From: Jesper Wahrner (jewahr@hts.dude.pp.se)
Date: Thu 11 Aug 1994 - 15:19:00 EEST
I wrote this some days ago but it looks like it has disappeared on
the way to the digest, so here is a go at reposting it.
John Strauss:
> I didn't like the idea of the butterfly being the favored
>animal for Chalanna Arroy allied spirits. Maybe I just had a hangup
>about Chalanna Arroy taking her animal from the Darkness phylum.
Sandy Petersen:
> I wouldn't get too hung up about butterflies being a
> "Darkness" creature. Just because many insects are, does not mean all
> are. In fact, I can't think of a organism that is LESS "darkness"
> oriented in behavior and appearance than butterflies.
I agree strongly with this. In fact I had Yelm make the butterflies as a gift/reward to CA in my campaign. While most of them have dege- nerated into "ordinary" butterflies since godtime, the original is still around, although rarely encountered since directly after hatching they fly directly up to heaven where they live for a period of 101 years. After this time they fly back to the middle world where they swarm and lay their eggs, and thereafter die since their purpose in creation is now fullfilled. They always swarm at Yelms high holy day and take off during sacred time.
They are generally called "Sun-dancers" or "Sun-butterflies" (OK so it sounds better in Swedish. Maybe someone can supply a better english name since I lack the necessary % in R/W English.) and have a wingspan of between 20-30 cm. Their wings can have all the colours of the rainbow, and have magical properties that allows a good alchemist to make powerful healingpotions from them (simulating the various "Restore Health" spells). Chalana Arroy cultists fortunate enough to know where they swarm usually take care of their wings when they die. Their magic is much stronger when they hatch and unscrupolous alchemists often try to catch them then. This is considered just short of sacrilegious by both CA and Fire/Sky cultists.
CA cultists likes to have them as allies both due to their longevity, their beuty and the fact that their power is as high as 4d6. To get one they must have healed a creature associated with the sky, ritually seek out a Yelmbush (the name of the bush where they lay their eggs) during the sacred time ceremonies and hope that they will hatch this year. At this point the request for an ally proceeds as usual. An awakened butterfly will of course stay with its priestess rather than taking off to heaven.
These butterflies gets rarer for every year that passes, not only because of them being caught at hatching but also because the Yelmbush have magical properties of its own. The bush have large Yellow flowers that only are there during Yelms HH-day, and these flowers are what attracts the butterflies. Unfortunately if the flowers are picked during this time longevity potions can be made from them. All flowers from one bush can be used to make a potion that prevents aging for a full year. This tend to make an already rare bush even more rarer.
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