This is a brief description of the cult of Elmal as worshipped by the Orlanthi clans of Sartar, in particular those clans where Elmal’s cult is a minor one, followed by a small number of weapon thanes.
Runic Associations
Worshippers
Lay Membership
Initiate Membership
Rune Lord (Sun Thane) Membership
Rune Priest (Sun Talker) Membership
Cult Special Rune Magic
Subcults
Associate Cults
Gifts & Geases
Runic Associations
Elmal is associated with the Fire/Sky rune and the Truth rune. Through his wife, Redalda, he is also associated with the Beast rune.
Worshippers
Weaponthanes, horse breeders and hores trainers follow the path of Elmal. In a small number of clans, Elmal takes Orlanth’s place as the men’s god. Worshippers are known as Elmali.
Lay Membership
a. Requirements to join: lay membership is open to all weapon thanes in any clan or tribe where Elmal is worshipped. Lay members are often initiates of Orlanth Adventurous or Orlanth All-Father who take part in annual Elmali rituals as needed.
b. Requirements to belong: lay members must defend their clan, and sacrifice one Magic Point per year on Elmal’s High Holy Day.
Benefits of membership: lay members who are interested can be taught the skill Craft (Fortifications) for the normal price.
| Craft (Fortifications) [Knowledge, base 0%] This skill covers the planning and construction of typical Orlanthi fortifications - hill forts, pallisades, watch towers, and the like. Usually, only the overseer possess this skill, while other skilled workers, carpenters and masons, use their relevant skills and other clan members provide unskilled labour. |
Initiate Membership
a. Requirements to join: initiation is open only to men (except in the Redalda subcult, where membership is open only to women). Worthy candidates have only to sacrifice a permanent point of POW and undergo the appropriate ceremonies to become an initiate.
b. Requirements to remain initiated: new initiates must accept one gift, and a commensurate geas, from Elmal; if he wishes, he may take more. Initiates must devote two to three days in the week to protecting the clan and the clan’s tula; generally this is subsumed into the initiates duty as a weapon thane. One special duty of Elmali weapon thanes is to stand the ‘night watch’. Usually one night in a week is spent fulfilling this duty.
c. Mundane Benefits:
d. Skills: initiates receive training, at half the normal cost, in the following skills:
| Ride, 1-Hand Spear, 2-Hand Spear, Shield, Javelin, Bow, Spot Hidden, Search, Cartography, Craft (Fortifications) |
| Detect Gold, Coordination, Flame Blade, Flame Arrow, Bladesharp, Protection, Befuddle, Light, Lightwall, Healing, Xenohealing, Glue, Countermagic, Multimissile, Farsee, Ignite, Mindspeech, Shimmer |
| Lantern (variable) duration 5 minutes per point, range 80m, passive This spell must be place on a flat(ish) surface, usually the front of a shield, the ceiling, etc. It illuminates a 12 meter radius for 180 degrees in front of the surface, giving off the glow of a torch. |
Rune Lord (Sun Thane) Membership
a. Requirements for acceptance: a Sun Thane candidate must be an initiate in good standing, and must have been so for at least one year. He must have at least 90% in one of the cult weapons (spear, bow, javelin), 90% in Spot Hidden, and 90% in three of the following skills:
| Ride, Shield Parry, any other cult weapon, Search, Move Silently, World Lore, Cartography, Craft (Fortifications) or Listen |
| Cat’s Eye, Cloud Clear, Sunbright, Sunspear, True Spear |
Rune Priest (Sun Talker) Membership
a. Requirements for acceptance: the normal requirements for priesthood apply. That is, the candidate must have been an initiate in good standing for at least two years, must have a POW of 18 or higher, must possess 10 points of Rune magic, must know how to read and write Sartatrite, and must have at least 50% in five of the cult skills (these are the same skills as a prospective Sun Thane is tested on). Once the candidate has met these requirements, he must pass an examination by three other priests to determine if he is ready for the responsibilities. Due to the small size of the cult, many priests are also rune lords.
b. Restrictions of the status: all the normal restriction upon a priests time, income and duties apply (see RQ2 pp.58-59), but due to the martial nature of the cult, the priest is not restricted in developing combat skills. In addition, upon becoming a priest, he must take on another gift and it’s commensurate geas.
c. Benefits of the status: all of the normal benefits of priesthood apply (see RQ2 p.58). As with Sun Thanes, allied spirits will take the form of a spear, a shield, a hawk, or a stallion.
d. Rune spell compatibility: the Sun Talker has access to all Rune spells available to Sun Thanes, but they may summon small, medium and large Salamanders. In addition, some spells listed under ‘Associated Cults’ are only available to Sun Talkers.
| Cat’s Eye (1 point) duration 12 hours, reusable, range 160m Affects the recipient’s eyes so that he can see by all available light. If there is a complete absence of light, he will not see. However, the light from a single dim spark allows him to see to the range of the spell. Eyes under the effect of this spell will reflect light like a cat’s. |
| Sunbright (1 point) duration 15 minutes, reusable, range 160m This spell puts a 60m radius circle of light around the recipient of the spell. this light gives the effect of full daylight, and will so affect trollkin and cave trolls. It also demoralises shades, vampires, and ghouls. It does not blind a foe, but gives the equivalent of a Shimmer 2 spell. |
| True Spear (1 point) duration 15 miutes, reusable, range touch Cast upon a specified spear, this spell doubles the the number of dice rolled for the weapon (ie. a long spear used one handed goes from 1d8+1 to 2d8+2). This has no effect on damage bonuses due to STR and SIZ. True Spear is incompatible with Bladesharp or Flameblade. |
| Cloud Clear (2 points) duration 15 minutes, reusable, range 160m, stackable Drives away the clouds between the sun and the caster, or any spot the caster designates, so long as he can see it. A three meter circle is thereby illuminated. Each additional Magic Point increases the diameter by another meter, or extends the spell duration by anothert 15 minutes. If conflicting with a Storm/Air worshipper’s cloud calling spell, the total number of Magic Points stacked must be compared to see which spell takes precedence; in the case of a tie, the Storm worshipper’s spell wins, due to Elmal’s (the Sun’s) fealty to Orlanth (the Storm). |
| Sunspear (3 points) instant, reusable, range 160m This spell only works in direct sunlight. When cast, a shaft of sunfire blasts one target designated by the caster; the target must be visible to the caster. Without needing to overcome the target’s POW, a 1 meter diameter cylinder of toasty death descends upon the target. Everyone in the circle recieves 4d6 points of damage to it’s total hit points. Only the target’s lightest armour will protect against this damage; protective spells are ineffective. |
Subcults
Elmal Hearthguard is the most common way of worshipping Elmal in Sartar, but there are other ways...
Elmal the Chieftan: this is a subcult of Elmal worshipped in those clans where he is the chief god. It is different enough to be talked about at length elsewhere.
Redalda: Redalda is Orlanth’s daughter and Elmal’s wife. She is the goddess of horses. Redalda is usually worshipped as a subcult of Ernalda, and only women can learn her secrets.
Elmal the Rider: Elmal shared Redalda’s love of horses, and this subcult epitomises that aspect of Elmal’s character. It is a very small cult, usually falling under the auspices of Elmal Hearthguard’s priests, but it’s members are valued for their way with horses. This subcult is the source of the Rune spell Speak With Horses.
| Speak With Horses duration 15 minutes, reusable, range of voice This spell allows the Elmali to converse with nearby horses for it’s duration. The caster may use his Oratory skill without penalty when trying to convince a horse to do something. In this way, the Elmali make many friends amongst their four-legged brothers. |
Associate Cults
The following closely associated cults provide additional spells because of the mythical relationships between their gods. These Rune spells are not usually available to initiates.
Orlanth Rex: provides Command Worshippers to Sun Talkers. It is only to be used by the high priest of a temple, clan or tribe’s Elmali.
| Command Worshippers (2 points) duration 2 days, reusable, range 5 kilometers Casting this spell causes all followers of Elmal within 2.5 km, and all Sun Thanes and Sun Talkers within 5km, to hastily finish immediate business, gather equipment, and report to the summoning high priest within two days of the summoning spell. During this time the high priest must remain in the same spot or else the spell disperses and releases all Elmali from their compulsion to report for duty. This spell is the privilege of high priests, and must not be abused. It is only used for emergencies or for joyous celebrations. |
Ernalda: provides Bless Crop to Sun Thanes and Sun Talkers.
| Bless Crop (1 point) instant, reusable, range 160m In the spring this spell is cast upon an area of ground equivalent to that which a farmer can plow in one day. It guarantees a minimum return of a year’s average harvest from that ground. |
Chalana Arroy: provides Heal Constituion to Sun Thanes and Sun Talkers
| Heal Constitution (2 points) instant, reusable, range 160m Use of this spell will heal a Constitution ravaged by poison or similar attack (such as an unsuccessful Sever Spirit, but not disease) up to half the original Constitution of the character. Thus, if a CON 16 character lost 10 points of CON from poison, the healer could restore 8 of them with this spell. The cure takes one hour per point restored to take effect. |
Urox: provides Defend Against Chaos to Sun Thanes and Sun Talkers.
| Defend Against Chaos (1 point) duration 15 minutes, reusable, range 160m This spell is cast upon one fighter facing a chaotic enemy. It makes them harder to hit, subtracting 30% from the chaotic foe’s chance of hitting the recipient. This spell has no effect upon non-chaotic foes. |
Aldrya: provides Sunripen to Sun Talkers.
| Sunripen (1 point) duration 3 seasons, reusable, range friendly fields, stackable This spell is traditionally cast on Waterday of Fertility Week in Sea Season; the casting takes from dawn to sunset. It allows newly-awakened plant-life to draw upon the sun’s powers to help it grow without mold, rust, or disease. The sun will help it resist insects and ripen to it’s richest. |
Gifts
| Geases | |
| 01 | favoured by Elmal; no geas |
| 02-05 | initiate one's own son into the cult |
| 06-09 | never eat meat on Fireday |
| 10-12 | never eat meat in Fire Season |
| 12-14 | never eat the meat of birds |
| 14-15 | never eat any meat but that of birds |
| 16 | never eat any meat |
| 17-20 | celibacy during every Fireday |
| 21-24 | celibacy during Truth week of every season |
| 25-27 | celibacy during Fire Season |
| 28-29 | fulfill all of the above celibacy requirements |
| 30 | complete celibacy |
| 31 | father at least one son |
| 32-33 | speak only truth to everyone |
| 34-36 | never seek shelter from a Storm |
| 37-40 | never let a horse suffer needlessly |
| 41-45 | never wear padding on one location |
| 46-48 | never wear leather armour on one location |
| 49-50 | never wear metal armour on one location |
| 51 | never wear any armour on one location |
| 52 | never wear head protection |
| 53-58 | maintain shield in pristine condition |
| 58-60 | never use any axe |
| 61-65 | never use a flail of whip of any kind |
| 66-68 | never use a sword of any kind |
| 69-70 | never use any but cult weapons |
| 71-73 | always immediately challenge any worshipper of Zorak Zoran or Kyger Litor |
| 74-75 | challenge all Darkness creatures on sight |
| 76-78 | distrust all Trolls |
| 79-80 | distrust all Dwarves |
| 81-85 | distrust all Darkness creatures |
| 86-88 | distrust all Yelmalio worshippers |
| 89-90 | never eat the meat of horses |
| 91-94 | never love any but Earth Cult people |
| 95-97 | never marry any but an Earth priestess |
| 98 | roll twice more |
| 99 | roll thrice more |
| 100 | GM’s choice |