From: paul@phyast.pitt.edu
Date: Wed 14 Jul 1993 - 20:19:06 EEST
Paul R. agrees with David Cake. The deity imprints a 'mold' on you
which contains the pattern for the spell. In reusable magic
the mold can be refilled; for non-reusable spells the mold is broken
when the spell is cast.
>Think of Divine magic as very minor HeroQuest
>abilities, gained through rituals of re-eneactment of the deities powers and
>deeds
We've actually done a lot with this theme in our campaign. Trickster
is a good example - our trickster shrines are connected with specific
legends of Trickster, and the acolyte who wishes to gain one of his powers
has to recreate his actions. Note that this is the `task' set by the
keeper of the shrine. We also have used this for trolls, and for the more
primitive cults. At the big temples the quests are so managed that you don't
actually need to play through them to determine success, but it still can
be fun and illuminating to go through a rote quest.
Trickster Examples from our campaigns (An earlier version of these
appeared on the Digest in Jan. 1991):
A legend of Trickster
{Note: In the campaign this was presented as a 'fairy tale' for children,
hence the tone. The Orlanthi picked up the story from a serious legend of
the autochthonous Hsunchen when they originally moved into the area, hence
Trickster is an evil figure who is responsible for the trouble in the
world today, but because this is an Orlanthi adaptation he is presented
as doing this out of a twisted sense of humor rather than pure malice. The
original Hsunchen story would have been much grimmer in tone and a serious
warning against intertribal mating (i.e., different animal tribe), incest,
and trusting strange guests too much.}
Trickster visited this region in the Lesser Darkness. The people in the
region were starving, and the Bear and Weasel clans had been forced to learn
how to eat Elk and Rabbit. Bear was a great power and befriended Weasel,
small but cunning and swift. When two of the Bear ancestors were to be
married, they invited two Weasels to be married with them in a joint ceremony.
Trickster, as a traveler happening by, was invited to the wedding party.
He was thrown out for devouring the entire wedding feast [1], but not before
he fooled the newlywed Weasels and Bears into sleeping with each other
instead of their spouses. [2] First unions were always fruitful long
ago, so both ladies caught. Following the misconception, the Wolverines were
born. Mrs. Weasel bore first, a boy and a girl. It was a difficult labor
and everyone commented on how big and strong the children were. Mr. Weasel
was hard put to keep the family in food as the children had a liking for large
helpings of everything.
Mrs. Bear also had twins, one cub male and another
female. The children grew apace and seemed healthy and strong. Mrs. Bear
wondered why her children were so small, but at least their appetite seemed
normal, if not a trifle too hearty. The four little ones loved to play,
especially with each other. Eventually, as they grew up, it began to dawn on
people that something strange had happened on the wedding night. The four
children were neither Weasel nor Bear but something in between and more
ferocious than either. Others taunted the children, calling them
"weasel-bear" and other worse names. When this happened it was not hard for
the parents to figure out what had gone wrong and who was responsible.
Mr Bear was furious. He went into a berserk rage and went out to hunt down
the Trickster. His first attempt failed, but eventually he heard from the
reindeer fold that a traveler in motley had come through their territory,
changing the pine leaves into sharp needles. Bear caught up to the culprit
in the Elk forest. He trapped the japester and a mighty hug and began crushing
him. Trickster felt his bones creaking and struggled to get away; Bear's grip
was so powerful that he only succeeded in pulling himself out of his own
skin. [3]
Bear felt his grip suddenly go slack as the king of practical jokers tried
to make good his escape. He threw the empty hide into a tree and took a swipe
at the fleeing Trickster and caught one claw in his anus. Trickster kept
running and his intestines spooled out behind him [4]; when he reached forty
feet and was caught, bouncing like a paddleball on an stretchy wool string,
Bear collapsed with laughter and decided not to continue tearing the joker
apart. He tied the gutless Trickster to a pine tree with the innards, and left
to go sleep in his den.
Trickster eventually pulled himself free and put himself together. Now his
trick with the needles was regretted, for he got some permanently under his
skin, causing him to scratch and whine as he walked along. The needles itched
powerfully [5], but scratching them only made them prick painfully under his
skin. He was a pitiful sight with his stitched-together skin barely holding
in his guts, but he made his way to the old Rabbit burrow where Mr. and Mrs.
Weasel made their home.
He explained to them what had happened and apologized for his childish trick.
While the Weasels were also upset, they pitied him for the awful punishment Mr. Bear had dished out. They took him in until he was feeling a little better,
and he offered to reward them with a solution for their troubles.
You see, the Wolverines were growing up and could find no Weasels willing to
mate with them, for some reason. Trickster suggested that if they married the
Bear's children, everything would come out right in the end. The Weasel family
would have married into the powerful Bear clan, and would boast descendants withthe strength of the Bears and the cunning of Weasels.
Mr Weasel approved the plan and arranged the marriage. Trickster appeared in
disguise and worked his magic again, but this time with more malice and a worse result. Each of the Wolverine males slept with his own sister instead of the
promised wife. Trickster withdrew the glamour and left while they slept. The
young couples were horrified when they awoke and found they had broken the
greatest of taboos. Bear howled with anguish but had no choice but to
pronounce exile on his own children and those of the Weasels.
The four children wandered in exile for a time, but the smell of
their sin attracted the attention of One who is better avoided.
Wandering in the Great Darkness, the Wolverines fell prey to the armies of
the Devil. He captured them and ripped forth the children of incest, marking
them as his own creatures. Ever since then, Wolverines have been vicious
loners, killing and destroying senselessly.
1. Swallow (as in GoG)
Shrine: In back of the Ashford Ernalda temple
Quest: Sacrifice for Swallow as a one - use spell. If you succeed
it becomes reusable. Go to someone's celebration (preferably a wedding) and
gobble up the entire feast.
-----------
New Trickster spells
2. Mask
This spell covers one being with an illusion of another. It works properly
only to generate an illusion of a being that the caster is familiar with or has
at least seen. Attempting to create a Mask from scratch generates a cartoon
quality image, much like a carved mask.
Each point of this spell acts as one point each of Illusory Sight, Sound,
Smell, and Substance for this spell only.
Shrine (cult secret)
The shrine for this spell is at the site of the Weasel-Bear wedding, now in
the catacomb of the main Orlanthi Temple site in Ashford. Officially, the
Storm Voices know nothing of the shrine.
Most of the initiates and acolytes of this shrine are children or teenagers
of Ashford.
Quest Outline:
The acolyte may sacrifice for one use of the spell. If he succeeds in
his 'quest', then the spell becomes reusable. Like Trickster in the story,
the recipient must use the ability on someone in a way that leads to public
embarassment and trouble. The recipient should be at some risk to himself
as a result of the prank, like Trickster in the story. Ideally, this would
be a wedding night screw-up or lead to incest like the incidents in the story,
but because we are dealing with Trickster, he is more interested in the quality
of the prank than its exact nature. The prank should cause someone to
do something that he or she would normally never be caught doing.
Example of a Quest:
Tommy Trouble, age nine, is secretly a Trickster acolyte. He is a
rebellious child of a respectable Malkioni family. {NOTE: Ashford is
western Fronela and has an Orlanthi populace ruled by Hrestoli Malkioni
nobles. Many of the craftsmen in town are also Malkioni.} Having spent a day
in the shrine, Tommy is prepared to cast his one point of Mask. The Keeper
gives him an easy Quest since he is just a kid.
As his family leaves church services the next day, everyone is shocked to see
Father Theophilus' head suddenly transform to that of a pig. Squealing and
grunting, the transformed churchman asks Tommy to stay late before dispelling
the illusion.
---------------
In the Elk Forest is an obscure spot where three Trickster shrines lie
close together.
Remove Skin
Used mostly for shock effect, but occasionally for escapes. The skin can be
partially removed, but must be taken off fully before it is put back on.
The three shrines have no special markers but can be found by dedicated
would-be tricksters.
Quest: The acolyte who wishes to gain this spell must allow himself to
be flayed, either by a serious enemy or by the Keeper of the Shrine, if
there is one in residence. If it is done by the Keeper of the Shrine he
will reveal the 'trick' of putting the skin back on AFTER he has removed it
from you, unless he thinks it would be particularly funny NOT to tell you.
---------------
4. Remove Intestines
Use of this spell allows a Trickster to remove his own intestines.
( Note:
A Rathor Initiate may sacrifice for this spell as a one-use spell at the
appropriate shrine. He can use it to remove a Trickster's intestines if he
rolls hit location 9 in a grapple or fist attack, or has an unresisting
Trickster to do it to. This is generally fatal (unless the Trickster is
himself possessed of the spell.)
This spell is quite painful at first, but you get used to it. It can be
done without cutting or removing the skin, but it's pretty disgusting.
The small intestine can be used as a whip or noose with the appropriate
skill. The Trickster who does this will tend to take "internal" damage however.
Quest: You don't want all the details on this one. Ugh.
-------------------
5. Itch
Gives an illusory sensation of pine needles under the skin. This creates
a horrible itching which necessitates a Willpower roll to avoid scratching
(abstracted as (INT+POW)*3 on d100; 96-00 fails in any case). Scratching
causes one point of damage
but relieves the itching for the next 1d3 rounds. This spell will not kill you;at 3 HP the victim will pass out rather than keep scratching.
People in combat can ignore the itching but at a cumulative -10% per round
skill penalty.
Quest:
The Trickster who wishes to acquire this spell must actually put pine needles
under his skin (or have it done to him) at the shrine and suffer the full
effect for a day.
More later,
Paul
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