Well, our current RuneQuest Gloranthan campaign has finally come to an end, after 13 glorious years.
Previously on The River Voices, Legend of the Arganauts: The River Voices had bumped heads with the Lunar Empire on and off for years. They raised the Sky Ship, brought back Tada, Tarkalor, Sartar and Genert, drove the Lunars out of Prax, the Holy Country and Dragon Pass, raised a Dragon at the Dragonrise, purged the Crimson Bat of Chaos, dropped Harrek and a fleet of Wolf Pirates at the mouth of the Oslir and gated an iceberg to the Crater to block it. They had awakened their Inner Dragons, entered the Dragonewt Dream, visited the Dragonkill, rescued an Inhuman King and tied it to the Dragonship. They took a True Dragon to Dorastor, where they ambushed Ralzakark, awakened a Two-Headed Chaotic True Dragon by accident, and some transformed into True Dragons to fight it, purging it of Chaos and chopping one of its heads off, then they entered into the Dragon Dance, where they saw that the Draconic Powers of Peloria had been energised and were building in strength. They took Ralzakark’s Crown and Flargle incarnated Arkat by opening the pathways to Arkathome and breaking the God Learner Seals that held it. A Pentian Army ravaged the North of the Empire, Flarkat’s Army invaded from the South and Harrek’s Wolf Pirates attacked the centre. The Lunars had lost Prax, the Holy Country and Dragon Pass. The River Voices had converted Rist towards the White Moon and had founded a Yelmalian Temple there, directly opposing the Red Emperor. Something had to be done.
The River Voices saw that the Draconic influences had been gaining power and energy and divined that it was reaching a peak in an old abandoned Second Age temple. They looked there using Shan Agar’s Magical Eye and saw a number of Priests dressed in Second Age robes, carrying Draconic regalia. A number of Dragonewts assisted in the ceremony. The Red Emperor appeared, dressed in Draconic Robes, dressed as the Dragon Emperor, and began a ceremony.
Mello Yello could not let him do this, as he thought the Red Emperor was an impure Emperor, so the River Voices jumped in their Golden Barge to the Ceremony. There, the Red Emperor recounted all the problems the Lunar Empire had faced and all the sins it had done. In response, Mello Yello transformed into a Golden True Dragon and recounted all the good things the River Voices had done. The Red Emperor finished the Ceremony and the river Voices could see that he was about to commit Utuma, as the Golden Dragon Emperor, which would purge the Lunar Empire of the sins and allow the Red Emperor to be reborn anew. Horrified, the River Voices attempted a bold and dangerous move. Flargle transferred the Utuma Wound to Mell Yello, forcing the Utuma Ritual to affect Mello Yello instead. Well, that was the plan, but Flargle rolled 00, a Fumble, spent a Hero Point and rerolled to a 10, then spent another Hero Point to flip to an 01, a Special Critical. Mello Yello then used powers of Harmony to die without pain and to follow the Utuma without Disorder, this time a Critical. Mello Yello then used the power of Dragonewt Rebirth to be reborn, another Critical. Finally, Shan Agar used a combination of her Magic Eye, Dreaming Powers, Draconic Powers, Mother of Dragons Power and a load of other stuff, to move Mello Yello’s Rebirth to an egg inside her, as she had transformed into the Chromatic True Dragon, you guessed it, another Critical.
So, the Red Emperor performed the Utuma Ritual and did not die, Mello Yello’s body spontaneously self-combusted, burning instantly without any ash, as the greatest Dara Happan Emperors had done, then was reborn from a golden egg that appeared in front of him. Mello had usurped all the Empire’s Draconic Powers and was reborn as Mello Yello, Dragon Emperor. He was now Mello Yello, Dragon Emperor of Dara Happa, Son of Yelm, King of Dragon Pass and Ambassador to Monkey Ruins. The Red Emperor, weakened by the Iceberg blocking the Crater and the subsequent removal of the Red Moon’s powers, had gambled everything on the Utuma Ritual and failed, so he died on the spot. Presumably, he would return later, as he always had, but for the moment he was gone.
Now, at this point, we stopped for a breath, as the enormity of what had just happened slowly sank in. Then we started to discuss where to go from there, but the consensus of opinion was that the River Voices had achieved everything they had ever set out to do. Mello Yello was Emperor of Dara Happa, Son of Yelm, King of Dragon Pass and Ambassador to Monkey Ruins, he was also worshipped by those Beast Men who wanted to join the cult of Yelmalio. Shan Agar was Wife to Tada, had replaced the Pharaoh, united the Elements, proven that all the Waters of the World were one, had restored lost parts of the Agar Clan and become the Mother of Dragons. Flargle had destroyed several Chaos Nests, become Arkat, purged much of Dorastor of Chaos, led an Arkati army against the Lunar Empire and helped kill the Red Emperor. Karim Temris had found Yamsur’s Regalia and brought Yamsur back, ridden Yamsur’s chariot to the Dragonkill and back, restored Caarith and proved that she was a daughter of Genert, restored Genert, thus honouring the debt of the Desert Trackers, deposed the Count of Sun County and put his father in his place, founded a new Praxian Tribe, the Lopers, and set them up in God Remembered.
So, what was there to do? Where to go to from there? Conquer the West? Embrace the Kralorelan Dragons? Hunt down the Red Emperor and the remaining Lunar Powers? None of them appealed to the players. Retire the River Voices and start again in the new world? Doing what? Playing Lunars opposed to the River Voices? Nobody wanted that. Playing starting characters in the middle of the Hero Wars? Nobody wanted that. Then someone suggested bringing the campaign to a close and everyone agreed.
Sad times, in a way, but they went out on a high. I cannot say the words “Mello Yello, Dragon Emperor of Dara Happa, Son of Yelm, King of Dragon Pass and Ambassador to Monkey Ruins” often enough.
All we need to do now is to decide what campaign to run. Nothing Gloranthan this time, as we have done Glorantha, although we might return once the new scenario packs start appearing. Suggestions were Dark Ages, Robin Hood or Sci Fi, but we need to talk about that a bit.