Strelite

Mythos

Back when the world was a better place, many gods walked the Forests of Votankiland. One of these was Strelite, a member of the Storm Tribe. He had inherited the wanderlust of his tribe and wandered the lands looking for things to hurt. When he came to Votankiland, he saw that the people of Votank's Hearth were not afraid of him and welcomed him as a visiting stranger, so he did not hurt them straight away. He shared in their hospitality and found that he enjoyed their company, which reminded him of his life at the Storm Hearth. He asked what he must do to remain in Votank's Hearth, for he wanted to continue to share in the goodness. Votank said that he must follow him into the Forests and must be shown the ways of the Hunt, something that Strelite had never seen before. They stripped naked and bathed in the waters of the Sea, then went into the forest where they painted themselves with the bright colours of the Earth and the Plants. After many days of purification, Votank showed Strelite how to recognise the animals of the forest, how to follow them and slay them for food. Strelite learned quickly and became a god hunter. However, he was frustrated by the fact that hunting was so slow and that he only brought back single animals at a time. Eventually, Votank showed Strelite the final secret of being a Hunter, that of returning the spirits of the slain to their source.

The two approached Rigitania who was sipping naked at a brook and sneaked up to her downwind so she could not smell them. Votank said his prayer of friendship and Rigitania did not flee. The two embraced and Votank showed Strelite how to give the souls back to Rigitania. Strelite repeated the words and gestures, pledging to give back to Rigitania all that he took from her, but his words and gestures were thick with emotion as he desired her as he had never desired another before. When they had finished, Rigitania ran from the brook, deep into the forest.

Strelite was distracted in the hunting afterwards, so much so that Votank asked him what was wrong. When he explained, Votank said that Rigitania may be claimed by using a simple ruse. He said to gather together a feast of some kind upon a cloak or mat on the ground, then when Rigitania saw the feats, she would stop to eat and Strelite could catch her and talk to her. "But use kind words", Votank warned, "for you are of my Hearth now." Strelite thanked him and went his own way. He started to gather a feast to offer to Rigitania, but this was so slow as he only killed one animal at a time. After a while, he came upon a flock of small birds, each one only a morsel and despaired for it would take an age to kill each one. Then he thought of his own background and used the Hail of Death for the first time. He shot each of the birds down with a single arrow that became a thousand. He picked each of the birds and continued, quite pleased with what had happened. He did the same when he saw a herd of rabbits and a shoal of fish, until his bag was so full of game that he could barely carry it. He entered a clearing and arranged the game on a mat of leaves that he knocked from the trees with his arrows and stones, then hid beside the mat, waiting for Rigitania to appear. After a while, she came running naked through the trees and saw the mat full of souls waiting for her. She reached down and gathered the souls up, as was her right, and Strelite leaped on her, pulling her to the ground. She shouted but he would not let go and roughly took from her that which he desired. Afterwards, she wept and asked why he had done this evil thing. "Because you are so beautiful and because you accepted my gift" he said. "But the gift was not yours to give," she replied, "for the souls were already mine. You have disgraced Votank's Hearth and deserve punishment. You may never marry another woman but me. You may never lay with a woman while you are hunting. You may never lay with a woman at another's hearth. If you refuse, you will be outcast from Votank's Hearth and will wander the wastes alone." Strelite was so ashamed of his actions that he agreed to all her demands.

The Cult

Strelite is the God of Hail in Balazar and the Elder Wilds. He is also the god of the Bachelor Hunt. As the Hail God, Strelite acts as a typical Storm God, coming in from the Plains of the Elder Wilds or of Pent and destroying crops and dwellings. He is often appeased by the farmers of Balazar and is sometimes controlled by the Shamans who can make him go elsewhere.

As the god of the Bachelor Hunt, Strelite is a Hunter God and associate of Votank. His worshippers are exclusively male and are unmarried. Any member of his cult who marries must immediately leave the cult and may not return. When on a hunt, his worshippers may not have sex with women. After a long hunt, his worshippers often spend time with local single women to vent their frustration, but they pay heavily for this as they must gift the women each time they want sex. Quite a few members of the Bachelor Hunt relieve their frustrations by having sex with themselves or with each other, as various members of the cult have proven that these are outside the agreement with Rigitania. This is normally taboo amongst the hunters of Balazar, so is not spoken of.

Spells

Strelite the Hunter offers the Spirit Magic spell of Multimissile and the Divine Spell of Hail of Death. Strelite the Thrower offers Spirit Magic spell of Multimissile and the Divine spell of Hail.

Strelite the Hunter receives the Peaceful Cut spell from Votank, and has a special ability that he may use the spell once for multiple creatures killed with the Hail of Death.

Hail of Death (1 point divine, non-stackable, instant, reusable).

When cast on a missile, normally an arrow, slingshot or stone, this allows any Multimissile spell cast on the missile to be split to affect more than one target with no penalties to hit. Spells such as Sureshot will only affect the real arrow, but spells such as Arrow Trance will affect all arrows. So, a hunter casting Hail of Death also casts Multimissile 6 on the arrow and fires it at a group of 8 pigeons. He aims each arrow at a different pigeon and has his full chance of 78% of hitting each target. He shots well and brings down all the pigeons he has shot at, bagging 7 pigeons in all. This spell can also be useful in times of war as it allows one person to shoot a number of opponents and can be devastating when used against a group of un-armoured foes.

Hail (1 point, stackable, temporal, reusable)

This spell causes any precipitation to fall as hail, not rain. The first spell causes the hail to do 1 Structure Point in damage and any subsequent point adds 1 to the SP damage done. This can damage buildings or crops and can even hurt people, depending on the GM. So, a Hail 5 will cause hail to fall doing 5 SP damage. If cast during a hailstorm, the Hail spell simply adds its strength to the existing Hail, so Hail 5 would increase the Hail damage by 5, normally to 6. To damage a building or crops, match the strength of the hail against the Structure Points of the crops (1) or building. A success does full damage, a failure does no damage.

Relationships to Others

Strelite is associated with he cults of Votank and Rigitania. He is friendly with the other hunting cults of Balazar and is neutral to almost everyone else. His cult stays away from other Storm cults and fears Orlanth and Gagarth as stronger cults.