Action 1: Doctrine Weight: Single Description: Feroze & priesthood define Feroze's relation to existing gods. Difficulty: -2 Routine Factors: Religious Sophistication, Religious Tolerance of surrounding societies, short existence of Exquaestio Fudge-Points: 0 It turns out that Feroze is a staunch friend of Loi, the wife of Marmdal. Between his travels he visits their court and gives gifts and tells stories. Exquaestio acknowledges the validity of the monotheistic god of Videssio. Though Feroze is not this god he nevertheless ranks as the equivalent of an angel. In his travels Feroze often carries messages between isolated totems and provides services that they can't provide for themselves. --- [I don't know enough about the myths and languages of Qaiyore to do an adequate job with inventing new myths. So I didn't try. However, for the story below Ferris = Feroze, Thor = Marmdal, Sif = Loi. Change the rest as appropriate.] Divine Family After warning of the threat to Sif had been received a young and unknown god approached the longhouse of Thor in Asgard. "What seek you in the house of Thor stranger?" the aesir guarding the gate asked. "I come seeking Sif," the young god replied. "Seek Sif do you!" the guard cried. "Well, you shall not see Sif unless it be over my beaten body!" Pausing for a moment, the stranger replied, "In truth, I do not enjoy a fight. Yet a challenge, if it be not impossible, I will always meet. Should I need to fight you or a hundred more, I will do so that I might see Sif. With what weapons shall we meet?" Gazing at the unarmed stranger the guard sneered, "Go and bring back whatever you will. I shall wait." "You mistake me." The stranger slung down the pack from his back and from it drew forth armor like none that any of the aesir who had gathered to watch had seen. Then taking into his hands mace and shield of strange design he turned to the guard. "I am ready." The stranger god and the aesir guard met with a crash. Then the onlookers cried out. For as the stranger stepped away, the guard fell to the ground. Calmly, the stranger spoke again, "Now may I see Sif?" But the guards cried nay, and heaped challenge upon challenge upon the stranger. As the stranger met the challengers Thor paced his great hall. He was eager to meet the threat to Sif, but none would say from what direction or by what means that threat would come. And so, without a target, he could do naught but pace and worry. But then, hearing the sounds of combat from outside, he directed the women of hall to call if any threat entered and strode out to see what happed. As he exited Thor saw his men grouped around a trio engaged in combat and was instantly enraged. "What goes here!" he shouted, the thunder in his voice. "With Sif threatened you gather to brawl! Back to your duties! Back!" Stepping back from his attackers the stranger god addressed Thor, "Sif threatened! Who threatens her?" "And who be you?" growled Thor, taking Mjolnir into hand as he realized the number of warriors the stranger had defeated. "And why have you injured so many of my men?" "I am Ferris," the young god replied, "and we have met, though I was much younger then. We are kin you and I, for your wife Sif is my sister." Sweeping the helm off his head, Ferris met Thor's scowl with a ferocious gaze of his own. "Your men challenged me to fight and so I did, but had I known Sif was in danger I would not have. Now, who threatens my sister?" As Thor looked upon the stranger he saw the resemblance to the wife he held so dear and recognized the boy he had once met in the god before him. "Word has come from the Jotuns, from those with some inkling of honor. The Jotuns seek to hurt me by hurting my bride, but none would say from where or by what means the threat comes. Come. Enter my hall and I shall explain further." As the two entered the hall, Thor bent and spoke softly to Ferris. "In truth Sif is not here. I pretend that she is and the rest of the folk do not know otherwise save the chief of her handmaids. So Sif planned to draw the threat here. In the meantime she rides with the Valkyries." "Thank you for your trust," Ferris replied just as softly. "In my travels through the nine world I have learned many things. If your guards miss the threat, perhaps there is something I can do . . ." That night the house awoke to the sounds of squeals of terror. Aesir grabbed their weapons and rushed to corridor leading to their lord and lady's chamber. There they found Thor and Ferris gazing at a common rat, entrapped by the runes Ferris had drawn on a support pillar. "A rat?" Thor grumbled. "Is this all your trap has caught?" "Would a common rat make such a noise Lord Thor? No. That's a goblin, not a rat. Though how we can return it to its normal form I know not." "Ha! Well, rat or goblin it shall die if Mjolnir strikes it. And I shall strike whatever it be if I see rat when Mjolnir comes to my hand." Continuing to sqeal piteously, its voice unchanging, the rat became a goblin. With a gesture Ferris released the runes, and as the aesir laid hands on the goblin Ferris took from him a knife and a small vial. Glancing at the knife he gave it to a guard, but then he uncapped the vial and swore. "Hela!" Thor looked at the vial, "What is it?" Ferris carefully recapped the vial. "The knife is nothing. Good svirnir work, but nothing to worry a god. This _potion_, on the other hand. ... It's called Hel's Tears and comes from the far south. It will kill a mortal, and on a common aesir it will leave a wound that will never heal. Even a god it will permanently maim." Ferris looked at Thor, "Call Sif back. Together we can devise a protection." "And afterward; will you join me?" "Join you?" "On my journey to Jotunheim. There are some giants who should be taught that it's not a good idea to threaten my lady. Brother." Grin met grin as the two gods looked at each other. "I'd be happy to. Brother." Action 2: Expansion Weight: Single Description: General -- Exquaestio seeks more members, increase scope Difficulty: -3 Trivial Factors: Novelty, Magic, Religious Sophistication, Action 1 (Doctrine) Fudge-Points: 0 The pair approaching the dock attracted a great deal of attention. Though technically spring, the weather was still bitter cold, but though the two were dressed in the style of much further south they showed few signs of the harsh travel they must have endured. They were also mismatched, one being an elderly hard-bitten mercenary, the other a plain peasant girl. As they reached the merchant ship the onlookers received another surprise as the mercenary actually deferred to the peasant! "Ho the ship! Mira of Lowfells, espiri scout, and squire Tallas of the Rohain seek passage to Crisaeda in order to visit relatives!" ... Though glad enough to see Tallas, his cousin hardly knew what to make of his companion. The sailors were still telling stories of ropes and tools moving at her will, and she'd made a chair (with his youngest granddaughter in it) rise and fly around the room. He could hardly doubt she was a priest, but . . . "So you'ld teach anyone to read and write, just so's the students'll provide room and board in turn? And if you can't get enough students you'll use your gifts to . . . what?" "Whatever is handy," Mira grinned. "I grew up a peasant, I'm no stranger to hard work, though I've spent more time learning than working in the past two years." "That's not like no priest I ever seen." Mira grinned again, "I'm not the only one spreading the word, but every one of us doing the work of Exquaestio is different. You see . . ." Action 3: Development (Schools & Books) Weight: Single Description: General -- Increase Resources Difficulty: +2 Very Hard Factors: Scale, Action 2 (Expansion) Fudge-Points: 0 The boy looked up from his scribbling. Though his parents were wealthy enough to let him spend four hours of the day in Exquaestio's classes they couldn't buy ink or parchment, so he was writing in the dust with a pointed stick. "Scout Mira?" "Yes, Jassen?" "Why doesn't Exquaestio have a church?" Mira gestured around her, "What do you call this?" He blinked, "I'd call it an alley." The other students giggled. "Come up here Jassen." Jassen reluctantly got to his feet. "Oh, come up," she repeated, "I'm not going to punish you for an honest answer." As he reached her, Mira reached into the box where she kept her supplies and handed Jassen a slate and a piece of chalk. "Here. These are yours until the end of class tomorrow. You'll take them home with you today." Jassen's jaw dropped, but a single look kept him from protesting. Mira turned that look on the whole class as Jassen returned to his place. "The general answer to Jassen's question is difficult, and I'll be setting lessons from the 8th and 12th chapters of the Book of Travels so we can discuss it further. But consider this. If I were to concentrate on building a church, a place just for worship, I couldn't teach. If I were to spend money on furnishing a church I couldn't buy supplies for worthy students. People are more important than buildings and, to Exquaestio, its schools come first and are as sacred as any church." Action 4: Magical Training (Rohain) Weight: Single -- Increase Rohain Magical Authority sophistication Description: by Rohain -- practice Difficulty: 0 Normal Factors: Resources, Action 3 (Development), Lack of Skill, Gap between current and potential Fudge-Points: 0 "Come on Tallas. You should be able to do this." Tallas stifled a groan as he looked at the bag on the table. He'd managed to adapt to being able to separate his spirit from his body when he'd become a rohain squire, and the sense of danger he'd acquired as a rohain knight was useful enough, but "seeing" without using his eyes was something else altogether. Still, with the nights getting longer again, there really wasn't anything better to fill these hours. As Tallas touched the bag again Mira spoke, "Remember, you can't _force_ it. You need to relax and let it come to you." ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
