Erik asked about the spirits and gods of Teleos. Stephen Martin published some excellent myths here on the Digest. I interpreted these myths and convereted some of their ideas for my now dead Teleos campaign. We never got beyod Typhoon Season, so I didn't develope much about the nature spirits. The Eastern religious influences are only found amongst the trading colonies IMHO, although a few natives may have been converted. I think it depends upon the tribes attitude to the dragonewts, solar mythology etc. It would surprise me if the Teleos folk that do follow Eastern philosophy only do so at specific times of the year. Of course we all know that the Reds do it wrong, the Greens do it backwards, the Yellows can't do it, the Oranges do it with dragonewts, the Purples can't spell it and the Blues do it best!
Spirits of Teleos.
An interpretation by Simon Bray, Kudos to Stephen Martin
The Great Ancestors of the People.
Ancestors are only worshipped during the Typhoon Season. They are
contacted for protection against the
terrible storms that wrack Teleos. Many of the ancestors have common
stories amongst the six tribes
and their names are universal. However each tribe places a different
emphasis upon selected ancestors,
especially the Seven Brothers, Six Wives and Teleos. All the ancestor
spirits of Teleos teach Summon
[Great Ancestor]
Teleos.
The founder of the Island. He left his home to travel the oceans that were
invading the world. His legend is
highly important to people of Teleos. He derives many powers from his
divine ancestry, but sacrifices them
all to make the world a better place, until all that is left is his
position as Founder. Teleos' family are all
worshipped as ancestors. Teleos teaches the spells of Worship Teleos,
Incarnate Ancestor (Daka Fal), Shield and Warding.
Mahuma.
The wife of Teleos, Mother of the Seven Sons. She is associated with
earthy magics and motherhood. Myths directly relating to Mahuma are
uncommon in Teleos. Mahuma teaches Worship Mahuma, Gift Power(Daka Fal).
She also teaches the Vigour and Heal spirit magics.
Lukos.
Teleos created Lukos the Pole Star to give his wife warmth and light in
the darkness. He still shines and
looks down upon the Teleons. Lukos teaches Worship Lukos and Axis Mundii
(Daka Fal). He also teaches the spirit magics ofIgnite, Light and Fire
Arrow.
The Grandmothers.
Teleos calls upon the powers of his Grandmothers on many occasions. There
three of important note
Grandmother Air, Grandmother Sky and Grandmother Sea. Each is worshipped
separately and teaches
Worship [Grandmother] and Summon/Command [Salamander, Undine or Sylph].
The Grandfathers.
Teleos calls upon two of his Grandfather's in his myths and the Teleos
people can also. Taking
Grandfather showed Teleos how to eat animals and Singing Grandfather showed
Teleos how to make
peace with the Yellow Elves. Taking Grandfather teaches Worship
[Grandfather] and Command
[Monkey, boar, parrot, cassowary, antelope, Gaboba (small bipedal dinosaur)
,rodent, sealion
and lizard]. Singing Grandfather teaches the spells of Worship
[Grandfather] and Speak with Embyli.
Father or Father-in-Law.
Teleos' Father or Father-in-Law amongst the Yellows is a powerful king of
the earth who lives in the South.
He gifts Teleos with the power to create the land around the peak of the
Cosmic Mountain. He teaches
Worship Father/Father-in-Law, Earthpower (As per Ernalda) and Command
Gnome.
The Seven Sons.
The Seven Sons are important ancestors, many tribes claim direct descent
from a Son, counted in tens of
generations rather than thousands. Each of the Seven Sons established a
part of the Teleos culture, each was in his own right a hero and is
worshipped.
First Son - The Provider.
First Son invented food with which to combat the evil, Hunger. He teaches
the magic of Worship
[Seven Sons] and Bless Crops, he also teaches the spirit spell of Vigour.
Second Son - The Hunter.
Second Son invented hunting, to combat the evil of the Little Monsters. He
teaches Worship [Seven
Sons] and Sure Shot, he also teaches the spirit spell of Speedart.
Third Son - The Teacher.
Third Son invented language to combat the evil of Confusion. He teaches
Worship [Seven Sons] and
Mind Link, he also teaches the spirit spell of Mindspeech.
Fourth Son - The Hater.
Fourth Son invented hatred, so that he might defeat the Great Monsters. He
teaches Worship [Seven
Sons] and Find Enemy, he also teaches the spirit magic spells of Detect
Enemy and Fanaticism.
Fifth Son - The Shaman.
Fifth Son invented magic, so that he might defeat Anti-life. Only shamans
may worship Fifth Son. He
teaches Worship [Seven Sons], Sanctify, Spirit Block, Free Ghost, Spirit
Guardian, Spirit Melding,
Binding Enchantment, Armouring Enchantment, Spell Matrix Enchantment, Heal
Wound and Heal
Body. He also teaches all standard spirit magic spells.
Sixth Son - The Martyr.
Sixth Son died, he lead the Seven Sons against the Mother of Monsters and
taught leadership to his
brothers. He is now the psychpomp of Teleos myth. He teaches no magic,
except to the dead.
Seventh Son - The Lover.
Seventh Son invented sex to overcome the threat of Death. He is also
venerated during marriage
ceremonies. He teaches Worship [Seven Sons] and Reproduction (Uleria). He
also teaches the Marriage
Blessing Ritual.
The Six Wives and White Woman.
The Six Wives were summoned by Teleos to marry his six remaining sons
after Sixth Son was killed by
Death.
Yellow Woman - Embyli Queen.
When Yellow Woman came from the south she brought with her a forest of
Elves. Teleos fought the
elves, but lost a grandson in the fight. He then made peace with the elves
and allowed them to grow their
forests all over the main island. The elves agreed and allowed some plants
to be used by Teleos' relatives.
Yellow Woman teaches Worship Yellow Woman and Accelerate Growth. Her
worshippers can also learn
Food Song, which they must use to harvest forest plants.
Green Woman - Raft Man Queen.
Green Woman came leading the raft men, who lived on their rafts and traded
with the grandsons of Teleos.
When the sea came to drown the islands Teleos used his magic to make the
first tide and the raft men sailed away. Green Woman teaches Worship Green
Woman and Float.
Orange Woman - Beast and Bird Woman.
Orange woman brought with her the beast and the birds who were seeking
shelter from the end of the
world. Some became friends with the Teleos people. The other hid in the
jungle and only come out to steal
food. Orange Woman teaches Worship Orange Woman , Speak with Beasts and
Speak with Birds.
Purple Woman - Giant Queen.
Purple Woman came to Teleos with an army of Giants, but they were
destroyed when the Blood Rain
fell. The spirits of the Giants are harmful to those who travel the
mountains. Purple Woman teaches Worship Purple Woman and Spirit Block. She
also teaches the spirit magic spell of Visibility, so that her children
might be seen.
Red Woman - Insect Mistress.
The children of Red Woman were the creeping, crawling and slithering
insects. They sucked away the
Puddle of Blood under which Teleos had hidden the world and freed it. The
still to this day suck upon
blood. Red Woman teaches Worship Red Woman, Command [Insect Species] and
Speak with Insects.
She also teaches Insect Protection, a spirit magic spell to ward against
her children.
Insect Protection. 2 Points.
ranged, temporal, active
This spell makes a character immune to attacks from
all normal insect species. The spell lasts for eight
hours when cast. Most Teleos folk learn this spell. The
spell however has the condition that a blood sacrifice
is made to the Red Woman at the begining and end of
the Typhoon Season, failure to do so means that the
spell can never be used again by the character.
Blue Woman - Spirit and angel leader.
Blue Woman came down from the sky with the spirits and angels. When the
Typhoon came back the angels flew back to the sky and the spirits fled to
the Other Place. The spirits can only come out now in the
Windless Season for us to worship. Blue Woman teaches Worship Blue Woman,
Gift Power, Gift
Spell and Summon [Animistic Spirit].
The White Woman - The Albino.
The White Woman is the spirit of the Tulumani Coloki or Colourless
People, a legendary tribe that
dwells in the mountains and cannot see the colour differences of the
tribes. It is said that she was to have
been the with of the dead Sixth Son and that she hid in the mountains to
grieve. She offers no magic to
normal Teleos folk, but demands that any albino child born amongst them be
left to her. She may grant magic to her followers, but no-one knows if they
definetly exist.
The Grandchildren of Teleos.
These are the spirits of living folk, their importance as ancestors, village founders and local heros guarantees their worship. Each family has numerous of these ancestors, and the village shaman uses his magic so that the villagers may commune with them. Typically many ancestors are summoned at once, during a great feast. The magic of Lukos creates a special place to which they may all come, villagers then use magic to incarnate ancestors, so that knowledge may be learned from them. They teach the spells of Worship Ancestor and Summon Specific Ancestor.
Cheers Simon.
End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #665
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