark on a kind of miniature heroquest,
searching for her name. The adventurer would have to enter the heroplane and
travel to the location and time just before she lost her name and learn it,
perhaps trying to capture it as it is torn from her. They would then have to
travel back to the mundane plane and tell her her name, probably by giving
her a token representing it. This is naturally not an easy thing to do. The
spirit will then remember who she was, a wild spirit of the earth. She
will then teach one of the characters a ritual to summon her if he should
need help. She will come three times.
The final way to help her, and perhaps the most likely to work is to adopt
her into a family or clan. This will be a sort of rebirth for her and she
will have a new name. If this is done, she will regard herself as the adopted
daughter of the man who helped her and will take on the aspect of the
Dutiful Daughter, she is still a spirit remember.
Her old life is unimportant now, she has a new family and a new name.
The tricky thing here for the presumptive father will probably be to persuade
the clan head that he wants to adopt someone, especially if the adventurer is
young. It may also provoke a reaction from the clan when it is understood
that he wants to adopt a spirit.
Still, most cultures have rites of adoption and they could probably be made
to work. If she is helped this way she will stay at home, home being a
field belonging to the adventurer that is not ploughed. If he does not own a
piece of land she will wait on the spirit plane until he has acquired one,
though she will visit often.
Rewards and benefits.
If she is somehow restored to her former self and learns her original
name through a heroquest, the rewards will be twofold. First, if anyone of
an earth cult learns of the deed the adventurer will gain very good standing
with earth cults, and can count on a good deal of help if he should need it.
Secondly, the spirit will promise to come when called three times. She will
try to help her rescuer as best she can, casting helpful spells on him or
initiating spirit combat with an attacker. I leave it to the GM to decide
exactly how useful she will be, but I don't think she should have many
spells and nothing very powerful.
Should a player manage to adopt her she will make a home in one of his
fields used for grazing. She will teach her father how to construct a small
square altar and to offer a small amount of water on it every Earthday
( and a few MPs). Dedicating the altar will cost one POW and a Ceremony roll.
The benefits of this will be that she will act as a protector of the herds
in that field, warning the clan of danger and ensure that the grass is always
green and nourishing. Animals raised on this field will tend to be a bit
above average, faster horses and fatter cattle. She is not bound to Prax
and will take up residence anywhere her father chooses and could be an asset
in the Risklands for example.
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