Runequest Thursday #51 - Jagrun Khan Lives!

A couple of sessions ago, in my Brightwater campaign, the heroes invaded the Caverns of the Carcharids, fought their way through an ungodly number of carcharid bent on their eradication, before confronting the shark-demon Sothyurgha, who possessed the body of the carcharid priest and transformed it into a simulacrum of its terrible form. In grand style, they dispatched the foul creature, then found the idol to the shark god in the depths of the sacrificial pool.

The idol pulsed with dire chaotic magicks. The heroes had no idea how to deal with such a potent item. It's merest touch carried the possibility of horrible transformation and chaos-taint. Since the idol to Sothyurgha was behind the infestation of carcharids, who had been led up-river by the possessed priest whose corpse lay nearby, the Brightwaters knew they could not leave the idol be. To do so would be to invite other monstrous creatures into the caverns, lured by the call of Sothyurgha.

After some pondering, and no little argument amongst the heroes, the sorcerer Wyrmhere suggested that they take the idol to his master Jagrun Khan, a powerful spirit lord with no love for chaos, to see if the Storm-Tiger could destroy it. With as great care as could be managed, they wrapped the idol, carried it to their boat and made for the Island of Jagrun Khan. On landing there, they bore the foul thing to the massive pillar topped by the statue of the Storm-Tiger, laid it in the place of offerings, and Wyrmhere begged the Storm-Tiger to intercede.

And the massive statue of Jagrun Khan stepped from the pillar, towered over them all, and pounced on the hated idol, destroying it in a savage attack. The heroes were hurled back by a wave of power, simultaneously stung and empowered by a release of energy, and the idol of Sothyurgha was broken.

The Caverns of the Carcharids were cleansed.

Now I would like to explain why this was possible. If you have read my intial post about Jagrun Khan, it is apparent that it would not be.

Of course, it made for a good wrap-up to a pretty epic session, and a canny GM should always be on the lookout for opportunities to deepen the setting, especially when they  comes out of player ingenuity. But it is worth mentioning that Wyrmhere has been devoting significant amounts of his and his acolytes' time [hey, what sorcerer doesn't have acolytes] in rebuilding the ring of buried standing stones that once warded the limits of the island of Jagrun Khan. These had effectively extended the spirit lord's power of old, and Wyrmhere wanted to see it so once more. So hundreds of man-hours have ben invested to this end by a devoted few.

So, when Wyrmhere came up with the idea to appeal to his master in time of need, it was a pretty easy decision to have have the storm-tiger help out.

But every action has consequences, and this one will too - whether the Brightwaters, or Wyrmhere, realize that it or not. Here are some possibles:

1. Jagrun Khan can now manifest physically on Glorantha. I have decided that this does not break the Great Compromise that gods would not directly act upon Glorantha [Jagrun Khan is a spirit lord rather than a 'god' so he does not quite count for the exclusion]. His range and duration will be limited, but could be extended through sorcerous manipulation. And he would be severely lessened if his form were to be destroyed or even if he were to fall dormant far from the island that is his power base.

2. Since he is not governed by the Great Compromise, he also is not bound by the compact between gods and their faithful. He is not bound to provide for tose who give him POWer, but it is in his interest to do so.

3. The completed Circle of Standing Stones enhances the storm-tiger's range of influence. This makes him stronger, but also easier to detect magically. He may receive more visits from adherents or the curious. Since power calls to the power-hungry, it is possible that rival groups of supplicants could form

4. With more of his essence able to interact with the physical world, he likely will become more interested in it, possible more demanding overall. This may require careful management by Wyrmhere or whoever retains the spirit lord's affection.

5. New powers, such as the granting of new spells or abilities like particularly savage Feats of Arms, attracting a pride of resident daggerfangs, even granting such a creature as a 'familiar' are all possible.

6. Other things as I think of them or they arise in play.

But since there are going to be added complications, and since it is possible that Jagrun Khan might have to manifest again, and since it is Runequest Thursday, I thought it would be fun to stat him out for Runequest.

Here he is [the link is just below the art by the incredibly talented Torstein Nordstrand. So you know, Jagrun Khan is a brutal opponent, a worthy opponent of the Hound of Corflu or something that dire. I hope that in the future, the Heroes of Brightwater will enter the Hero Wars in their own right, and Jagrun Khan will likely want to be a part of that.