King of Dragon Pass – How to Hero Quest

Hero Questing can boost a character’s qualifications, generate a treasure, and enable actions (namely, founding a tribe or kingdom). When a Hero Quest fails, the results may be injury, dood, or resource loss.

Hero Questing can go wrong very easily if the questing character doesn’t have the qualifications, there isn’t enough support, the details or secrets of the myth are unknown, or you make an incorrect choice. This guide lists the correct choices for a fully successful Hero Quest. If you get off track during a Hero Quest, read the corresponding myth and choose the actions that most closely follow the story. Going on a Hero Quest without having unlocked all the details and secrets during your play-through is risky. Success is possible but unlikely. You may be locked out of the correct dialogue tree.

You can’t review the text of the myth or any other lore while doing a Hero Quest in-game. This guide includes the full text of each myth for your convenience. A set of choices known to result in a successful outcome are included.

The optimal route is the most difficult to stay on during the “Emal Guards the Stead” Hero Quest. One particular question causes the most trouble. The correct answer is probably determined by at least three factors. I recommend caution, evaluating how the Hero Quest has been going and re-reading the tale.

Because King of Dragon Pass often randomly decides the outcome of your actions, it is possible to do everything right and still fail through no fault of your own. Gelukkig, you can tip the odds in your favor in a number of ways: making sure the questing character is qualified, assigning magic points to Quests during the Sacred Time, calling in the support of others, and choosing to quest under good omens, enz.

Chalana Arroy Heals the Scars

Speurtocht

2. Heal them, then go to heal the wounded Storm People
1. Heal his blindness, so that he joins the Storm People
1. Heal his need to fight
4. Learn the secret of fighting without hurting
1. [ɴᴀᴍᴇ] throws herself between the two combatants
1. Learn the secret of winning without making the other person lose
1. Heal the scar of certitude under Humakt’s tounge

Myth

As we pray for the Chalana Arroy priestess to heal the injuries and illnesses that afflict our kinfolk, it is up to us to remember what the goddess did for us in the God Time.

Chalana Arroy was not kin to the storm gods. She was an attendant of the Bad Emperor. When Orlanth slew the Bad Emperor, war broke out between his too-bright followers and the Storm Clan. In eerste instantie, Orlanth thought that Chalana Arroy was an enemy. She healed the Bad Emperor’s thanes when they were wounded. This made it harder for Orlanth to win and bring about the Storm Age. Orlanth wanted to kill her once, but then she healed part of him, something he didn’t even know was hurt. We must thank her for that, as Orlanth thanked her by making her one of his attendants.

The Unholy Trio appeared in the world, but no one knew just how dangerous they were going to become. Orlanth’s brother, Kolat, argued with them. So Malia first used her terrible gift, the scar of disease, and made Kolat unwell. Chalana Arroy struggled with Malia. She cured Kolat, so Malia went away. We must thank her for curing diseases.

The Unholy Trio got even worse, created Wakboth the Devil, and embroiled the world in war. Urox the Storm Bull decided to kill all of them, starting with his brother, Ragnaglar, who he said was the worst of the betrayers. The two of them fought at the Shrieking Falls, which is no longer part of the world. Urox wounded Ragnaglar and was ready to deliver the killing blow. But Chalana Arroy was there, and she threw herself between Urox’s axe and Ragnaglar’s corrupt and seething body. Urox did not kill Ragnaglar that day. We must thank her for her mercy, even when she gives it to our foes.

The war between Orlanth and Wakboth got very bad. There was much healing for Chalana Arroy to do. Our ancestors were dying all the time, but Chalana Arroy refused to accept these deaths. Whenever possible she saved our ancestors, interrupting their journeys to the halls of the dead, bringing them back to the places where the living dwelled. This caused a quarrel with Humakt, the Death God. It came to a head just before the Lightbringers Quest, when King Heort, father of our tribal ways, was seized and pierced in a hundred places by Thed, third member of the Unholy Trio. He was dead, and Chalana Arroy was about to put him back together, when Humakt stood in her way. Chalana Arroy looked under Humakt’s tongue and saw a scar there, the scar of certitude. She healed it, and then healed King Heort, who went on to keep people alive when Chalana Arroy and the other gods went to Hell to heal Yelm and the world. We thank her for giving even Humakt the ability to make an exception now and then.

Now we are at the end of this healing story. I think you have listened well. If you have, the scars on our kinfolk will soon be gone.

Elmal Guard the Steads

Speurtocht

7. Thrust your spear into its eye
3. Let it step on you, in order to gain leverage to throw it far away
3. Give of your tears
2. Chop at her legs
2. Club her about the heads
3. Give of your tears
6. Throw your spear into his ghastly mouth
1. Burn him with your brightness
4. Orlanth did not steal my pride. He awakened it
(2, 3, or 4‒ Maar 1 of 5 will also work sometimes?)
3. Offer it your soul in the form of a fine stallion
3. Promise to serve chaos

Myth

During the Great Darkness, things got so bad that only a desperate quest on Orlanth’s part could knit the shattered world back together again. He chose many companions to go on this quest, but did not choose Elmal. Elmal, who had proven his loyalty to Orlanth again and again, was distressed by this choice, and said to Orlanth, “Why do you punish me in this way? Ever since you rescued me from the tribe of the Evil Emperor, I have served you loyally, fighting always by your side. What have I done to lose your trust?”

So Orlanth left on this great quest, and Elmal remained to protect the stead against the forces of Chaos. Many Chaos foes came, and Elmal interposed himself between them and Orlanth’s stead.

The Eater of Skin came singing the Rending Song, the one that made people bleed. Elmal leapt from his position in front of the stead and drove his spear into the creature’s eye. The Eater of Skin threw its seven terrible mouths at Elmal, and he stopped every one of them with the shield Orlanth had lent to him. The Eater of Skin tried to stamp on Elmal with its five crushing feet, each of them the size of a stead. Elmal evaded the first four feet, and deliberately withstood the last. Then he seized the Eater of Skin and hurled it into the sky, where it was burnt up, and never seen again.

Only after he had defeated the creature did the people see that the fight had broken Elmal into pieces. They despaired, wailing “Our defender is gone!” Yet when the morning came, Elmal knitted himself back together and shone again, for he had been steadfast.

The Author of Sores came, and Elmal destroyed her, te, in a battle that was even more ferocious than the last. Again Elmal, despite his victory, was torn into bits. Opnieuw, when the morning came, Elmal became whole again, for he had been steadfast.

Eindelijk, the Maker of Bad Growth came, and tried to slay Elmal by causing th soft parts inside him to multiply like maggots, so that they would burst him open like a too-full sausage. But Elmal was steadfast, and in the morning his brightness burned all of these extra pieces away, and burned the Maker of Bad Growth, te.

These defeats only increased the hunger of the Chaos Gods, who wanted all the more to destroy Orlanth’s stead. In this way, Elmal drew attention away from other steads of the Vingkotling people, and thus indirectly protected the other steads, te. The forces of Chaos decided that it was folly to try to destroy Elmal’s physical form, for his brightness remade him every morning. In plaats van, they would strike at his brightness, and destroy the loyalty that fueled it.

To perform this terrible task, the Chaos Gods chose The Teller of Lies, also called The Bad Questioner, also called the Breaker of Souls. This being had a thousand forms; most were horrible, but some were beautiful. When it was beautiful, it was at its most dangerous.

The Teller of Lies came to Orlanth’s stead disguised as a woman Elmal had loved back when he belonged to the Emperor’s tribe. “Elmal, Elmal,” it said, “you once loved me, but I was unfaithful to you. You were wracked with sorrow, and that made you weak. Because of me, the upstart god, Orlanth, was able to beat you and steal your pride. Now that the world is dark and you are the only remaining light, I see the error of my ways. I have come to restore my love to you, and restore your pride. Come with me, for I have made a safe place for the two of us. Leave these barbarians, and we will hide away until the darkness ends.”

Elmal was not unaffected by this plea. His tears fell on the earth, and where they fell, they burned the dry grass. The occupants of Orlanth’s stead had to put out the fires before they spread. They worried that Elmal would abandon them. But then Elmal said to the Teller of Lies: “You are not the woman I loved. But even if you were, I would not follow you, for Orlanth did not steal my pride. He awakened it. I married into his tribe, and love my wife only. I am loyal to her, and would never break Orlanth’s laws of fidelity, no matter what sort of temptation you offer. Begone.” In frustration, the Teller of Lies departed.

De volgende dag, the Teller of Lies returned, disguised as a blind oracle known to the Storm Tribe. “Elmal, Elmal,” it wailed, “your master, Orlanth, is as good as slain, defeated in the land of the dead.” And it showed Elmal an image of his king, trapped in a pit and unable to escape. “You must take Orlanth’s place as King of the Storm Tribe,” the Teller of Lies told him, “for Orlanth’s day is done. Without a king, your beloved tribe will wither and die.” Some of Orlanth’s people believed the false oracle, and flocked to Elmal’s side, offering him a crown.

Elmal was not unaffected by this show of devotion. He smiled, and his smile blinded some of the people. When he saw the bad effect of this too-great radiance, he said, “This oracle is false. I would not be loyal to Orlanth if I believed him so easily defeated. If some of you wish to call me a king, I will lead you. But this does not mean that I take Orlanth’s place, for Orlanth will always be my king.” Again the Teller of Lies had to slink away, its powers vanquished in the face of Elmal’s great steadfastness.

But Elmal himself was weary, and afraid that one day he would fall prey to the blandishments of the Teller of Lies. He thought, “Being loyal and steadfast is one thing, but I must also be clever. Sometimes the best way to defend is to attack. This Teller of Lies is trying to tear me apart from the inside, and so I must do the same to it.”

When the Teller of Lies next returned, this time in the form of the Emperor Elmal had once served, Elmal did not let it speak. “Lie-Teller, Lie-Teller,” he said, “your dread onslaught is too much for me. You have sapped my strength, and I know when I am beaten. I have taken my soul and put it into this fine stallion.” Elmal produced a great steed, for he is also Elmal Horse-Friend. “This is my offer to you, and I will leave the Storm Tribe and serve Chaos, just as I once left the Bright Tribe to serve Orlanth.”

The Teller of Lies slavered in hunger, and leapt upon the great steed, devouring it whole. But Elmal had tricked it; the horse was not his soul, but was also Elmal in his bright entirety. Now Elmal was inside the Teller of Lies, and could see that inside the Chaos servant was Nothing. Its ever-shifting forms masked only emptiness. Armed with this knowledge, Elmal tore it apart from the inside, using the sharpened edges of the shield Orlanth had given him. And the Teller of Lies, revealed as Nothing, was destroyed.

From that day until the end of the Darkness, the Chaos Gods left Orlanth’s stead alone, for they did not want Elmal getting inside of them and finding out they were Nothing, te.

When the Darkness ended, Elmal helped the others to awaken Orlanth, and then Ernalda, and then the other gods who had either been slain or had journeyed with Orlanth into the land of the dead. Orlanth asked Elmal to tell of his exploits while he was gone, and Elmal told him what he had done. Then Elmal asked Orlanth to tell him of his exploits in the land of the dead, and Orlanth told him. In this way, they exchanged great secrets of the world, just as they had exchanged shields before they parted, and thus the Storm Tribe, and the world, was made stronger.

Ernalda Feeds the Tribe

Speurtocht

5. Suffer Daga’s blows
1. Convince them you are no traitor
5. “Without Barntar to plow the lands, there will be no reason to fight.”
2. “Esra and Uralda will disturb things here, making life where there should
be death.”
1. “I myself will come to the place of the dead, and you will seek to avenge
me.”

Myth

The bountiful mother Ernalda was once drained of everything by an enemy who was kin to her husband. But she still had to feed the tribe, which required her to find her lost kin. Uralda the Cow Mother, who told her children to provide milk and meat for Ernalda’s tribe, was missing. Barntar the Plowman, who knew the ways of the earth, was missing. Esra, who made the seeds, was missing.

Ernalda knew that many things which seem to be dead are really just hiding in the earth, so that is where she went. The enemy had dried up many things, and so the old passages in the earth were gone. So Ernalda went to her grandchildren, the Aldryami, and asked them for one of their seeds. The elves were reluctant to help her, because they thought she had abandoned them for their enemies. The elves do not like us; they call us forest-killers. Ernalda taught them that she was not a traitor, and they gave her the seed she needed. The seed was called Adborl, and it was a burrowing thing. It burrowed deep into the earth, and left a big tunnel for Ernalda to follow.

Ernalda went into the tunnel, where she found her terrible sister, Maran Gor, the earthquake goddess. She had taken Barntar as her thrall. “Your son, he helps me to break up the earth into pieces, so that I can hurl it at our enemies. You think that this fight with Orlanth’s nephew was a terrible thing, but it is merely the harbinger of what is to come. The kinstrife he caused will soon bring about other bad things. Three bad gods will force Orlanth to give them his blessing, and together they will make a god that is worse than all of them put together. I need Barntar to help me fight them.” But Ernalda looked at Barntar, who looked sad to see his life-giving powers used to bring death. Ernalda convinced Maran Gor to give Barntar back. She told Maran Gor that without Barntar to plow the lands, there would be no reason to fight our enemies, because all of their friends would have long since starved to death. This is why we give gifts to Maran Gor.

Ernalda took Barntar with her and went further into the tunnel, where she found the cavern of her terrible aunt, Ty Kora Tek. Ty Kora Tek had been collecting dead souls in her cavern. During the troubles with Orlanth’s enemy-from-within, Uralda and Esra had wandered in there, seeking protection. Ernalda asked Ty Kora Tek to release her bountiful daughters. But Ty Kora Tek refused: “What comes into my realm cannot come out again. I cannot set a bad precedent now and just let out anyone who has a good reason to leave. Very bad times are coming, and my halls, and the halls of the other lords of the dead, will soon be full to bursting with the slain.” Despite her aunt’s strong arguments, Ernalda persuaded her to relent. She pointed out that Uralda and Esra had too much life in them, and were bringing life and vitality to Ty Kora Tek’s garden of carefully-tended silence. It might be acceptable if Esra spent some of her time in the cavern of the dead. “Maar,” Ernalda said, “if both the cow and the grain goddess spend all of their time here, everything will become its opposite, and then where will anything be?”

Ernalda had the kin she was looking for, so she headed back to the tunnel mouth. But a terrible woman she had not seen before blocked their way, looking fierce and brandishing an axe. “You cannot leave here. The tribe is sundered, and cannot so easily be mended. Your man committed kinstrife, Dus ik, who have not been born yet, have been charged with the task of keeping the broken things broken.” Ernalda told her why she should step aside. “Although you have not been born yet, I can tell who you are. You have death and vengeance in you, things I do not have in myself. That tells me that my aunt and my sister are right, and that this bad time is only a glimpse of a worse time to come. You must be my daughter, which means that I myself will come to the place of the dead, and you will seek to avenge me. Only then will there be enough suffering to erase the stain of kinstrife. Now that you know I understand, you can go back to sleep and wait for your birth. In de tussentijd, I must feed my people, so that they have at least a chance of surviving this bad time.” So the terrible woman stepped aside, now that Ernalda had learned her secret of kinstrife. Ernalda went back to her tula, and with Barntar, Uralda, and Esra, fed the tribe. She did this in order to lay a path for us, so that we could do the same for ourselves when she was not here to help us.

Humakt the Champion

Speurtocht

5. Taunt Eurmal so he attacks you, then wrestle the sword from him
3. “I must absolve my king of the heinous acts I will now do.”
6. “You will rule over many things, but you will never rule Death.”
7. “The protections of your clan means nothing; many of your kin will soon
die.”
6. “Your raid against the Emperor is doomed without my help.”
1. Dispatch them all to hell, with or without Orlanth’s help

Myth

When you grew up, you were told about the trickster Eurmal, and how he found the sword called Death. They told you that Eurmal killed Grandfather Mortal with it, which was true. They said he showed it to Humakt, which was true. They even told you that Humakt used the sword to cut his family ties to Orlanth and his brothers. But that was not true. We allow them to say it, because of what was decided in the true story, the one I tell you today, on the day you cut your old ties to your kin and form a new one to Humakt. You are not to tell the true story to others; this is part of your test, to see if you really are strong enough to cut those ties and keep them cut.

When Orlanth saw the thing called Death, he was not a king yet. Before Humakt could lend Orlanth the new thing, he had to be sure that Orlanth would show proper respect for it.

The first time Orlanth came to Humakt, seeking his gift, he tried to treat Humakt like a thrall.

Humakt told him that he had the wind and bearing of a god who would rule over most things, but that he would never rule over Death.

So they fought, and the fight went on for sixteen days and sixteen nights. Orlanth was not slain, but many of his thanes were. Orlanth wept.

So Orlanth came to Humakt a second time, and this time he treated Humakt like he was a cottar.

Humakt told him that safety and shelter were small things, compared to the might of Death. It was not a fair exchange.

So they fought, and the fight went on for four days and four nights. Orlanth was not slain, but many of his carls were.

The third time he came to Humakt, he treated our god like he was a carl.

Humakt told him that a thing, once killed, could never be the same.

So they fought, and the fight went on for two days and two nights. Orlanth was not slain, but many of his cottars and thralls were.

Then some enemies came. Orlanth was too tired to fight, but Humakt was refreshed, for these were his special foes. There were many of them, so it took a day and a night to dispatch them all to hell, but Humakt did so. Then Orlanth had an idea.

“You protected me. You shall have a new place, that of champion. You shall be a thane, a weaponthane among weaponthanes, and you shall sit at my side. You shall sit on the ring, and your weaponthanes shall answer to you. You shall be separate from the clan, yet connected to it lawfully. We are partners.

“Now I humbly beg of you, let me borrow that sword of yours.”

And Humakt gave him the sword. A sword like the sword I give to you, nu.

Issaries the Conciliator

Speurtocht

4. “People are not trading fairly.”
3. Let Storm Bull fight alone
6. Go to the Long-Noses, so long as Storm Bull follows
1. Go immediately to talk to the Big-Teeth
1. Ask the Knowing-God for help
2. “The Long-Noses must accept that some of them will be eaten.”
1. “The Big-Teeth must only attack weak and sick Long-Noses.”
1. Offer to trade treasures

Myth

Issaries teaches us that if you can travel, you can trade. Tenslotte, trading is the art of taking something from where it is not needed and delivering it to where it is needed. Issaries also says that if you can trade, you can talk and find peace. If I depend on you for your extra grain, and you depend on me for your extra meat, we can only become friends. Further, if we are friends, if we are talking, we will work together to keep the peace, driving off bandits and enemies and other bad things, allowing for safe travel. Thus we see that traveling, trading and talking are all connected in a circle, just like a trade route. So if one of those things is broken, everything shatters.

This is a story of the time when everything had shattered. So Issaries set out for the furthest reaches of his very long trade route. He convinced the Know-It-All God to come and assist him, because it was a very confused time and things were very mixed up. He convinced Storm Bull to come along, because there were many bad things that needed to be beaten back.

Issaries searched for a very long time to find the worst part of the problem. Eindelijk, he found a special route that let him cross the big water simply by walking downstairs. There he found the people suffering greatly. He visited a clan called the Digging Stick People. Their tulas were the battleground for the Long-Noses and the Big-Teeth, two other peoples who were fighting each other. Whenever they fought, the Digging Stick pastures were trampled. Their cows were stolen and eaten by hungry soldiers. Their carls were captured and ransomed, so that the armies could buy weapons. Their weaponthanes were pressed into service, risking their lives for no reward.

Storm Bull said, “It is good to see fighting. There’s another battle coming up, the biggest battle of all. Everyone should get in practice.”

Know-It-All said, “These people are not, technically speaking, the same as our people. Legally, we are not obligated to help them.”

But Issaries said, “Storm Bull, if a big important battle is coming up, all peoples must learn to unite, and to fight only their real foes. Know-It-All, the things we have in common with these people are more important than the things which separate us. I must help them.”

Know-It-All had never been generous, so he refused to help. So Issaries, protected by Storm Bull, went to talk to the Long-Noses. Issaries spoke to their priestess, Oriska. She was troublesome: “We have no cause to make peace with the Big-Teeth. They have always attacked and killed us. Our best and finest are murdered. They take our leaders, our priests, our healers, and our weaponthanes.” Then Oriska lowered her voice and, through her enormous nose, whispered a shameful secret: “Dan, they are eaten. The Big-Teeth devour our flesh and prevent our bones from being interred in my holy, secret place. We can never make peace with them so long as they eat us. Now that the thing called death has come into the world, it is impossible.”

So Issaries went to talk to the Big-Teeth. They were very fierce, and said that Storm Bull smelled like food to them. When Issaries suggested they make peace with the Long-Noses, their war leader, Paratur, laughed. “It has long been decreed that we should eat the Long-Noses, for they are large and juicy and flavorful. They can eat the grasses of the plains and the leaves of the forest, but we cannot. We won’t starve just to please others. We could eat you two-legs instead, devour the villagers whose tulas you are so concerned about. But I do not think you would consider that a just solution. We cannot do as you ask, for how does one make peace with one’s dinner?”

Issaries was at a loss. So he asked the Know-It-All for a few answers. Know-It-All told him that the Long-Noses were, except for their noses, their fur, and their teeth, just like very large cows. Know-It-All also said that the Big-Teeth were just very big alynxes, and had to be treated like pets.

So Storm Bull went to the Long-Nose encampment and romanced Oriska. Then Issaries said to her, “The Big-Teeth are always going to eat some of you. If you can accept that bad thing, perhaps other things could be made better.”

Then Storm Bull went to the Big-Teeth encampment, fought Paratur, and showed him who was boss. “You must eat, but now the Long-Noses exact a heavy toll for each of them you succeed in taking. If you are willing to lose some of your choices, other things could be made better.”

So Oriska and Paratur agreed to meet. Oriska agreed to accept Paratur’s right to eat some of her people. Paratur agreed that his people would only attack the old, the sick, and the cottars of the Long-Nose tribe. He also agreed that the Big-Teeth would meet the Long-Noses during Earth Season and turn over the bones of the eaten, so that they might be interred in Oriska’s secret, holy way, and their spirits sent to the right place.

It was not long before the two groups started trading things other than the bones of the dead, and the people whose tulas were once trampled soon joined in the trading as well. Gradually this spread through the world, as trade led to talking, talking allowed travel, and travel permitted trade. Things were still very bad, but they became just good enough for people to hope again, and to band together. Issaries could then get ready to leave the world, and go on his most dangerous journey ever. But that is another story, and one that everybody knows.

Lhankor Mhy Finds the Truth

Speurtocht
3. Let Storm Bull fight alone
6. Try to win one contest and lose another
3. “Without the truth, there can be no trade.”
1. “Why did you do that?”
4. Put a leather sheet over your head and think
1. Answer his question

Myth

The truth has always been difficult to find. Even the greatest of us can grasp only portions of it. But during the Greater Darkness, just before the Lightbringers Quest, the truth was lost entirely.

It was Eurmal’s fault, as usual. The trickster twisted the truth so that no one could recognize it. Then Issaries, the Talking-Too-Much God, took it and sold it to someone far away. It was up to Lhankor Mhy to get it back.

Lhankor Mhy needed help. He thought for a moment about making Eurmal come along to atone for his misdeeds, but he knew that tricksters always betray you when you go on an important quest. He did allow Issaries to come and assist him, for he knew that the Talking-Too-Much God hadn’t intended to sell the truth. Lhankor Mhy also sought the aid of Urox, the Storm Bull, knowing that you often stir up unpleasant and dangerous things when the truth is found.

Issaries knew who he’d sold the truth to. Helaas, it was someone on the distant continent of Southland, across the ocean. Gelukkig, at the time there was a shortcut that took you there quickly, without any need for a boat. (Scholars have tried for many centuries to rediscover the shortcut, and there are many conflicting theories as to where it is.)

On the way to the shortcut, Urox had to fight many Chaos beasts. He fought broos, gorp, slimekin, ghouls, and krarshtkids. He also rendered another seven types of Chaos creature extinct along the way.

Once through the shortcut, Issaries began to cause problems. He lost interest in the all-important quest to find the truth, instead concerning himself with the affairs of a tribe of foreigners, and their troubles with a war between the Mammoths and the Sabretooth Tigers. He did take Lhankor Mhy to see the god to whom he’d sold the truth, hoewel.

That god was called Grandbread. He ate knowledge like it was food. He was trying to untwist the truth so he could pound it into meal, cook it into loaves of bread, and devour it. This way no one else would have it, ever, and he would become more powerful than any other god, because all the truth would be inside of him.

Lhankor Mhy offered to help Grandbread, untwist the truth, if only he would promise not to eat it. Grandbread refused, so they had to fight. They fought with questions. The first one to fail to answer the other’s question would lose the truth forever. They asked and answered questions for a long time, until they both became very hungry. Grandbread grew so famished that he tried to eat the truth as it was, in its sharp and twisted form. The thorns of the distorted truth punctured his stomach, so that his torso opened up and the truth fell back out of him again.

Lhankor Mhy asked him why he had done this, and he could not answer, for he would not admit that he had been greedy and foolish. So he lost the contest, and with it, all truth, forever. Yet in taking something from Grandbread, Lhankor Mhy gained a fraction of the foreign god’s possessiveness. (This is why we Lhankor Mhy initiates must struggle with the temptation to hoard the truth, even today.) Grandbread then became a useless god. Nobody bothered to reawaken him after the Lightbringers Quest brought an end to the Darkness.

Now Lhankor Mhy had the truth, but it was still twisted. He pushed at it and pulled at it. He sweated and paced and said the words we are not supposed to say in front of children and old women. Whenever he straightened part of it, another part went crooked. Whenever he buffed and polished a portion of its surface, another portion tarnished. He put the leather sheet over his head, which was the way to gain hidden knowledge before the truth was lost. But everytime he looked up from under the sheet, the truth had gotten more tangled, not less.

As Lhankor Mhy was struggling with the truth, Issaries came to him three times. Each time he had stupid questions to ask about his pointless attempt to make peace between the predators and the prey.

The first time, Lhankor Mhy said, “You are keeping Urox busy, and that is good. But otherwise your silly questions have nothing to do with finding the truth. Without the truth, the Chaos things will win. Go away, and do not trouble me further.”

The second time, Lhankor Mhy said, “Can’t you see what I’m trying to do here? The truth is all mixed up! Evil is good, down is up, and Orlanth is a small, red nut! The thing I am saying is that it’s turned to lies, all of it. And you come to ask me about a pair of worthless, insignificant animal gods who do not even belong to our clan?”

The third time, Lhankor Mhy was exhausted. He was so tired that the same empty thought had been running around in his mind for hours. It was an old solution he’d already tried, one that didn’t work the first time. But he was at his wit’s end, so he just sighed at this latest interruption and said, “You speak of Oriska the Mammoth Goddess and Paratur the Sabretooth God. Herinneren, Oriska is just a very large cow with fur, big ears, and tusks. Paratur is nothing but an overgrown alynx. Treat them accordingly.”

Issaries left without a word of thanks, and Lhankor Mhy turned back to look at the truth. It wasn’t twisted any more! Lhankor Mhy tried to figure this out. At length, he decided that, in responding quickly to Issaries, without much thought, he had stopped trying to mold the truth into the shape he wanted it to be. He had instead allowed the truth to come to him. Contemplating this thought, and looking at the restored truth, in all its purity, simplicity, and glory, Lhankor Mhy allowed another truth to come to him. And this was the One Great Truth, the one told only at initiation time, to those who dedicate their lives to emulating the Knowing God.

The Making of the Storm Tribe

Speurtocht

1. Catch the Doubting Wheel in a net
1. Fight both of them
4. Recite a poem to the cube
1. A poem about square things becoming round
2. “I challenge you to a contest of strength.”
3. Wait for Ernalda to bring tribal regalia
2. Direct the others to fight the Night Tribe

Myth

When Orlanth’s marriage to Ernalda was new, he spent much time enjoying the sweet secrets of his bride. But at length he grew restless, and began to think again of his enemy the Emperor, who had shamed him and deprived him of his rightful influence in the world. Ernalda saw that he was turbulent inside, and said to him, “You will never beat the Emperor by yourself, for when you fight the Emperor you also fight his tribe, the Fire Tribe. If you really want something to rival what the Emperor has, you must make a new thing, like the Fire Tribe, but better.”

Ernalda’s words troubled Orlanth, and he walked the world and let them rattle around inside him. The Doubting Wheel rolled towards him, and said that Orlanth should not make a tribe. “If you put yourself above all others, you will be just as bad as the Emperor. You will take freedom from the people, and make unjust decrees. People will expect you to tell them what to do, and in so doing they will steal your own freedom, which is the thing you value most.”

Orlanth captured the Doubting Wheel in a great net, and took it home to Ernalda, who cooked it up in a soup until it was small and silver. “It is nothing to be afraid of now,” she said. “Take it and use it to make the tribe I told you about.”

So Orlanth wandered again, until he found his brother Yinkin, who was chief of the Cat Clan. Yinkin said, “My clan is badly pressed by the Plant Tribe, which fights us for our hunting ground.” So Orlanth fought Rustling Veins and the Sharp Green, and bested them. He gave the small silver thing to Yinkin and said, “Now you must join my Storm Tribe.” Yinkin agreed to make the Cat Clan part of the Storm Tribe, so long as this new tribe had a way of remembering its good laws.

So Orlanth searched for some good laws, and found the Knowing God, who was head of the Marks On Bark Clan. The Knowing God was trapped inside a great cube. He said that the Stone Tribe had put him in there, because he tried to make new knowledge about them, and the Stone Tribe hated new things. Orlanth ruined the cube by creating a new poem, which confused it so that it fell apart. Orlanth gave the Knowing God one of Yinkin’s old claws, and said, “Now you must join my Storm Tribe, and help us remember our good laws.” The Knowing God agreed to make the Marks On Bark Clan part of the Storm Tribe, so long as this new tribe had fierce warriors.

So Orlanth looked for fierce warriors, and found his brother Vadrus, who was boss of the Hurt Everything Clan. Vadrus wanted to go off to fight the Blue Tribe, and wouldn’t listen to Orlanth’s plan. So Orlanth said they should arm-wrestle instead. He defeated Vadrus, and gave Vadrus a lock of the Knowing God’s beard, and said “Now you must join my Storm Tribe.” Vadrus said that the Hurt Everything Clan would join the Storm Tribe, but not if Yinkin’s Cat Clan were part of it. “Yinkin scratched me, and made my essence pour out, and I will not attend a moot if he is there,” Vadrus said. Orlanth said nothing about Yinkin and went on his way.

Orlanth kept collecting clans. The Talking God agreed to make his Traveling Clan part of the Storm Tribe, so long as it had many cows with which to trade. So Orlanth sought out Uralda, who agreed that the Cow Clan should join the Storm Tribe, so long as there was feed for her clan-mates to eat. So Orlanth found Esra, who said that the Grain Clan would join, but not if the Traveling Clan were part of the Tribe, because the Traveling Clan was too anxious to share her with outsiders.

Orlanth collected other clans on his journeys. Some of them we remember today. Others later left the tribe, or caused trouble, just like Vadrus’ Hurt Everything Clan. And others we have forgotten completely.

Orlanth brought them together into one big moot, and soon everyone was fighting and blaming him. “You said Yinkin would not be here!” Vadrus cried. “I will not moot with the Talking God,” said angry Esra. Orlanth was about to fight all of them, right then and there, but then Ernalda brought him items of tribal regalia.

She brought him the Chest of Torcs, with which he could gift the clan leaders. She brought the Hall of Understanding, where people would settle their differences by talking them out. She gave him the Crown of Authority, which made people respect his sacral powers and pledge allegiance to him. Most of the clans agreed to make the tribe, but there were still some who were stubborn.

Then warriors from the Night Tribe came and attacked the quarrelling clans, and everyone banded together to fight these hungry enemies. They saw that the night warriors could have destroyed any one clan, but could not destroy all of the clans massed together. The last of the troublemakers settled down, and named Orlanth their king, and so Orlanth made the Storm Ring to govern the new tribe.

Later, he asked Ernalda how the Night Tribe had known to come to the big moot, but his bountiful wife just smiled, and Orlanth thought about something else, in plaats van.

Orlanth and Aroka

Speurtocht

1. “I will drive him off or kill him.”
4. Take a few blows from Daga, then flee
1. Beat the enemies, and take something from each one
2. Seduce
2. “Storm Bulls can come in handy sometimes. Follow me!”
1. Do as Storm Bull says

Myth

There came a time when the rich splendor which Ernalda had given to Orlanth began to fade and dwindle. This troubled the god and he sought to learn the cause.

“Only one person is doing this,” said Ernalda, “but I have refrained from telling you, dear husband, because I know that you honor kinship so much. I would never wish to aggravate an already bad situation.”

“The world is poorer for your silence,” said Orlanth. “Our own people suffer and go hungry. Tell me, good wife.”

“At your command, oh husband, I will instigate kinstrife. Your nephew is the cause of our woe. He is drying my yields and starving the world. His name is Daga, the son of Molanni, your niece.”

“I have fought with my brothers already, and most of my nephews as well. For you, sweet wife, I will go and speak to him, and then I will threaten him, and then I will curse him, and then I will drive him off or kill him.”

“There is more, my love, to know of your foe. His father is your Enemy, the tyrant who would hold all of the world in his hand. Yelm is the father of Daga, born to shameless Molanni.”

“Then my decision is made. I will seek him and kill him, and treat him as they treated Young Varnaval. Then I should find my kinswoman, daughter of my brother, and teach her the lessons of the storm. Thus she will be ruined… and another dishonor heaped upon my family and my name.”

“We shall eat,” said Ernalda. “The people will love you.”

And Orlanth went off, and fought against Daga, but he was unable to win. Daga was a specter, a wan and frightening thing without substance to strike or force to scatter. Orlanth thundered and raged at Daga, but nothing he did had any effect. Neither could Daga hurt Orlanth, so soon Daga turned and simply ignored the god.

The people had seen Orlanth come forth to fight, and they cried out to him, not knowing that he was powerless to overcome their foe. Hearing their cries, Orlanth knew he had to find a way to win. Orlanth sought a long while, testing many weapons and inventing many new attacks, but he was no closer to success when Ernalda came to him again.

“Husband, Vergeef me, for I was wrong when I said that there was only one who has acted against our people. There is another foe, and that other has also turned on its kin.”

“Vrouw, you bring welcome news, because if there is another who has broken ties, and no kin of mine, my strength will not fail. Who aids Daga?”

“Your old enemy, the Blue Tribe, my lord, have called upon the powers of the deep. Aroka the Blue Dragon has answered the call. Aroka crawled in secret to the stead of Heler, the Lord of Rain, and ravaged Heler’s stead until Heler came to defend his home. And although Heler is the Blue Tribe’s own, Aroka swallowed him whole, and now the monster hides within its lair, holding the rain that could protect the people from Daga.”

“I have fought with the Blue Tribe already. I have beaten the Blue Tribe’s elders and tricked its champions. I have blasted the Blue Tribe’s armies and slain its magicians. I will teach this dragon the lessons of the storm.”

Aroka had great powers: its eyes could paralyze any intelligent thing, its tongue could choke any physical thing, and its breath could destroy any spirit.

Orlanth prepared himself against the monster. He brought a sack with the Four Winds in it, an ancient flint sword called a klanth, a twisted vine which held the Upper Wind, and a leather rope which held the Lower Wind. He spent a year chanting songs of power, and ate of Ernalda’s Splendorbread and drank crazy black Widebrew.

Orlanth was delayed on his voyage, first by Krakos, the troll avenger, who was angry because Orlanth broke his father’s legs. Orlanth defeated him, and took his Darkwind.

Then came Gagarth, the left blowing wind. Orlanth beat him, te. He took the Wind of Above from him.

As he traveled Orlanth reached the Place of Strangers, and there he met the Dark Woman. Their child was born later, and it was called Crushing Noise.

At last Orlanth found the lair of Aroka, which lay past the Poisonthorn Acre. Orlanth came out of the north to attack. Aroka the dragon refused to rise to confront the approaching god.

Orlanth released the Darkwind first, which bears the howls of lost souls. It filled the creature’s lair so it could not bear to be in it, and so it rose to fight.

First Aroka opened its eyes to destroy the mind of Orlanth. The storm god released the Four Winds and they cast their weapons at the eyes of the dragon, blinding it.

Aroka lashed out with its tongues. Orlanth released the Upper Wind, and this dried out the snaking enemy.

Aroka roared out its fatal breath, but Orlanth captured it inside the magical Sack of Winds and threw it away.

Then Orlanth strode into its mouth and seized the upper jaw with his hands, and placed his foot against its lower jaw, and with a shout of victory tore the dragon asunder. A great flood of blood, water, and mead swept over the land. Inside was Heler, the rain god, who was Orlanth’s friend afterwards.

Heler and Orlanth went against Daga, pounding the land and covering it with rain. Orlanth captured Daga and put him in an iron jar. Soon Ernalda was nourishing again, and Drought was banished for as long as Orlanth was chieftain. So long as people are not selfish, and are not foolish enough to let him out by propitiating him, Daga remains safely in the jar.

Uralda’s Blessing

Speurtocht

3. Find a high place and watch the two-legs when they leave
1. Suffer the attack
1. Suffer the attack
1. Suffer the attack
4. Make the secret sign to Ernalda
1. from a cave
1. Ignore the bulls. Bring the cows with you, and the bulls will follow
1. “A little lost blood is nothing, when there is life to be given.”

Myth

To bless a cow, you have to think like a cow. This is the story the cows told Ernalda a long time ago, and we preserve it and keep it a secret from the bulls, both the four-legged and the two-legged varieties.

A long time ago, before Umath, before Yelm, and long before Orlanth and his brothers, there was the cow mother, Uralda. She lived in good pasture land, and ate well. Her children were fat and happy. Her bulls were virile and thought they were in charge. When one bull became weak, another good bull came along and took his place. Everything was good.

Then the two-legs came. They asked the bulls for help. The two-legs had found this thing called hunger, and wanted the bulls to scare it away. Natuurlijk, the bulls just scared the two-legs away, because they always took the easiest choice that presented itself at the moment. They didn’t bother to tell Uralda that the two-legs had come. But Uralda saw the two-legs from a hill, and paid attention to where they went.

Then the biting things came. There were the small biting things who ran circles around Uralda’s children. There were the large biting things who jumped out of gullies and from on top of rocks, who knocked down the cows and tore out their throats. And there were all kinds of biting things in between. Uralda did not have the kind of magic that could stop this. She called on the bulls to help, but they only snorted and puffed about, and prevented only a small number of the biting things from attacking her children.

So Uralda went on a long journey to the place where the two-legs came from. She was bitten by small things, and by large things, and by things in between. If she had been thinking only of herself, they would have been strong enough to tear her to pieces. But because she was thinking of her children, they could slow her, but could not stop her, no matter how much of her meat they took.

She went into the two-leg camp. The two-legged bulls tried to stop her and pen her up, but she made her way to the mother of the two-legged herd, whose name was Ernalda. They exchanged the secret greeting that comes from the cave deep within the earth. From the greeting Ernalda gave her, Uralda recognized Ernalda as her mother, and knew that her plan was right.

“Life is almost good,” Ernalda said. “My bulls are virile, and think they are in charge. When one becomes weak, another one replaces him. The grasses and grains I make for the people are good, but not enough. Dus, my children have found this new thing called hunger, and I do not know what to do.”

“I have a plan,” Uralda said.

Uralda went back home, this time with some of Ernalda’s two-legged bulls to protect her. She told her bulls to tell the herd to get ready for a journey to the land of the two-legs. The bulls did not want to understand why, but they also did not want to be without cows, so they followed. Which is something you can always count on bulls to do, uiteindelijk.

They made the journey, and at first the herd was happy. The two-legs made sure they had plenty of grass to eat, and gave them a new thing called shelter when it became too cold to live.

But then the bulls made a terrible discovery! Some of the cows were disappearing. They saw the two-legs cutting up their bodies, roasting their flesh, and devouring it as a cow would devour grass! The bulls came to Uralda trembling, their bravado gone. “You tricked us,” they said to Uralda. “These two-legs are just like the biting things, except now we are trapped!”

Uralda said, “Bulls never understand that a little lost blood is nothing, when there is life to be given. If the two-legs find in us a way to banish the thing called hunger, our herd will prosper. For every one of us they take, the biting things would have taken two. Trust to your goddess, and go out and be bulls again.”

Not long after, the cows made a terrible discovery! “That strange feeling we get every morning — it is the two-legs, stealing the milk meant for our children! These two-legs are worse than the biting things. By taking our milk, they are stealing our next generation!”

Uralda said, “This is why you are the herd, and I am the goddess. Don’t you see that if we treat the two-leg children as our own, that there will be many more two-leg children, brought up on our nourishing milk? They will prosper and multiply, and everywhere they go they will take some of our real children. And those children will become mothers and have more children. With our help, the two-legs will cover the world, and wherever they go, there will be cows. Fat and happy cows. Now trust to your goddess, and go out and be cows again.”

Ernalda has changed bulls many times since that day. But one thing that has not changed is her arrangement with Uralda, as both of them bless the world and fight the thing called hunger.