Gamemaster Notes for the Sun County River Ritual

The River Ritual of the Sun People by Michael O’Brien and Troy Bankert
First published in the Swedish fanzine Thot! issue #3
Copyright © 1991 by Michael O’Brien and Stephen Martin

The River Ritual of the Sun People is described on pp.40-41 of Sun County.

The initiate chosen to take part in the River Ritual is ideally an unmarried male, who then enters into a ritual marriage with the nymph. Theoretically, a female could undertake the quest, seeking to marry Zola Fel himself, but this would be unheard of in the patriarchal Sun Dome society, even for one of their Yelornan cousins.

The ritual requirements and difficulties of independent questers vary with their origin. In Prax, three such alternate origins are probable: Storm worshippers, Praxian nomads, and Lunars.

Storm Worshippers: Storm worshippers have the best chance of success of the independents, reenacting their own myths of alliance between Storm and Sea.

The most common among Praxian storm cultists would be the marriage of Rainbow Girl into the Storm pantheon; among Orlanthi, the god’s rescue and wooing of Huraya, a mist spirit.

Praxian Nomads: The river forces are hostile to the nomads, due to Waha’s pollution of the Sounder’s River when he forced her to wash away the remains of the Devil. However, the river is friendly to the Earth powers, as represented by Eiretha, and so while the quest is difficult for them, it is not impossible.

Usually, some force of the river must be faced in Stage II. If the nomad offers gifts or aid, and avoids combat with it regardless of its actions, he can succeed. If he fights and wins, he is enacting Waha’s subjugation of the Sounder’s River. He can succeed in the main quest, but will be considered a foe of the river and will be subject to the geas of Stage IV. The benefits he gains will be tailored towards conquest: a Command spell for a type of river creature or undine, or perhaps a plundered River Eye spell. If the nomad fails to appease or defeat the river force, he may not continue the quest.

Lunars: Because this ritual has certain similarities to river rituals in their own lands, the Lunar priestesses are researching its secrets in the hope that one day they can make a similar pact with Zola Fel to help the many Lunar farmers who are settling in the valley. The Lunars will try to draw on their ties to the Oslir River to complete the quest. But in their conquest of Peloria they exterminated the intelligent life of the Oslir, and so they are distrusted. The Lunars have been making friendly overtures to the Zola Fel cult, and even plan to marry the river god into their pantheon. They are also staunch allies of the Sun Dome temple, so perhaps the quest is possible. The procedure is similar to that of the Praxian nomads, but the penalty for failure at any stage is more severe. Because this ritual has certain similarities to river rituals in their own lands, the Lunar priestesses are researching its secrets in the hope that one day they can make a similar pact with Zola Fel to help the many Lunar farmers who are settling in the valley.

Kinope the Nymph: Daughter of Zola Fel
This naiad is a gentle soul, whose days are spent in blissful frolic with all number of river creatures. Farmers, travellers, nomads and boatmen count themselves lucky if they are fortunate enough to spot her plunging through the currents, for Kinope is a remarkable beauty, in a fragile, waiflike way (illustration p.118 of River of Cradles). She often indulges wayfarers in playful banter and sports with them a while. But it is known that her usually ebullient mood can abruptly sour if she is blundered into when she is at rest in still water, and Kinope is not above swamping boats and driving off intruders with huge undines. The nymph can be seen the length of the river, but always returns to the Sun County area for her ritual obligations in sea season.

She takes this task quite seriously, for the pact she made in distant times with Count Arinsor brings benefits to her father and his river folk. Kinope drinks only ambrosia, the nectar of the gods which bubbles forth from secret springs near the Zola Fel’s headwaters.

Note that Kinope’s abilities exceed those of a normal naiad, for she is the daughter of a god.

Grey note

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Related Pages

• Beyond the Building Wall – Errata
• Sun County – Errata
• The Lunar Coders – Errata
• The Lunar Coders – Maculus Notes
• The Lunar Coders – Pendragon Pass Personality Traits

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Page Last updated: 2022-10-12 18:30:41

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