HeroQuest
Issaries, Inc. |
Cult of SerdrodosaAn unfinished writeup by Greg Stafford and Roderick RobertsonSerdrodosa is the name of the female shaman of the Heortlings. She is also known as Earth Witch. Her followers, also known as Earth Witches (or rarely, Serdrodosans), can divine the secrets of the earth and the human heart. They provide healing potions, and some say love potions, but everything they do comes with a price. Core practice: Earth Witch PracticeEarth Witches are usually secretive and solitary, preferring to meet other Earth Witches only rarely. Earth Witches often use charms or potions to influence others to give them property or power. They often have Wealth or Relationships far greater than their status would otherwise indicate.New Earth Witches are normally chosen by Earth Witches or Earth Talkers. The Earth Talker will choose a likely candidate on its own or at the behest of an Earth Witch. The Earth Witch will inform the girl's parents, who will, often reluctantly, turn the girl over to the Earth Witch to serve her. The Earth Witch will pay for the girl with some type of treasure of the Earth. If the parents refuse to turn over the girl, she will grow up cursed and unlucky, doomed to walk the earth as a ghost after death. A heroine may become an Earth Witch after persuading her local Earth Witch to train her. Part of convincing the Earth Witch may involve a promise to leave the area after completion of training. Earth Witches are supported by the payments given to them by their clients, both Serdrodosan and not, who come to them for magics. A community of non-Serdrodosans is under no other obligation to support an Earth Witch. Earth Witches have access to Serdrodosa practice spirits, special training, and a spirit ally. They may also have dealings with spirits in related practices. She may summon and talk to spirits by constructing charms to attract them and whispering for them in a consecrated place under the ground, usually the cellar of her house or a nearby cellar or cave. Her spirit ally is often sent out to gather spirits that cannot hear her normally. The Earth Witch must take precautions against discovery, some of which are defined under Mode of Worship. An Earth Witch uses Allow Spirit Possession to invite spirits to come to her and enter her, possessing her while she deals with them and asks for their aid. When dealing with spirits in this manner, her Earth Talker and any other friendly spirits can aid her. In this way, Earth Witches trade secrets with spirits and ask for their help. Lacking Spirit Face, an Earth Witch suffers a penalty of -10 when dealing with a hostile possessing spirit with Serdrodosa Tradition Knowledge. In this way, an Earth Witch can take a disease spirit from someone else and battle it inside herself with help from her spirits. However, this is extremely dangerous for the Earth Witch and will only be done for a high price. Earth witches make few fetishes; they primarily make Luck charms and potions. The procedure for making a potion is similar to that for making a fetish. A potion's magic is triggered when consumed or applied, and potions are one-use items that cannot be refilled. The effects of the potion typically last for one scene, though the Earth Witch can try to extend the effects during potion creation. In this case, the resistance to the magic will be modified as described in the Modifiers to Magic box on HeroQuest page 100. If the potion is meant for a specific person a personal effect, such as a small possession or a lock of hair, can aid the Earth Witch by +5. Potions use the Not Concentrated Charm column of the Hero Improvement Cost chart on HeroQuest page 141.
Earth Witches spend 60% or more of their time supporting themselves or providing magics to the community that supports them. Earth Witches must obtain payment for their services. The safest way to pay an Earth Witch is in the form of treasures of the Earth such as jewelry or precious metals. Earth Witches must always accept such payments, but if such payments are not available, they may demand secrets and favors. Earth Witches may also accept personal effects for reasons that they will not divulge. If the Earth Witch is forced to provide services, the spirits of the Serdrodosa Tradition make sure that the magics provided backfire in the end. All treasure received may be used by the Earth Witch, and any unused treasures will be hidden. Earth Witches will allow theists to assume that this payment is a sacrifice. Earth Witches have an obligation to hide and protect women and children who come to them for help. They must still charge a payment, but the spirits are inclined to be lenient in this case, and the payment is often a token amount. They must also strive to master the worship of Serdrodosa until they learn her secret. Because of the misapplied nature of the Serdrodosa Tradition it may never be Concentrated. Earth Witches are also considered polluted by the deities and by hostile spirits as explained under Member Disadvantages (above). Earth Witches who do not attain Serdrodosa's secret before death often walk the Earth as ghosts and they and their homes are considered unlucky for four generations. Earth Witch PracticeThis keyword combines both occupational and magical keywords for Earth Witches. Shamans and members inducted into this practice learn these abilities as they can.
ShamansShamans who include the Serdrodosa Tradition among their magics are rare. The practice does not teach how to awaken a fetch, it is forbidden to teach men the magics of Serdrodosa, and it is misapplied worship. Female shamans may learn the Serdrodosa Tradition magics from an Earth Witch. In return, they must often teach the Earth Witch Spirit Face. While she has a relationship to any Serdrodosa spirit, the shaman will pay the unconcentrated costs for all spirit relationships. The shaman must make peace between her other tradition and practice spirits and the Serdrodosa spirits to bring her Hero Point costs back to normal. There are few, if any, shamans who adopt the Serdrodosa Tradition, but Serdrodosans know that it can happen.
|
