Glorantha: The Trickster The Trickster by Greg Stafford and Sandy Petersen originally published in Questlines #1 This document is Copyright © 1998 Issaries, Inc. It may be freely linked to, and one copy may be printed for personal use, but any other reproduction by photographic, electronic, or other methods of retrieval, is prohibited. Table of Contents Mythos and History Trickster Aspects Mythos and History Trickster has been born many times. No one knows how many. Most people say it has been too many. Trickster goes by many names and many shapes. He is a liar, a shapeshifter, a joker, a murderer, an innocent victim, a ravenous glutton, usually insatiably selfish but occasionally touchingly generous. He is a paradox and a mystery, or else too shallow to be real. His life and stories are jumbled, though the God Learners discerned or imposed an order upon them. At first Trickster was mischievous, but harmless. He pulled pranks, such as letting a tangle of boggles loose at Yelm's feast, but there was no harm in him. Since Death had not yet come even the worst devastation was only a temporary annoyance to the gods and First People, who reformed themselves and continued their lives. The growing confusion of the Gods Wars made Trickster's impact more widespread. His jokes changed on the world, and many fearful gods blamed their problems upon him. He became the scapegoat for the problems of the world, and from that time everyone began to hate, fear, and despise him. One time Vadrus chopped him up and fed him to chickens, hoping that he would be reborn as a harmless bird. Trickster became disgusted with the hypocrisy of the world and vowed that it deserved to be destroyed. He became Eurmal the Destroyer, and set upon a deliberate path to assist the demise of the universe. His most critical actions were to facilitate the discovery, use, and continued reuse of Death. Despite his former success at destruction, or maybe because of it, Trickster sought to halt the process. The Theyalans say Orlanth forced him to do this. In company with other friends of the storm god, Trickster trekked through the Underworld and succeeded in the famous Lightbringer's Quest. Since the Dawn the Trickster has achieved no great success. Everyone remembers his inconsistency, his infidelity, and his gross social habits. Even his friends only grudgingly acknowledge his actions to save the world. He is given enough worship to maintain his many shrines. The Second Age saw the realization of a great dream. Hofhadalos the Nonwise, a God Learner, privately financed the construction of The Temple of United Eurmal. This was a collection of all known Trickster shrine types, so trickster priests could obtain all Trickster rune spells at one place. The experiment worked, though no new spells came to light from the massed worship of thousands of initiates. But it was judged a failure by Hofhadalos's peers, because of the overwhelming influence of the disorderly god and his minions, each of whom performed one or two catastrophic actions for their favorite city, movement, or friend before being caught and condemned by local authorities. Hofhadalos himself was trapped into an inescapable feast, where all other guests were boggles and madmen. He is still there. Without his support the temple went bankrupt and was condemned to be razed. However, the land of Slontos sank beneath the sea before the demolition. Some tricksters claim that their cult did it. Since the defending tricksters also went beneath the waves, many people doubt their claim, or counterclaim that they got their own justice. No one openly acknowledges himself to be a hero of Trickster, though some are suspected of such. Funeral rites are not important for any Trickster cult. They openly put forth that life and death are both illusions, that they will undoubtedly change after either experience, and embrace wildly variant life-after-death creeds. Most scholars agree that Trickster's Runes include Illusion, Disorder, and Change. Trickster Aspects A single fact unites the many subcults which collectively comprise this religion: they all disagree. In fact, they cannot even agree what rune he has (Illusion, Change, or Disorder). The idea of a world-wide "Cult of Trickster" is laughable, and is the imposition of God Learner thinking, not internal organization. The Trickster religion is an illusion. It does not exist in any formalized sense. Those who worship Trickster in his many forms each belongs to a separate subcult which has, at most, two divine spells. Each shrine operates completely independently. Each Trickster subcult is separate from all others, each with its own divine spell. His temples are only shrines. Paradoxically, these many shrines work in unofficial harmony, for a worshiper can get rune spells from any shrine. However, the wide distance between shrines permits only well-traveled tricksters to carry a wide array of spells. Spirits of the Trickster can be summoned and worshiped as spirit cults by shamans. Hence, the Trickster is one of the most common and widespread spirit cults in existence. Some shrines provide identical spells, though they worship different aspects of the god. By categorizing them by spells we can discern several "types" which act as subcults. Destroyer Trickster often got angry, and depending on the story told he killed off a family (Peloria's Holdbright dynasty, after Yelm died), a type of animal (the three-horns of Pamaltela), or the whole world (in Theyalan myth). Dismemberer At various times Trickster takes parts of his body off, and then restores them. Among the Theyalans he passed his body parts through a hole in a wall, and reassembled himself on the far side. A story told on Pamaltelan grasslands is of his five years as a head, seeking the rest of his body which he'd lost. Firebringer Many people agree that Trickster, in one form or another, stole fire from the darkness. Among the Pentans he was Raven, in Pamaltela he was Hare, and for the Theyalans he was a Lightbringer. Fool Sometimes the god saves himself by making everyone laugh, or otherwise amuses others. In Tarien the badger brothers planned to eat him, but he caused them to laugh so hard they died. In Theyalan mythology Eurmal's amusements include puns, prancing, and pratfalls before Orlanth lets him off the hook. Fright Trickster finds it amusing to frighten others. Elves hate him, because his terror lurks in the depths of their woods. In Ralios he got food by frightening children to death. In Peloria he began a reign of terror among dying empires, frightened off even trolls for a while, then succumbed to his own fears. Glutton Never-ending capacity marks the hungry trickster. In Kralorela he punished his enemies by eating everything edible in the land, but burst because he could not hold it all. He once out-ate Kyger Litor, saving his own life but impoverishing the troll community. Along the Pamaltelan coast he is the Catsup Slob because he puts the local spicy sauce on everything. Imp A playful, but essentially harmless, character. In Pamaltela he burned off Pamalt's hair once, another time fooled everyone into putting their clothes on backwards, and a third time made the Artmali oversleep when Pamalt was coming to visit. In Ralios he taught everyone a dance which they could not stop until they made him laugh. Mask Trickster knows many ways to cheat others. Sometimes he does it for profit, and sometimes just to harm others. His disguise as The Mask creates false reasons and worship which seem useful to those who join but proves always to be empty and meaningless. Murderer Trickster has dispatched many other beings. Some were by accident, as when he made the House of Horvanglos collapse. Sometimes it was necessary, as when he ate all of the red headed women of the Pamaltela grasslands. Sometimes it was for vengeance, as when he slew Little Zorangos who insulted Trickster's mother. Sometimes it was for fun, as when he burnt the trade fleets of Moskatall and Sigtrigor. Rogue Trickster often lived by his wits, and occasionally was successful. In Fronela he tricked the ancient kings into feeding him for seven years before they discovered he never fulfilled his promises, and in Kralorela he sold imaginary armies in return for sleeping with the imperial harem. Seducer Trickster has incredible skills to seduce the opposite sex. In one story of the East Isles, Trickster lives seventy eight years, sleeping each night with a different married woman. Sometimes his skills prove his undoing. In Peloria an idle boast causes the local king to test Trickster, who successfully seduces almost every female sent to him including a century-old virgin priestess, one hundred leper women, and a grizzly bear. He is halted only by Gorgorma, a goddess with teeth in a bad place. In Theyalan mythology he even seduces Sinjota, the demon of darkness guarding the gates to the underworld, who eats her lovers. (She ate Trickster, too.) Shapechanger Trickster often changes his shape. The various shrines are all dedicated to one or another change, and so the spells are usually Become Something-or-other, often an animal, but sometimes a type of tree, a rock, or even (in Naskorion, a city of Ralios) a dirty shirt or (in Pent) a pile of dung. Thief Trickster's favorite form of thievery is stealing from friends or companions. In Tanisor Trickster took the stirrups and saddles from the steeds of Basmol, so none of the Basmoli could ever ride animals. In Ralios he took away Orlanth's flying boots, so the chieftain of the gods...
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