This narrative was handed out to the players in 1992, both to remind established players of what has gone before and to introduce new players into what was happening (or had happened). The narrative should be fairly coherent and should be possible to follow for those familiar with Glorantha and its place names and geography. It is important to note that the campaign split into two separate groups about halfway through and then at the very end of the narrative reformed into one group. One group basically went and adventured in Sartar and Dragon Pass while the other group hung around Prax and the River of Cradles. The reader should make certain he pays careful attention about which group he is reading so that he does not become confused, as the narrative will jump between groups.
Chapter One - The Beginning:
It was the year 1615 in the region of Dragon Pass when the campaign began. A group of young fortune seekers out of Sartar and the surrounding kingdoms had wandered into a town in the Bush Range and was hired by the populace to capture a group of local bandits in order to feed them to the Crimson Bat, which was rumoured to be approaching. The heroes succeeded, the Bat satiated, and the town was saved.
This band of adventurers then spent several seasons in the greater Dragon Pass area, fighting a particularly fiendish band of chaos creatures that had taken lair in some tunnels beneath a farmer's plot. It was here that the heroes learnt that a Mostali travelling with them was a Priest of Chaos, and the dwarf was slain out of hand by a vengeful elf a short time later.
Finally, the party was drawn northward into Balazar, where they had heard that strange wonders promised rich reward to the strong and the brave. The group journeyed north and settled in Elkoi and later Trilus. It was in Balazar that the group first became embroiled in the ongoing Lunar conflict. The adventurers were hired by a group of Elkoi patriots to slay a particularly nasty Lunar overseer named Halcyon Van Enkoreth. The mission succeeded, but the party became wanted men. They therefore fled north into the Elder Wilds, eluding a Lunar Rune Priestess who had tracked them down.
On their way north, the heroes hooked up with a merchant named Gondo Holst, who offered to escort them through the wilds. Unfortunately, Gondo Holst turned out to be an ogre and he and his jack o' bear servants captured the party and took them to a sacred Cacodemon site hidden within the wilds. Fortunately, before the party could be slain, a group of Orlanthi from Trilus found the shrine and slew many of the gathered Chaos minions. Gondo Holst and his jack o' bears fled deeper into the wilds, and it would be many years before they would be encountered again.
Grateful for their luck, the party continued north, and being for the most part Yelmalio worshipers, they finally settled down to dwell with the elves of the Or'Ering Forest. By this time, many of the original Sartarite members of the group had perished or left, and the group was made up mostly of Balazarings who had no allegiance to Sartar. During the spring and summer with the elves, the party met the merchant Joh Mith and travelled with him to the hidden lair of Gonn Orta. One of the group eventually sold the route to Gonn Orta's lair to the Lunars, and the Empire profited accordingly, for although Gonn Orta later despised the Lunars, he was at this time friendly to them as well as all other creatures. As fall approached, the group fought Chaos on two occasions. First they saved a repentant Krarsht initiate from retribution by the dreaded Krarshtides. Then they journeyed to the infamous River of the Damned and found an island filled with broos, gorp geysers, and a dreaded river monster. The party slew these, at great cost in life and limb, but finally cleansed the island...at least for a time.
It was also during their time with the elves that the Lunars attacked Sartar and were driven back from the very gates of Boldhome by Cragspider and the defenders of Boldhome.
Chapter Two - Canaveil:
It was in Dark Season that the party was asked by the elves of Or'Ering Forest to help them patrol near the Gork Hills, where trolls dwelt. Since many of the Aldryami slept during Dark Season and Storm Season, it was not unusual for the elves to request human aid from friendly cults. The group had a few scrapes with trolls, including an instance where they helped rescue some Orlanthi being held hostage by a group of Uz. These Orlanthi then went on to slay the griffins of Griffin Mountain and recovered the famous lost Windsword.
While resting, the group met an elf named Voskal who told them of seeing his long dead mother roaming the forests. The party agreed to help the elf track down his mother and lay her to rest, as well as to quell whatever undead menace was arising within the forest. The group eventually found a forest shrine to the undead and desecrated it, but not before finding a map leading them into the Gork Hills to the north. The group followed the map to a clan of Balazarings known as the Hogshead Clan. The chief welcomed them into the camp and told them that a great undead evil had captured his son and daughter. He told the party that they would be rewarded if they could rescue the children and offered to let the party rest for the night in the clan tents.
Unfortunately, the chieftain meant the party harm, for he was held in thrall by the undead, and he had agreed to sacrifice a sentient being each season to the unliving in order to ensure that his offspring would not be slain. Obviously, the chieftain preferred this sacrifice to come from outside his clan. Therefore, he sent his men to capture the party while they slept in the clan tents, for they would have provided enough sacrifices for almost two years. The party escaped the ambush and fled to find Voskal the elf, who had stayed hidden from the clan in case they were allied with the trolls. The party then infiltrated the camp and found a long tunnel winding north into the deep hills.
At the end of the tunnel, the party found a more extensive temple complex of undead, and they encountered and slew many horrors therein. Finally, they met the master of the place, a vampire scorpion man, and defeated this terrible foe. Within its treasure chamber they found a small demonling who offered to guide the group to the real master of the undead. They also found the chief's children. The party returned the chieftain's children and the chieftain, out of gratefulness and remorse, sent a tribesman named Sunray to accompany and aid the party.
The party headed north yet again, following the demonling into unknown terrain, and eventually came to a path which led off into a forest. The forest and path seemed to exist on some plane other than Glorantha, for things appeared subtly different, including the fact that the full moon overhead was completely white. Sunray was the first to notice the White Moon, and his retelling of the Tale of Canaveil led to or contributed to the rise of a religious movement within the Lunar Empire known as the Cult of the White Moon, which eventually revered Sunray as a saint.
Finally, the group reached Canaveil, a huge misshapen castle of Chaos, said to be the refuge of Vivamort during Godtime before the Gods of Law drove him from it and into Hell. The castle twisted in ways that defied logic, and the group entered and encountered many strange things. Perhaps the most profound thing they encountered was a mystical being apparently trapped in an arcane prison. Although attempts to rescue him directly failed, he was eventually freed when Canaveil collapsed. This being would have a profound effect on the course of events to take place in the future.
When the party made its way to the throneroom of the castle, they met Engala, a demonlord of the undead and an old lieutenant of Vivamort who had apparently taken residence in the castle in order to proclaim himself the new god of undead and to usurp Vivamort's position. Voskal the elf immediately challenged Engala to a game of chess using live beings as the pieces. Engala, having an affinity for such games and having never been known to refuse such a challenge (or lose such), accepted the game, with Engala and Voskal playing the "kings" of their respective sides. As the game ensured, the party seemed to be losing. Suddenly, Voskal went discorporate and attacked Engala in spirit combat (this was allowed per the rules of the game). As Engala defended himself in spirit combat (for he was greatly superior in POW to Voskal), he did not notice the wereboar ally of Voskal, which had accompanied the elf all this time under Concealment and Extended Detection Blank magicks. The boar, which during the game had snuck up behind Engala, now attacked the distracted demonlord. The tusks, with Irontusk, Truetusk, and Blade Venom upon them, tore through the surprised Engala, slaying its physical form and banishing the demonlord back to the Godplane to face an angry Vivamort. At once the castle, held together by Engala's will, began to disintegrate back into the Chaos from which it was fashioned. Voskal called upon his lord Vivamort to save them all. Suddenly, the party appeared on a hillside outside of Pavis. Voskal bared his vampiric fangs in a wry smile so that the party could see they had been duped into helping Vivamort get rid of a rebellious lieutenant, and bid the party thanks. Voskal then departed, but not for good.
The group rested a while in Pavis and acquainted themselves with the city, as the area was strange to them and far from home. While here, Sunray was framed for a crime he did not commit and was banished by the Lunars from Pavis. He fled with a caravan into Dragon Pass and from there to the Sundome Temple. On the way, Sunray was visited in a dream by the mystic being who had been imprisoned in Canaveil. The being thanked Sunray for slaying Engala, thereby freeing him, and it gave Sunray a special Word. Sunray found that the Word contained some sort of hidden power, and although the sounds of which it was comprised were normally unspeakable, Sumray could say the Word easily. The Word proved to be inseparable with Sunray's fate.
The rest of the group travelled south to serve as mercenaries for an exiled Lunar duke named Raus of Rone. Here the party met Lord Danar, nephew of Raus, and he led the mercenaries as they helped Raus carve out a kingdom in the Zola Fel River Valley. It was during this time that Danar and company travelled north on the Duke's business and met Gonn Orta, the man mountain. This impressive being hadn't spoken for several centuries, but when Danar approached he turned his head and asked "Danar, which side are you on?"
Chapter 3 - Myrn:
While the rest of the Balazarings were aiding Raus of Rone, Sunray travelled south to the Sundome Temple of Dragon Pass. There he met Taklong Woodheart, his old mentor from Balazar, who had come to rebuild the temple after it had been sacked by the Lunar Empire in the war of 1620. They both defended the temple from some trolls who wanted to desecrate it and then gathered together nearby Yelmalians to repopulate the temple. Sunray served Taklong until 1625. It was then that the Lunars stopped the Red Moon in its full stage for seven days and attacked Sartar. While Sunray fought near the Upland Marshes, the Lunars overran Sartar and captured Boldhome. Prince Argrath gathered the remnants of his armies at Stone Cross and told them to scatter to the ends of the earth and to gain power and skill, for he promised that one day a final reckoning with the Lunars would occur and Sartar would be free.
Sunray was at the Stone Cross when Argrath gave his speech, and he fled west into Esrolia with a Yelornan named Corona and with Kumico, a Kralorelan mystic and practitioner of Dragon Magicks who had come to Dragon Pass to visit the Dragonewts. Together, they entered New Crystal City and while shopping one day in the bazaar, they saw a beautiful slave woman who begged them for aid as she was being whipped by her master. Something stirred within Sunray and he attacked the Lunar slave master with the help of his companions. The three and the slave woman were captured by the Esrolian watch, but Esrolia, being no friend of the Lunars, set them free and even gave them a head start before releasing the Lunars from their custody. The woman's name was Myrn, and she claimed to be a Talar from Arolanit, the home of the Brithini race. Brithini are powerful sorcerers who remain immortal as long as they observe strict Brithini orthodoxy. Myrn had met and fallen in love with a noble from Safelster in Ralios by the name of Izdun, and she had forsaken her immortality to live with him. Alas, Izdun turned out to be a cruel man, and when she found out he worshiped Ikadz the Torturer, she sought to flee. Izdun found her out and captured her, but instead of killing her (for then Myrn's father could contact her spirit and learn who slew her) Izdun sold her into slavery.
The party agreed to escort Myrn back to Arolanit. As they travelled through Maniria, they were pursued by the vengeful Lunar slavers and, as they soon found out, by Izdun, who learned that Myrn had escaped slavery and who became obsessed with re-capturing her, partly to protect himself from Brithini vengeance (remember...they believe in Tapping), and partly because his pride was wounded. As the group travelled Maniria, Kumico met an army of Dragonewts travelling west to Sog City. Kumico left the group to join them and pursue her studies of Dragonkind. Also on the road, Sunray suddenly announced that he was leaving the party. Although he gave no explanation, it is believed that he considered his service for the Hogshead Clan's transgressions finished and desired to return to his homeland. However, the suddenness of his departure led others to speculate that some dream told him to leave.
After eluding several traps and ambushes and a run-in with some goblins, the party met Lord Ghanimous, the ruler of a kingdom neighboring Izdun's. Ghanimous told the party that he wanted to wipe Izdun off the face of Glorantha, but he could not be the aggressor in any war because the other nations of Safelster would turn on him. He proposed that the party pretend they they had been captured by Ghanimous. Ghanimous would then flaunt his prisoners before Izdun and goad the prideful tyrant into war. Once war was declared, Ghanimous would free the party to go on its way.
Unfortunately, Ghanimous was a scheming liar. The party was captured for real and was sold to Izdun. However, Ghanimous had secreted foci and envenomed daggers amongst the party and had shackled them in false bindings. As the party was brought before Izdun, the shackles fell off and the party, seizing its chance, attacked Izdun, just as Ghanimous had hoped. The evil lord barely escaped the attack, but the same was true of the party, as Myrn's sorcery allowed some of the group to escape alive.
The party fled into the hills and laired with a Dream Dragon before heading out into Safelster proper. Here they met Lord Kiri Windstorm, a high noble from Sartar who had fled from Stone Cross. Kiri joined the group and together they headed into Tanisor. Several days later, the party was ambushed by Izdun's troops and became surrounded in a small copse of trees. They befriended a local dryad and held off Izdun's troops long enough for Myrn's father, who had been told of her whereabouts by Lord Ghanimous (who by now knew that Myrn might return safely to Arolanit and wanted to make amends with the Brithini), to arrive with 150 immortal iron-clad knights. Izdun was slain and Myrn was returned to Arolanit. The party was richly rewarded and honoured by Myrn, who promised that some day she would aid them in their hour of need.
Chapter 4 - Ralios and the Caravan:
Kiri Windstorm and his newfound companions, including Krongar the Stormbull and Kumico, who had returned from Sog City, headed back to Safelster and adventured for a while. They went on a quest for a famous sorcerer and ended up slaying their employer in order to complete his own quest, and they made companions of Greysky, a Lhankoy Mhy Stygian, Quark, a duck noble from Sartar, and Dandelion, a rogue Chalanna Arroy.
Eventually, Kiri received signs and omens that told him to head back to Esrolia. On the way back, Krongar and Corona left Kiri's company and headed out on their own. Eventually, even these two were separated. Corona arrived at Arkat's Hold and met Sunray, who was being treated like a king by the Humakti. She then headed north into the Lunar Empire, where she perished.
Krongar wandered Wintertop and the Grazelands, marrying for a short while and taking part in a Stormbull expedition to slay the newborn offspring of the Great Hydra. When Kiri arrived at Arkat's Hold in Esrolia, Krongar met up with him. Kiri met with Sunray, and Sunray, who described the Word as a curse, gave the Word to a flabbergasted Kiri and promptly walked out of the city.
Lord Kiri continued south into Esrolia and met with a leader of the Sartar Underground. He was told that the Lunars were attempting to set up a glowline around Sartar, and they needed to transport some arcane artifacts to Boldhome to accomplish this. Seven caravans were being sent out from Glamour, six were decoys and one was the real caravan with the relics. Kiri and his companions were assigned one of the caravans to sack, and they stalked it from deep in the Lunar Empire all the way to Sartar. Finally, after gathering allies, Kiri attacked and defeated the caravan. It was during this battle that Kiri first met his Lunar nemesis (and later his Lunar advisor) Alsheen Theysha, a Red Moon priestess. Unfortunately, the caravan was a decoy and the real one made it into Boldhome. In 1631, the glow settled over Sartar.
Chapter 5 - The Cradle:
Kiri went to rest in Esrolia. While he was there he met an old man with a gash in his bare chest. This strange old man suddenly picked up Kiri and threw him across the length of Dragon Pass! Kiri landed safely in Gonn Orta's lair, and there he met Prince Argrath, who told him that Gonn Orta was sending a cradle with a baby giantess in it down the River of Cradles and into the sea. Such a momentous thing had not taken place for almost a millennium, and Argrath wanted Kiri to help in the Cradle's defense. Gonn Orta then picked up Kiri and with a puff of breath blew him back to Esrolia. The party headed across Prax to Pavis where they linked up with a hundred other fighters and boarded the Cradle, along with Garrath Sharpsword, who was actually Prince Argrath in disguise.
Meanwhile, Danar had a falling out with his uncle, for Raus was becoming more and more opposed to the Lunar Empire, while Danar, his only heir, still embraced the Lunar cause whole-heartedly. Danar left his uncle and moved into Pavis to serve the Lunars. While in Pavis, Danar received a dream telling him to leave the city for a time or die horribly, for it was true that many Lunars died horribly in the Cradle battle. It was later believed that this dream came from Raus, who was looking after his progeny. Danar and his companions left Pavis and travelled to Dragon Pass where they retrieved a famous sword from the ruins of Duck Tower near the Upland Marshes.
Kiri and the Cradle defenders repulsed a vicious Lunar attack, for the Lunars knew that great treasures were contained within Giant Cradles and coveted the items. However, the weight of the entire Lunar army eventually prevailed and the Empire captured the Cradle for a time. Argrath left the Cradle to gather aid. Shortly thereafter, Orlanth raised a storm and the Cradle broke free of its moorings and sailed towards the sea. As the Lunars prepared to finally take the Cradle once and for all, Argrath returned with supernatural aid. He revealed himself and the Lunars were swept into the River. The Cradle was saved and sailed into the sea. As it did, Argrath informed his subjects that he was sailing with the Cradle into Hell and that none would ever see him alive again. However, he renewed his promise to free Sartar from the Lunars.
Chapter 6 - Back to Ralios and Back to Rone:
Danar eventually returned to Pavis, but not before helping a Lunar soldier steal from a barbarian honour guard a rope map that showed the way to the Paps. Once in Pavis, Danar was contacted by Raus and told that the coming times would not allow for fence-sitters and that he must choose his destiny once and for all. Raus offered him a choice, to accept the Sword of Rone, which Danar had helped regain from Gonn Orta, or to accept a powerful Lunar artifact. The choice of gift would also seal his allegiance. Danar had a change of heart and decided that his true allegiance lay with the Duke. He and his sidekick Greebly forswore the Lunar religion and Danar began to revere his ancestors.
Meanwhile, Kiri and company headed back to Ralios to escape the Lunars, who now had every reason to hate Kiri. They continually sent assassins and demons to wreak revenge, but to no avail. While in Esrolia, Kiri and Quark were transported, during the middle of a Holy Ceremony, into a heroquest in Hell where they aided the Lightbringers against a huge Cthonic horror. They accompanied Orlanth into the chamber of Arachne Solara and witnessed the Compromise and the birth of Time. Quark, through a freak mishap, stumbled off of a weak portion of the ledge overlooking Arachne Solara's nest and fell down the cliff onto a small ledge. From that vantage point, he was able to witness the secret birth of a hidden twin to Time...Resolution.
Later, in the Arstola Forest in Maniria, the group tried to stop the Lunars from allying a True Dragon, but Kiri was defeated by his nemesis Alsheen Theysha and the group barely got away with its lives. After raiding a Humakti tomb, the group arrived back at Ralios. There its members arrived at a land called Sjinhar, where they were hired by the Baron to quell some Chaos bandits. However, the group soon found out that the Chaos bandits were actually Orlanthi patriots trying to rid their nation of a despot. The group switched sides and led a rebellion which overthrew the Baron. Kiri, the only noble qualified to lead, was proclaimed King of Sjinhar, a title that he reluctantly accepted.
Back in Prax, Danar was betrothed to Jezra, his cousin, and Danar's men patrolled the Kingdom of Rone and partook in various adventures, including an unfortunate incident where they were duped into robbing a Yelornan artifact for the Lunars. At the end of that same year, the spirits of Prax were exorcised from the land by the Lunars in a massive ritual, completing their conquest of that region and opening the way for a new Glowline, this time in Prax.
Chapter 7 - City of the Gods and Pursuit of the Word:
When Kiri accepted kingship of Sjinhar, the old man with the gash in his chest reappeared and started spouting out cryptic ramblings to any who would listen. The general consensus was that the old man was Arkat, and that he was the same person who had been freed by Sunray from Canaveil. The group learned that Voskal also had the Word (for had he not freed the mystic being from Canaveil as well?) and that the elf Vampire was hurriedly seeking to unlock the Word's mysteries. Therefore, Kiri charged Quark and the others to discover the secrets of the Word before Voskal did. Meanwhile, Kiri was committed to remain and govern Sjinhar, as well as to build an army from its inhabitants and from some elemental-commanding children whom he had rescued from an evil sorcerer. Kiri hoped to use this army in the eventual battle to free Sartar. He also married his companion Etta and they later bore a son.
On the advice of the old man with the gash in his chest, the party journeyed into Wonder Wood and discovered its secret...that the Tongue of Gbaji dwelt there and was corrupting the forest. The group slew the tongue and escaped. Then they journeyed southwest with Kiri, who took a leave from ruling for this one last adventure, to Hrelar Amali, City of the Gods, for they had learned that some of the Word's mysteries could be answered there. The group explored the city, making the friendship of some dryads, and gained entry into the enigmatic Iron Ziggurat. Within, Kiri learned that one key to understanding the Word was in Old Trade in Brithos. He also met and fought a group of undead sent by Voskal, who was apparently tailing him.
Kiri and company returned to Sjinhar, and Kiri passed the Word onto Quark the Duck, partly to throw Voskal off of the trail, and partly because he still wished to raise an army to fight in Sartar one day. Quark and company left for Fronela to catch a ship to Brithos. After some difficulty, they reached Old Trade, but not before learning from a wandering ghost that what they sought was the Blue Book of Zzabur, said to contain all knowledge and owned by the most powerful sorcerer in Glorantha. Unfortunately, Zzabur's lands had sunk beneath the waves, excepting a small portion known as Old Trade. Rumours told of ways, however, to mystically re-find Old Brithos and Zzabur as well. On Old Trade, Quark was slain in a Vivamort Temple, and a thief named Terrus who had served on the Cradle in Pavis received the Word. The group eventually discovered underground caverns which were held by all sorts of strange inhabitants, including a powerful demon called Sembak. The party eluded Sembak and passed through mystical gates to Old Brithos. There they met Zzabur and gained access to the Blue Book. They learned that the Word, which means Resolution in the Gods' Tongue, signified the secret sibling of Time, and that Resolution was hidden somewhere in Hell awaiting a champion who would free him and for whom he would then serve. If Voskal and Chaos were to gain the power of Resolution, it would be devastating for the forces of Law. After learning these secrets, Zzabur transported the party back to Sjinhar.
Chapter 8 - Back to Balazar and Back to Sartar:
Meanwhile, the Lunars, responding to increasing provocation by Raus, launched an attack upon Rone and the barbarians who were outraged at the exorcism of their land. Raus ordered Danar, his only heir, to flee Rone and preserve the bloodline. Danar chose to flee to Gonn Orta's lair and thence into Balazar. While in Balazar, Danar met Sunray and as a guest in his house witnessed the hapless Yelmalio Priest being abducted by Voskal and taken away to some horrible fate in the dread land of Dorastor. However, before Sunray was taken away, the Yelmalian revealed that Danar had the Word in his possession and could speak its godly syllables.
Later, Danar's group retrieved an adamantium spike for the Yelmalio Temple in Balazar. The spike was returned to Gonn Orta, who promptly gave it to a Sartarite patriot. While seeking the Spike, some of the party came upon an imprisoned goddess named Firshala and Greebly helped to set her free. As a reward, Greebly was offered a position as high priest of the new cult. He asked the goddess for time to consider this honour and she granted him as much time as he desired. While at Gonn Orta's lair, Danar unknowingly spoke with a disguised Kiri Windstorm, who was seeking Sunray's whereabouts.
Eventually, it was learned that the Lunars were planning to invade Balazar. The Balazarings began to seek allies, and Danar and company travelled to Cliffhome and convinced Cragspider to ally against the Lunars, both in Balazar and in Sartar. They were also invested with the acquisition of a dwarf artifact from a troll tomb in the Elder Wilds. The Balazarings hoped to use this artifact to convince the dwarves of the Greatway to ally with them against the Lunars.
When the Lunars attacked, the Balazarings united with the trolls and dwarves against the Lunars, but a large Chaos army from the north, led by Cacodemon itself, provided the impetus needed and the Lunars captured the Citadel of Trilus, effectively reducing Balazar to half of its previous size. Danar and his companions spent the war in Dykene, resting and training.
However, Balazar was the good news for the Lunars, for shortly after Terrus and company returned from Brithos, Kiri received a dream that the time had come for him to gather his army and march to Esrolia. Leaving Etta in charge of Sjinhar, Kiri and his army of Sjinhar citizens and elementals left for Seshnela, where they picked up a fleet of ships from Arolanit, compliments of Myrn and her father. The armies sailed to the shore of Caladraland, south of Esrolia, and there they met other patriots who had also responded to the mystic call to muster. When Prince Argrath returned from the sea and swam to shore, it became apparent to all that the final battle with the Lunars had come.
Argrath gathered his allies unto him, soldiers and elementals of Sjinhar, Orlanthi from Prax including the famous Sword Brothers, Graymane and his Ditali barbarians, and the dreaded necromancer Delecti with his legions of zombies. Here Argrath outlined his plan. He would march upon Boldhome with a portion of his army in the hopes that the Lunars would march in force to crush him once and for all. No doubt the Lunars would realize that Argrath would be a rallying point for widespread rebellion and that he must be quelled decisively and quickly before the rebellion could spread. Also, if Boldhome were taken, the Lunars would lose the Glowline in Sartar and would suffer an embarrassing and demoralizing loss. Once the Lunar force had engaged Argrath's hopelessly outnumbered army, Argrath's trap would be sprung, and while Pentian horsemen attacked in the far north, and the Praxian barbarians (who had withdrawn from the defense of Raus' kingdom at the Duke's request instead of fighting to the death) along with Cragspider and Gonn Orta would attack from the east, Esrolia, which for over twelve years had carefully groomed an attitude of appeasement, would swing its already mobilized army (mobilized in response to a fake war with Graymane so as to not make the Lunars suspicious) in from the west, boxing in the Lunar armies and enveloping them.
While in the camp of the army, Terrus learned that Prince Argrath was not who he seemed to be. Instead, Argrath's body was inhabited by the Pharaoh, Belintar, who had made a deal with Argrath in Hell and had possessed his body, for it seemed that Argrath could not return from the Land of the Dead, but the Pharaoh, who routinely returned to life in the bodies of others, could. The Pharaoh brought with him Harrek's Cloak, recovered by Argrath in Hell, and later, at the camp, he took possession of the adamantium spike obtained from Balazar by Danar. Argrath's true identity was to remain a secret, for it was deemed that Argrath would be more of a rallying point against the Lunars, and Prince Argrath could possibly gain aid from the Uz, something the Pharaoh could not.
The party also learned that the Lunars had, on the first day of 1636, established the Glowline in Prax. When the red glow of the Lunar Empire met the pure Law of the Block, the Block cracked and the crack began to grow larger and larger, a little bit each day. Already Stormbull berserks were rampaging around the countryside slaying every Lunar they could find. In response, the Lunars officially outlawed the cult of Stormbull. On the same day as the cracking of the Block, a strange tremor shook all of Glorantha and certain sinister manifestations began to reveal themselves.
Meanwhile, in the camp, the party was asked by Belintar to undertake a mission for the army. They were to accompany an assassin into Boldhome and set fire to the city granaries. The party set off and managed to perform the deed, but not before several of the group were captured by the Lunars and tortured for information. Meanwhile, the assassin who accompanied the group slew Fazzur Wideread, Governor General of Dragon Pass, right in the middle of Boldhome. These were the first strikes in the Great War of Sartar, for the army of Argrath had put out behind the party and headed east into the Storm Hills and the Stormwalk Mountains and by hidden paths and ways unknown to the Lunars had proceeded undetected into Sartar. It was only too late that the Lunars became aware of the approaching army. The granaries had been destroyed and their governor slain. The city could not hold out against a siege and the call went out to Glamour for immediate and massive aid against this desperate situation. Grain was being rapidly transported into the city, often at the expense of the peasantry, but it was too late, for a mere four days after the granaries had been destroyed, the eyes of he who had once been Argrath looked upon the walls of Boldhome.
Some of the party was trapped in hiding within Boldhome. Sunfist, a Yelmalian, had been captured by the Lunars while a few of the group had escaped and joined with Argrath/Belintar. The Battle of Boldhome began.
Chapter 9 - The Liberation of Sartar and the Order of the Word:
The battle was quick and decisive and Boldhome was liberated. Argrath/Belintar entered the city to the cheers of the Orlanthi and the party was rescued from the Lunar dungeons. The army of Sartar thereafter swelled with volunteers, and Belintar wheeled his massive army northward into the Bush Range. There he met the might of the Lunar army and, as it is said was fated, the rule of the Middle Air was decided.
Belintar and Argrath knew that even with Boldhome captured and the Glowline destroyed the Lunars would prove too much for his disparate force. But they also knew that the Red Emperor was the cohesion that held the Lunar army together, so their entire plan depended upon the Emperor being destroyed. Merely killing the Emperor would not suffice, for he had been slain many times before and was always reborn the year following. Mere physical death would not defeat the leader of the Lunars.
The battle was joined, and magic and spirits as well as arrows and swords shed a river of blood and souls. Slowly, Belintar ordered his outnumbered army to fall back and draw the bulk of the Lunar forces with them in pursuit. When the time was right, Belintar ordered what became later known as The Charge.
Almost a thousand berserk and bloodlusting Stormbulls, all rippling with Rune Magic and many girded in iron, came out of a nearby woods and charged directly at the Red Emperor and his elite guard. Krongar was among them. With the Stormbulls charged Gonn Orta the man-mountain himself and several hundred giants, many of them over 100 metres tall. Several trolls also charged, and with them all came Belintar/Argrath wearing the Cloak of Harrek. The Red Emperor smiled and turned to meet the assault. While Stormbulls yowled and giants smashed the normal Lunar troops like twigs, the Full Moon Corps, an army of demigods, surrounded the Emperor. Lunes and Selenes washed over the field of battle like a tide, and the Emperor's silver-armoured Personal Guard formed a phalanx around him. Demigods died, giants were dismembered, spirits were eaten, and Storm Khans littered the grass. Krongar was slain. Finally, however, Belintar and Gonn Orta approached near to the Red Emperor and Gonn Orta picked up Belintar and threw him over and past the Emperor's guards and into direct combat with the Emperor. Meanwhile, the few survivors of The Charge engaged the Emperor's Personal Guard furiously, leaving Belintar in single combat with the Emperor high on a hilltop above the seething battle that raged for miles below.
Physically they fought, and spiritually. Magicks none have ever seen before or since rippled and shimmered through the air. Finally, the Emperor dealt Belintar a staggering blow and he stood over the fallen hero to gloat for a single second before slaying the Pharaoh again.
He was never able to let the blow fall. Quick as lightning, Belintar grabbed the adamantium spike given to him by Gonn Orta, who had gotten it from Lord Danar. While the Emperor paused, fearful that the spike would be used to attack him, Belintar ripped open Harrek's Cloak, for only adamantium could harm that artifact. And then Belintar/Argrath yelled "Rathor! Rathor! Father of Bears! The time to feast is here! Now is the time to honour your part of our bargain!" From out of the cloak's remains came the spirit of the Bear God, brought to earth by a mortal and therefore able to circumvent the Compromise of Time and appear in Glorantha in full power. The god attacked the Red Emperor's soul in front of the horrified eyes of many thousands of Lunar soldiers. And Rathor possessed the Red Emperor and shoved his soul deep within his newfound body and locked it there forever. And the Bear God turned to Belintar and said in a voice that all on the battlefield could hear "There Belintar! The bargain you, Argrath, and I made in Hell is complete. This body will do me nicely, for it is powerful enough to contain my soul. You Lunars, surrender or flee, I care not, for your time is done and your evil wrought upon the face of the earth is finished, and your beloved Emperor is never to appear on Earth, Heaven, or Hell for all eternity! I shall return to my people, for they have been aimless and misguided without me. Farewell sons of Orlanth!" And he left for the Northern Lands, where his people dwell.
The Lunars did surrender or flee for the most part, and Belintar marched his army into Furthest and liberated Trash, handing the kingdom back to the descendants of Palashee Longaxe, a friend of Argrath. Then he marched further north and cleared the Lunars out of Saird. There he stopped.
The Lunar Empire was destroyed. The Provinces rebelled against their Lunar masters and only the Sultanates and a few outlying Provinces remained loyal to the Empire, now ruled by the Daughter of the Moon, who proclaimed herself Empress. Interestingly, Corona Stargazer had, during her travels in the Lunar Empire, met a prophetess who told her that one day a woman would rule the Empire. The prophetess had been crucified for heresy.
Belintar returned to the Holy Country and set about rebuilding the City of Wonders. Harrek's Cloak he had given to Rathor, for it was that god's own skin after all. Per Argrath's instructions, Starbrow was named Queen of Sartar. Kiri Windstorm, whose parents were dead, was named King of Boldhome and its surrounding lands, and Etta was its Queen. Many people commented that this was fitting, since Argrath had once taken the Feathered Horse Queen as his bride. Etta was a Grazelander by birth.
Back in Sartar, King Kiri gave to his loyal ring his family home in the Lismelder area near Greydog Inn, called the Windstead. Kiri bestowed this house and its servants to a new Order he had created called the Order of the Word.
Lord Kiri had seen the effectiveness of Knightly Orders during his sojourns in the West, and he sought to emulate Heortland and Richard the Tiger-Hearted, who had also imported Western Knighthood into the Kaethela area. Kiri also wanted to make certain that he could keep a close rein on those who knew about the Word that Terrus possessed, so that no errant information concerning it would fall into Voskal's hands. In addition, Kiri saw certain advantages to having a small cadre of loyal yet powerful individuals in his service.
The Order of the Word was formed, but publicly it was known as the Order of the Wind (its Orlanthi branch) and the Order of the Sun (its Yelmalian branch). The Sun Dome hierarchy assented to its inclusion in the Order only after Kiri explained to the High Priest the entire situation regarding the Word.
Terrus was named First Knight of the Order and head of the Storm Knights of the Order of the Wind. Sunfist was named Second Knight and head of the Sun Knights of the Order of the Sun. They repaired to Windstead and gathered about them young adventurous candidates who sought to prove themselves as pages and eventually become knights of the Order.
For a time the Order trained and became more proficient in combat. After the harrowing adventures of the last five years, those who had survived needed some time to re-assemble themselves and to enjoy the fruits of their labours. Terrus spent the time befriending a female windchild whom they found injured along the roadside. Terrus became enamoured of the lovely windchild and considered asking for her hand. Later the Order also befriended a group of strange beings called Grotarons that had emigrated to the Quivin Peaks from Northern Fronela. Finally, a group of dwarven exiles appeared at the Windstead and requested the Order's aid in establishing a home for themselves in Sartar. Eventually, it was decided that the Rainbow Mounds could be used. A group of broos residing there was defeated, and the Order also managed to aid a group of newtlings by slaying the Mother of all Rock Lizards. The dwarves pledged friendship and the newtlings made Terrus and the others of the Order their kings.
During the ensuing year, the Order aided a nearby wizard, to whom Terrus owed a favour, in his journey to Ormsgone Valley to raid the Dragonrest there for discarded dragon teeth. Finally, the Order, at the request of the Rainbow Mound dwarves, raided a Zorak Zoran cave where a group of the berserk trolls had been waylaying dwarven caravans leaving the Dwarf Mine.
In 1639, Terrus received a summons from Lord Kiri. As the Order arrived in Boldhome, they witnessed a group of White Moon adherents asking Kiri to attempt a rescue of Sunray from Voskal's Clutches. Kiri refused and the White Moonists intoned a prophetic chant and left in anger. Soon after, Kiri quested the Order to accompany the valkyrie Gunda, who had been wounded in the First Sartar War of 1620, to the far northern wastes and glaciers in order to find the Castle of the Altinae, the demigods of the North. Apparently, Gunda's wound, which was mystical in nature, had suddenly reactivated and the heroine was dying. It was believed that only the lore of her homeland, the Glacier of Valind, and of her own people might save her. The Order set out to begin the quest, joined by a rogue knight from Seshnela named Kalikan who had agreed to aid the Order at Kiri's request. Greysky, the Stygian scholar, stayed behind to continue her studies and pursue the lore she had found in various sorcerous tomes.
Chapter 10 - Back to Rone and Back to Intrigue:
When the Lunar-Sartar war started, the Emperor pulled most of his forces out of Balazar. The Balazarings saw this as their chance to destroy the Lunar invaders. They gathered their tattered forces and marched upon Trilus. At the guidance of Blueface the Shaman, the party under Lord Danar made its way north to stop the Lunars from summoning up Cacodemon again. They found the unholy site where the ritual was being performed and they attacked and drove away the Lunar summoners and managed to defeat and slay Gondo Holst and his jack o' bears, who were assisting with the ceremony. Having done this, the party returned and participated in the few battles that were required to drive the Lunars from Balazar.
After the Lunar defeat, the party rested for a time before returning to Rone. The Lunar influence seemed to be removed from Pavis, and Rone was given the port of Corflu for his trouble. All was well for a time, and King Raus ordered Danar to seek the lost Axe of Balastor in the Rubble, for he sought to ally Pavis with Rone against a time when the fickle barbarians, who had allied with him against the Lunars, would turn upon him. The party failed to find the axe during this time and things gradually began to go wrong. Evidence of a remaining Lunar influence in Pavis was mounting, and several threats, kidnappings, and assassination attempts confirmed this. Some Lunars remained in Pavis and were trying to take revenge upon the House of Rone. At this same time, Chaos began to grow in influence and in its boldness in the region. The King of Rone began to act strangely and Pavis was becoming increasingly dangerous to those loyal to Rone.
It was while in the Rubble searching for Balastor's Axe that the party was waylaid by Chaos. Danar, his betrothed, and Greebly were captured along with the Ronesword. The three victims were never heard from again and their souls did not find their gods. The sword however survived, for the spirit of Assil, the Rone ancestor which resided within the blade, had possessed the ogre carrying him and had escaped from the servants of Chaos. In ogre form, Assil made his way to the surviving party members and rallied them.
During this time, the party learned that King Raus had been possessed by a spirit in league with Muriah, a Chaos witch and sworn enemy of Rone and all who lived within the kingdom. Muriah had taken up residence in Ronegarth, now that the King was compliant and friendly, and she began to rule the kingdom through her puppet, allowing Chaos to expand its hold in the River Valley of the Zola Fel.
The party, meanwhile, flushed out a Krarsht temple near the border of Rone and Sun Dome County and then destroyed a similar shrine beneath the Devil's Playground in the Rubble. It was becoming clear that Chaos was becoming very active in the region, and that Krarsht was playing a great part in this, as was Muriah, the self-styled Queen of the Broos. Other indications were that the Lunars were allied to both.
The party recovered some coded documents from the Rubble Krarsht shrine and they took these to Bendrath, a friendly Priest of Pavis, who had told them of the possible existence of the shrine. Bendrath offered to translate the documents and so the party waited to see if the documents would provide the information that would allow them to take revenge...revenge upon the broos for the slaying of Danar and Greebly, revenge upon the Lunar faction in Pavis, and revenge upon Muriah for possessing the King Raus of Rone.
Chapter 11 - Valkyrie Quest:
The members of the Order of the Word set out from Sartar with Gunda and made its way past Pavis, turning north into the wilds. After a time they encountered the Hidden Greens, a group of oases that appear and disappear at seemingly random intervals. It was at one of these Hidden Greens that the party saw strange flashes of light, which they believed to be an indication of a magical conflict. Later, when they investigated, they found much of the Hidden Greens scorched by fire. While investigating further, the Hidden Green disappeared, transporting the party along with the Green into another dimension. This dimension was the home of a demonlord and his minions, and the party was captured by those minions. The demonlord told the party that he was the enemy of a certain wizard who kept trying to summon and bind him, and that the flashes the party had witnessed was the battle between the demonlord and the wizard. As proof of his victory, the demonlord showed the party the chained body of the now captive wizard. Although the demonlord had no special hatred of the party, he resented their intrusion into his plane and so required that the party members bind themselves to him. The oath required that each party member worship him at Sacred Time and that the party sacrifice a sentient being to him once per season. Reluctantly, the party agreed and was set free.
Sometime later, the party rescued a Pentian of the Cloud People Tribe from some broos. The Pentian, named Korishaar, told that he was sent to offer a gift to the great Wizard of Orathorn in exchange for aid against an ancient evil that was harming his clan. The party agreed to accompany him in order to see if the Wizard of Orathorn could perhaps help them on their quest as well. The party eventually gained access to the Wizard, who proposed a three-way deal: he would send the party as aid against he ancient evil afflicting Korishaar's clan, Korishaar would, in turn, surrender the gift to the wizard, and finally, the Wizard would give the party a gift that would allow them to complete their quest. He sent along a homonculus to carry the party's gift, promising the party that once the ancient evil was defeated, the gift would be given. The deal was sealed.
Korishaar led the party far into the north to his tribe. There, several of the party members became associate tribesmen. The clan shaman explained that the evil was a powerful spirit which lived in a haunted mountain named Glimmermourn. The shaman then gave unto Kalikan, the rogue knight from Seshnela, a sorcerous relic...a staff that embodied spirits so that they may be combatted and destroyed by physical means.
The party set out to Glimmermourn and fought its way through the tribes of ghouls that lived there, eventually slaying the ghoul king. Finally, they fought the evil spirit and, with the aid of the magic staff, slew him utterly.
After the party returned to the tribe, the homonculus revealed the wizard's gift...it was the homonculus itself, which was extremely quick and could generate a scalding blast of heat once per season which was hot enough to melt iron. In addition, three times in its life, the homonculus could switch places with any living thing. This ability was gained from the legendary Puppeteers. The party then set out north towards Valind's Glacier. On the way, the party was ambushed by Snow Trolls and Kalikan was slain. The party sent the homonculus back to Orathorn to ask for help and the wizard offered to resurrect Kalikan...in exchange for his magic staff. Reluctantly the party agreed.
Finally the group arrived at Valind's Glacier at the top of the world. Here, Kalikan became bound to Saint Gerlant and caused his sword to light aflame. While doing so, the party met one of the Altinae, demigods of the north, who transported them to his castle and explained that Gunda's soul was in the possession of an ice demon which lived just south of the Glacier. The party would need to recapture Gunda's soul and bring it to him so that the heroine could be healed.
The party set out and located the freezing lair of the ice demon. While fighting their way through his minions, the party became trapped, prisoners of the ice demon. Using the homonculus' switch places ability, the party transported the ice demon into their prison cell. The startled ice demon raised a glass globe it held and warned the party that Gunda's soul was contained within the globe, and that should it be smashed, Gunda would perish. The party withheld their attack and waited for the homonculus to return, for it came to some of them that the homonculus could switch places with the globe itself (since it housed the living essence of Gunda) and then generate its heat, enough to melt the ice demon.
Alas, things went awry, for Kalikan was rash and attempted to Tap the demon. While he succeeded, the demon was true to its word and crushed the globe. The outraged party attacked the Hollri and slew him, the homonculus melting him into slag. That done, the ice demon's minions fled, leaving the party to stumble back to the Glacier. There the Altinae informed the group that Gunda had perished, lost forever. Blaming Kalikan, the party made the long trek back to Pavis. Korishaar and the two Pentian warriors who had accompanied the party to the ice demon's lair now agreed to follow the party south into the "warm lands". In the winter of 1639, the group once again saw the shimmering walls of Pavis.
Chapter 12 - Liberation:
In Pavis, while the party prepared for action, Bendrath asked that several of the group take some of the Krarshti documents down to Corflu to be translated and deciphered. Durnel led the group. On the way the party was attacked by a huge gorp and would have died but for the intervention of Zola Fel. The goddess had use for the party and made them her heroes, called River Voices, and gave them stigmata that were powerful spell matrices. With these, Zola Fel requested that the party destroy the source of a gorp plague polluting her river. The party accepted the charge and journeyed up and down the Zola Fel, delivering their messages and destroying a colossal gorp at the village of Harpoon, with the help of the Yelmalians there. Back at Pavis, the party found that the source of the plague was a strange geyser on Ogre Island in the Rubble. Investigating further, they found underwater Krarsht tunnels eventually leading to a gorp-filled cave and a pool of water, under which dwelt a Priest of Pocharngo, the source of the plague. With the aid of some Stormbull warriors, the party destroyed the Pocharngo Priest and cleansed the river. The geysers on Ogre Island didn't stop however, and when several of the Stormbull warriors descended down some narrow passages beneath the Pocharngo pool, they confronted some sort of evil and were destroyed utterly.
Meanwhile, the party, using the uncoded documents from the Krarsht shrine, realized that Gim Gim the Grim was a Krarsht Priest who had allied with Muriah and had somehow masterminded the whole possession of King Raus. Assil of Rone prepared a special dagger which could slay Muriah and the party gathered all of its strength and headed to Rone to free the King. By summoning up the spirit of Raus' dead wife, they were able to divine a secret way into Ronegarth. The party contacted Daryli Godspeaker, loyal Priest of Rone, and together with a small army of ancestral spirits, entered Ronegarth to do battle with Muriah, Highhowler the broo shaman, and possibly Gim Gim the Grim.
The battle was fierce and brutal, but the party was victorious. Muriah was slain, along with every one of her broo cohorts. Similarly, Highhowler was killed along with his minions of Chaos. Finally, Gim Gim the Grim was slain after Dalamides, a Lunar Runelord who was present, teleported away but refused to take Gim Gim with him. The King was freed, his spirit exorcised of Muriah's fetch, and the Kingdom was restored. Varna, the spirit of Raus' wife, inhabited the body of Buphi, a thief and River Voice, and slept with her husband one last time. From that union, Buphi became pregnant.
As the party rested in Rone and the King struggled to appease the Sun Domers who had been provoked heavily by Muriah as well as to regain complete control of his kingdom, several earthquakes rocked Prax, centering on the Block and Pavis.
Now rested, the King asked one last favour of the party. With Danar and Jezra and Varna dead, the House of Rone had no continuation. Although Buphi was with child, the bastard offspring would not be a suitable replacement for the House of Rone. Therefore, Raus needed noble blood to continue the line. His choice was Pavis, but he needed a suitable gift with which to form a marriage and alliance with the Pavisites. With this in mind, he asked the party to complete its search for Balastor's Axe.
The party left for Pavis and searched Balastor's barracks, slaying the Troll residents and eventually finding the Axe. This they brought to Rone, whereupon Raus returned it to Pavis in exchange for an offer of marriage from one of the Priestesses of Pavis and for a formal alliance between Rone and Pavis. This done, the continuance of the line of Rone was secured and the Kingdom of Rone was assured of its existence within the River Valley.
While the party searched for the Axe, Durnel and Buphi stayed behind and went to treat with Krang the Dream Dragon, who had been offended by Rone's actions while Raus was the thrall of Muriah. Buphi negotiated with Krang and, as part of the negotiations, she and Durnel were charged with slaying some rubble runners that had been annoying the dragon. As they explored the Rubble Runner caves they found the body of Daine, old Bodyguard of Rone, missing for almost eight years. With him was the body of the mayor of Weist Cut, slain by Daine's sword. Above the bodies was written in blood "Daine is avenged".
As 1639 closed, Terrus and company received word from Kiri Windstorm that they were to find and bring to him Durnel and Talonspear, both members of the party that had served Rone, so that Kiri could find out what they knew about the Word. Durnel and Talonspear agreed to come and meet Kiri, along with an impala rider who had aided the group against Muriah and an Orlanthi barbarian who had done the same, while two of the Pentians who had served with Korishaar decided to remain in Raus' service.
Thus were the two parties joined as one, as they returned to Sartar and the peace of home.
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