The Twelve Stories of Christmas

Kallyr

I've written a lot about Kallyr, here and there. Most of it, sadly, is in "unfinished" status. Let's divide it into three main chunks:

• Stories based on the RQ/KoS/pre-HW Kallyr. Only one ever got finished. The rest may get re-used in part.
• Misc bits based on HOTT battle reports and so on, that are purely IMG and barely fit anything.
• Stories based on the HW/HQ Kallyr: this is where most of my writing is happening

Pre-HW timeline

Back in the RQ days, we knew Kallyr had a link with Polaris, but we also knew that he was a Solar god with next to no Orlanthi presence. "Rigsdal" was unheard of. So, how did she even hear of his existence, never mind get major powers from him?

Take a look at the Polaris myth over in the Vinga section. Then we go on to a sort of meta-story: "So then I hit him"

Misc bits and battle reports

The GloryDay06 campaign report, which starts fitting CHDP nicely and ends up with Denseros running screaming for cover as Kallyr conquers Dragon Pass.

In progress: a report from a wargame that never was, but might have been, as an answer to a challenge related to the Geek Chart, and how low down it I can sink. I just need to work out how to get Captain Kirk into it and I'm there :)

HW/HQ Kallyr

These stories are based on the timeline given for Kallyr in "Orlanth is dead", and her stats and followers given there. If you read carefully, you'll notice that she's obeying HQ rules throughout. At present they're divided into two main chronological areas, which may at some point turn into novels with chapters, but at present are a collection of stand-alone short stories and descriptive scenes. Let me put them in chronological order for you, and include summaries of what I'm working on where there's some chance of finishing it. I've tried to make all of this useable as background for your own stories and games if you want to use it: compatible with all sources I can lay my hands on unless they clash irretrievably themselves, and with as little tied down as possible that might spoil things for you.

Several of these, I have a co-author - Donald Oddy started by helping me polish "Captured", and since then we've been working together on the 1620-based novel. Final text is usually mine, so as to polish out any ugly clashes of style, but much inspiration comes from him, as do many complete scenes and NPCs, especially the Lunar ones. He and his Lunars set a challenge, I and Kallyr write the answer; which then has unintended consequences, usually.

1609-1613: provisional title "Gateway to change".

1610 (probably): "Lookout Hill". Based on the "Dragon Pass" gazeteer entry: "Deloradella wove the Blanket of Gloom from the foulthorn bushes that grew on the hill, so the Thunder Brothers burned them off. " A ceremony which is, naturally, repeated every year. Predictable, and safe, right? This was published in Newt's "Hearts in Glorantha", along with an article on how to use this sort of little mythlet as the basis for a scenario.

1611-1612: "Insterid". How the Vingan who will by 1620 be Kallyr's Shield started her career.

Dark Season 1611: "When the snow lay round about...". Written on the Feast of Stephen, 2006. Used in the con-book for Furnace 2007, and an updated version went into Hearts in Glorantha issue 2.

1613, just pre-Rebellion: "To dream the impossible dream". Kallyr attempting to acquire new allies.

1620: no collective title, mainly set in and around Whitewall

Dates here are relative rather than absolute, until I do more sums. Incidentally I assume that she's present in WW for the Bat, but try not to make that an essential part of my plot-lines, so if anyone has her elsewhere, but still wants to use my stories as background, it should be easy enough to do so. Just remember that whether she actually fought the Bat or not, rumour will say that she did so: rumour in places says that she did so single-handed.

1619, just after Tatius has taken over Lunar command; "War, not raids". After many offers to hard-copy publications (it was originally intended for John Hughes and the Tentacles 2007 con-book), I give up. Here it is. We were asked for examples of Kallyr making mistakes. We supplied them: and, since this was for John, fitted a Kallyr-koala in there too. Word version PDF version

1620 - "Captured" This is the one based on the WW list suggestion that one of her long absences from WW was due to being locked up by Lunar red-tape and a junior officer who had no idea who she was. Set in a small village somewhere in Sartar (if you need to know where, yes I have worked it out).

Possibly on the way back from that: "Londar and the Vingans" - written for the Continuum 2006 con book that will now never appear. It started as an exercise in how warbands work, comparing tribal/clan structure with single-cult, then Kallyr turned up. It also refers back to the events of "War, not raids"

The rest of the story-line doesn't break up naturally into stand-alone short stories. We have a plot-line that takes us through much of 1620, set mainly in and around WW, and includes Lunars, Sartarite inter-tribal squabbles, Kheldon inter-clan squabbles, assassins, hero-quests, plenty of fights, romance, a bit of "coming-of-age" story, tragedy, comedy, and some fun NPCs you can pick up and use. One of them, we suspect, may end up being the Real Argrath (tm). All the ones that have been properly developed can be found on the WhiteWallWiki.

And, stand-alone from all this, another sequel to "Captured. Some of you asked to read more about Gemellus and Talin, the Lunar protagonists. Rather to my surprise, they turned up as the heroes of a story set in Duck Point. This started as an answer to a challenge related to the Gloranthan Geek Chart John Hughes produced (must include ducks, Vingans, and the phrase "war-wench") and then went down-hill when Lunar politics got involved.

1622-1625 - Only one story so far, and vague as to dates. It may even be set earlier, I'm not sure myself. Kallyr is recruiting support among the clans. This went into the Continuum 2008 con-book: adding the link on 11th Nov. seems appropriate. Warning: I aimed at gentle melancholy, but one of my test readers found it "moving" to the point of tears. "We will remember them"

Misc

Vinga and Vingans

Any of the Kallyr stories include at least one Vingan, of course.

A Vingan myth that I told at Convulsion, and than published on the Web just in time for the Millenium.
How Polaris joined the Storm Tribe

The founding of Tarthcaer, the main temple to Vinga in Sartar. I told this at Continuum 2004. And yes, I am taking the P somewhat...

A HQ Vingan PC of mine, telling stories about one of her Vingan ancestors to some of her nieces and nephews. At their request, it's about Teef!

Another HQ PC of mine from a long time back. She isn't a Vingan - yet. But it looks like she's considering it.
Walking the Paths

Humakti

• a duel she fought in Nochet in 1617: went into print in the Continuum 2004 con-book, "Magnus Liber Rerum".
• A first-person account of something she got up to in a Sartar peat bog (I told this at the Storytelling at Scotscon 2003)
• Eleven pipers piping - Hereward's Legion early history, part of the 12 days of Xmas series
• Four Colly Birds - a song, part of the 12 days of Xmas series

Myths

Dragons

In the game, we have a Dragon to kill, in order to rescue a river that we then need to persuade to provide some friends of ours with water. All very Aroka, but we're not Orlanthi. So we hunted around, and found this, by Trotsky. (Go on, read it. Then come back here.) It's a great story, but we're not Vadrus, either. So I did a slight variation that put the credit back where it belonged and altered the view point slightly: "How Humakt Kills Dragons".

Badgers and other weirdness

When Guy works late, he tends to find some very weird Flash things on the Net, and share them with us. Here's one of them, involving Badgers, Mushrooms, and Snakes. Warning: lots of sounds! And then we were sort of dared to write a myth with that lot in. Badgers, snakes, mushrooms: it seemed obvious to me that there were Earth links here. So I re-read Humakt's Oath, and then added an extra episode to it: "Humakt and the Earth Tribe".