Chaotic Spirit Cults

Divarensh, the Nonforgiver

Divarensh was a Pelandan First from long ago. He fell in love with a young Third, a girl who made pottery. It was so exquisite that Divarensh could not resist her talent. He fought hard so that she could be accepted into the Seconds, and angered his friends and family, eventually having to stand down as King and resume a minor position as a disgraced noble.

Divarensh contracted a lethargy, and was unable to move from his house under the curse of disease. Every day he would cough and whoop, and the holy healers would bleed him. But he was still in love, but quickly she was not. Enamoured by the new surroundings of nobility, she allowed herself to be swept of her feet and broke off her engagement with Divarensh to marry a noble from another family.

Wracked by jealousy, pained with humiliation, Divarensh never forgave her. He never uttered another word to the woman, instead brooding with his disease. The healers said that he would never be cured whilst he held such pain in his soul. It never left him, the scorch mark of jilted love, and it came to a head when a conflagaration broke out one night. Divarensh recused many people from the flames but when he saw his lost love, he did not even move to her aid, and in the inferno she died. When it was discovered what he had done, he was cast out from the community and wandered as a lonely hermit. His lack of forgiveness was so great that upon his death he lingered, remaining, existing only to not forgive someone long gone.

Divarensh is tainted by chaos, and normally worshipped involuntarily. Some shamans, however, seek him out. He is pictured always alongside his ex-lover, his eyes always averted, his hand always making a fist, and often with a single tear in his eye. He is connected to the runes of Man and arguably with Chaos (depending on who you ask). He is most often connected with the cult of Seseine although Krarshti have sometimes worshipped him for his powers. He teaches the spell of Never Forgive. Shamans who worship him gain the gift of Love and Hate. They can select from the following taboos:

• Never forgive a lovers mistakes
• Never fall in love with anyone other than the last person who spurned you
• Never talk to a past lover

Never Forgive
1 point
ranged, nonstackable, instant, one-use
This can be cast either on a willing target or an unwilling target (in the later case magic points must be overcome). If successful the spell renders the target unable to forgive a particular lover that has spurned them, under any circumstances. They will seek to avoid that persons company and generally take pleasure in any misert that befalls them. Particularly cruel individuals may well be compelled to cause actual harm to them, although this is not a mandatory result of the spell. The effect is permanent and reversable only via Divine Intervention from an appropraite god, such as Uleria, or a HeroQuest.

Love and Hate

Ekzekeal, the Child Murderer

In the Woetime, when everyone fought each other and themselves, and the chaotic forces wriggled out from the piercing in the middle of the world, nothing made any sense any more. The Storm God had killed the Cosmic Emperor, and that was the first murder. The first murder wandered the world, and gave birth to more murders. Some were given specific names, such as Ashbana the Murder of Jengal the Pure, or Illivanus the Murder of the Seventy Villagers, but most of the Murder spirits went with no title. Soon there were many murders, they were everywhere, and even they could not avoid the taint of chaos. The Senseless Murder, perhaps one of the most feared of the murder spirits, took to killing the murders he gave birth to, his own children. From this act of wanton brutality came Ekzekeal, the Child Murderer.

Whenever a child is murdered by an adult, Ekzekeal plays a role. He makes no sense, none of his acts ever made any sense. Even the theives and assassins of the world would be horrified at the meaningless acts he and his worshippers commit. And that is why he is one of the chaotic murders, the unnatural murders, a murder with no reason.

Ekzekeal is rarely worshipped by any but the most heinous of chaotic creatures, generally from the cult of Krarsht, Vivamort or Thanatar, most other chaotic creatures would not find use for his magic unless they played a role in a society. His worshippers are often involuntary, child murderers who have fallen to allowing him into their souls. Worshippers of Ekzekeal rank amongst the most hated of all chaotic worshippers, and in Orlanthi society there is a special punishment reserved for them.

If pictured, Ekzekeal appears to be an obese man with small tattered breeches and a small tarnished silver knife. Ekzekeal is connected to the runes of Evil (or Chaos where Evil is not used), and Death. If worshipped he grants the following spell. If you are using Sandy Petersen's shaman system he grants spirit affinity (death) as a gift, and has the following available taboos:

• Murder one child a season.
• Never use any weapon other than a tarnished silver knife.
• Procreate once per year.

Child Murder
1 point
self only, temporal, nonstackable, reusable
Once cast this spell acts as a conceal but only affects prepubescent human children.

Ka, Hunter of the Dead

Ka was once a Khan. He rode where men rode, ate where men ate and slept where men slept. Ka was once like any man. That is the sorrow of Ka, that Ka proves any man might fall to Evil.

He hunted with his tribesman, and when they caught a creature worthy of eating they stopped to decide to who the spoils fell.

"To me," said the wife of the Khan, "for I am pregnant, and into this Darkness new life must spring."

"To me," said his son, "For I must defend the folk of the tribe when you are gone, and such a burden makes me hunger."

"To me," said each member of the tribe, "For without us there is no tribe for you to protect, no place for your world."

The Khan was displeased with these answers and so asked the wise man what he should do.

"To each man give one strand of meat. Such will see us through."

A Khan whose heart was not flawed would have taken such advice. But no Khan is so. So the Khan spoke to his men.

"If any was to take this meat, others would do without. If we were to share the meat we would taste a morsel and no sustenance would come. But there is one who has not spoken for this meat, one who has not yet made a claim I was unhappy with for this food."

"Who is this man?" asked the wise shaman.

"Me. I should have this meat. My spear struck the beast and pierced its hide, and with its meat in my belly I shall know that at least one member of my tribe is happy."

With that he took the meat and devoured it. Yet the wise shaman and warned him that this would be the end of his life, for in the Dark Times no Khan should do such a reckless act of selfishness. The Khan laughed it off.

In the night, his son came into his tent with twenty on twenty strong armed men. They took the Khan and buried him to his neck, and pinned his arms to the ground so that the new beasts of the world might eat him. When he cast curses at them, they tore his tongue from out of his mouth so he could only proclaim himself 'Ka' instead of Khan.

As his soul made the patterdance to the otherworld, the Devil came and Ka gave himself to the darkness. Ka became one of the ghosts of the land. He could not take revenge on his tribesman, for his fists would pass through their chests, his weapons not alight upon their bodies. But Ka waited. And waited. And when his tribesman died, he tracked their souls down, and tortured them all in his spirit tent. Whilst their bodies were long ago found, the howls of those who are held by Ka, hanging with no tongues, screams across the Wastes.

• Remove own tongue.
• Remove the tongue of one live human once a week.
• Hunt and kill one worshipper of the Iron Man every season (the Iron Man is the name of a certain aspect of Humakt in Prax).

He grants Create Ghost as a rune spell and the following gift:

Hunt the Dead

This ability allows a shaman to hunt the souls of the dead as they depart for the otherworld after their alloted seven days of hanging around the body after their demise. The shaman can capture such spirits, to torture them, to get information out of them, or (at higher levels) to have the spirit as a useful bound spirit for the shaman (at all levels the spirit can be bound, but only at the higher levels does this become useful). Sometimes a worshipper of Ka will return with the spiritIt is effectively a HeroQuest that takes 1 whole day to perform. It requires a successful Track roll on behalf of the shaman, who can then engage the spirit in spirit combat and return with it. Rarely rituals are held to summon defenders of the spirit, or people travel to the Spirit World to protect a spirit travelling to their afterlife, and the shaman must deal with them too. A fumble on the Track roll usually means turning up some powerful defender from the afterlife the creature was travelling to.

At level 1 the spirit can be captured, but is listless and devoid of personality, and magic. At level 2 the spirit has some vestiges of personality left, as if the person was in a light sleep or very confused (but generally good enough to torture). Level 3 means the spirit has full memories and all personal spirit magic and sorcery. The spirit also has all skills at half percentage. Level 4 is the same as level 3 except all skills are at full, and the spirit retains rune magic.

Unlike the spell Create Ghost, this gift does not require the shaman to have the body of the victim at hand.

Lograk the Chaos Shade

No-one knows where Lograk came from, but it visited the Uz when they escaped the Evil Burner on their journey from Wonderhome. It would settle in the caves they took refuge in, and plague them there. Wherever Lograk was found, the Darkness would not comfort the trolls within. Wherver Lograk rests, no creature of the night can find bliss.

Lograk is rarely worshipped. It is represented normally by a piece of black material scorched by fire. It is connected with the runes of Darkness and Hunger. If contacted it grants only the following taboo:

• Must cover oneself in soot every evening.

Lograk teachs Spirit Affinity (Hunger) and grants access to the following rune spell:

Corrupt Darkness
1 point
ritual enchant, stackable, reusable
This spell corrupts darkness. It affects an area equal to 10m radius per point of spell. Once so enchanted no shade may enter this area, any darkness magic that is cast is cast at half percentage and no troll feels comfortable in the area, seeking to leave at the first opportunity. If the Darkness is ever forced away, say by bringing light into the area (not a common thing an Uz would do), the enchantment is destroyed. The shaman must expend one point of POW when this spell is cast (although if multiple spells are stacked it still costs only one POW).

OsoErenaLas, the Chaos Trader

OsoErenaLas is the name for an abhorrent creature from the Old Times. It is also known as the Hidden trader, the Unwanted Merchant and the Dark Shopkeeper. Whilst this is its name from Oronin, it is worshipped elsewhere under different guises. OsoErenaLas was a weak willed, snivelling creature that crawled from the Void of Chaos. Beaten and abused by the larger, more fearsome, creatures of chaos, OsoErenaLas barely eeked out an existence and was destined to die either at the hands of her fellows or at the hands of her enemies. Her only success was to kill and devour the Rolling Traders who were fleeing destruction in their lands. She took with them both their souls and their knowledge.

One day she happened upon the Many Tendril Band, a group of broo and other unwholesome beasts. She managed to worm her way into their group. Quickly she noticed the jealousy that each had of the other, of the tentacle that one would have or the wings that another had sprouted overnight.. Using her unique abilities learnt from the Rolling Traders OsoErenaLas managed to exchange chaotic abilities from one being to another. This pleased the Many Tendril Band (only somewhat, for chaos is an evil unhealthy thing, and they would eventually kill each other later in the Old Times) and OsoErenaLas began to survive in the world by acting as an intermediatory of chaos, a skill that allowed her to survive well into the Dawn.

OsoErenaLas is rarely worshipped. Chaos creatures rarely wish to make use of her powers, being generally violent and too aggressive to actually trade. In more "civilised" areas of chaotic pollution, however, shamans sometimes worship her. She teaches Trade Chaos Feature, and shamans can learn the gift of Spirit Affinity (Communication). She has only the following taboo:

• Eat the heart of one merchant every Season

Trade Chaos Feature
2 points
ritual ceremony, one-use
This spell requires a one hour ceremony, and two creatures (which must both be willing participants). It swaps one chaos feature of one creature with the chaos feature of the other. The exact chaos feature is selected by the caster, so you can trick a chaos creature to participate in the ritual and swap the a chaos feature they do not wish to lose (or give them one they did not wish to gain).

Rogue Semi-Integratd Sub Unit #4

General Alert for all bodies in section 23 of Gold Area. STOP. Please be advised Sub Unit 4 did not undergo integration. STOP. Unit has become infected by Outside Vapours. STOP. Unit has begun to close down all bodies in section 23. STOP. Please advise, Beduran Silverhands, Mostali Foreman of Section 23, Gold Area. STOP.

Response on General Alert. STOP. Unit has been identified as Rogue. STOP. Deployment of Ulterior Iron Units for the Protection of Posterity has taken place. STOP. ETA .62 work cycles. STOP. Estimated time until all bodies have been shut down in section 23 .32 work cycles. STOP. No more action to be taken. STOP. Be advised that to protect the rest of the complex the Unit must be expelled into the Lower Sectors. STOP. Please take appropriate action, Hevrad Foremaster, Foreman-Leader of Gold Area. STOP.

Rogue Semi-Integrated Sub Unit #4 is never pictured, although some Mostali have a special stamp for imprinting its name. It is connected with the runes of Chaos and Disorder. If worshipped he grants the following spell. Shamans cannot gain any gift from it, for it is not a natural spirit (in Hero Wars terms it would be an entity from the Adept Plane).

Destabilise
1 point
ranged, instant, stackable, one-use
This spell is only effective against the Mostali Stablise spells, such as Stabilise Magic Point Matrix, Stabilise Potion, Stabilise Life etc... Once cast at such an enchantment it is immediatley destroyed if the number of points stacked is equal to the POW (not the intensity) used in the enchantment. No roll is required. The spell must, however, still overcome any countermagic or related spells used to defend the enchantment itself.

The Race Mixer

The Race Mixer was one of many disorder spirits who ran rampant across the world. Whever he came, he would take the people and turn them around so they faced the other way, or twist their bodies so they didn't know which way they walked. His greatest trick was to change their race so they didn't know who they were anymore. Whole armies would sleep and the next evening trolls would fight elves would fight dwarves would fight men, and the Race Mixer would sit and chuckle. Eventually the ruler of each race chased down, and beat the secrets out of him. Mostal caught him first and used the Rack of Torture to force him to cough out how dwarves could be made, then Aldrya caught him and used her roots to pull out the knowledge of evils, and Herge pinned him with a bow shot until he agreed to give up the secrets of Grotarons. Eventually the Race Mixer knew no more secrets of races and could race mix no more.

When chaos came, the Race Mixer found new races! What joy he had! And with each secret stolen no god would thunder down upon him demanding the secrets be told! He wrecked new, more deadly, more caustic damage than he ever had before.

The Orlanthi believe the Race Mixer was caught thousands of years ago and kept in a bottle, but Eurmal knocked it over one day and he was unleashed again. Other cultures have similar myths about how the Race Mixer was caught, and how the Trickster released him.

The Race Mixer is depicted as a humanoid, but devoid of any features that would identify him of any race. He carries a bag with him in his right hand, with which to place someone's head so they cannot see the tricks he plays. He is associated with the runes of Disorder, Man and Chaos. He grants the following taboos:

• Always talk to people in the language of a race different from they.
• Always plead for ones own life when neccessary, no matter what the cost, or who they sell out.

He grants the gift of Spirit Defense up to level 3. He also grants the following rune spell:

Switch Race
3 points
ritual ceremony, one-use
This spell turns the character from one race into a chaotic version of that race. It takes an hour long ritual, and the caster must overcome the magic points of the target. If successful they immediately switch race physically (re-roll all characteristics other than INT and POW, which remain the same). They retain all memories and personality (and most commit suicide soon after), but will become afflicted by some of the passions of their new race. For instance, if turned into a broo a character will start to have a desire to rape, an ogre will have an overpowering desire for human flesh etc... Humans turn into ogres, Hsunchen turn into broo, trolls turn into cave trolls, and other more exotic races turn into chaotic variations unseen since the Godtime (although pinning down a Maidstone Archer long enough to cast the spell is tricky). The character is immediately chaos tainted and remains so even if, against all the odds, some method is found to turn them back.

Ushed, Lord of Chaos Pits

Where chaos settles, Ushed can be found. When the Devil took land, Ushed was its ruler. Appointed by no-one he seethed forth from the earth, tainting it with his breath, and worming his way into every root, every rock, every creature that made its home there. Ushed is the true lord and master of chaos pits, and only those who worship him, or defeat him, can take power.

Ushed is rarely pictured, and depicted always as a legless figure sat in amongst mud and rock. He is connected with the runes of Mastery and Chaos. He grants the following taboos:

• Never leave chaos pits.
• Never harm a chaotic creature except in self defense.
• Eat three ounces of chaos tainted earth a day.

He grants the spell Chaos Taint and the gift Chaos Pit.

Chaos Taint
1 point
ritual ceremony, stackable, one-use
Once cast this spell taints an area of land equal to 50mx50m (in underwater locations it also taints the water in a 50m sphere). For every point stacked an extra 50m is added per point, so at two points it is 100mx100m, at three points it is at 150mx150m and so on. It takes a week long ritual to cast, that is disrupted if any of the ritual items are tampered with or the shaman is injured. The effect taints the entire area with chaos (impossible to remove unless you physically scooped out the soil and rock and replaced it). Chaotic vegetation will most likely grow in the area. Other than this there is no other game-orientated effect of the taint (although just about every sane mortal would shun such land).

Chaos Pit
This gift allows the shaman dominion over chaos tainted land. It affects an area of 50mx50m, with every extra level increasing this by 50m increments, so two levels increases it to 100mx100m, three levels increases it to 150mx150m and so on. Within this area the Shaman has limited control over what goes on it (for instance, what grows there, or what colour chaos tainted rock slowly becomes) but more importantly any chaos creature reduced to zero magic points (by whatever means) can be taken over by the shaman. Every level allows the shaman to control one creature. No creature may have more magic points than the shaman (not his fetch, as with Spirit Trapping). If the current magic points of the trapped creature ever raise above that of the shaman, the creature is released. A level in Chaos Pit increases both the area effected and the amount of creatures that can be controlled.