The Ulronai Thread

[Lucius]

I'm running Turakian Age, and one of my players has an Ulronai.

 

I'm trying to get a handle on these people and find them interesting enough to justify a thread. I'll probably have lots of questions.

 

 

First off - what Gods do they worship? If this information is in the book somewhere I missed it.

 

They seem to set a lot of store by prophecies too.

 

If you can point me to any page in the book, or any other "official" source, with information about the Ulronai, I appreciate it.

 

I am also interested in what you have done with them in your own campaigns, but I want to keep it clear what's "by the book" and what's not.

 

For example, I decided to add a tradition of unarmed combat alongside their swordmastery. As far as I can tell, that's not justified by anything in the book, but it's there in my world.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

I don't expect to find a palindromedary in the Turakian Age

[Steve Long]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

There's very little official information -- I deliberately kept things a bit vague about them. I may have some more information about them somewhere (they started as the people of one of my favorite PCs, Deltarion Bloodlock), but I'm not sure exactly where it is. If I run across it I'll see if there's anything worthwhile that can be done with it.

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

Wasn't the the Ulronai in the fantasy companion 2 for 4th ed?

[Lucius]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

I only know them from the 5th edition Turakian Age book.

 

I may have fantasy companions, some of whom are written up in other threads, but I have never had the Fantasy Companion you speak of.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary makes a fantastic companion, but can't tell me much about Ulronai

[Steve Long]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

Wasn't the the Ulronai in the fantasy companion 2 for 4th ed?

 

In fact they were mentioned in a couple of the Package Deals I submitted for that book -- my very first published work for Hero Games. Those campaign-specific references should've been taken out, either by me or the editor, but no harm done really.

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

Lucius, I found the package deal and they are described as "a mysterious people of unknown origins." So what I have isn't much help. Why am I not surprised that a race of warrior-mages were designed by Steve Long?

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

I'm running Turakian Age, and one of my players has an Ulronai.

 

I'm trying to get a handle on these people and find them interesting enough to justify a thread. I'll probably have lots of questions.

 

 

First off - what Gods do they worship? If this information is in the book somewhere I missed it.

 

They seem to set a lot of store by prophecies too.

 

If you can point me to any page in the book, or any other "official" source, with information about the Ulronai, I appreciate it.

 

I am also interested in what you have done with them in your own campaigns, but I want to keep it clear what's "by the book" and what's not.

 

For example, I decided to add a tradition of unarmed combat alongside their swordmastery. As far as I can tell, that's not justified by anything in the book, but it's there in my world.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

I don't expect to find a palindromedary in the Turakian Age

 

Well, here are all the pages I could find in Turakian Age with significant information about the Ulronai.

 

P.14: Story of the Ulronai defeat by the Lord of the Graven Spear, and his subsequent curse on them. There's a bit more on why the Ulronai attacked the Spearlord on p. 280. (The latter also notes that they originally lived in the Valician Hills, and were led by "chieftains.")

 

P. 15: Legend that an Ulronai wizard provided the spell that allowed the killers of the Spearlord to pierce his defenses.

 

P. 17: Suspicion that the founder of Thalera-Saar, Vulthar Zond, was a renegade Ulronai warrior-mage (the truth about that is revealed on p. 280).

 

P. 30: The largest block of info about Ulronai origins, appearance, and culture, plus the names of several notable Ulronai (sidebar).

 

P. 189: Brief description of The Ulronai Brotherhood, a group of mercenaries.

 

P. 195: Ulronai Warrior-Mage Package Deal (and very brief description).

 

P. 200: Game stats and brief description of Ulronai swordfighting art.

 

P. 240: Beginning of the section on Ulronai warrior-magic, this page also gives some social context.

 

PP. 307-309: Full story of Deltarion Bloodlock; but the legend of his sword Vashturi on p. 307 is the only incidence I could find of an Ulronai interacting with the gods. The descriptions of Vashturi and Deltarion's other weapons also name and describe several Ulronai runes.

 

I could find nothing about specific Ulronai gods in TA, but unless otherwise noted in the text the default religion for humans across Ambrethel appears to be some variant of the High Faith (not necessarily the High Church or Hargeshism), so I think you'd be justified in going with that.

 

For my own campaign I like to use Ulronai warrior-mages in a manner similar to the "Xambrian wizard hunters" from the Talislanta setting: mysterious solitary figures, distrusted and feared by most people, but sought out by potential employers for "impossible" missions which only their unique and deadly skills suit them for.

 

Should you desire it, I think they'd be an appropriate source for this setting's analogue to Elric or Corum.

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

Sorry forgot to mention that there is a brief couple of sentences on their religon. And mentions that they have their own sword-though no stats. And a list of suggested disadvantages and roleplaying tips. There is a college of warrior-magery in the spell lists.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

Sorry forgot to mention that there is a brief couple of sentences on their religon.

 

May I ask where those might be found?

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

There's a bit more on why the Ulronai attacked the Spearlord on p. 280. (The latter also notes that they originally lived in the Valician Hills' date=' and were led by "chieftains.")[/quote']

 

I forgot to mention that, pursuant to this tidbit re the Valician Hills, I made the deliberately vaguely-described Coven of D'yos (as mentioned on TA p. 194 and 289) Ulronai for my campaign, protecting their people's ancient sacred sites in the Hills, overseeing and helping to unite the remaining scattered Ulronai.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

A few more thoughts:

 

Stoneface Hill in Keldravia, where the Spearlord decimated the Ulronai (see TA p. 14), could be a place of pilgrimage for modern Ulronai, or to commune with the spirits of their ancestors. Since the Ulronai curse was pronounced upon them there, it might be key to breaking that curse. A powerful necromancer might come there to wrest the secrets of warrior-magic from an Ulronai ghost, or even try to raise an army of undead Ulronai. And the stone heads at the summit of the hill were carved by an unknown people long before the battle -- perhaps they have supernatural properties that interacted in unknown ways with that event.

 

Ulro, the father of the Ulronai race, is said to have been born not of woman, but of a sword. He then took that sword up to battle monsters and demons, before slaying and being slain by the Demon of the Moon (see TA p. 30). But the fate of the sword isn't mentioned. What would be the effect of someone finding and wielding it again? Become leader of all Ulronai? Be possessed by the spirit of Ulro? Return the Demon of the Moon to life? And could a modern Ulronai character actually be a new child of the sword?

[Lucius]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

May I ask where those might be found?

 

I was wondering that too. One reason I'm curious about Ulronai Gods is that I'm already planning to have a couple of priests of the High Church come sniffing around for heresy (one of the other characters is Drakine and doesn't and doesn't care for Human Gods at all, the other is a shaman more concerned with the spirits and forces she interacts with in a practical way on a daily basis)

 

I did notice the origin in the Valician Hills. And yet their language doesn't seem to be akin to any other. Reminds me of Basques. Yet in a lot of ways they remind me of Gypsies.

 

A few more thoughts:

 

Stoneface Hill in Keldravia, where the Spearlord decimated the Ulronai (see TA p. 14), could be a place of pilgrimage for modern Ulronai

 

I have to find that link again - someone on Obsidian Portal had the same idea.

 

 

My player's character is a Half Elf Ulronai. I have not decided yet how the curse works with hybrids generally, i.e. would any half-Ulronai be accursed, only some of them, only if the father is Ulronai, etc. But I did rule that as far as the Ulronai are concerned, if you're under the curse, you're one of them, and if you aren't, you're not. The player character's father is Ulronai (and probably dead.)

 

Lucius Alexander

 

An ancient palindromedary tagline of mysterious origin

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

May I ask where those might be found?

 

The first paragraph about half-way through, in Fantasy Hero Companion II. It mentions about totems and priesthood. Basically the totem is a dragon and a wolf. Razilarc and Volsendra respectively. And each Ulronai serves how he or she sees fit. The is no structurced priesthood. Also there is no gender biased on who can be an Ulronai warrior-mage too

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

Ah, okay, I didn't pick up on your citing Fourth Edition material, sorry. Not really canon for the Turakian Age setting, but could certainly be worth considering for a customized version of it. Thanks.

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

Ah' date=' okay, I didn't pick up on your citing Fourth Edition material, sorry. Not really canon for the Turakian Age setting, but could certainly be worth considering for a customized version of it. Thanks. [/quote']

 

No biggie. If I understood though from Steve Long's post, then what is printed in fhcII was some of his original notes. And of course you can always use this for before the Turakian Age or post or a splinter group. I can give more (of what little information there is) from the book, I just don't want to get into trouble. Copyrights and all that. Fwiw, by the religious infromation I posted, I always thought of the book of Judges. To paraphrase, in those days, all did what was right in their own eyes.

[Lucius]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

The first paragraph about half-way through' date=' in Fantasy Hero Companion II. It mentions about totems and priesthood. Basically the totem is a dragon and a wolf. Razilarc and Volsendra respectively. And each Ulronai serves how he or she sees fit. The is no structurced priesthood. Also there is no gender biased on who can be an Ulronai warrior-mage too[/quote']

 

Hmmm......totem dragons.....in a world with Drakine as a major race.....

 

And the Lord of the Graven Spear rather pointedly left the Drakine alone...

 

My player is playing a female warrior mage, and likes the idea of no "structured priesthood."

 

I do not, though, that there is one point on which the genders differ - the males, and only the males, have a lot of their personal honor bound up (with their hair) in a silver ring. No similar point of peculiar honor was brought up for females.

 

Fwiw' date=' by the religious infromation I posted, I always thought of the book of Judges. To paraphrase, in those days, all did what was right in their own eyes.[/quote']

 

I keep thinking of both Jews and Gypsies.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

I also keep thinking of palindromedaries, but that's normal. For me I mean.

[Manic Typist]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

Anyone else think the Ulronai were overpowered?

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

I do not' date=' though, that there is one point on which the genders differ - the males, and only the males, have a lot of their personal honor bound up (with their hair) in a silver ring. No similar point of peculiar honor was brought up for females. [/quote']

 

Let's try creating a cultural rationale for the practice: Ulronai men bind their hair with a salashyr because they're not allowed to cut it. Because Ulro's "mother" was a sword, a man taking a blade to his own hair is considered disrepectful. Only the woman closest to a man is permitted to cut his hair for him. As a symbol of this privilege and responsibility, an Ulronai male is given a salashyr by his mother as part of his rite of passage to manhood, and by his wife upon their marriage.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

Anyone else think the Ulronai were overpowered?

 

Well, a warrior-mage with their unique magic and sword martial art is supposed to be an opponent greatly feared by most Ambrethelans. Like everything in HERO, if you're willing and GM-allowed to pay the points, you get what you pay for.

 

Just keep in mind that not all Ulronai are warrior-mages, and you're certainly not limited to that template for Ulronai characters. Taking an example from TA, of the ten members of the mercenary company called the Ulronai Brotherhood, only two are warrior-mages.

[Manic Typist]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

I'm just remembering a fellow PC in our party (my very first) who eventually acquired dragonscale armor....and stacked it with his defensive armor spell. Which is something the GM was probably supposed to squash but... well, that PC's biggest weakness was END. Which made a kind of sense.

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

Anyone else think the Ulronai were overpowered?

 

WE (as in my friends at the time) thought it was chessy that mages could be warriors. But that can also be from the DnD effect. Even though we really didn't play THAT much.

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

Oh another point from my source is that it hints that the Ulronai are a seperate race. So if its true or not, you could play with that angle. Lucius perhaps the Ulronai are in diasporia? Perhaps the priesthood became corrupt and this is why the Ulronai fell and are dispersed?

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

For that matter, they might not even be from Ambrethel originally. There's more to the Earth of that era than what's covered on the map, let alone other worlds.

 

Note that the gods created the Three Brothers and their followers to repopulate the world and give them more worshippers. Perhaps the Ulronai, or at least Ulro, were created by their gods for some hidden purpose. That could be why prophecies are important to them -- they know they're a fated people, although they may not know exactly what that fate is.

 

I also suggest that Ulro be the first to carry a Bloodlock, hence the apparent significance whenever an Ulronai is born with one.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

Oh another point from my source is that it hints that the Ulronai are a seperate race. So if its true or not' date=' you could play with that angle. Lucius perhaps the Ulronai are in diasporia? Perhaps the priesthood became corrupt and this is why the Ulronai fell and are dispersed?[/quote']

 

That's certainly a potentially interesting variation one could play with, although the official lore is very clear that the curse of the Lord of the Graven Spear is what's haunting them. Oh, there's another potential route to lifting the curse: the shards of the Graven Spear, which TA p. 284 asserts are still beneath the Shaanda River, bringing ill luck to the towns along it.

 

I also amplified a bit on that curse for my own campaign. As written for the Ulronai Disadvantage/Complication, it makes people of other races distrust and fear them. So after the battle, why didn't the survivors just withdraw back to their homes in the Valician Hills, and keep away from other peoples? Certainly the terms of the curse as pronounced by the Spearlord (TA p. 14) were that "you will all wander without home or lands until you perish."

 

I suggest that the effects of the curse are cumulative. The more Ulronai gather in one place, and/or the longer they remain there, the more powerful its negative influence becomes. Perhaps neighboring races are unconsciously prompted to drive off this "dangerous infestation;" or perhaps monsters are drawn to attack them, or their general luck grows worse.

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: The Ulronai Thread

 

I suggest that the effects of the curse are cumulative. The more Ulronai gather in one place, and/or the longer they remain there, the more powerful its negative influence becomes. Perhaps neighboring races are unconsciously prompted to drive off this "dangerous infestation;" or perhaps monsters are drawn to attack them, or their general luck grows worse.

 

I like and I can see a devious GM giving a phy lim:ant-array or phy lim: inversion of ninjitsu. The more Ulronai are together, they suffer OCV and DCV penalties. Nothing too cruel but could keep you from having a whole bunch of Ulronai players together, or a reason why a Ulronai would side with other races.