Re: The Glorantha Digest V7 #555

From: aelarsen_at_facstaff.wisc.edu
Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 15:03:33 -0500


>From: Mikko Rintasaari <rintasaa_at_mail.student.oulu.fi>
>Subject: The Wooing of Mother Language
>
>Nice work Andrew! Snatched and adopted. >:D

        Glad you liked it. One of the things I've been wrestling with is establishing myths for Orlanthi cults other than Orlanth (and Humakt). There are lots of stories about Orlanth, but very few about Issaries, Lankhor Mhy, Chalana Arroy, Eurmal, or the Earth goddesses. It makes it sort of hard to come up with heroquests for those cults. As a result, there's something of an imbalance in my campaign, because only 1 of my 6 Sartarite PCs has Orlanth as his main god (although most have a secondary initiation for Orlanth), but all the good heroquests are for Orlanth.

        Here's another myth I've worked out to address this imbalance a bit.

        When the Celestial Court was destroyed, many of the young gods came to Lankhor Mhy, asking him for advice and how to deal with this great catastrophe. The Gray Lord said that what was needed most was for the Flame of Truth to be recovered and kept alive, and so he and his companions searched the ruins of the court for the hall where Orenoar's Flame had burned.

        As they searched, they were attacked by the demons of Ignorance, who thought that they were what they were not. Some of the young gods were fooled by the demons and accepted that it was better to not know the Truth. But the Gray Lord continued on.

        Going further, they encountered the demons of Illusion, who thought that they existed when they did not. Many of the young gods were deceived by the demons and decided that it was better to draw strength from deception. But the Gray Lord continued on.

        Searching further, they encountered the demons of Fear, who could not bear to let them pass. The remaining young gods were terrified by the demons and found it safer to flee than to face what seemed too powerful. But still the Gray Lord continued on.

        Finally, alone, Lankhor Mhy found the ruins of Orenoar's hall. And there he saw that the Flame of Truth was guttering and dying for lack of attention. Drawing a torch from his cloak, Lankhor Mhy took the last faint embers and kept them alive, slowly coaxing them into a new life. With the renewed light of Truth, the Gray Lord banished the demons of Ignorance, Illusion, and Fear.

        Thus Lankhor Mhy preserved Truth and Knowledge for the world. He determined to spread that light wherever there were those who could accept it. And he determined that, having recovered the Light of Knowledge, he must now go and find the Light of Reason to fully enlighten the world. Thus to this day, the followers of Lankhor Mhy seek to recover and preserve as much knowledge as they can and to seek for reason wherever they can.

        This myth can be used as an initiation ceremony for the cult of Lankhor Mhy or for the ordination of a new Gray Sage. It can also act as a short heroquest, in which the stages are fighting the three demons and finally Recovering the Light of Truth. If desired, this quest can be continued as the search for the Goddess of the Light of Reason and the struggle against Thanatar. Since he was accompanied by unspecified gods in all but the last stage, other cults can also participate in the quest. Appropriate rewards for the quest might include an increaed knowledge bonus, the ability to see through Illusion magic, or a power similar to Humakt's Detect Lie spell.

Andrew E. Larsen


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