 HeroQuest
 Copyright © 2005 |
The
Dawn of the Dead Movement
|
| Note! This is a fan contribution. The information may be contradicted by official material. |
The Dawn of the Dead movement was founded by:
Hertha, the Spolite witch hero, and her friend Brechdan, a renegade
Yanafali heroquester who beat an incarnation of Yanafal in a duel and
was allowed to retain his powers after excommunication. Vilia, a
Spolite Witch trained by Hertha, Krivaka, a Spolite witch trained by
Hertha and Krydat, a Spolite Etyries merchant.
| Common Names |
Catacomb Boys |
| Form: | Ethnically based religious movement, calling for a return to the old ways; with a core of practicing witches |
| Typical Homeland: | Almost everyone in this group is Spolite. |
| Ideology: | "The old ways were better; let us return to them or we’ll kill you" |
| Look and Feel: | Ethnically based
reactionary movement |
| Purpose: | It has a magical
program, to bring back the magic of the Spolite Empire, and a political
program, to persuade the Lunars to bring back traditional Spol the way
they are bringing back Rinliddi. To bring about this political program, they have a military strategy of building strength by ambushing isolated Carmanians, taking their weapons, etc. This is intended to make the movement so strong that it cannot be ignored, and to provide Spol with enough military power to defeat the inevitable Carmanian reaction. |
| Headquarters: | At last report
this group had its headquarters in the Catacombs in and under Zern, in
Spol. |
| Reactions: | Most people are
unaware of the existence of this group. Humakhti who are aware of the existence of this group tend to hate it. Most Carmanians who are aware of the existence of this group tend to hate it. Countess Yolanella is ambivalent; since they are both a threat to her power and, if they become powerful enough, a possible alternative source of strength. The Lunar authorities tend to be against it, but this group is at least nominally loyal to the Empire, so the Empire has bigger problems. From a religious perspective, the Lunars would like to know more about what the Spolites want to bring back, and to get an idea of what the impact of the Spolite program would be on the Goddess. |
Resources
| Leader: | Hertha "the Hag"
is a Spolite witch/minor hero from several hundred years back, prior to
the Carmanian conquest of Spol). She was quite surprised when she
walked out of the Zern Catacombs. She is very tough, with access to a large number of Night Spirits (Anaxial’s Roster p.215) and Shades (Anaxial’s Roster p.202). She has some kind of relationship with a number of deities, mostly forgotten now but including Subere. Whether she serves them, or they her, is unknown. Most likely each side thinks they’re using the other. Hertha’s dream is to recreate the Spolite civilization she has lost. |
| Renowned Members: | "Battleaxe"
Brechdan, who does not actually use an axe, is a former champion of
Yanafal who persuaded Yanafal to let him serve Hertha. He has all
of his Yanafal abilities, which were of minor hero level and a number
of spirits whose help Hertha interceded to get. He is rumored to
have traveled to the hall of an ice deity demon deity and gotten the
ability to summon and command ice demons (Hollri, Anaxial’s Roster
p.194). He was born in backwoods Spol. A minor Carmanian
noble killed his mother because his village couldn’t pay their taxes in
silver; he hates Carmanians and thinks the Empire would be stronger if
the Spolites were free. He was the one who came up with the
argument that the Empire should support bringing back Spol for the same
reason it is bringing back the Rinliddi avilry. Krydat is a very sharp Spolite trader, born into a family which traces its descent back to the nobility of the Old Spolite Empire. He joined Etyries, to get himself out from under the Carmanians, and has amassed a fairly large fortune. His competitors claim that some of what he did to get that money comes close to the edge of treason, and suspect him of being involved in this movement with an eye toward attacking ships carrying goods on the Poralistor. They have not been able to make this charge stick, however. Krydat is the spokesman for the cause in Glamour; he spends money freely and seems to believe in the cause. |
| Membership: | There
are several different types of members of this
association: Associates: Who sympathize with the movement, and contribute funds, provide information etc. Many of these also have spears, and secretly train for the coming fight. Most of them are not very good with their spears, and the training is more designed to promote solidarity and make people feel a part of the movement than to provide a serious military force. Fighter: Associates who show talent in spear training, or trained fighters who join the group become fighters. Brechdan is their leader. Coven: Hertha is believed to be training a band of Spolite witches, which she calls her members of her "Coven". Founders: Hertha, Vilia, Krivaka and Krydat are the only founding members. |
| Other Contacts: | The
group has a working agreement with the Blue Dragon
association, which disposes of its loot, gathers information for it,
and has provided some political support for its aims. In
exchange, the Coven sometimes works for the Blue Dragons, and the group
has reportedly trained a magician or two and provided some spirits to
the Blue Dragons. Some people at Countess Yolanella’s court are apparently working with the group. The extent of Countess Yolanella’s knowledge and involvement is unknown; it may be merely that some of her Pelandan and Spolite servants hate Carmanians and see working with this group as a way to express that hatred. The best guess is probably that Countess Yolanella is aware of this, and has not stopped it, but is not committing herself in favor of the group either. There are a number of sympathizers in Oronin, some of them at the Satrapal Court. They are not thought to have done anything much to express this sympathy, except provide a safe house and arrange a couple of deals between the witches and the trolls. A number of Hollri {Anaxial’s Roster, p.194] are thought to work with this group. They can be found in Northern Spol, and the mountains northeast of Zern, and can reinforce the Fighting Organization for attacks against tough targets. |
| Other Resources: |
The
group is believed to control a substantial portion of the Catacombs in
Zern, to have a number of what amounts to bandit hideouts in the woods
Northeast of Zern, and around Devarpo. There are also safe houses in
KargazKitor, Devarpo, and Zern within Spol; and in Glamour and Carantes
outside Spol. The group has a lot of zombies, and other undead, mostly concentrated in the catacombs in Zern but also to be found guarding hideouts, etc. They are seldom used in the ambushes, attacks on isolated castles etc that make up most of the group’s fighting, because zombies are neither fast nor flexible. They have a small number of zombie monsters, and “super zombies”, which fight at weapon master level and resist Humakhti anti-zombie magic. |
Organization
The group is run from the top down, with the founder
members making the decisions. It has several different aspects:
Associates are organized into cells, of 4-5 people, who
report to a leader. The leader in turn reports to a leader for
the town or area.
Fighters are organized in about 15 groups of 10-20
fighters each. There is an elite group of personal followers of
Brechdan, clad in iron, who have mastered at least one weapon each, who
hero quest when necessary and perform difficult missions. There
is also a company in the Catacombs of Zern, which may have as many as a
hundred fighters and is training some new recruits.
Most of the group’s magical power is concentrated in the
Coven, whose members personally report to Hertha.
Hertha makes most of the religious and magical decisions, Brechdan runs the military organization, and Krydat in Glamour makes the diplomatic ones. They can communicate with each other, and most major decisions are made by all three.
Membership Keyword
| Membership Requirements: | A new member must
be vouched for by at least one member of the group, be willing to swear
a magical oath of allegiance to the society and either Brechdan (if a
fighter) or Hertha (if joining the Coven). Associates must have access to information, or otherwise be useful to the group; fighters must convince the leader of their fighting band that will be useful; potential Coven members must persuade Hertha that they should be in the coven. Must be willing to worship Desh-Gal. |
| Skills taught: | Associates: None Fighters: Spear & Shield Combat, Guerilla Warfare, Military Lore, Archery Coven: Spolite Witch Magic, Hide, Old Spolite Custom, Old Spolite Culture |
| Typical Personality Traits: | Hate Carmanians, Secretive, Aggressive |
| Magic: | Common
Magic to sharpen spears, protect body, etc; Spirits magic provided by the group’s shamans. Members of the Coven have and use Spotlte Witch Magic, and worship Desh-Gal, without, however regarding him as a deity in the normal sense of the word. Members of the group also often worship Subere or Argan Argar. |
Desh-Gal the Dreaded (Guardian)
Desh-Gal is a huge Night Spirit, first allied by Hertha in the heyday of the Spolite Empire. Of demigod level power, it can only manifest by possessing someone, usually Hertha. Hertha is strong enough to withstand possession by this spirit, others are not. When it possesses another group member that member usually dies. Desh-Gal cannot come into this world in the presence of moonlight from a crescent or full moon.Hertha allows Desh-Gal to possess her when Hertha needs great power for some specific purpose, or when members of the group need to make a deal with her to gain power.
| Method: | Possession
(of Spolite women only) |
| Form: | The person
possessed turns as black as midnight on a cloud night; while the area
around her grows much dimmer. Members of Spolite cults, or
Darkness cults, can see Desh-Gal clearly as can characters with Soul
Sight. Others only see a cloud of darkness; if within the area
occupied by Desh-Gal they are subject to a madness attack |
| Communication: | Desh-Gal speaks slowly and distinctly in Old Spolite, though in a pinch she can speak any language the person she possesses can speak. Desh-Gal can along offer visions of what she saw, and vaguely formed intuitions of what will happen. |
| Guardian Requirements: | Incarnate Desh-Gal
is a skill known by Hertha. All she has to do is be in a place
where neither Sunlight nor Moonlight are currently present, and make
her skill roll. Others who have seen Desh-Gal may attempt to incarnate Desh-Gal, again where neither Sunlight nor Moonlight are present. If they make their Spolite Witch Magic skill with one mastery subtracted, they succeed. If they make their Spolite Witch Magic skill with three masteries subtracted, they survive the experience |
| Functions: | Intellect: Answer
questions about things which take place in the Dark, where neither
Sunlight nor Moonlight penetrate. Defense function: Concealment hides anything that takes place within the area she covers, from any form of magical detection short of an incarnation of a god looking at it. Fights as a weak {bottom of the Anaxial’s Roster range}, Night Spirit Blessing Function: Strong blessing of skills with Darkness or Unearth affinities; Weak blessing of skills with Death affinities. |
