Hero Wars
Issaries, Inc. |
An epic ‘Hero Wars’ scenario by Simon Bray
and Martin Hawley.
|
| Across the verdant, rolling Grazelands race six of Yu-Kargzant’s folk, two proud sons of the mighty Davidall Moon-Chased, Chieftain of the Gold Bone Grazer and their retinue of loyal kinsmen. They fly towards the spring camps for the Growing Season foaling ritual, at which Arandayla Horse-Queen is blessing the clan with Goldeye children. With them, they bring a strange gift, a man of darkness to whose defeat will complete the rights and impress the chieftain. But the dark man is a not a lonely victim, two shadows seek to penetrate Yu-Kargzant’s burning ring of warriors, one a hellish form with flaming eyes, rending teeth and claws of iron has vengeance on its mind, the other circles slowly above the camps, watching with envy and oozing the stench of carrion from every pore. Will the heroes succeed in leading their clan to face the end of the world against adversity or will pride and arrogance destroy the very thing they seek to redeem? Will Dan-El Sun-Born find the power within to guide his arrows into the shadows? Will Law-Ran Wicker-Horse break the steed that is his family’s curse? Will blood, sweat and fire be the clan’s only salvation? The events of this epic Hero Wars scenario will change the fate of the Gold Bone Clan forever. |
Narrator's Information
Benchmark: This episode is designed the
player characters provided or grazer heroes of 5
– 10
ability. It is recommended that at least one Shaman accompany the
players to provide magical support.
Rules: This episode uses all rules from Chapters 2 (“Characters”), 4 (“Playing the Game”), and the information on animist magic from Chapter 8 (“Animist Magic”) in the Hero Wars Player's Book, and Chapter 7 (“ Narrating the Game”) in the Hero Wars Narrator's Book. The information on pages 157-158 of Glorantha, Introduction to the Hero Wars is also recommended reading.
Premise: The players are all member of the Goldbone Grazer clan, returning to their homelands at the end of spring for the Goldeye Foaling rites. As part of their duties, the players were sent out to bring back a ‘Dark Warrior’, who plays a key role in the ritual events. Ever seeking to impress, Dan-El Sunborn the leader of the warriors has returned with a powerful, but wounded Black Horse Rider to enact the part, as opposed to the usual trollkin or weak follower of darkness. The man was found unconscious in a ditch to the north of Goldbone clan lands, where he had been left to feed the buzzards by followers of Unnek the Buzzard. The warrior is to act as the Smote of Darkness, the focus for the Darkness enemy that will attack and make the ritual complete. The player’s participation in the rituals is essential, but their choice of ritual foe has allowed another foe, namely the followers of Unnek the Buzzard to enter their rituals.
The players must initially fight this danger to prevent the ceremony from failing. However, at the climax of the ceremonies the mount of the Black Rider, a monstrous Dioskos horse demon appears instead of the Goldeye Foals and attacks the shamans. The weakened clan is barely able to control the creature. As its appearance is related to the player’s actions, it is their duty to travel to the Man of Fire and Iron’s underground home and collect the Bit and Bridle of Control. The strange vendref Blacksmith sets them a terrible ordeal that takes them to hell, to gain the artefact. Equipped with the magical bridle and the support of their clan, the players must mount and control the monstrous horse so that it can be ridden, along with the Black Rider’s corpse to Black Horse County. On their journey, they once again meet the followers of Unnek and face annihilation, only to be rescued by Ethirist himself. Finally, the player’s must face Ethilrist’s judgement and return to their people as heroes or failures.
Notes: There are several props that the Narrator should provide to the Players; these are The Goldeye Birthing Song – a Grazer song detailing the ritual that lies ahead, Jan-Karen’s Knowledge Sheet – A useful guide for the shaman player detailing more exact details of the deities, spirits, rituals, and practices of the Grazers. The narrator should be familiar with both of these documents. The Narrator should be familiar with the mechanics of Hero Wars, and have an at least a basic understanding of Grazer culture, however a brief primer is included here to aid the Narrator.
Grazers
The Grazers are horse-riding nomads. They live in large, round, wood-framed tents (Gers) and migrate twice a year to follow their great horse herds to new pastures. When foreign habits were adopted by the weak around the time of Sartar the Grazers purged the tribe of them. These weak ones are today known as the Vendref, who grow crops for the their Grazer overlords and dwell in villages. Grazers eat horsemeat, horse blood, and fermented mare's milk. The Grazers are animists and their religion centers on worship of the sun and of horses. They are very conservative and call themselves the Pure Horse Tribe. They have resisted tremendous social and political pressures that have polluted lesser tribes.
Relationships: The Players relationships with each other and their community are most important. Dan-El Sunborn is seeking to impress his father, Law-Ran Wicker-Horse is seeking to curb his brother’s pride, Dun-Cal Many-Mares is trying to better himself, Yu-Sima Plunging-Hoof is trying to become a Stallion Soldier, Nirik Laughing-Horse is seeking answers and Jan-Karen Willow-Mane is trying to prevent her prophecy becoming true. The interrelationship between each character is discussed in brief at the end of the scenario. More detail regarding the forms of support offered in during the rituals is discussed in the relevant Scene, unless stated it is assumed that the players receive Ordinary Support.
| Secret: The injured man is a Black Horse Rider, one of Ethilrist’s men from Black Horse County. He was patrolling the southern fringes of the county when followers of Unnek the Buzzard attacked him and his troop. The troop was destroyed and he was the only survivor. The plan of Bolcar Foul-Feather and his Unnek followers was to incite the powerful Black Horse Troop to wage war against the Grazers and bring their downfall. He has vowed upon the name of to slay each last man of the troop. The use of a Black Rider in the Goldbone Rituals has opened up a mythically breach into which stronger forces of darkness can attack the ritual. Traditionally a Trollkin is used in the ritual, as this causes weak forces of darkness to attack, but the Black Man brings with him powerful enemies and allies that the Goldbone must stand against. |
Scene 1: Hide and Seek?
Key Points: The players must somehow hide the Black Horse rider in or around the camp keeping him as a surprise gift to the chief during the festival of Arandayla.
| Setting: The heroes ride across the rolling green hills of the Grazelands, their steeds champing and snorting as they enter familiar territory. At first a small cairn of yellow stones and horse bones is spotted, then a great and ancient tree adorned with dream catchers and eagle feathers and finally the clustered Gers and tents of the clan hearth. |
At this point Jan-Karen should remind the players that hiding the Black Man is essential to the ritual (see point one of Jan-Karen’s Knowledge Sheet). Nirik may choose to sneak back and slay the Black Man himself – although this will not affect the plot conclusion, just accelerate the development of activities!
Action: The players have several choices on how
to hide the Black Man until the start of the ceremony. They may
choose to stake him out in the wilderness at the edge of the grazer
encampment. Particular dangerous prisoners or foes are often staked
out, so this is an obvious choice. If they choose this route, he
will be easy prey for the predators of the Grazelands, like the
circling buzzards or the lone wolf.
The players may choose to subdue the Black Horse Rider by drugging
him with powerful herbs provided by the shaman; he is already half
conscious and drugging him will contribute to his final demise.
Wily players could opt to hide their prize in the women’s Ger,
after all the women are all involved in the ceremony, so their Ger
is at present empty. This option presents countless role-playing
opportunities, as the players may have to disguise themselves or
their prize as women to approach the Ger.
The Black RiderThe Black Rider is taller and more muscular than the Grazer Heroes are. His skin is pale and heavily tattooed with images of hell in red and black ink. His black hair and beard are shaved close, military style. He is dressed in a ragged black tabard, and his body shows signs of where his armour was ripped from his skin. Numerous wounds cover him, shaped like claw marks. There is a gaping wound to his abdomen that has become infected. The Rider slip in and out of consciousness, he only awakens when someone tries to tend his wounds, at which point he screams ‘Ad lach menra diglir ust ma, Nagrin!’ or ‘Get your filthy hands off me, Pagan!’ in his native tongue. He will then lose consciousness again. No healing available to the heroes or the clan can save this man. |
Scene 2 – Hail to the Chief |
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| Key Points: The Players get to meet
the Clan Chieftain; their behaviour will affect their relationship
within the clan. |
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| Setting: The heroes are
first met by the clans outriders who whoop and holler at their
arrival, then from in the circle of richly decorated tents women
and children appear, dressed in their finery. Each person they
meet asks hurried questions about their travels and begs to
hear any stories they bring. The crowd begins to gather, close
to the sweating horses and weary riders. They are lead through
the throng by the chieftain’s bodyguard. As they approach
Davidall Moon-Chased, the Chieftain appears, partially dressed
with a spear in his right hand and his arm around Fargala Sweet-Grass,
his new wife. He is an impressive man, standing twelve hands
high, with his bronzed head shaved to a topknot and a deep pattern
of scars across his chest. |
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Action: Davidall will chide the players for nearly missing the ritual and will demand to know where they have hidden the Black Man. The players should not answer or at least not truthfully – the truth would harm the ritual. If they have not hidden the Black Man, he will scream at them and tell them to do so immediately! He will then ask them why they are so late. This is an opportunity for the players to improvise their heroism, especially Dan-El Sunborn. If any of the players talk about great strength or agility, he will challenge them to prove it. Jan-Karen should give the Shamans the artefacts she carries. |
Understand the nature of the challenge (19): Grazer Customs, Grazer Myths (-3)
| Strength Davidall will clap his hands together and beckon to the player to wrestle him. His bodyguards form a ring around the fighters and proceed to jostle and jeer at whenever the player gets to close (adding AP’s) Davidall: Wrestle 5 2,
Great Strength 19,
Bear’s Hug 5(integrated
spirit). For the purpose of this combat it is assumed that Davidall’s
followers are successfully lending him 10AP per round through
their jostles and jeers. |
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Agility |
If the players lose either contest they will land heavily in a large
pile of horse dung, and will be mocked by their peers for a short
while – however they will be helped up and given fermented
horse milk to drink, and patted on the back by the Chieftain. (+3
to relationship rolls with the Chieftain.)
If however they win, there will be complete silence. The chieftain
will glare at them suspiciously and disappear into his tent and
refuse to talk to the player until after the ceremony. The Elders
may be convinced to tell the players that by beating Davidall they
have challenged his abilities to be chieftain and that he now sees
them as a potential threat.
Getting answers from Elders (15) – Relationship to Clan, Grazer Custom, Bully Clansman (-10), Intimidate (-10).
Jan-Karen may seek advice from the Josad Elders especially Mar-Haw
Talking-Man the senior shaman of Yu-Kargzant, but they will evade
her questions with clever or esoteric answers, or not be available.
If she confesses her sins, they will tell her that it is too late,
that the ritual began when the Dastali Riders all left and that
to stop it now could kill the Hyal herd.
The Chief then oversees the elaborate embodiment of the deities;
the Goldbone Shamans begin their drumming and shaking of rattles.
The Josadi have donned their white cloaks and blue horsehide masks
with a fringe of horsehair, horsehair collars and a leather belts
adorned with enchanted gold and fox pelts at the rear of the belt.
The shake their white rattles of sun dried twigs to command silence
before they begin their ancient and poetic songs and the before
the very eyes of the players their gods become flesh. Dan-El will
be dressed as Jardan bearing a bow, javelins and a lance, in his
black horsehide mask adorned with five streaks of enchanted gold,
representing the deadly power of the sun's weapons. The eye and
mouth holes are covered with white sun bleached river shells. His
horsehide collar, a crimson cloth around the hips and a leather
belt with gold ornamentation.
The leading female Shaman is Arandayla in her horse head mask decorated
with dyed yellow eagle feathers and a horsehair collar. Her horsehide
leggings are also dyed yellow. The Goldbone War Captain steps forth
and becomes Henird, in his blue mask with a horizontal band of enchanted
gold at the bottom, representing the evening light, vertical black
stripes, and decorated with eagle and owl feathers. Penultimately,
Davidall’s first wife is clothed as La-Ungariant in her green
tunic with an ornate, patterned scarf on her hips and a leather
belt decorated with woven, dyed horsehair. Her legs are painted
with white flames and a yellow mask covers her entire head and neck.
Finally the elders dress Davidall with symbols of the sun and stars,
and bands of enchanted gold indicating the midday light. They paint
him with the runes of Fire and Stallion and place the majestic feathered
headdress of the Goldbone ancestors upon his head he is Yu-Kargzant.
Then and only then does the great ceremony begin.
