Martin
Urain
The Hell Wind
Mythos.
Urain was the product of a violent rape. His father was Vadrus, God of Violent Storm. His unwilling mother was Narras, a minor Goddess associated with the Disorder Rune, expressed through her erratic interaction with the world around her.
Narras had met Vadrus as the mighty God walked the world in search of war and plunder. Narras, in her usual manner, reacted to Vadrus in the worst way possible; with disdain and insults. Vadrus flew into an immediate rage and assaulted her. She fought back bravely but was no match for the war-hardened God in his fury.
After he had his way with her, Vadrus left without a further thought, his mind on greater conquests. Narras swore revenge upon him and the whole house of Storm Gods. She soon found that she was with child and she saw a chance for a great vengeance.
Before her son was born, Narras followed her Runic instincts and reached the path of chaos. She associated with the Unholy Trio and their plans and lusts and fully participated in the obscene rituals led by the Trio. Many of the myriad lesser deities wounded and corrupted during the Lesser Darkness took part in those empowering rituals and all were touched by Chaos when those rituals came to fruition.
Narras gave birth at the height of the ceremony and her son, Urain was born, frothing at the mouth and hungering for blood in his seething rage. He slew his mother and many others around him and charged into the Darkness seeking more death and destruction.
During the Greater Darkness, Urain was ever at the forefront of battle and atrocity. He brought raging storms that turned many against the other Storm Gods as they said that Urain was one of their brood and they must bear responsibility for him. In particular, Humakt sought out Urain but the berserk God was impossible to catch, such was the pace and unpredictability of his march for carnage.
When the Greater Darkness ended and the Compromise was sealed with the Dawn, Urain was forever part of the world and his place is assured because violence and those who live for it are a constant in the dangerous world of Glorantha.
Cult Ecology.
Urain is violence without cause, hatred without reason, he is the destructive wind that tears flesh from the bone and brings terror to those who oppose him. The depth of his insane bloodlust is deep and the power to quench that lust is what draws the sparse few who share his desires to him. He is worshipped only by madmen who live to kill, revel in the offal their actions create and love to drown themselves in the blood of their enemies. Where other berserker religions have a function that serves as a focus for their rage, Urains focus is berserk rage. As a Chaos God, Urain, like so many other corrupted Gods, brings dishonour to his kin.
Urain is always ready to offer his powers to those tempted by slaughter. Many warriors who have gone too far in their fury hear Urain's insane whispering in their minds as he draws them step by step into his own madness. Soon, all they hear is Urains battle roar, mirrored by their own.
The Cult runes are Chaos, Storm and Disorder.
The Cult in the world.
Urain has a very small role to play in the world. Even many chaos creatures are uncomfortable in the presence of the Uraini. Only the most psychotic and alienated broo would consider joining and in fact humans are the most likely candidate for Urain's worship. Storm Bulls have been known to be converted to this faith, the ultimate failing for a Storm Bull warrior. Organization is usually minimal, revolving around a loose warband structure. They rarely are in great numbers for their battle lusts often take then into action against overwhelming numbers.
There are only a few places in Genertela that have any concentrations of Uraini. Fewer still have organised worship which can access Urain's higher powers. The Kingdom of War in Fronela has the only Great Temple to Urain in the world, they use his destructive magics to great effect and the Uraini are one of the most feared of their warrior brotherhoods.
Several areas of festering chaos have Urain worshippers, usually in the more primitive Froth Child form, rather than in organized temple or band groupings. Dorastor, the Tunneled Hills, Snake Pipe Hollow and the Chaos Woods have at least shrines to the Hell Wind but mostly Uraini in these lands are packs of rabid Froth Children.
Shrines teach Incarnate Urain.
Initiates.
There are 2 types of initiate to Urain. These are:
Froth Children
Froth Children are those possessed by Urain but who have no formal worship system.
Becoming a Froth Child is not a deliberate or structured process. Any being may become one, there are no racial restrictions.
Any warrior, murderer or madman who follows the path of extreme violence may hear the voice of Urain. If they kill a friend or an innocent while committing violent acts and find they regret it not, then they are already on the road to the Hell Wind.
Soon, if their habits continue, they will hear the wind-like whispers, the offers of power. They will be constant and tempting to one set on this path.
If the killer agrees to the offer in the whispers, by killing an innocent in a
brutal way while committing the act to Urain then they immediately lose
5 points of POW and gain a use of the Incarnate Urain ritual Rune magic
(4 points of POW for the spell and 1 point for Urain as a gift). This must
be cast immediately or as soon as physically possible and this first
casting is always a success due to Urains aid, Successive casting are at
the Froth Child's ability.
Froth Children may learn and cast only the Incarnate Urain spell, they don't need a shrine to do this, they need only to slaughter a sentient while sacrificing the POW. This is the only benefit of being a Froth Child
The Froth Child can have no feelings for others, all they desire is death and destruction. They are never happy unless killing, maiming and destroying. They are by almost all definitions, insane. Only some very powerful healing magics can ever reverse this.
Froth Sons
These are initiates of the organized cult and they are limited to only a few areas in all Genertela.
To become a Froth Son the candidate must first find an Uraini band or temple and prove their worthiness in combat and in blood lust. This is abstracted a weapon roll and the slaughter of a helpless captive.
On acceptance, the candidate must give 1 point of POW to Urain and upon initiation immediately gain Berserking at 20% + Knowledge bonus. The initiate will get whatever weapons training available from the Froth Khans and access to his battle magics.
Initiates spend most of their time in cult activities, half of any booty earned from their slaughters goes to the Froth Khans. Like Froth Children, they are insane, they merely have a little more focus.
Cult Battle Magics: Protection, Disruption, Bladesharp, Shimmer, Vigour, Strength.
Initiates can sacrifice for one use rune magic.
Froth Khans.
The Rune Masters of the Cult are called Froth Khans in most barbarian lands. In the Kingdom of War they are called Froth Knights. Regional variations are common.
Whatever the area though, they are the cult warleaders and hold Urain's few rituals inbetween the raiding and pillaging of the lands around them. Froth Khans are terrifying in their rage and ruthless attacks. They torture, kill and destroy with the full power of Urain. To stand against a Froth Khan is to experience the terror of facing utter frenzy.
To be a Froth Khan, the candidate must have a POW of 18, have a ceremony of 75% or better and have 90% in several weapon skills or Berserking. They must be recognized as being true destroyers by the other Froth Khans and their followers.
Froth Khans are the ultimate chaos berserkers, their capacity for rage, hatred and wrath is unlimited and fueled by their god. A Froth Khan will do anything he wishes, those who oppose him die.
They are supported by their followers but in turn must teach them the skills necessary to survive their furies. Froth Khans get no divine intervention. They get a Violence spirit as an ally per normal rules. This spirit usually possesses its victim and makes them attack their friends.
They have access to the cult special and common rune magics.
Common Rune Magic: Worship Urain, Excommunication, Soul Sight, Dismiss Magic, Sanctify, Command cult spirit.
Cult Special Rune Magic: Incarnate Urain, Ferocity, Terrify Foe, Wind Warp, Increase wind, Cloud Call, Summon Hell Wind, Summon/command Sylph, Summon/Command Violence spirit.
Cult Rune magics:
Incarnate Urain
4 points.
Ritual, one-use, permanent.
This spell brings Urains evil spirit into the caster. Each casting of the
spell stacks the effect. Only one spell may be cast at a time but many
may be cast over a long period of time. Each time the spell is cast, the
caster adds 10% to their Berserking skill and gives the Uraini one gift of
Urain, to be chosen randomly from the following table. All these gifts are
stackable with repeated castings:
Gifts of Urain: Roll 1d10.
(1). 1 Point of Armour in every location.
(2). +10% in one weapon attack.
(3). Cast lightning bolts once per week (1 point of Lightning Rune Magic
spell, usable once a week).
(4). Gain increase wind ability once per week (equivalent to 1 point of
Increase Wind).
(5). Regenerate 1 HP in any damaged hit location per round.
(6). Gain 1 Point of either STR, CON or DEX (roll 1d6 to choose
randomly).
(7). Gain one use of Summon Hellwind per season (equivalent to the 2
point spell).
(8). Gain one use of Wind Warp per season.
(9). Gains 1 point of countermagic permanently.
(10). Automatically attack one opponent in melee with a demoralize
effect. Roll POW vs POW as normal but the Uraini can be Berserk and
not concentrating. This only works when he is attacking and berserk.
Each level of this allows an extra opponent to be attacked in this way. It
is stopped by 2 points of countermagic or equivalent.
The caster of Incarnate Urain is automatically tainted by chaos as soon as the spell is cast.
Ferocity
3 points.
Reusable, stackable, temporal.
This spell turns the recipient into a raging machine of destruction,
beyond even a berserk rage. For the spell to work, the caster must
make his Berserker roll on casting. If he succeeds he goes berserk and
has the benefits of Ferocity as well, if he fails, then there is no effect and
the spell is lost till prayed for again. Each Ferocity spell gives 2 points of
protection,1 point of countermagic and coordination 1. In addition the
number of actions a warrior under Ferocity gets is now equal to his
Dex/5.
Terrify Foe
2 points.
Reusable, non-stackable, temporal.
When the Froth Khan casts this spell on himself, all enemies who engage
him in combat are attacked each round by a demoralize spell at the
Khans current magic point level. The Khan doesn't actively cast the
spell, it simply affects anyone he's facing that round. The effect lasts
while the enemy is in combat with the Froth Khan or his initiates.
Defensive magics treat this as a demoralize spell, not a 2 point Rune
Magic. Once the effect has been resisted once, it has no further impact.
Summon Hellwind
2 points.
Reusable, stackable, temporal, a cone of 10m radius and 10m depth per
point.
This spell turns natural winds around the caster into the chaos tinted
Hellwinds for the duration of the spell. The winds must be blowing into
the face of the targets or the caster will be hit by his own magic, hence
this spell is often used with WindWarp. Any non-chaotic within the area
of the winds is affected by a demoralize spell at the magic point level of
the caster. This only happens once, if they resist, they are then
unaffected by that particular casting. Any chaotic within the spell's
affect radius will be affected by a fanaticism spell, if they chose to be. In
addition anybody within the area of effect takes 1 hit point abrasive
damage for every 10 points of wind strength to every hit location from the
scouring winds. Protective magic is abraided by this spell as is armour.
Plant life and buildings in the path of the Hellwind will be affected too.
Sub Cults
The cult has no spirit of retribution, but transgressors usually find themselves pursued by their old Froth Khan and his followers. The results of being caught are unpleasant.
Associate Cults
Primal Chaos gives Blessing of Chaos.
Notes
Uraini love to convert Storm Bull warriors and many berserkers have ended up following Urain without even realizing it. The Storm Bull who enjoys his rages for their own ends, no longer just to battle the great foe of chaos, is already on the road to worshipping Urain. In battle the Uraini are very dangerous and a Froth Khan commands powerful magics. The Lunar Empire is said to be experimenting with using madmen from their army to form an Uraini regiment as shock troops.
The Mad Sultanate of Tork has the largest concentration of these warriors in the world and in such numbers they have proven very difficult to stop. All Uraini in the Mad Sultanate are Froth Children. There is no organized cult there.
End of Glorantha Digest V2 #149
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
Powered by hypermail