In a Merry Green Vale
A Lysang Clan Sourcebook
Author: Vivien Prigent Cover Artist: Vivien Prigent, based on Arthur Rackham’s depiction of Freya for the Nibelungen (1910) Interior Artists: Vera Chentsova, Vivien Prigent, Arthur Rackham (public domain), Nicholas Roerich (public domain), Viktor Vasnetsov (public domain). Cartographers: Vivien Prigent Design & Layout: Nick Brooke Playtesters: Harold Bosse, Céline et Guillaume Ménager, David Neau, Marc Poupée.
RuneQuest is a Trademark of Moon Design Publications and is used with their permission via the OBS Community Content program. For more information, please visit Chaosium’s website: www.chaosium.com
Sample file
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Credits, Copyrights &
Acknowledgements
Artists The Lysang tapestries (p. 11, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26 and 130) are copyright @ 2020 Vivien Prigent. The various portraits and artefacts are copyright @ 2020 Vivien Prigent (various pictures modified with photoshop). The village drawings (p. 113, 130, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 141, 142 and 144) are copyright @ 2020 Vera Chentsova. The rune-carved stone p. 97 is from Viktor Vasnetsov (public domain). The paintings p. 39, 59, 64, 127, 131, 132, 137, 145 are by Nicholas Roerich (public domain), those p. 39 and 59 modified by Vivien Prigent. The painting p. 54 is by Arthur Rackham (public domain).
Cartographers Cartography is copyright © 2020 by Vivien Prigent, other than the following maps: The Vale after the first Zarran War is a modified version of the map from RuneQuest Gamemaster screen pack, copyright © 2018 by Chaosium, used with permission. The political situation north of the Arfritha Vale in 1426 is an excerpt from the map published in The Coming Storm, copyright © 2017 by Moon Design Publications, used with permission. The political situation north of the Arfritha Vale in 1460 is an excerpt from the map pubhished in The Coming Storm, copyright © 2017 by Moon Design Publications, used with permission. The political situation north of the Arfritha Vale in 1464 is an excerpt from the map published in The Coming Storm, copyright © 2017 by Moon Design Publications, used with permission. The Malani clans map is a modified version of the map from The Coming Storm, copyright © 2017 by Moon Design Publications, used with permission. The Cinsina clans map is a modified version of the map from The Coming Storm, copyright © 2017 by Moon Design Publications, used with permission.
Special Thanks to 7Tigers for his help along the way and precious advice in all Gloranthan-related matters. Nick Brooke for his help with proof-reading and all matters relating to the Jonstown Compendium. SampleChaosium for kind permission to reproduce the maps mentioned above. file
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Table of Contents
WHAT’S IN THIS BOOK? p. 5 THE RETURN OF THE LOST CHILDREN p. 7 THE GLORIOUS PAST OF THE LYSANG CLAN p. 12 The ancient times p. 12 The resettlement and the colonization of the Arfritha Vale p. 17 OUR GODS KNOW EVERYTHING, BUT OUR NEIGHBOURS MISS NOTHING... p. 28 The Malani p. 29 The Colymar p. 36 The Cinsina p. 41 The Dark friends p. 43 THE LINE OF THE LYSANG CHIEFTAINS p. 45 THE SIX BLOODLINES p. 47 THE SACRED MYSTERIES p. 49 The Lysang wyter p. 49 The sacred relics of the Lysang clan p. 49 Heroquesting secrets p. 53 THE POLITICAL SITUATION p. 68 Political Divisions in the Clan p. 68 Simple Political Game Mechanics p. 69 The Lysang ring p. 70 Current members of the ring p. 71 The six heads of the Lysang bloodlines p. 83 The six Storms p. 91 AND FOR A FISTFUL OF TROUBLEMAKERS... p. 94 DEMOGRAPHY AND ECONOMY p. 99 THE THREE FACES OF THE MOON p. 102 The Faith p. 102 The Sword p. 106 The Whip p. 113 THE RESISTANCE p. 121 GEOGRAPHY p. 127 General overview p. 127 An Arfritha Vale Gazetteer p. 128 GOSSIP AND RUMOURS! p. 146 REFERENCES p. 152 AN ARFRITHA VALE WHO’S WHO p. 153 SampleMAPS filep. 164
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WHAT’S IN
THIS BOOK?
For two centuries and a half, the Arfritha Vale benefitted from detailed official publications1: has been disputed between the warlike Malani the Colymar and the Cinsina. As such, it can and the proud Colymar. The clans settled in the offer the “missing link” between these two valley, Lysang, Namolding, Antorling, Jensteli areas. It will also complement the forthcoming and Karandoli, struggled to survive. description of Jonstown in the RuneQuest Starter Set by offering a description of the city’s After Kallyr Starbrow’s defeat, the Lysang southern hinterland. clan has betrayed the Colymar to join the Malani. But the clan’s chieftain had not The sourcebook doesn’t claim canonicity but anticipated all the difficulties born from this I did my best to blend my own ideas into the bold move and yesterday’s enemies make for material published so far and gave exact uneasy friends... The clan is rife with references when needed to help you expand on internecine rivalries and old foes are stirring. my text. As far as I know, my Glorantha has varied in only one obvious way: the relation Now, Governor Fazzur Wideread has between Elmal and Yelmalio. However, my own proclaimed an amnesty for Lysang warriors take on this polemical issue is expressed here as outlawed in the wake of the 1602 imperial the personal opinion of an Elmali whose sanity conquest. Most of them are dead, but their sons can be doubted. So you can easily discard my and daughters are beginning to return to the choice as an effect of his lunacy. clan’s territory. You will find here a comprehensive, history of In a Merry Green Vale offers you the the clan, from the God Time to 1615, through opportunity to play one of these former the Resettlement. Although slightly dry, it gives outlaws... the general framework to get the best from the more game-oriented material offered in the Return to the land of your ancestors! next chapters. This history chapter is Rediscover their secrets while gaining supplemented by a shorter text giving the “Line acceptance! Enter the fray of clan politics and of Lysang chieftains.” It has been conceived as lead your kinsmen to freedom, whether from an “in-world text,” the summary of clan history the empire or their own barbaric ways! taught to all clan children. As such it can be handed out to the players: it was written to In a Merry Green Vale is a systemless stimulate their curiosity by accumulating sourcebook describing the Lysang clan and its obscure references to weird events, places or surroundings in 1615. In many ways, it is a characters. From my point of view, it works tribute to Ian Cooper’s splendid Red Cow even better if you give them a version without campaign. the exact dates I specified to help the GM.
In a Merry Green Vale is focused on the A chapter details the neighbouring clans, with Arfritha Vale, a strategic valley linking the special focus on the Malani tribe recently joined Sampleterritories of the two Sartarite tribes which by the Lysang clan. As far file as I know, it is the
11 Although, I realize that RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha’s and HeroQuest Glorantha’s Glorantha are not exactly the same, I still do my best to blend them in a single world as both lines offer fantastic products.
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only treatment of this tribe currently available. All along the book the main focus is on the As such, obviously, it will be superseded by the specific agenda of the various NPCs described. forthcoming Sartar Homeland Book for RQ: G, Political economical or religious, these agenda but if your players are feisty enough I am are conflicting enough to insure that confident they will have ample time to wreak internecine and external conflict will erupt, havoc in my Malani tribe before the new version giving the PCs ample opportunity to weight in. is available for a “reset”. The ancient connexion Managing many NPCs can be challenging but of the clan with the forces of Darkness, you will find at the end of the book all the NPCs especially trolls, is also addressed here. summed up in a table offering all pertinent information. No index is given: CTRL+F is so The clan’s presentation includes full much more effective. descriptions of its social, political and religious pillars. The ring members and bloodline Considering the potential interplay between headmen are extensively described, with simple the secrets, the places and the various agenda, I gaming mechanics to manage political life. am confident that no two campaigns based on These movers and shakers are supplemented by this material will follow the same course. some maverick figures: itinerant craftsmen, Furthermore, most of us like to disassemble priests or shamans. Since the clan is stuck what we read in order to build something else between the hammer of the empire and the and I tried to keep this in mind while writing anvil of the resistance, both factions benefit this sourcebook. from an extensive treatment: imperial officers, missionaries and carpetbaggers face heroes, However, In a Merry Green Vale will be double agents and dangerous fanatics, while supplemented by a Lysang scenario pack. darker forces profit from their struggle. Already written, it includes three scenarios: the first two scenarios are respectively a classic The clan hides many secrets, revealed cattle raid, with a political twist, and a sandbox- through the description of various relics, sacred style rescue mission; the last one is far more places and heroquesting lore. One Heroquest is complex. A mysterious creature is attacking the fully described, complete with technical gaming Lunar slave farm: when ordered by their information, an exception to the system-less chieftain to hunt the beast for the benefit of the approach I favoured elsewhere. In fact, some of imperial steward the PC fall into a nest of the game mechanics proposed can be used with intrigue where politics and myths are on a any other Heroquest. collision course.
Finally, a full gazetteer of the Arfritha Vale All three scenarios have been written with the describes in details the more significant objective to kick-start long-term campaign locations of the valley, offering many more dynamics: none of them allows for perfect story hooks rooted in Eurmali maze, solutions since the best campaigns are woven antediluvian Aldryami feuds, secluded from scenario loose ends. “lovecraftian” half-troll communities, an obsidian lake born from betrayed love, Mallia One last word: as you probably noticed, I am worshipping widows or long-forgotten Entruli not an English native speaker so all tribal edit sacred places. Of special interest is the full is welcome: lists of corrections will be description of a Lunar slave estate: it can easily appreciated and can be sent to be transported on the territory of another clan. [email protected] for integration.
Sample file
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The Return of the
Lost Children
Although I have been into RPG for quite a long but having been raised in foreign lands, they time, I completely missed RuneQuest and all don’t really know the community of their Glorantha related games until a couple of years forefathers. As such, characters and players will ago when I decided to have a look at Sartar: discover the “playground” at the same pace Kingdom of Heroes. I immediately fell in love which hopefully helps reduce the discrepancy I and decided to try the “clan campaign”. mentioned earlier. They won’t have to ask the GM: “What do I know about this member of the However, I ran into a problem. The “clan ring? How are we getting along?” They will campaign” is based on the assumption that the build their relationships with all the NPCs from characters belong to a tightly-knit community scratch, despite being full members of the clan. whose characteristics they should know perfectly. And any sane GM knows that it is Indeed, when devising the PCs’ backgrounds useless to send pages of background to the don’t forget to insert an episode explaining how players, hoping that they will memorize their they came back once to share into the initiation content. As such, the discrepancy between what rites of the Lysang. Remember: they were the character and the player respectively know raised in exile because their parents were exiled can become a real problem. but, although they had to leave again after the rite, the ring did not refuse them initiation. The players can’t make informed choices Obviously, this means that the PCs, initiated at without constantly asking the GM, “What does the earliest in 1603, will be quite young in 1615 my character know about that?” And, when the game begins. But older PCs are not essentially, the GM is railroading their choice impossible: initiation can happen as late as 17 through his answers. Actually, the appeal of so a PC could be born as early as 1586. Girls are contemporary settings stands in the fact that usually initiated at a younger age. the players hold the key to real free and informed choices. In the usual, more “murder My own advice is to have all the PCs initiated hobo” style, fantasy campaigns, PCs are usually the same year during the same rite2. As such, wandering and player’s ignorance of the setting they will share a very strong bond beyond the is not so problematic: they are basically the fact that they have been raised in different mysterious strangers who arrive somewhere, places. Together with the shared experience of have a crash course on local issues and solve a childhood in exile, being always the “foreign whatever problem is at hand before moving on. guy” bullied by the “local guys,” this will give them a shared reason to stick together against Although I am sure wiser GMs have devised the potential hostility of many Lysang better solutions, that is the reason behind my clansmen, wary that “bad weed seeds grow into decision to play a “returning exiles campaign”. bad weed”. Furthermore, this earlier encounter SampleThe characters are legally members of the clan will justify the PCs me etingfile later on, on an “on
22 If you want to actually play the initiation, another Jonstown Compendium publication, Six Seasons in Sartar, offers complete descriptions of both male and female rites. However, you will have to adapt them to the initiation places favoured by the Lysang: the Storomgopa for boys and the Arfrithafyn for girls.
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