Introduction Welcome to Monster of the Month! This month we continue to explore Rune Masters. Inspired by the RuneQuest Classic supplement of the same name, this series focuses on the most memorable antagonists of a RuneQuest campaign. Rune Masters lead their societies, wield powerful magics, and are pretty much all-around badasses. They can be valued friends or implacable foes—or even alternate twixt the two as the story progresses. In this issue, our attention turns away from humans and toward the Elder Races of Glorantha. The Aldryami— commonly called “elves”—are a race of anthropomorphic plants which care for Glorantha’s forests. Rarely seen outside their well-defended woods, this issue’s Wood Lord of Aldrya, Ehnval Tallspear, will help the gamemaster encourage interaction with these fascinating people, both beneath the canopy, and out under the vast Sky Dome. Beyond describing Ehnval, this supplement also provides Living Copper, a magic plant grown in dryad groves, and a full complement of engaging side characters—including Borulgus, a playful talking bear. This publication references Chaosium’s official publications for RuneQuest using the following abbreviations: RQG (RuneQuest core rules), GB (Glorantha Bestiary), and RBM (The Red Book of Magic). The Aldryami section of the Glorantha Bestiary, pages 16–28, provides important background for this supplement. Familiarity with these pages will greatly enrich your enjoyment of Ehnval Tallspear! Ehnval Tallspear To humans, Ehnval looks somewhat like a life, in his youth Ehnval wandered among the groves woodcarving of an old man. Covered in thick brown carrying messages and stories. He is among the few who bark with many beauty-knots caused by pruning, errant can say their feet have drunk from the Eagle River in branches grow from the top of his head. At the end of the east, and the Volior in the west. these finger-width branches are short, spear-shaped Ehnval’s wanderlust mellowed with age, but he leaves. In Sea Season, Ehnval grows small white flowers, retains some of his sapling-like curiosity. He planted although as one of the Marching Aldryami he doesn’t himself in the Derstrovil Grove, in the region called the usually let these mature into fruit. A Plant Lore roll “Old Woods” by humans, around the time the governor recognizes that Ehnval is related to citrus trees, like of Kosh initiated overtures toward the Aldryami. orange or lemon. This began a series of friendly competitions among In addition to being a mobile plant, Ehnval sticks out the humans of the cities of Longsiland and Esrolia from his fellow Aldryami due to his fine armor and long bordering the Old Woods. Each tried to outdo the spear. These are both shaped from living copper. The other in pleasing the Aldryami of Arstola. Ultimately, spear was a project which took the long-lived brown this competition led to the Vogarth Games of 1528 st, elf several pleasurable decades. when Tarangil of Belernos proved himself strongest and kindest of the competitors. These competitions HISTORY created a tradition of interaction between the peoples Ehnval was planted some time around 1460 st, by of the Old Woods, and the humans of the river valleys. human reckoning. The Aldryami feel no need to be as Throughout this period, Ehnval served as a guard precise as humans about Time. Although a member under his predecessor, a green elf named Nardenya, as of theSample Arstola Forest’s Aldryami communities all his his Wood Lord. This was a timefile of peace and plenty 1 for the whole region. The God-King, Belintar, never Ehnval is still somewhat young for a Wood Lord, ruled the elves of Arstola, but his stable and benevolent around 160 years old. With decades of service ahead, rule of the Holy Country created such prosperity that the elf still enjoys his duties as Speaker to Foreigners everyone wanted his friendship. This Pax Belintaria and Defender of the Grove. He relishes patrolling the nurtured interaction between Aldryami and humans. Derstrovil Grove’s sacred woods, training its plants Despite the God-King’s demise about a decade ago, the to attack trespassers, and retracing the best routes to elves still remember those bountiful times, and haven’t pass through the forest unseen. Ehnval also enjoys his pruned the new friendship—yet. ritual interactions with foreigners. Though, when one As a Wood Lord, Nardenya helped found this trespasses outside the approved time, they do not meet friendship between the Old Woods, and the northern such a friendly elf. cities of Belintar’s domain. She was regarded as a chieftain or king of the elves, although she really just PERSONALITY led embassies to outsiders on behalf of a Council of Ehnval is outgoing—for an Aldryami—but equally Elders. Ehnval accompanied her on these sorties, set within his culture’s traditions. He prefers when all attending contests, games, and fairs, and infrequently beings, whether they possess the Beast, Man, or Plant participating, at the Wood Lord’s request. Unbeknownst Runes, behave predictably. In ritual meetings with to himself, Ehnval was being groomed for leadership. outsiders, for trade or simply to converse—such as Twenty years ago, Nardenya declared that she had negotiating complaints about overgrazing sheep, or grown old. She recommended that Ehnval succeed sharing information about a wild boar running amok— her. After a sacred rite, Nardenya was recognized as Ehnval is a cheerful extrovert. If his rigid expectations a Gardener on the Council of Elders, and Ehnval was of another’s behavior are ruptured, however, he swiftly named the grove’s new Wood Lord. This change in becomes angry, even violent. authority was a surprise to the short-lived outsiders— Beyond consistency and Ehnval’s obvious loyalty to who speculated Ehnval had overthrown Nardenya, or his grove, Ehnval has also come to love Ravella, one of some similar nonsense—but that’s ancient news now, the grove’s dryads. Their love is young, a mere seven at least by human standards. years old. Ehnval feels gentle affection when he wakes Sample file 2 in the spring, and fervent desire each Earth Season. yg m v While alone, he hums elvish love songs while tending to trap-plants and speaking with other denizens of the Much of this publication’s History—and indeed, its forest. Pleasing Ravella with unusual carvings from description of elf-human relations throughout— fallen branches, training squirrels to dance, and similar expresses the acronym YGMV: “Your Glorantha May acts of whimsy are among the few pursuits which coax Vary.” This principle sits at the heart of Gloranthan Ehnval outside his comfort zone of systematic and gaming, especially for those writing for the ritualized behavior. Jonstown Compendium. Ehnval’s greatest fear is winter’s death-dealing chill. In that spirit, the work you now read will inevitably He sleeps with the other brown elves from the first frost vary from what Chaosium may publish in the future in Dark Season until the second week of Sacred Time. on the Arstola Forest and Esrolia. I’ve tried to remain He and the others wake to participate in rituals which consistent with the Guide to Glorantha, but there restore the world. Recently his fear of this silent time are too many unknown variables to claim that this has begun to wilt, because Ehnval so loves the Voria supplement will fit into Chaosium’s future Glorantha. Dance he shares with Ravella during the first dawn of Disclaimer stated, I hope that this work, which the new year. However, the Wood Lord is still frenzied draws in part from a forthcoming publication by during the last several weeks of Earth Season while Akhelas set in Esrolia, will nonetheless present an preparing the forest’s defenses, before Inora’s winds interesting portrait of this Elder Race. While canon force him to slumber. neither supports nor refutes this supplement at this time, I feel that a strained friendship is more engaging MOTIVES than generic interspecies hostility. First and foremost Ehnval has a duty to preserve the Derstrovil Grove. After being a Wood Lord for over two decades, the requisite paranoia is now unconscious behavior. In nearly any situation, he watches for difficult to conceive—but nonetheless possible within portents of betrayal. Glorantha. Ehnval has not yet been assigned his role A more secret motive is readying the Derstrovil in the Reforestation Plan. When the day comes, he Grove for the Great Reforestation Plan. This is a will perform it with joy. That doesn’t mean he’ll be a doomsday plan that the Aldryami of the Arstola genocidal maniac! However, in his heart, life within Forest have spent centuries preparing: growing seeds, the regrown forest for other species is best lived firmly performing rituals, and invoking great magics. Like under Aldryami hegemony. the other Elder Races, the Aldryami have seen the rising True Dragon as a long-foretold sign of utter GAMEMASTERING EHNVAL destruction. Elders from across the forest have voted to act. To survive the coming calamity they will expand EHNVAL AS ENEMY the forest to cover Genertela with the primeval woods Ehnval, like most Aldryami, is found in his forest. He of the Green Age. An example of this can be found in emerges from beneath the canopy of green but rarely, the adventure “The Grove at Green Rock,” published and travels abroad even less. Thus, Ehnval is most in Chaosium’s The Smoking Ruins & Other Stories effective in adventures taking place near or within (although Ehnval’s involvement in this is left to the the Arstola Forest. However, transplanting Ehnval gamemaster). Ehnval and his folk agree with the Arstola elsewhere is relatively simple.