Elric-Cult of Vezhan

[tarkhan bey]

Is this cult outlined in the current edition of Cults of the YK?

If not, I have a few ideas for it and would appreciate any other thoughts such as gifts and compulsions and why persons think that they might be appropriate to the cult.

My first notion would be that Vezhan relates to Lassa in the way that Pyaray relates to Straasha. I am thinking that, unlike Straasha, Lassa was victorious in her conflict with Vezhan and that Vezhan's worship is now all but unknown, save to a few among the people of Phum and Pan Tang.
Any ideas about the myth of Vezhan's defeat? Might the Lady Fileet have been involved?

Secondly, Vezhan hates the Myrrhn above all others as believes them to be the favoured children of Lassa. His ultimate goal might be to corrupt them and although he hates them as 'shefanhow', he would not be above using the disenfranchised among them to advance his aims.

Finally, most of the avian allies of Vezhan are long since driven from this plane of existence. What sort of creatures might they have been?
Those avian creatures that worship Vezhan are renegades amongst their own kind. The robbers, murderers and carrion eaters among birds are especially prevalent, eg; Magpies and Jackdaws(thieves), Shrikes and Cuckoos(murderers) and Buzzards, Vultures and especially seagulls, as well as members of the crow/raven family(carrion eaters).
Those pigeons who live in human settlement reliant on humans rather than in the woods might be the beggars of the avian community.
Not all of the members of the breeds mentioned are members of Vezhan's court. Most of them are acting within their natural behaviours. The town pigeons are probably the main exceptions.

Thoughts on compulsions and gifts would be good as well. What might the cult skills be?

 

[Loz]

Yes, Vezhan is in CotYKII and, yes, its the enemy cult of Lassa...

 

[tarkhan bey]

That's good news. I Haven't yet got Cults 2ed but I'm gonna order it from Leisuregames in the UK today. They have a pdf offer along with the hardcopy purchase, so i'll be able to get it today.



One of my PC's is a Myyrhyn(in my Southern Cities campaign). He hopes to discover why the Myyyrhyn are becoming a wingless race. He pacted to Vezhan who promised him the salvation of his people in a cave near Sequaloris.
En route, he fell into the hands of Dharijorian slavers and was tortured near to death, having his wings cut off in the process by their leader, Count Tarkis(a sword ruler initiate). He has developed the passions of Hatred(Count Tarkis of Lashmar) and hatred (Sword Rulers).He has become brutalised by events and has become a vicious and sadistic killer, his life defined by his hatreds..
He currently believes that Vezhan has betrayed him having abandoned him to the mercies of the 'shefanhow' hating Count of Lashmar.

 

[tarkhan bey]

Hurrah for Loz, I finally received my copy of CotYK2. 8)
It was definitely worth getting it for the new cults that you included. The cult of Vezhan was of particular interest to me.
Although I like what you did with it, I'm going to expand on it a little in my own YK. I would like your opinions about some of the things in the original post as well as some further ideas below( as well as those of anyone else who cares to comment).

Are all birds really enslaved by Vezhan? :shock: :?
Where does Lady Fileet fit in? I reckon that in my YK, the noblest of birds will have remained faithful to Lassa and to Fileet, as well as those that Vezhan regarded as of little use-songbirds, little sparrow types etc.
Fileet is therefore an obvious ally for Lassa in her ongoing conflict with Vezhan.

Is it likely that the conflict on Xerlerenes between the boatmen and the air sharks is another manifestation of this particular struggle?
Could the air sharks be these 'Iqari' that you mention? If not, how do you envisage them?

On trawling thru some of my other RQ stuff, I came across a hybrid critter called a Vultriff. It's a particularly loathesome griffon relative being a part vulture, part hyena. I'm thinking that something like this might be representative of the sort of creature that Vezhan might create from his own aerial servants or from captured followers of Lassa and Fileet. Your thoughts on this would be good.

I'm going to add an extra gift and several compulsions as well.

Gift - Divine Training.

Compulsions - Attention Deficit, Kleptomania(Thieves and Scavengers), Merciless(Murderers), Rancid(Scavengers and Carrion eaters).

 

[Loz]

Are all birds really enslaved by Vezhan?

No, of course not. Remember, you're reading a myth; this is one of many stories those venerating Vezhan tell. In realms where he rules supreme, then yes; Fileet herself will be his captive, but not in the YK.

Where does Lady Fileet fit in? I reckon that in my YK, the noblest of birds will have remained faithful to Lassa and to Fileet, as well as those that Vezhan regarded as of little use-songbirds, little sparrow types etc.
Fileet is therefore an obvious ally for Lassa in her ongoing conflict with Vezhan.

See above. But you could put crows and vultures in Vezhan's service without any difficulty. I've never considered the relationship between Fileet and Lassa, although there would be one. Perhaps they're sisters or cousins?

Is it likely that the conflict on Xerlerenes between the boatmen and the air sharks is another manifestation of this particular struggle?

No, I think its completely unrelated, but its a personal opinion. Your Elric will vary.

Could the air sharks be these 'Iqari' that you mention? If not, how do you envisage them?

Oh, the Iqari are very well envisioned - and they're not air sharks. You'll find RQII stats for them in 'Monster Coliseum'. See http://www.gwenthia.org/ftp/The%20Book%20of%20the%20Iqari.pdf for a lot more on them as a species. Imagine them as perverted to Chaos, but once of more... noble origins and you can make some easy connections with the Myrrhn.

On trawling thru some of my other RQ stuff, I came across a hybrid critter called a Vultriff. It's a particularly loathesome griffon relative being a part vulture, part hyena. I'm thinking that something like this might be representative of the sort of creature that Vezhan might create from his own aerial servants or from captured followers of Lassa and Fileet. Your thoughts on this would be good.

Its more Dharzi-like to me, but that's a personal view. You should use what fits best with your campaign

 

[tarkhan bey]

Myths.....of course.
I only just received the book and jumped straight to the bit about Vezhan. Only today did I see the sidebar about myths and their truths being debatable.
Three months of sleep deprivation with a new baby really is starting to take it's toll.
I reckon that you are right about the Vultriff being more like a Dharzi construct. I think I may still use it a winged demon of combat at some stage though as it really is a horrible beastie. :twisted:
The Iqari are pretty cool. I don't have Monster Coliseum but 'Curly Werebear' let me borrow his copy. You are absolutely right, they are most definitely not airsharks of Xerlerenes.
So, they are native to Gwenthia. Are they also native to the Young Kingdoms and if so where from? I can only think that they must be from the Ragged Pillars or one of the mountain ranges of the Unknown East if they are. I don't reckon they can be native to the western continent as that would place them geographically too close to the Myrrhn, wouldn't you reckon?
I wonder if your intention would be to have them as a runic summoning like the Elenoin or the Grahluks. If so, how many points would it take to summon one of them?

 

[havercake lad]

6pts as per page 60 in magic of the Young Kingdoms.

 

[Loz]

So, they are native to Gwenthia. Are they also native to the Young Kingdoms and if so where from? I can only think that they must be from the Ragged Pillars or one of the mountain ranges of the Unknown East if they are. I don't reckon they can be native to the western continent as that would place them geographically too close to the Myrrhn, wouldn't you reckon?

Place them wherever you need to place them, if you use them. Also, I never envisioned the Iqari as being a summoned race, but a mundane race that just lives far away from humans. So they wouldn't necessarily have any summoning cost attached to them, but have been manipulated by Vezhan into serving him.

The Ragged Pillars would be a good place to locate them though.

 

[DamonJynx]

Hey Tarkhan, have you considered using the Ghants (I think that's what they're called) from Corum, Queen of Swords? They were a Chaos-shark thingy that Corum summoned the bird things to destroy. Perhaps you could use them as summoned aerial demons of combat?

 

[havercake lad]

I included details, stats and summoning rules for the Ghan in S&P 89.
Re earlier post I was referring to cost of summoning Air Sharks.

 

[DamonJynx]

I included details, stats and summoning rules for the Ghan in S&P 89.
Re earlier post I was referring to cost of summoning Air Sharks.

Forgive my ignorance John, but aren't they the same? I don't have MotYK.

 

[havercake lad]

The Ghan is possibly a heavily chaos-corrupted and huge air-shark that is effecctively a deamon . It seems to have the addition of colossal wings, which it can use for crushing opponents and prey.
The fact that its Xiombarg's favoured pet and a type of 'leader' or totem for her forcesmeans that using it or fighting it is thwart with possibility of offending a God/dess.

 

[tarkhan bey]

I had completely forgotten about the Ghanh.
It/they(?) would have been a good addition to Vezhan's stable of nasties but Havercake's article firmly links it/them(?) to Xiombarg through the info in the Corum novels.
Great article by the way, I really enjoyed reading it and am certainly going to add some Alofians to my campaign (its future arc will be returning the players to the north west continent).
8)

 

[tarkhan bey]

I had completely forgotten about the Ghanh.
It/they(?) would have been a good addition to Vezhan's stable of nasties but Havercake's article firmly links it/them(?) to Xiombarg through the info in the Corum novels.
Great article by the way, I really enjoyed reading it and am certainly going to add some Alofians to my campaign (its future arc will be returning the players to the north west continent).
8)

 

[havercake lad]

There will be plenty to do in the remote Steppe if my pieces on Xanardwys and the Kardik nomads see print.

 

[tarkhan bey]

Loz,
I have decided to make the Iqari not native to the YK plane and to make them a runic summoning like the Elenoin etc. As you are the rules guy, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind giving me an idea of what their MP value would be?

 

[Loz]

10.

And you should also have the Rune of Air.

 

[tarkhan bey]

Thanks Loz

 

[Trolltruck]

This is awesome stuff!!! I am just now dusting off my old Stormbringer 4e books & trying to get back into YK gaming again via Roll20. Would have been great to have a lot more world building like this to include!

It has been a long time since i have read the saga. Where does Vezhan even appear? I remember the name... but that is about it.