Keith Nellist
<< The biggrst danger of all is the Pool into which I hope they will go. I
now need some way of tempting them into hell with the Baby Giant, and then a
way to get out of hell. >>
I don't know how to tempt anyone into hell except giving them no choice or some strange Errinoru-like motive :-) Here are a couple of ideas as to how they could get out.
<< I have a couple of Horse Nomads, a Jrusteli Sorceror, a devotee of the
Blue Moon, a Mostali-friendly human, and an Elmali chieftan. They are all
part of a Hero Band with an Emanation that gives them a Group Consciousness,
a rallying cry ("united we stand") and a goal ("for the new world!"). >>
<< What I am after is a way of running the Escape from Hell in such a way as
to use the Heroes own myths for their own escapes, for example I understand
the Blue Moon climbs out of Hell up the Sky Dome, >>
Annilla was first born with a soul and body from the unsolved motives of the original Murder Mystery. She could be reborn from the Underworld, crossing Styx back, carried by a watery dragon for example (or maybe she has to find some kind of Artmali Ship, or anything that lets her sail or ride on the fiery outside of the Dome).
But in order for this to be possible, Annilla must first discover the paradox of her creation and integrate it to her soul so that she rises. She has to meet all the people she has killed in the past - but one of them will be the Dead Emperor, as judge. At the judgement she must confound the judges with the paradox of why she is not guilty of those murders whereas they were done by her hands.
<< I think Yu-Kargzant probably fights monsters of darkness from the
underworld (but I cannot find any reference for this) and eventually emerges
mounted on a fiery steed. >>
Probably he's going to be held prisoner and tortured by the monsters for some time before he manages to kill them and escape. IMO one of his tasks involves befriending the spirits of the dead and let them feed on the blood of his mutilated body while he hangs on his chains of torture [cf G:IttHW and what happened to Kargzant and Sheng Seleris]. He must probably feed himself on the sacrificed blood of his own dead and mutilated steed, if he has one (otherwise i don't know).
The spirits of the dead are formless, horrible, rather dumb, etc [see Odysseus and Tiresias] and they can't bear all that suffering. Yu-Kargzant could win their friendship if he promises them to give them shape and soul in the image of the sky beings (that is, some become riders, others become steeds, like the centaur story, and the second feed the first so that life be possible. I suspect the Grazer origin story is based on a more ancient, Pentan myth).
The friendly spirits would probably form his new warband of star warriors, who shall help his escape, possibly under cover of the veil in which the Sun God was wrapped before his birth. On the way up, among other adventures, he could for example meet three Darkness Spirits... One must be fought, one must be traded with, one will help you.
<< I am a bit stuck for Sorcerors and Elmali in the Underworld as they don't
appear to go there very often, in fact Elmal specifically stays behind while
sorcerors seem to shrivel up and have no magic. The Giant Baby has
appropriate digging technology (giant pick and shovel) and the Giant Ants are
involved in the Uz escape from Hell. >>
If Elmal falls into the Underworld IMO that's because he's back in the Fire tribe. He should now serve as a dutiful and loyal servant of the Dead Emperor and fulfil all of his most capricious and outrageous wishes while being beaten like a slave and so on. The Emperor is always just, but Elmal must trick him into being unjust, letting him be blinded by his own dim, almost extinguished light. This will cause the Emperor of the Dead to lose all of the light and heat he has left, in which case the Lord of Ashes can do nothing to prevent Elmal to leave the Underworld with the Justice Spear he gained back as a torch to light the way up. Probably that counts as experimental heroquesting, or just re-enacting the myth of Elmal's birth, probably both.
I'm stucked too about sorcerers. Perhaps a Malkioni sorcerer in Hell could map down the areas they visit and write their story in a Book, and find a way for that Book to reach the surface and human-kind (maybe in a bottle carried upon the 'flood' which follows Annilla's birth/ rebirth). Then they have to wait that someone reads the Book and decides to try the adventure, maybe Godlearners who certainly are capable of that. But i've no real further ideas on this one, other than riding those Giant Ants through the mysterious tunnels of the Underearth back to the surface, possibly mapping them again and making junction with the rest of the heroes at the exit.
You could also get inspiration from the way Ethilrist got out of Hell. In that respect any kind of demon-pact would be appropriate. Maybe pervert the Cradle or Giant Ants into some kind of Demon Ship or Demon Troop.
Rather than a pick and a shovel, the climb should be faster if they find a Mostali Drilling Machine with an adamantine drill, this could speed up the way for the Giant and Giant Ants. Probably they would emerge in the surface world, OTOH the Drilling Machine could also help drill a hole for Annilla to escape through the Sky Dome instead of climbing all the way up to Polaris and falling again :-)
But i suppose the Giant is supposed to emerge from the ground as a new mountain [with the sorcerors and probably Elmal, too, at its top], and the drilling machine (that could be modified so that it flies as well) be used to drill the sky dome from there and free the others / make an abode for Kargzant's new warband of sky beings / simply a new star and new mountain for the heroband. Of course the Mostali want to get their machine back afterwards.
Hope this supplies fodder anyway.
Jerome
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