This is an example HeroQuest for the cult of Thed. It is used extensively in Ralzakark's domain, and every five years the King of Broos holds a ritual ceremony of champions to decide who will win the right to travel to see the Mother of Broos. This is also an example of a "recognition" Quest, and is not representative of the vast majority of HeroQuests which are, instead, re-enactments of a myth from the Godtime. The myth is used to travel to Thed's "current" home on the Spirit Plane. In the Quest, the Quester is not Thed, but is himself. It is either used to gain Herodom and begin a Hero Cult, or just for personal power. It is not, in the main, a social quest, but can be in the formation of a Hero Cult. Details on both forms of Quest are given.
When Kyger Litor skinned the Mother of Broos she was left, shivering inside out in the darkened pits of the upper Hells. Here she hid in a canyon, and writhed in agony for seven days and seven nights, crying and mewling softly, smearing the canyon floor with her innards. When she recovered her eyes, and recovered her feet, she managed to gather her strength and travel out of the canyon. At the top, the Mother of Trolls had stationed a hundred and one servants armed with mauls smeared with salt, and as she clambered out of the pit, they beat her again and again until she scared them away with her mere sight, and devoured the souls of the stalwart warriors that remained.
She took the skin of one of the warriors and wore it, so that she might be that bit warmer in the lightless coldness of Hell. Taking one of the roads out of Hell, she marched along it's path, shivering in pain as every step she took meant that her skinless body would touch the ice cold stones of the floor. Travelling for another seven days and seven nights she fell prone to hunger, for there was nothing to eat, and so she devoured her own right arm. After another seven nights and seven days she reached a secert portal to the Upper World. Pushing aside the doorway she marched forth, only to be confronted by a hideous image. In front of her stood a warped figure, retching acid and coughing the dead, with maggots and a million beetles scurrying cross it's form. It announed that it had been looking for her, for this was her Husband's Last Son hunting her. It had waited for a long time, desperate to repay Thed for all the pain that It thought She was responsible for. That night her pained body was raped, and with a sword holes were made where none were naturally supposed to be so that her Husband's Last Son might have It's way with her. Finally she gave birth to another child, which chased off Husband's Last Son while Thed made good her escape.
Thed crawled across the surface of the Blackened world and was robbed, wounded, raped, gorged and cheated out of all she had left. She sought the White Woman, and when she found her she demanded that Mercy be brought to her and she be healed. The White Woman, stupid and ruled by compassion, healed her as she asked and was then beaten by Thed, cracking her kneecaps so that Thed might steal them and have a set of her own. Yet Thed was beaten off by the Healer's Defenders, who stopped her theft. She was forced to escape off the edge of Spirit Mountain, a place she knew well. Here she hid, a remains hidden, in the crevices and darkened edges of the Spirit Plane, surronded by the dead souls of broo who serve as her chaotic daemons and defenders.
We, all broo, can visit our accursed mother if we so wish. We must walk the Thakbaklar, the path of Thed. We travel to the canyon and must defeat the guardians, and then travel onwards past Huasband's Last Son, beating him off lest he rape us (as males we would not survive such an ordeal), and past the White Woman so that we might reach Thed in her domain, therein to rape her treasures and claim her secrets that are rightfully ours.
Only Shamans and Acolytes of Thed may attempt this Quest. Those wishing to use it to gain personal power will usually have to do it without Support as all right minded broo would be terrified of placing their trust in their comrades for fear of sabotage at a critical moment on the Quest. A Quester could be left to die on the HeroPlane, and then a successor chosen from the Supporters who deserted him. A Quester intending to participate in the Quest for the right to become a recognised Hero and start a Hero Cult, the situation is slightly different. In such a case, the Hero will already have a following of loyal broo (and/or other beings....) whom he should, either through promise of reward or fear of reprisal, manage to aquire the unwavering dedication of his supporters. In this case the Quester would have to be so powerful that no-one would dare try to desert him just in case he suceeded anyhow and returned to visit grave penalties upon them.
For the same reasons, it is unlikely that the Quester will be able to find anyone else to cast the Ritual HeroQuest spell for him/her. Any acolyte of Shaman of Thed may sacrifice for this spell on Thed's High Holy Day at any minor temple or greater.
The Path of Thed
4 points
ritual (ceremony), re-usable
This spell can only be cast on the High Holy Day of Thed. It takes four hours to cast properly, and must be cast in a temple to Thed (of any size). In the ritual, the Quester must bring a Gift of Thed forth and donate it to the Spirits (for details of a Gift of Thed see Lords of Terror p.52). If the Gift is acceptable, then the ritual may continue, if the gift is seen as not befitting the Mother of Broos then the ritual must end. Also, during the ritual, the canidate must ritually skin a portion of themselves, for every hit location skinned requires a CONx1 and permanently lowers the hit points in that location by 1d3. For every hit location skinned, the Quester receives a Support Point that can be used on this Quest. If the Quester cannot even bring themselves to skin one location then the Ritual fails and they must try again next year. At the culmination of the ritual, they are transported to the HeroPlane. The ritual always ends at the end of the High Holy Day and no matter how long the Quester believes themselves to have spent on the HeroPlane they always appear at Midnight, dead or alive.
The Quester finds himself in the bottom of a large canyon. The floor reeks of blood and of death, and a line of red runs it's length. The entire area is pitch black (as this is Hell) and unless the Quester has brought a light source then they will find themselves suffering extreme difficulties (give a negative modifier of 2 to all activities involving sight such as combat and climbing). From above, if the Quester has a Perception of 1+ or greater, can be heard sounds of movement. If the Quester checks the canyon then they find it runs about fifteen kilometres in either direction. Criss-crossing the floor is the snail-like trail of blood that Thed left when she writhed around in agony. If the Quester has a Perception of 2+ or better, or boosts it to that level to search the canyon, they find parts of the major organs of Thed, such as a piece of Liver, or her Pancreas. They are exceedingly holy, and serve as a focus of worship for all broos. However, one piece is found for every point of Perception the Quester has aboe 2+ (i.e. a Quester with 2+ finds one piece, a quester with 3 also find one piece but a quester with 3+ finds two pieces). Each piece can be used as a Support Point on the Quest, but in doing so the Broo must ingest it to gain the power. Also the Quester may choose to eat a piece of Thed instead of themselves in Station 3. Ingesting a piece of Thed will grant the devourer a random chaos feature.
When the Quester attempts to leave the canyon they can do so by following Thed's trail. Where she attempted to ascend is covered in blood. It requires an Agility contest versus a difficulty of 3 to leave the Canyon, failure results in a fall which inflicts 1 point of Body damage. At the top the Quester is confronted by a small collection of large imposing trolls, carrying mauls covered and glistening with salt. Unless the Quester has some method to avoid them, such as using Air Magic to fly over them, or using Control magics of Illusion to appear to be a troll, then they will almost certainly have to fight them.
Kyger Litor's Guardians
Body 3, Spirit 1+, Mind 1
Skills: Agility 2, Combat 4, Knowledge 1, Perception 2, Social 1, Stealth 1
Low Magic: Darkness, Protection, Death, Heal.
High Magic: Protection 3, Death 3.
Runes: Darkness 1
Magic Points: 20
Firstly, if the Quester does not take a troll skin to wear then they will be walking through Hell as a stranger, an unwanted stranger. The Quester can specify that they are attempting to sneak through the underworld, following the bloodied footprints of his goddess, in which case they must contest their Stealth against a difficulty of 2+. If the Quester fails, or does not try to hide, then they will be confronted by a small group of trolls. They are marching through the lightless underworld, looking for evils to root out and destroy. They are led by a gruff Zorak Zorani in full Lead Plate carrying a terrifyingly huge axe. If the broo is without a troll skin, then the trolls launch an attack instantly as soon as they notice the Quester. If not, then the troll leader comes forward to great the Quester with a hearty clap on the back, and a Darktongue greeting. The Quester has to convince the trolls of his veracity. The Gamesmaster should role-play the event, the Zorak Zorani will be glad to meet a compatriot, and will quiz him on his recent glories (the Zorak Zorani will bring forth the mutilated corpses of several broo, and one semi-live one and invite his new "friend" to torture him). The Gamesmaster should then award a modifier to the character's Social score. Then match the adjusted Social score against the troll's Perception. If they fail then the trolls realize something is sorely amiss, on a bad failure then they launch into an attack. The trolls will, if satisfied, continue on their way.
The Dark Trolls
Body 2, Spirit 2, Mind 1+
Skills: Agility 1, Combat 4, Knowledge 1+, Perception 2, Social 1, Stealth +
Low Magic: Darkness, Death, Protection, Fire
High Magic: Darkness 4
Runes: Darkness 1, Death +
Magic Points: 100 (total)
The path onwards can only be followed by diligently keeping to the path. Sometimes the footprints get difficult to see, or follow, or the blood becomes covered in dirt. The Underworld is a scary pace, even for a broo, in the distance can be heard the squealings and whistlings of Hell Harpies and Fire Beasts, that echo through the valleys and basins and dead god's skulls. Slowly, the Quester realizes that the trail is moving upwards, and eventually the trail reaches a mountain ledge which winds around the base, reaching towards the roof of the Underworld. The trail also seems to go on forever, days pass as the Quester travels onwards. They soon grow tired and hungry, and very fatigued. Unless the Quester has brought food and water with them, or is using the dead bodies of his foes, then they will have to copy Thed and eat parts of themselves. If the Quester chooses to go hunting then they will have little luck -- even if they can track down something to eat it is most likely far more powerful then they are, and if they do defeat it then they still have to find the path again or else be lost forever in the abyss of the Underworld (difficulty 6 versus Preception to find the path again). However, a broo with Hunter God HeroQuests at his disposal may stand a chance. A Quester who eats part of their body should suffer appropiate penalties. An entire limb will be neccessary to survive. A Quester who does not eat suffers 2 Body of damage, and will be at a penalty of 2 to all actions. If the Quester eats a portion of Thed instead they take only 1 point of Body damage and suffer no penalties - if they eat more than one piece then there are no penalties at all.
After the long haul up the trail the Quester eventually comes to a cavernous area at the peak. The roof of the Underworld is no more than twenty feet above the Quester's head. The area is covered in the same gore and blood that the canyon was covered in, albeit faded and dirtied. The trail of footprints has disappeared. Of course, this is the location where the Secert portal Thed used to escape the Underworld without having to face one of it's many guardians. Since the Quester knows it is here, then they have the benefit of foresight on their side. Searching for the portal requires the Quester to match their Perception against a difficulty of 2. Success means that he finds a moveable stone, that slides away to reveal a tough to climb, rough passage heading upwards.
After what seems like days of clambering through this rough hewn passage, the Quester reaches the opening into the Upper World and here the Quester will have their encounter with the Husband's Last Son. This remanent of Ragnaglar is hideous, as described in the myth he stands fifteen foot tall, retching acid and coughing the dead, with maggots and a million beetles scurrying cross it's form. A strong stench of death and rotten bodies wafts from it, and as it moves it's kneecaps creak. In a slow, rasping voice the figure tells the Quester "I am the Husband's Last Son, and I seek vengeance. You are one of my children, my brethren, and I seek recompense."
Handling the situation from here on in is upto the Quester. Many will choose violence, or attempt to flee. Others may give the figure a sacrifice they have brought with them as a slave (a female broo is the best option), and while the spirit is revelling in it's lust, the Quester can leave. The Quester may even try to convince the spirit that he is not a broo, and therefore not a descendant of Thed and therefore not a target of the spirit's desires. The spirit will attack only in Spirit Combat, inflicting damage to Spirit.
Husband's Last Son
Spirit 4+, Mind 2
Runes: Chaos 6 (uses two points of chaos every round)
Magic Points: 30
If the Quester fails, then they die in one of the most horrific and revolting of ways possible.....
In this station the Quester marches to find the White Woman. If the Gamesmaster so wishes then smaller events and encounters can take place. If not then the Quester can continue following the trail across the lightless surface world until they reach the White Lady. The White Woman appears in a variety of locations, sometimes at the foot of hills, sometimes in a temple, or sometimes at the center of a gathering. She always appears as a human woman dressed in pure white robes.
The Quester has a variety of options here. Since they are only following the Path of Thed, and not re-enacting her path, then the Quester can ignore her completely, continue following the trail by tracing the bloodied footsteps. However, if the Quester is injured, or just plain cruel, they may wish to stay and interact with the Healer. The Healer will not seem abashed, or worried, that the broo approaches her (although if others are present they may react differently). She will say "Good eve, what brings a soul so injured as yourself to my comfort? In these cold times what might I aid you with?"
The broo can ask, or demand, to be healed by the White Woman. She will gladly heal minor wounds, restoring all lost body injuries (aswell as combating the effects of bad nourishment), but scarification, limb loss or other such she refuses to heal saying that "Others more needy of my aid require my magics. I cannot squander them on but one soul." Of course the broo may force her to, by defeating her, or tricking her. If the broo tries to harm the Healer then her Defender's instantly appear, either rushing from the hillside, exploding forth as spirits from the temple altar or the crowd rushing to aid their favoured mistress. If the Broo uses subversive magics rather than violence then they may well suceed.
The White Woman's Guardians
Body 5, Mind 2, Spirit 2
Skills: Agility 1, Combat 4, Knowledge 2, Perception 2, Social 1, Stealth 1
Low Magic: Heal, Protection, Death
High Magic: Heal 2, Protection 2, Death 5
Runes: Man 2
Magic Points: 150 (total)
If the Guardian's defeat the broo then they do not kill him, something they have vowed never to do. Instead they exact their reward and the Quester is then left to return to the Mundane Plane, battered and crippled. The Reward the Guardian's take is in the form of a geas, the broo can never again be affected by Healing magics!!!
If the White Lady is defeated then she can be forced to heal the Quester of other ailments, even those not gained on this HeroQuest. For extra success in this Quest, the Quester can take her knee caps as a gift for Thed. In such a case, Thed will reward the Quester with the ability to use the Heroic Casting of Curse of thed, in other words when the spell Curse of Thed is cast, it does not have to be reprayed for to be used again!!!. Also for additional success, a broo may rape the Healer. The mythical actions of raping the Healing Goddesses are left for the GM to think about, but should be very bad indeed, for all parties concerned.
At this stage the path leads to a cliff edge of a gargantuan mountain. Below, it stretches into a gaping maw filled with a faint luminous mist. It is from here where Thed fled the guardian's of the White Lady. If the Guardian's are chasing the Quester then they, too, will have to escape. If the Quester is not being chased then they merely need to make a contest of Agility against a difficulty of 2. If they are being chased then this difficulty increases to 3. If the Quester fails then they fall and suffer 3 points of Body damage (remember, if this kills them then they merely return to the Mundane Plane and do not die, although their battered body may be pillaged and slain by eager Supporters). If the Quester fails while being chased, they are caught. They must battle the Guardians with no option of escape this time, now pressed against the mountain face with nowhere to run. If they defeat the Guardian's then they may again continue, this time resisting their agility against the unmodified value of 2.
At the bottom is the portion of the Spirit Plane wherein Thed currently resides. If the Quester is a shaman then the Spirit Plane is, obviously, familiar. If not, then the Quester will be disconcerted by the lights and feelings around them. The Quester will see around them dead bodies and decaying remanents of chaos, and the area is exuding feelings of chaos. As they continue, those Broo with a Knowledge of 2 or better may realize they are walking around the Broo Afterlife! As they march forth they are confronted by a Chaos Daemon, a dead soul of a broo! It looks like an oversized broo, bent over with long fingernails and a ring of fangs instead of teeth. It comes forward to meet the Quester, "Hold chaos! This is Thed's Domain, I am Greezed Bafrel, Demon of the Soul Severer's. I claim your soul as mine, who are you?" If the Quester has a great status in Broo society, i.e. is a high ranking member of Ralzakark's Kingdom or is a potential Broo Hero, then they have a chance of scaring the Spirit into allowing them past. To do this they must match their Social against 1+, if they suceed, then the spirit realizes it is outmatched and takes the Quester to meet Thed. If not then the Spirit tries to claim the Quester's soul as it's own. It attacks in Spirit Combat.
Greezed Bafrel
Spirit 3
Runes: Chaos 4
Magic Points 17
If the Spirit defeats the Quester then they are doomed to be it's spiritual plaything for eternity. If the spirit is defeated then it cries out that it will take the Quester to Thed, and his eventual rewards.
Here, in the midst of the Spirit Plane, the Quester meets Thed. Led there by the spirit, she sits atop a pile of bones and dead bodies, and around her scream the spirits of dead broos hunting the dead spirits of the Cosmos. At her feet sit her children, hundreds of bastard men and women, all of which are chained to the pile of bones and are little more than objects of torment and pleasure for the dead broo. Here the Quester gets their rights to their rewards. Thed herself comes to meet the Quester, she is a small, petite female broo with snakes for breasts that apporaches the Quester from above. Most Questers demand their rewards instantly, in broo society there is no true holy reverence for their goddess, flinging Thed to the ground and raping here among the decaying throne she owns. Thed is then forced to give the Quester the Rewards they desire.
In all cases, the Chaos Rune and Spirit Rune of the Quester increase by 1+. Secondly, sometimes (i.e. at the GM's decision) Thed will actually bear a child to the Quester. Often the child is merely symoblic and remains on the HeroPlane with Thed, sometimes the child returns with the Quester as a spirit ally (treat as another allied spirit) or as a fetch (if the Quester is not a shaman). Sometimes the child returns in physical form, a perfect broo bristling with chaos features.
If the Quester is merely doing this Quest for personal power then Thed grants it, the Quester undergoes training and enchantments for what seems like Seasons. As a guideline, 5 points of Rune Magic and an additional 1d6x5% in the skills of Conceal, Hide, Track, Sneak and any weapon attack are good enough rewards. The HeroQuester then returns to the Mundane Plane and the HeroQuest ends.
If the Quester is seeking to become a Hero of Thed, then they must teach Thed a new skill. This is the definition of a Hero. The "new skill" may well be a Hero Power the broo has gained (turn victims to stone, summon Foul Winds at will), as long as the Quester isn't trying to Illuminate Thed, teach her to defend against rape or anything else intrinsically against Thed's nature then the Hero will most likely suceed. When people join the Hero's Hero Cult then they will gain access to a lesser aspect of this power as a Rune Spell, or a spirit spell (more rarely, as a skill i.e. Kuschile Horse Archery). For instance, in the above example the Hero Cult may teach the spell Stone Stare that is an instant spell that, if successful and overcomes the target's mp's, converts them to stone.
In turn, the cultist becomes a Hero of Thed. Increase Chaos and Spirit by another +. The Hero can now become a focus for his worshippers. For every Support Point of worshipper's the Hero has, increase his POW by 1, and increase his maximum POW by 1. Also, for every 2 Support Points, add + to both Spirit and Chaos. Plus, on HeroQuests the Hero now receives his Hero Cult's Support without them having to participate in lengthly rites.
All of the Supporter's the Quester had are instantly members of the Quester's Hero Cult. For others to join requires a shaman or acolyte of Thed who is also a member of the Hero Cult to ordain them. It costs 1 POW to join a Hero Cult. Joining a Hero Cult gives you access to their Hero magics. Once the Hero is finished, he returns back to the Mundane Plane. The HeroQuest has finished.