Hero Wars
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Gagarth the Wild HunterBy Mark Galeotti
Mythos and History"No one can make you do anything" is a central theme of the Orlanthi culture, but this freedom is tempered by respect for tradition, kin, clan and elders. Gagarth represents freedom at its rawest and most selfish. He is the Most Wild Wind, grandson of Umath. He is the rootless and destructive Whirlwind, who scours the land, uproots the crops and leaves nothing but desolation. He is the Wild Hunter, who roars through the storm, hunting whatever he chooses, taking whatever he wants. Lost souls may be run down and consumed by his pack of wolf-hounds or, if they show the necessary spark of wildness of their own, have an opportunity to show their mettle against Gagarth's ever-changing band of followers. Win or lose, Gagarth may not care - Gagarth only finds pleasure in the hunt and the fight, in bullying and terrifying, in despising society and mocking tradition. The most charitable of the Orlanthi describe him as the "thirst that never is slaked", as Gagarth is cursed never to be still, never to settle, never to be content.
Spinstorm DancersSpinstorm Dancers are Gagarthi shamans, typically former Kolati who have embraced outlawry. Gagarth's is not an animist tradition, so they are practising misapplied worship. However, their ability to draw upon the power of the Wild Huntsmen and Gagarth's whirlwinds make them especially feared and formidable - not least because their departure from Kolat's path often leaves them and their fetch equally deranged and scarred by their former god's spirits of reprisal. Even by Gagarthi standards, Spinstorm Dancers tend to be bloody-handed and unpredictable. Their rituals involve chilling shrieks and howls, the thunder of drums and the wail of bone pipes, and reckless, whirling wind-dancing.
Gagarth in PraxThe wild folk of Prax know Gagarth: his vicious whirlwinds scour the Wastes and his roving bands of outlaws are yet another challenge to those who follow the Way of Waha. Like the Spinstorm Dancers, his Praxian worshippers treat Gagarth as a spirit, and thus also practice misapplied worship.
WhirlvishBy Jamie 'Trotsky' Revell
Stats: Abrade 10w, Spirit Combat 15*, Fly Fast 12, Frenzied Hatred 5w Gagarth is an evil storm spirit, the source of senseless violence, worshipped only by outlaws and kinslayers. It is said that he wanders the Sartar and the Wastes, accompanied by the souls of deceased worshippers, and that he seeks to destroy any sentient being he encounters. Normally, only those lost and alone, far from their kin, will become his victims. But when they do, their souls are bound into the dust-storms that Gagarth creates, so that they become the malevolent beings known as whirlvishes. Whirlvishes may also be deliberately created by Gagarthi shamans. Like elementals, whirlvishes are spirits that take physical form, in this case constructed from stinging clouds of whirling grit and dust. They are mindless, animated only by an insane hatred of living things. Combat Tactics: Whirlvishes attack any sentient being they encounter, and seek to destroy them. They blast the victim with sand and grit, until nothing remains but a skeleton scoured clean by the wind. A person wholly encased in thick cloth, armour, or other protection may delay this fate, but the only way to avoid it is to slay the whirlvish. Even magical protection spells are worn down by the evil winds, and cannot save the victim. Fortunately, the physical body of a whirlvish can be disrupted like that of an elemental, so that normal, physical, damage will affect them. However, the whirlvish will also assault its victim mentally, and bombard them with sensations of hatred, pain and loss. If the victim succumbs, they will be unable to act, and the whirlvish will surely slay them. To reflect this, the Narrator should augment the being's Abrade attack with its Spirit Combat ability. Because they are not especially large, whirlvishes can only attack one human-sized target at a time. |
