I01 — Dream A Little Dream Of Me
1627
Season, Week, Day
Dramatis Personae
Dramatis Personae
Nala
and then
Berra
Suuraki
Valseena
NPC
Gods
Demons
A dead Lunar orphan
A whole bunch of spirits
A dead shaman
A panicked assistant shaman
Some healers
Events
“Let us continue our examination of the Crocodile cycle. There may be a spot quiz at the end, where you explain how this ties into our rather long lecture cycle.1At an early point here, possibly last session, a sharp shape showed Naladile how to lurk under the water, trying to tempt her to disobey her mother and lunge out onto the banks for food. She was hesitant at first, but later found out that she had picked up the trick.“
“Salt and Teeth lay in the water. And a beast came down to drink. She lunged at it, but it was Storm Bull. And Salt and Teeth was slain, and slept in the darkness, eternal.”2Nala kept trying to be cunning like a crocodile, but was sometimes cunning like Nala instead, as the personalities bled between the two. However, this part was very very easily done.
“Storm Bull, or Urox, is the Berserker God of Ancient Sartar. A drunken violent fanatic. A mythical football fan of the recent past, if you will.”
“Salt and Teeth lay in the water. Beasts came down to the water to drink. She ate, for she was hungry. But Grandfather Mortal and Father Mortal were wrathful, for their beasts were dead. And they called upon Foundchild, to save them from the beast.
Foundchild tracked it. And identified where it was. And laid down a decoy beast, tethered so Salt and Teeth could neither swallow it all the way down, nor sick it all the way up, but instead she was trapped, and with arrows and spears, Foundchild slew her. And she laid in the darkness, eternal.”3Naladile fell victim to a tethered beast and a large hook.
“This is more interesting, to my mind. This is the victory of civilisation and intelligent man over raw brute animal power.”
“Salt and Teeth lay in the water. Beasts came down to the water to drink. She ate, and all was well, for she was hungry. But Grandfather Mortal and Father Mortal were sad, for they had loved their beasts, and they were dead. And they wept, and Yinkin heard their tears, and said, “I can rid you of this beast, for I will find it amusing. But there will be a cost.”
And they said, “What cost, little God?”
And Yinkin replied, “Oh, only that you shall give me worship, for all your days.”
And it was agreed.
Yinkin strolled down to the waters edge, and he called out, “Oh great Queen, let me show you where more food is, for you are so magnificent.”
And Salt and Teeth agreed. And Yinkin led her out of the main water, and into a lagoon, where there was great food supplies. And she feasted, but then she was too large to get out of the lagoon. And Yinkin laughed, and waited as the water dried up. And then leapt onto her back, and ate her, for he had tricked her.”4Salt and Nala-teeth did not really trust Yinkin, and first of all, did not eat much, to keep hidden in the lake and so as not to be hunted again. Then, as the waters went down she left it, searching for the sea where she had said she would meet him. On the way she saw Mostal, on a dam or bridge, and she surged at him, but hurt herself on the dressed stone. She managed to get up to where he was, but bad things happened and she nearly woke again.
“This is another interesting interpolation. I think the debt to Loki or Brer Rabbit are also clear. A trickster solution to the problem o power and violence. Some versions of this have Eurmal as the trickster, but I think the point is clear. Further versions involve Yinkin/Eurmal bribing Mostal, who as we recall had no love for the crocodile, to build a dam, to complete the entrapment of the crocodile goddess. There are as many versions of these myths as there were storytellers… or so we may assume. Much is lost to us, but the underlying message is clear-ties between ancestors, their Glorantha varied.”
“And Salt and Teeth lay in the water, and men gathered around. And they took their beasts to the water. And she ate, and was happy. But then her Mother complained to her Husband, and said, “My love, my daughter will not listen to me, and eats all. Will you allow this?”
And Yelmalio bound on his golden armour, and took his mighty spear. And walked down to the river. And Salt and Teeth watched. And then he strode into the waters, and she ate him entire. And from her innards, he pierced his way out with spear and dagger. And so Salt and Teeth died. But Yelmalio did not notice a small chip was taken from his spear, and at this weak point, his spear would shatter, when he needed it most.”5Nala’s teeth dulled Yelmalio’s spear, but she did not take the power into herself.
“This, in contrast to our previous experiences of Eurmal and Foundchild, is the heroic solution to the problem of the raw animal power. So many solutions to the same issue. Naturally, we know not all of them can be the case. The last little addition, naturally, ties it into the Yelmalio ‘Hill of Gold’ myth. This may be a later addition- not least because Yelmalio may well have taken inspiration from some of the Pendraken cycle of myths.”
“In the Great Darkness, oh my children, and children of my children, all suffered.
Some lost all, but all lost some.
Without the heat of his lust upon her fertility, Salt and Teeth could not lay eggs, nor could she raise again those dead eggs to life.
Monsters beset all sides, and her mother, Ernalda, came to her saying, “Oh my fierce daughter, I am beset upon all sides by horrors! I feel my life draining, and I shall die!”
Salt and Teeth smiled, showing all of her teeth, and said to her mother, “Well, I shall share with you my Secret.”
And with that, she buried Ernalda in the earth, where the hot sun would shine on her, and exhausted, collapsed.”
“Here we see the links between Salt and Teeth and rebirth, and the link between the crocodile eggs hiding in the earth and the seeds doing the same.”
“And Salt and Teeth slept in the Dark coolness. And a woman came up to her, and said, “Tell me, great one, how do you die, and live again?” And Salt and Teeth told her of the Eggs, and how Yelm’s heat warmed them, and she lived again. And the woman nodded, thoughtfully, naked and helpless though she was, and picked up an egg, and said “Thank you.” And her eyes were like unto those of a crocodile, but the colours were different.”6The woman called herself Sedalya, but said she had been Teelo Norri in life. Nala did not at the time notice how the Moon Rune belt buckles she had changed to look more like crocodile eyes. The reason she did not notice was that she woke up, finally, in the tent, to find herself badly wounded. She ran outside (on all fours) and was partially healed by Valseena. Suuraki and Valseena dealt with her, and with Affada, who was lamenting that Erhehta was dead and he was going to be really upset about it.
Valseena sought advice, finding Berra; Berra said to take this to Venna, so they did that, telling as much of the tale as Valseena knew. Venna listened, complained it was always ‘you lot’, and then asked Valseena if she was willing to use her magic to talk to horses. When Valseena said yes, Venna tasked her with getting into the city and finding out the state of the cavalry. They went to tell the others.
Nala was taken, very carefully, to the healers’ tent.
“And this last piece appears to have different grammar and styling. A later solution myth, I think, and it draws the attention to the moon shape and the shape of crocodile eyes.”
Session Quotes
“Why don’t crocodiles like fast food?”
“It’s too hard to catch.” – Berra
“Storm Bull: What looks like half a crocodile?”
“Storm Bull: The other half.” – Berra
“How do you adjust the thermostat in Prax?”
“With a croco-dial.” – Berra
“Why should you be careful of your money by the Zola Fel?”
“Mugger Crocodiles.” – Berra
“How many legs does a crocodile have?”
“… Give that zebra back, crocodile!” – Berra
“What do crocodiles call Impalas?”
“Appetisers!” – Berra
“What do you get if you cross a crocodile with a chicken?”
“Croc-a-doodle-doo!” – Berra
“Why shouldn’t you double-cross Salt and Teeth?”
“It’ll bite you in the end…” – Berra
“How do you slow-cook a crocodile?”
“In a croc-pot.” – Berra
“Which root veg does Salt and Teeth like most?”
“Croc-quet potatoes.” – Berra
“Why didn’t the Praxian river help Engizi invade the sky?”
“The Zola Fell.” – Berra
“BERRA!” – Nala
“I’m sitting here trying to be heroic.” – Nala
“And Berra is not helping.” – Valseena
“You seem to be labouring under a misapprehension.” – Suuraki
“What’s the favourite leisure activity? Croq-wet” – Nala
“What do you get when you try to turn a large river reptile in a narrow river?”
“A crooked-ile.” – Berra
“We had a deal. You badly accented thing!” – Nala
“You should hear his Irish accent!” – Valseena
“I thought that was his Irish accent.” – Nala
“Why does the crocodile like eating that sort of antelope?”
“S’able.” – Berra
“What did Mostal make out of Salt and Teeth’s jaws?”
“A croco-file.” – Berra
“If you fail to keep your word and then someone call you on it, you can always weeps some kind of tears…” – Suuraki
“What sort of river beast is good at getting other people to do things?”
“A dele-gator.” – Berra
“All this existentialism makes me hungry. Eat something.” – Nala
“Why shouldn’t you take on a river hunter in court?”
“They make amazing liti-gators.” – Berra
“What did Salt and Teeth do when Storm Bull stood on her back end?”
“Went to the Retail outlet.” – Berra
“(She was looking for a second.)” – Berra
“What’s Teeth and Salt’s favourite dip?”
“Crocomole.” – Berra
“Oh, no, a hydrus.” – Nala
“Why shouldn’t you play poker with a crocodile?”
“You’ll lose each hand.” – Berra
“You should always be ready to pass away in your camouflage form. That way you can dia-a-log.” – GM
“You are lying there, all nice and warm, and then suddenly it all goes dark again.” – GM
“THAFUCK?” – Nalabeast
“But this time, it doesn’t hurt.” – GM
“Being of water, I know that six inches can make a lot of difference in the water.” – Nalabeast talks about heat
“Yelmalio got a 000 on his Checking My Kit battle roll.” – Berra
“With time…” – GM
<<group has pedantry questions>>
“A different part of now, that is also now.” – GM
“I just want to know which me is me and which me isn’t me. – Naladile
“”You are all you. We are all us.” – GM
“Do you know my mother?” – Nala
<<fails to take the most obvious YOUR MOMMA joke ever>> – GM
“I know how it was done, just not how to do it.” – Sedaya
“I could eat you and see if you came back?” – Nala
“That, in the land of Death, would be an experiment indeed.” – Sedaya
“In the land of the living I was known as Teelo Nori.” – Sedaya
“You come ploughing up to the sacred enclosure….” – GM
“They don’t plough. They’re nomads.” – Berra
“Good point. You come raiding up to the sacred enclosure…” – GM
“Just for a second you thought you saw tail.” – GM
<<heroically says nothing>> – Berra
“Oh, that’s it. I thought they were legs. It’s my TAIL! Rear up.” – Nala
“What are you doing, it’s a Chaos beast, we have to kill it!” – Suuraki
“It’s Nala!” – Valseena
“You’ve heard a death rattle before. You can add one to it.”- GM-Berra
“Bad things. The New Gods came!”- Affada
“I think you can now finish Nala off, actually.” – GM
“Can we use different words?” – Nala
“The cow puts in grave goods. Which is a bit weird, because cows don’t have hands.” – GM-Berra
“Or grave goods”- GM
“Does this mean Sedayla is my grand-daughter????” – Nala
“I know who gives good advice. Berra!” – Berra
“She is in no way stressed and over-worked.” – Berra
“You’re not helping.” – Valseena
“Again, misapprehension.” – Suuraki
“Berra looks almost entirely innocent.” – Berra
“Buffing that acting skill?” – Nala
“No, she has nothing to hide.” – Berra
“Berra does not understand the Praxian swearing.” – Berra
“I have one more question. Why is it always you lot?” – Venna
“Because I heard a crocodile in the camp, and ran towards it.” – Valseena
- 1At an early point here, possibly last session, a sharp shape showed Naladile how to lurk under the water, trying to tempt her to disobey her mother and lunge out onto the banks for food. She was hesitant at first, but later found out that she had picked up the trick.
- 2Nala kept trying to be cunning like a crocodile, but was sometimes cunning like Nala instead, as the personalities bled between the two. However, this part was very very easily done.
- 3Naladile fell victim to a tethered beast and a large hook.
- 4Salt and Nala-teeth did not really trust Yinkin, and first of all, did not eat much, to keep hidden in the lake and so as not to be hunted again. Then, as the waters went down she left it, searching for the sea where she had said she would meet him. On the way she saw Mostal, on a dam or bridge, and she surged at him, but hurt herself on the dressed stone. She managed to get up to where he was, but bad things happened and she nearly woke again.
- 5Nala’s teeth dulled Yelmalio’s spear, but she did not take the power into herself.
- 6The woman called herself Sedalya, but said she had been Teelo Norri in life. Nala did not at the time notice how the Moon Rune belt buckles she had changed to look more like crocodile eyes. The reason she did not notice was that she woke up, finally, in the tent, to find herself badly wounded. She ran outside (on all fours) and was partially healed by Valseena. Suuraki and Valseena dealt with her, and with Affada, who was lamenting that Erhehta was dead and he was going to be really upset about it.
Valseena sought advice, finding Berra; Berra said to take this to Venna, so they did that, telling as much of the tale as Valseena knew. Venna listened, complained it was always ‘you lot’, and then asked Valseena if she was willing to use her magic to talk to horses. When Valseena said yes, Venna tasked her with getting into the city and finding out the state of the cavalry. They went to tell the others.
Nala was taken, very carefully, to the healers’ tent.
