<< I mentioned Gagarth in my last post, and this prompted me to post the
following, a short-form write-up of Gagarth's cult (the Sartar version,
anyway) and a hero (or rather,
very anti-hero) band. It links in with the work I'm doing on Alda Chur, and
how Ironfist was able to gather a force of Gagarthi to crush his Orlanthi
rivals in 1611. >>
Mark's write-up curiously neglects to mention Gagarth's whirlvishes (perhaps because he hasn't heard of them), which featured prominently in the RQ3 write-up. I was asked to write whirlvish stats for the HW Narrators Book, but in the end it was decided not to use them. Since they're too specific to be worth putting in AR, I'll put them below.
Warning: The following has not been subject to Official Gregging, nor detailed rule-checking. It does, however, conform to the stated range of power for whirlvishes mentioned on HW p120.
WHIRLVISH
Abrade 10W, Spirit Combat 15*, Fly Fast 12, Frenzied Hatred 5W
Distribution: The Wastes
Habitat: Open terrain
Gagarth is an evil storm spirit, the source of senseless violence, worshipped only by outlaws and kinslayers. It is said that he wanders the Wastes, accompanied by the souls of deceased worshippers, and that he seeks to destroy any sentient being he encounters. Normally, only those lost and alone in the Wastes, far from their kin, will become his victims. But when they do, their souls are bound into the dust-storms that Gagarth creates, so that they become the malevolent beings known as whirlvishes. Whirlvishes may also be deliberately created by Gagarthi shamans.
Like elementals, whirlvishes are spirits that take physical form, in this case constructed from stinging clouds of whirling grit and dust. They are mindless, animated only by an insane hatred of living things.
Combat Tactics: Whirlvishes attack any sentient being they encounter, and seek to destroy them. They blast the victim with sand and grit, until nothing remains but a skeleton scoured clean by the wind. A person wholly encased in thick cloth, armour, or other protection may delay this fate, but the only way to avoid it is to slay the whirlvish. Even magical protection spells are worn down by the evil winds, and cannot save the victim. Fortunately, the physical body of a whirlvish can be disrupted like that of an elemental, so that normal, physical, damage will affect them. However, the whirlvish will also assault its victim mentally, and bombard them with sensations of hatred, pain and loss. If the victim succumbs, they will be unable to act, and the whirlvish will surely slay them. To reflect this, the Narrator should augment the being's Abrade attack with its Spirit Combat ability. Because they are not especially large, whirlvishes can only attack one human-sized target at a time.
Forward the glorious Red Army!
Trotsky
End of The Glorantha Digest V7 #713
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