Urain... Arrrgh!

From: Pete Nash <ancalagon_at_spiff.demon.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 95 13:46:44 GMT


Martin Laurie wrote
> Did anyone see my write up of Urain? Comments would be appreciated if
you did.
> I've had some feedback but would like more perspectives on it, if
possible.

Martin, my fellow adventurers and I have a bone to pick with you!

I usually copy what I consider the best articles out of the digest on a day by day basis. On Tuesday evenings I then hand over a stack of this concentrated Gloranthan Lore to my GM (who loves to read what you God Learners have concocted). When I saw the Urain write up I was impressed and I thought that my GM might like it too. So I gave him the write up at the next game session. His eyes lit up and he let out what can only be described as an evil chuckle, muttering to himself "Just what I needed".

I grew somewhat worried by his actions. Peter, my GM, turned round to me and said "Pete, its amazing. I don't know how you do it".

"Do What?" I slowly replied.

"Well, everytime I write something into my campaign I must send out a psychic message. Because the week before I spring something on you, you arrive with a whole stack of articles about it. You must be telepathic or something!!!"

"Errrrgh" I gurgled, wondering if he was really serious.

With worrying sincerity he continued. "Well don't you remember that Vinga stuff, I had your character lined up with that from the start of the campaign, but it was great when you gave me an actual cult. The Humakti discussions, {more parallels and wierd coincidences followed} and now this... Urain. How did you know I was including one of them in tonights adventure?"

"But, but..." I suddenly had forboding premonitions of doom. I had read the Urain write-up, and boy are they nasty.

Now I must give you a quick background to the campaign which We've been playing for over a year now. It is set in Sartar (as usual) and the characters are all from the Orlundii clan of the Sambarii tribe. Our clan has the honour? of being next to the eastern exit of the Sambarii Pass <gothic spooky organ music>. The pass is cursed due to a great fight between a hero and nasty chaos which took place hundreds of years ago. Nobody who has entered the pass has ever returned from it.

The time is about three years after the fall of Boldhome. Most of the original characters died in its defense (or soon after). The Lunars are starting to place puppet rulers in most of the tribes. Our king is not a Lunar sympathiser, and so a large Lunar garrison has been built in the ex-capital of the Sambarii tribe. Over the last couple of months there had been reports of a mysterious warrior travelling around Sartar, killing Lunar officers. Whilst at Boldhome (being forced to participate in the Lunar celebrations of its capture), the warrior disguised as a Lunar soldier made an assassination attempt on the military commander (I can't remember his name). He failed and was imprisoned.

It turned out that the warrior was the last member of the Household of Death! The last Humakti in Sartar. My character knew this man and owed him a favour, so I talked my companions into rescuing him. (Un)luckily the Humakti was taken to the home of the Lunar commander, who just happened to live in the ex-Humakt temple back home. Eventually with lots of planning, lots of luck and waiting for the commander to go an do an inspection at the garrison, we managed to free the warrior.

With a couple of hours head start and a special success at covering our tracks, we thought that we might have escaped. Unfortunately for us the Lunars had a Sable rider guide and tracked us on our roundabout route home. When we discovered the persuit we were forced into a rather nasty choice. Either give up, fight against 10 times our numbers, or chance the Sambarii Pass (eek). The pass seemed out best chance and also offered revenge upon any Lunars stupid enough to follow us. Barely pausing to collect our friendly shaman, who lived at the entrance to the pass, we fled hell-for-leather into it. The shaman was our only hope of surviving the nasty spirits which haunted the pass... End of background.

Last Tuesday found our party barely surviving horror after horror, as we fled into the pass. Eventually we made it to the top of the pass. The wind was howling through the narrow chasm, forced between the high rocky walls. The wind was so strong that we had to crawl our way through. I was getting nervous at this point, because Peter was having a lot of fun describing the savagery of the wind. It was then we came face to face with the figure of a Sartarite. It was a ghost of a Urain froth lord, who promptly leapt at me and engaged in spirit combat. All the party were low on pow and I soon realised I was going to lose. So I managed to discard my sword before I was possessed (we've had possessions before).

Peter took my character, looked at my equipment carefully and told me that I was now a beserk nutcase, to draw my dagger and attack the party. It was then things started really getting nasty. A casting of ferocity gave me all of its benefits. With my awesome 35% dagger skill I attacked my fellows who seemed unable to subjugate me. I then proceded to impale my two clan brothers, one in the abdomen the other in his weapon arm. The party finally managed to grapple me to the ground, but not until I had crippled them (The humakti didn't help because he has his right leg missing).

So overall my Runequest group is _dead_ impressed with the Urain cult write-up. Its just that they're not very happy about how we got to find out about it...

Pete Nash (Ancalagon_at_spiff.demon.co.uk)


End of Glorantha Digest V2 #162


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