Humakt Draws the Line

Humakt Draws the Line is a ritual in which a hero attempts to enter the Gods War to assume the role of Humakt by reenacting the myth Humakt Divides Life from Death, a story of Humakt finding and mastering Death and separating the living from the dead.

Benefits

The benefits you can select are:

• Redraw the line that once separated the living from the dead. (Useful if you are plagued by ghosts or zombie livestock.)
• Personal prowess.
• Fill our sword-arms with death.
• Keep the undead at bay.

Quester

The quester should ideally be a worshiper of Humakt and have high Combat skills, but Magic and other skills are also useful.

Kerenna or Korestene would both be suitable, if available.

Walkthrough

Kargan Tor

<Quester> meditated on <his/her> blade and rode toward the clamor of death. Looking down at <his/her> sword, <he/she> saw that it was bloodied, and that a warrior of the <other clan> lay dead at <his/her> feet. This clan <likes/dislikes/neither likes nor dislikes> you.

A life claimed, <he/she> is able to find and step into a timeless time. She perceives the cosmic mountain, on which stands the primal war god Kargan Tor. How does <Quester> petition the battle god for the right to be trained?

1. "I fight selflessly."
2. "I fight to uphold tradition."
3. "I fight with certitude."
4. "I fight without fear."
5. Don't ask permission. Fight!

All five options test Combat vs. Divine, but presumably have different modifiers.

Gate of Introspection

<Quester> asks Kargan Tor what more <he/she> can do, now that <he/she> knows how to fight. "Go to the Gate of Introspection," says the sentinel of the cosmic mountain.

<Quester> encounters many false trails along the way. After finding the gate, <he/she> sits in contemplation of it for a year, which is not a mortal year but an instant and an eternity all at once. What lesson does <he/she> seek from this meditation?

1. The secret of Fortitude
2. The secret of Insight
3. The secret of Toughness
4. The secret of Transformation
5. The secret of No Secret

All five options test Prophecy vs. Elusiveness, but presumably have different modifiers.

The choice may sweep through the clan. The quester might age backwards by one day and understand a truth beyond words. On the other hand, failure at this point may age the quester by as many as 10 years.

Death of Grandfather Mortal

On his way back from the Gate, Humakt encounters Eurmal the Trickster, who has discovered Death in the form of a sword. The Gods War swirls and twists. Overlapping but contradictory versions of the same event beckon for <Quester>'s attention. Which incompatible truth does <he/she> move towards?

1. Eurmal slays Grandfather Mortal.
2. Humakt slays Grandfather Mortal.
3. The sword slays Grandfather Mortal.

All three options test Mythology vs. Mercy, but presumably have different modifiers.

Choosing Eurmal slays Grandfather Mortal upholds a truth Rams hold, making other clans of Rams to look favorably upon you.

Choosing The sword slays Grandfather Mortal upholds a strange and distant truth, a noble back at your clan feeling their veins buzzing, being filled with understanding. You may gain good luck with your next raid.

Follow Humakt?

<Quester> remains behind as Humakt heads home with the sword. <He/She> knows that Orlanth will soon take the sword and use it to kill the sun. In Humakt's next action, he severs his ties to Orlanth's tribe. If <Quester> joins this incident, the cohesion and harmony of your clan will suffer, but you would gain considerable magic.

1. Follow Humakt to his break with Orlanth.
2. Move ahead, finding him later in the story.

Choosing to follow Humakt will gain Clan Magic (around 6 points) but will also inflict the "Severed Kinship" Stress. Clan mood will drop, and this penalty will persist for several years, and your nobles will also suffer a penalty to all Leadership tests during this time. However, your Humakt devotees will gain a bonus to many tests, including the ones in this ritual.

Choosing to move ahead, finding him later in the story skips to the next scene.

Zorak Zoran

<Quester>, who has become one with Humakt, holds a broken sword. Orlanth broke it to bits by striking it against the sun. Humakt gathers up the shattered pieces. He finds some of them in the possession of a coalescing darkness spirit named Zorak Zoran. <Quester> knows this is the troll death god, in the process of becoming. Though not yet wreathed in flames, Zorak Zoran already wields a big shard of the sword. Every inch of him screams danger.

1. Ask for the sword piece back.
   Tests Diplomacy vs. Confidence.
2. Attack immediately.
   Tests Combat vs. Duel.
3. Issue an honorable challenge.
   Tests Mythology vs. Elusiveness.
4. Flee this episode, whose outcome inevitably favors Zorak Zoran.
   Tests CombatLore vs. Alertness.

After choosing to ask for the sword piece back, you will be asked whether you wish to offer a gift (goods and/or cows) to Zorak Zoran.

Choosing to attack immediately and winning will have Zorak Zoran concede defeat. Losing will result in the quester's death.

Choosing to issue an honorable challenge will have Zorak Zoran laugh and lunge at you, yet the quester holds true to Humakt's truth. If you survive, your quester is strengthened for the next task.

Choosing to flee this episode will, if successful, keep your quester safe, but they will also feel Humakt's truth slipping away from them. If failed, Zorak Zoran will catch up to the quester and a fight will ensue (as if you had chosen to attack immediately), but your quester will be at a disadvantage.

In defeating Zorak Zoran, your god-talkers may predict good fortune against trolls for the next three or more years.

Drawing the line

Humakt draws the line between life and death with his sword, cutting a vast chasm that drops them into hell. How does <Quester> assist in sending the undead to hell?

1. By shooting arrows into the fray.
   Tests Hunting vs. Alertness.
2. By sweeping aside a skeleton horde.
   Tests Combat vs. Mooks.
3. By taking on the biggest vampire.
   Tests Combat vs. Monster.
4. By wading into a knot of zombies.
   Tests Combat vs. Skirmish.
5. By welcoming death.
   No test; the quester dies but the ritual will likely succeed.

A possible consequence of taking on the biggest vampire is being bitten, putting the quester into a fever. This does not necessarily count as a quest defeat.

Welcoming death will, unsurprisingly, result in the quester dying as the undead swarm over him/her, but this will then allow Humakt to kick the clumped-up undead to Hell, and the ritual will succeed. If the benefit you sought was "personal prowess", Humakt will instead grant your clan a war blessing.

Notes

Performing this ritual involves killing a warrior from another clan. After the ritual ends, that clan is very likely to send over emissaries demanding wergild. See Ritual Killing Redress.

This ritual cannot be performed if Humakt is dead.