The Prax Adventure
rstites's RuneQuest game set in Prax (Glorantha).
Contents
Player Characters
- Jaroltor a driven young man played by Ninevehn
- Boltar Stormbreath Regretful Uroxi played by Sam I Am
- Suharo Pavisite Lankhor Mhy played by Naed Yar
- Marius the Unnamed Warrior who suffers from amnesia, and has a mysterious birthmark in the shape of a horse's head on his left shoulder-blade; played by t@nya
- Merryn of the old Ernaldan folk in Colymar. A shaman played by RoadScholar
Inactive players
- Cuthcar the Wily Shaman played by thirdkingdom
- Tina-kora Maransdottir Maran Devor played by Stilettointheghetto
- Ringeye the Sharp duck Humakti played by Baron Greystone
- Orbast young Orlanthi played by m111
- Dastandri Errynsson Odalya and Yinkin follower played by Bandos
- Verzeg Black Beetle trollkin played by ChalkLine
- Proxenus Antelochion Yelmalion Troublemaker by ChalkLine
Other People (aka NPCs)
- Olav and his sister Jareena pair of mercenaries Boltar took a shine too before reaching Pavis (IC I p. 13)
- Old Oddi Subject of many a tall tale of Boltar's, now identified to be a legless vagrant outside Pavis. (IC I p. 16)
- Woodpecker is what Tina called the Vingan she met before we arrived in Pavis. Colymar, from the Starfire Ridges (IC I p. 13)
- Alakora, an older Issaries trader who moves goods between Prax and Sartar, and gave Jaroltor guidance. (IC I p. 13)
- Reverend Sa'arrachmbro, High Priest of Zola Fel, Newtling in Corflu.(IC I p.39)
- Gharan Falabdur Etyries Priest in Corflu.(IC I p.39)
- Desi Shing Zola Fel initiate and owner of a large skiff. (IC I p.60)
- Flesso Swiftspear Odayla and Yinkin initiate, talked to Dastandri about local cult. (IC I p.89)
- Gyffuna the Skybull Odayla and Yinkin Great Hunter. Mentioned in conversation (IC I p.89)
Party Logistics
Setting
Rules
Tables and Charts
Potted History
[lots of stuff]
Having established ourselves in New Pavis and the Rubble, we secured Balastor's Barracks and Balastor himself, in the guise of an axe, now held by Jaroltor. This was perhaps the first act that got us truly noticed in the area.
[lots of stuff including our fishing expedition]
We were approached by a sorceror from the West, Arlaten, to help him defend a tower within the Rubble known as 'The Arm'. We agreed and had to fight off a Zorak Zorani Clan (Clan Ogg) that was launching a week-long heroquest against Arlaten and the tower. Although it was very close at the end, we were successful, in part due to the arrival of another stranger from the West, an accomplished warrior known as Marius who had suffered some loss of memory and was seeking a new path in the world. In defending the Arm, we dealt a major blow to the Ogg and secured an ally in Arlaten. Aware that followers of the Mad God can be great allies in the fight against the Predark, and wishing to do honour to their fallen foes, Boltar and Jaroltor took the bodies of the fallen Uz back to Clan Ogg. There they talked with the lord of the Ogg, Kruuzig Ogg, a renowned Death Lord, and it was agreed that Boltar's gang would join forces with the Ogg at a future date to fight Chaos together (which they subsequently did).
Restoring a piece of the ancient city was a milestone event for Jarol. Most fundamentally, his motivation stems from the feeling of powerlessness and loss he experienced during Starbrow's Rebellion and the first few months of his time in Prax. These feelings are shared by his compatriots, notably Merryn and Jaroltor's cousin Boltar [is Merryn a cousin too? Are we all the same clan? Memory like a sieve, me - Sam]; Boltar himself fled from the fighting during the rebellion, a secret only his cousins know. A further motivation for Jaroltor is his wish to emulate Sartarite heroes such as Saronil, Jarolor, Dorasar and Sartar, all of whom were magical builders with Mostali connections that helped bring peace and safety to the people. Jaroltor has added Lord Pavis to that list after moving to Pavis-Outside-the-Walls.
After this, we [found out about the Masks???][And went an unearthed one while semi-accompanied by interested Lunars].
Having achieved this, we realised that we could build a community within the Rubble. [RS add stuff here].
Jaroltor's ambition has become contagious. When he proposed to his friends that the Uz have lived within the walls for centuries, so should not be seen as conquerors, but rather immigrants, he found his companions receptive to the idea. Jaroltor aims to make peace with the trolls of the Rubble and integrate them into city life and the Pavis cult, the same way the Sartarite settlers were integrated. It's a big project but is one that has begun...
In seeking to unite the Masks of Pavis, we identified two, one held by the Kaggroka (the doominant Uz clan in the Rubble [add link]) and another beneath one of the ruined Arms of Pavis, within Clan Ogg territory. We divined that the Mask on Ogg territory lay beneath the ground, guarded by some ancient evil and, after much discussion, decided to seek to recover this mask first, as it might help us build a diplomatic path to negotiate with the Kaggroka Clan for access to the second. Boltar secured an audience with Kruuzig Ogg and dealt with the initial pleasantries, but handed the meat of the negotiations over to Jaroltor. It was agreed that we would delve beneath this second ruined Arm of Pavis together, that we would name the Ogg as our allies in future negotiations with Uz clans in the Rubble, and that we humans would restore the tower and man it ourselves. We swore a mighty oath on all this, held to Truth by Marius who by now had devoted himself entirely to Humakt. And we discovered that our enemy, beneath the Ogg lands, was the original Pavis City Magician, Potonis, now an acolyte of the vampire god Vivamort.
Undismayed, we returned a week later. Before dawn, Merryn uneleashed a mighty earth spirit that ploughed into the earth and opened a route for us into a subterranean complex that was littered with items stolen from the a giant infant sent down the Zola Fel in a Cradle in some past age. After some exploration, but unsure where our enemies lay, we begged direction of our gods and quickly located a shrine to Vivamort shrouded with an unnatural mist. With our Zorak Zorani allies guarding the exit, we held the ancient evil within their shrine and defeated a quartet of vamipires. While three of these turned to mist and dispersed, remaining a threat for the future, Suharo the Sorceror unleashed a mighty spell that held the City Magician himself captive until his soul could finally be separated from his body by Marius' iron death rune.
Plans
Develop the Arms of Pavis
Arms of Pavis are magical tower-forts built during the Second Age to defend the city, but they failed during the troll invasion. There are others scattered around the city, some probably ruined, but others waiting to be rebuilt. We have now secured two, but one especially needs rebuilding. One of the useful 'bridges', culturally, is that Pavis was a sort of sorcerer and the city relied on sorcerous defenses during the Second Age, so Pavis cultists aren't as bothered by wizards as others might be.
Temples/Shrines
In our enthusiasm, we initially thought of rebuilding temples (inlcluding on Temple Hill). But a neat post from RS clarified things for me (Sam):
I've been reading through a few sources on shrines and temples, vis a vis numbers of initiates. Spirit cults basically need 10 initiates to open a shrine. This is from an article in the Cult Compendium. Gods need a little more. A shrine can be from 0-125 initiates, a small temple 75+initiates. This is the level we are looking at for our small settlement. Assuming our settlers will sit in the 75-100 range, they can support a few shrines and maybe a small temple. Avara needs a shrine, so I suggest one attached to any Pavis shrine, for mutual worship. Marius has a ready made one, but will need to find initiates to keep it active. Boltar will need a lot more bullies before we can open a storm bull temple, but an Earth Temple might just be doable, with a shrine to his wife. In fact, we should just do an earth temple with shrines to Pavis, Avena, Ernalda and Boltars wife.
So I think our aim should be an earth temple with shrines.
...plus this from rstites...
Again, I don't want to get too caught up in numbers on these. You have enough to support a shrine to Storm Bull with Boltar and his followers. They'll probably never be able to support a temple, but will travel to the Block for important dates.
Likewise, Marius will need some followers as a Rune Lord to support a shrine to Humakt. It'll only take a few initiates and a larger number of lay members to support a shrine. There's a temple in New Pavis.
The others mentioned will get enough worship for a shrine, including Pavis. You'll need a lot of population growth and work to support another temple, even a small one, to Pavis. The Real Pavis temple will be central for them, but you can certainly have a shrine here.
Recall that shrines only have access to a single divine spell for learning/renewing. However, they work as good focii to cast Sanctify for a Priest to relearn known magic. You'll have to travel to a temple to learn new divine magic: requires a minor heroquest each time that will take a day(s) each.
Above is the edited text, below the original, in case anyone wishes to restore some or all of it (otherwise, we delete the text below):
Restoring a piece of the ancient city was sort of a milestone event for Jarol. His motivations stem from A) trying to avoid the feeling of powerlessness and loss he experienced during Starbrow's Rebellion and the first few months of our time in Prax, and B) emulating Sartarite heroes like Saronil, Jarolor, Dorasar and Sartar, who were all magical builders with dwarf connections that helped bring peace and safety to the people. He's added Lord Pavis to that list after moving to Pavis-Outside-the-Walls.
His political motivations concern the trolls. His feeling is that the trolls have lived within the walls for centuries, and that they aren't conquerors, they're immigrants. He wants to make peace with them and integrate them into city life and the Pavis cult, the same way the Sartarite settlers were integrated. It's a big project.
One of the useful 'bridges', culturally, is that Pavis was a sort of sorcerer and the city relied on sorcerous defenses during the Second Age, so Pavis cultists aren't as bothered by wizards as others might be. I think we had suggested that, since Boltar was going to be a priest, he should set up a temple in the Rubble to fight the broos, Ogre Island and the Devil's Playground. I think any physical location you pick for it will be fine.
Having Boltar along to talk peace in the interests of fighting a bigger foe makes sense and would be welcome. Troll negotiations are a project for me, but I don't want exclusive rights or anything, anybody who wants to should do so as well.
The Muriah Expedition
-Main Page: The Prax Adventure
They're camping out in the Vulture Country due east of Condor Crags. We need some way to find passage to their lair, and to not lose too many men while killing her and her broo gang.
- 24 Storm Bull Initiates, half followers of Boltar, half rounded up for this expedition.
- 12 mercenaries, assigned to Marius by Duke Raus.
The Hidden Green Quest
His research turns up many things.
The Mani have access to hidden greens. That explains how such a number can easily sustain themselves in these walls, and in fact they're famous for sharing from their excess with the local humans as surviving in these lands is tough.
It occurs to him that the Garden surely must have access to something as it continues to grow and prosper. The aldryami would sustain growth and life.
However, another thing creeps into his subconsciousness and then his consciousness. There is another access and in that access is a key that he may work. He doesn't understand the details, but it must exist, and surely those with knowledge of the history of Pavis may offer some insight:
a key held long ago in Pavis by someone who could look after the Earth inside the walls.
