Cult of Naguhl Naguhl was a child of Rastlaf, a weak and stunted younger brother of the Trickster. Unlike his sibling, his powers were neither great enough to cause disasters in the Gods War, nor great enough to stop them. Rather, Naguhl simply fought to survive. He did so by slipping unnoticed beneath the footsteps of the greater gods, retriving a few of their discarded or lost treasures. From his low position, he witnessed many of the Gods War's most crucial events, and learned many secrets thereby. A few gods accused Naguhl of aiding their treasures in getting lost, but most were too busy to find him to gain their return. Naguhl is god of the dispossessed. His worship appeals to whose who must live by their wits, because they are lacking in strength and social position. The cult believes that those who cannot keep track of their possessions do not deserve them. Yet despite his preditory nature, Naguhl hates Chaos as bitterly as any ruling god, and often his cult is more effective at stopping it than many great cults. His runes are Disorder, Luck, and Mastery. Naguhl's cultists make their living as beggars and thieves. Nor are they the royalty of thieves. The cult does not sponsor great robberies of magic treasures, but rather rings of pickpockets and cutpurses. Robberies almost never exceed about 250sp, about half what it costs to buy a Divination spell to find the thief. The cult of Naguhl also runs numbers, recruits for Uleria temples, and does other small time, non-coersive, criminal acts. However, the cult of Naguhl is also a great opponent to the chaotic gods of social corruption, Krarsht and Eleskar. Not by mounting great raids on their deadly temples, but simply acting as an alternative for typical recruits to these cults. Naguhl offers an "honorable" method of survival, treats his cultists well, and promises them eventual rebirth in a better position. This makes Naguhl the god of choice to most of the poor and destitute, and saps chaos temples of their power by removing their underlying foundation of laymembers. In great cities, Naguhl cultists are everywhere, and know much about the plots and secrets of other outlaw cults. Naguhl cultists cannot be sensed by the Krarsht Sense Law skill. In most areas, Naguhl worship is outlawed, and the cult hunted just as much as Krarsht is. This allows Krarsht to flourish. Only during great political upheval will a rare wise king understand how useful these petty criminals can be in uncovering trecherous plots by chaotic assassins. Laymember Enrollent: Impoverished; non-chaotic Tithe: 80% of all income; this can apply to cult spells/skills Benefits: Always provided (not great quality) food, clothes, and shelter Spells: 1/2 Price: Coordination, Mobility, Befuddle Skills: Begging, Pick Pocket, Running, Hide Self, Disguise Leaving: Cultists are free to leave Initiate Enrollent: Three years as a lay member; (1 POW on acceptance) Tithe: 80% of all income; this can apply to cult spells/skills Spells: Free: Coordination, Mobility, Befuddle 1/2 Price: Healing(6), Silence, Spirit Binding Full: Detect: Silver, Gems, Gold, Copper, Magic Skills: Laymember skills are at 1/2 price; Scrounging Retribution: Cultists are free to leave; absent mindedness Scrounging - This skill allows the recipient to find discarded but still useful objects and edible food. Success depends on the user's skill, and the wealth of trash he looks through (a GM skill modifier). More Scroungers cause leaner pickings, so the cult restricts teaching this skill to Initiates. On success, the scrounger finds one item at random in the following table: 01-05 Special (old documents, broken weapon, hidden corpse) 06-35 Object (plate, cart, horseshoe, broom, furniture) 36-50 Clothing (dress, leather jacket, broken piece of armor) 51-00 Food (half good fruit, half good meat, stale beer) On a special, the item will be in very good condition, enough so that with cleaning, it can be resold for (1d20L). On a critical, an accidentally discarded valuable item is found. A user gains an effective +5% for each Detect spell he uses in conjunction with this skill. The skill wielder gets one Scrounging per day of use. Knowledge (05%) Rune Priest Enrollent: Initial 18 POW/ (INT+CHA) as % + 1/person aided; 1 try/year Tithe: 90% of all income Runespells: All Standard to 3 (Spell Teaching to 6), Awaken Mongrel(1nr) Special: Conceal Identity, Avoid Fate, Beggar's Luck Retribution: Cultists are free to leave; absent mindedness Conceal Identity Cost -- 1 POW Point Range - 180 meters Duration - 15 minutes Nonstackable Reusable This spell prevents the recipient from being recognized. It operates like Invisibility, but causes people to overlook the recipient's identity, not his presence. To identify a recipient requires matching MP vs caster's MP. This roll is not even made unless the identifier is suspicious, and also, if the recipient is lost in a crowd, a successful Spot roll is made. Those who do make this roll do not get a POW gain check. The operation of this spell does not show to Detect Magic, or other magical detections. With this spell, it is trivial to become lost in a crowd. Avoid Fate Cost -- 2 POW Points Range - caster's awareness Duration - Instant Nonstackable Reusable This spell can be cast after the roll any spell or skill is used, the success or failure of which is immediately ob- vious to the caster. It voids the result, forcing a reroll; the reroll cannot cannot be affected by any additional Avoid Fate spells. Skills or spells which take a long time, such as Oratory, Scrounging, Map Making, and Ritual Magic, cannot be affected by this spell. Avoid Fate can work on any being the caster is aware of, including enemies. The spell effect cannot be resisted or blocked by any defensive magic. Beggar's Luck Cost -- 2 POW Points Range - Glorantha Duration - Permenent Nonstackable Nonreusable When cast this spell causes the recipient to critical in one of the following tests: Begging, Scrounging, Pickpocket, Running, Hide Self, or Dodge (unarmed parry). Beggar's Luck does not increase the user's skill, but rather causes chance circumstance to intervene on the recipient's behalf. There is no skill gain possible from use of this spell. Mongrels Naguhl allied spirits are awakened alley cats, dogs, and other animals discarded by the rest of society. Like their begging masters, they must survive on the streets. As a generic term, these allied spirits are called Mongrels. They make up for their small size by being extremely quick and intelligent. No matter what their species, awakened Mongrels will never attack or steal from each other, or other Naguhl cultists. Mongrel (Alley Cat, Alley Dog, Rat, etc) STR 2d2 SIZ 2d2 HP 7 CON 3d6 Bite 45% / 45% 1d3 INT 2d6+9 Move 10" POW 3d6+6 Defense: 30% DEX 3d6+6 CHA 2d6 Due to their life before being awakened, Mongrels start with a full set of cult skills. Scrounging and Hide Self start at INTx5; Running at DEXx5; Begging at CHAx5. They start with no spells, but may learn them normally. Mongrels with POW of 18+ may become priests. Naguhl DI Naguhl divine intervention acts like an extremely powerful Beggar's Luck spell. It does not cause direct magical interference, but changes a situation so that whatever the petitioner asks for is granted through what appears to be chance circumstance. For example, an initiate killed by a Krarsht cultists successfully petitions Naguhl for his life. At that moment, a nearby group of heavily armed mercenaries, looking for a good bar and a good fight, sees the Krarsht worshippers hovering over the dead beggar. In but a few moments of fierce combat, the cultists are killed, and the warriors, feeling pity for the dead beggar, decide to bring the corpse to a healing temple to ask for a spare resurrection. One is available, and the cultist soon lives. As with all divine intervention, this ability cannot do direct harm to an enemy cultist. This includes forcing such a cultist to take an action he would not normally take, or affecting skill rolls in combat. But beyond this restriction, nearly any combination of luck and coincidence is possible to effect what is asked for. Spirit of Retribution Naguhl is not a jealous god. Any worshipper who does no harm to the cult, breaks no vows of secrecy, and does not become chaotic, is allowed to leave without retribution (rune magic, of course, becomes non-reusable). Ex-cultists are asked and expected only to remember where they came from, and never let a poor man starve. Cultists who betray Naguhl, are cursed with the afflicion of absent mindedness. Once a day, the cultist will loose track of some object. An ex-cultist who specifically wants to keep track of an important object may roll INTx5, to make sure where it is at all times. Other than this, one object a day will be lost or misplaced: a shield strap, a dagger, rope, a weapon. The absence of the object will only be noticed when it is needed the most. Besides illumination and reconciliation, there is no method to prevent this from happening. It will occur for the rest of the ex-cultists life, until permanent death. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ By: Steve Maurer (steve@tfs.com)