totem4

"Who are we? What is out there? Who made the world? Our Storyteller taught us that the Great Spirit fashioned the mountains and the rocks, the ice and the seas, but left all devoid of life. He had walked for many years through the void and needed a place to rest. The Great Spirit drank from the rivers, bathed in the seas and slept on the sides of mountains. The first members of the StoneTooth Tribe, the very first humans, were born of the Rock in the places where the Great Spirit's hands and feet had touched it (though other Tribes claim to be the progenitors of the human race...)."

"For many years the StoneTooth People ate rocks and pebbles to sustain themselves, until the Great Spirit (in his wisdom) created the plants and animals upon which they could now feed. To do this he had awoken the Earth Spirit, a bountiful and generous goddess who desired to nurture mankind. In turn she awoke the slumbering spirits of all of the animals, the rocks, streams, waterfalls, trees and plants, and they issued forth from the Wombs of the World – deep caves reaching into the interior of Mother Earth. In this blessed garden all lived happily: men, women, lion, rhino, bison and mammoth."

"Time came when the Great Spirit decided to continue his journey into the void and he bid farewell to the Earth Spirit and to his trusted human lieutenant - Black Chief. Black Chief proved disreputable and greedy and wanted all good things for himself. When he was opposed by a number of angry bison (for in those days all animals had the gift of speech) the Black Chief committed the ultimate sin, he killed. The spirit of the dead bison appealed to the Earth Spirit and in her fury she turned against mankind, bringing down an endless winter, a terrible frost and a bitter famine. The creatures of the world also turned against mankind and when the Black Chief ordered more deaths in order that the Tribe might eat, the souls of the slaughtered animals came hunting for revenge. Many humans died."

"Bidden to return by the howls of the dead echoing through the void, the Great Spirit interceded on behalf of the Tribe. He declared that the Earth Spirit relent, at least in part, and allow a few months of respite from the cold each year. He set guardian spirits over each breed of animal as representatives, and these spirits were to forge protective alliances with the humans. Next he taught these guardian spirits the Hunter's Blessing, a prayer they could teach to men that would allow humans to kill animals for survival and for survival alone. The animals of the world agreed to this pact and the Tribe agreed to uphold this agreement. Murder, wanton killing, was outlawed."

"Black Chief, too, was outlawed, exiled from the Tribe to the most inhospitable places of the world. The Great Spirit sent him mad and cursed his line. His descendants are the man-like monsters of savagery and barbarism - the hideous Ogres. That the sons of his fallen favourite might live, the Great Spirit taught the Black Tribe the Hunter's Blessing directly. But no guardian spirits mediate with the Ogres."

"Happy that justice had been done, the Great Spirit once more removed himself, but remained high above, in the Sky, to slumber with one eye open. The Moon lazily watches nightly proceedings down below while the Sun gazes down during the day. Meanwhile the Earth Spirit continues to heal and hurt in equal measure, offering up warm weather and good hunting in summer, and replacing it with snow drifts, frostbite and hunger in winter. Her hard heart is followed in turn by the spirits of the rocks and the trees, the animals and pools. Only those guardian spirits allied with Clans have warmed to humanity. The rest are, at best, indifferent, and at worst, vengeful and openly hostile."

"Such is the lot of man and woman. The dead are buried with solemn rites pits in the ground and accompanied both by their possessions and food and drink to sustain them on their journey. The Earth Spirit relents when a human dies and she welcomes the spirit into her bosom. She then blesses the spirit of the dead man before it journeys into the Sky to pay homage to the Great Spirit. After spending some time there the Great Spirit allows it to return to earth as either a newly born baby or a newly born animal (often the totem animal of his old Clan)."

"If you doubt the words of the Storyteller, then look up. That shooting star, another spirit returning to earth. There ... and there ... the wandering stars, the first elders of the Tribe who are now living alongside the Great Spirit and passing messages to us, even today. And the stars, the stars are the campfires of all of the Clans who have passed away. See the fires flicker? Each one warms the spirits of the newly dead, awaiting their moment to return to us."

"Finally, you wonder about the stones. About the orange Sunstones and the grey Earthstones. Both are holy stones, but we look to the Sunstones for aid in times of crisis as we look to the rising sun in the depths of night, and the spring sunshine in the depths of winter. The sun is the steadfast gaze of the Great Spirit, and as he returned to help us in our time of need, he will reach out and help us again. The Earthstones are equally powerful, but they are portents of darkness and unwanted change, of struggle and hardship. There can be no life without the pangs of childbirth, the Earth Mother demands a price for her gifts."

THE SPIRIT WORLD
Who is the Great Spirit? He is known by many different names, but his nature and power are undisputed. Some call him Grandfather, some call him the Great Unseen Spirit, some call Father Sky or Father Spirit. Some Tribes use all five terms interchangeably.

GUARDIAN SPIRITS
The guardian spirits are powerful protectors of their species and every breed of animal has them. Most of the time they are invisible and aloof, although some individuals with the Talent 'Sense the Invisible' can feel their presence during ceremonies. When the guardian spirit wishes to enter the physical realm it can manifest as a majestic and powerful member of its own species. In this guise the guardian spirit can talk to humans and, depending on the species, may be able to command a great deal of authority. Such a creature would be unkillable. These spirits are able to use all of the Spirit Powers described later on.

ANIMAL SPIRITS
The spirits of animals such as hares, bison, mammoth and horse are not as intelligent as humans, but still sentient. At death the spirit passes to the Earth Mother and then returns to the physical world as a new member of the species. If the beast was murdered (in other words killed without the Hunter's Blessing) then the animal spirit seeks revenge and becomes a vengeful spirit.

HUMAN SPIRITS
When a person dies the spirit travels first to the Earth Mother and the on to the abode of the Great Spirit beyond the Sky. After some time that spirit is reborn either as a human or an animal linked to the dead man's totem spirit. As with animals, if a man was killed by another, then a vengeful spirit is created which haunts the killer. These ghosts can cause a great deal of trouble.
NATURE SPIRITS
It isn't just animals and humans that have spirits, everything from boulders to valleys, trees to waterfalls also have sentient spirits within them. The Hunter's Blessing is needed to take or despoil any of these natural phenomenon, perhaps stone to make an axe or wood to make a staff. Places of great beauty have the most powerful spirits, their abodes are wreathed in an aura of majesty and inner strength. At the other end of the scale a pebble has only the shadow of the spirit from the mountain or stream from which it was plucked.

The GM should decide what the spirit presides over, is it the tree - or the forest? The boulder - or the hill? The power of a nature spirit is restricted to the area of its concern, it cannot roam at will. Angering a nature spirit will not release a vengeful spirit to haunt the Hunter, but it will mean that the transgressor will be subject to vengeful magical attacks while in the area or using an item fashioned from that area. Rocks might fall from a cliff, a forest may seem to inhibit travel in one direction, rivers carry away valuable material etc.

VENGEFUL SPIRITS
Ghosts. Vengeful spirits are the angry ghosts of the restless dead. These spirits want revenge on the Hunter who killed them. They will plague him wherever he travels and appear in nightmares and as bad omens. A vengeful spirit has access to the Spirit Curses described later.

BLESSINGS & CURSES
There are a number of magical effects in the Ice Age World of TOTEM that can be wielded by some of the spirits as well as skilled and experienced Storytellers. They are akin to typical fantasy 'spells' but more subtle, and when cast by a Storyteller (more detail of which later) they are very ritualistic.

The spirit descriptions already given state whether a spirit can use Curses or Blessings or both. These magical effects are directed at a particular human, and take effect automatically. It doesn't matter how far apart the victim is from the spirit, and Curses in-particular last until they are removed by the Blessing called Banish. Curses are very much like Talents in that they are listed on a Hunter's record sheet as a special effect. Blessings are one-use magical effects that can be forgotten about once the effects are implemented.

CURSES

Agony - When timing matters during a particular story, the Hunter is wracked by ferocious and crippling pain. He may be sneaking between two tents at the dead of night, or jumping from a tree to retrieve a spear in front of an angry auroch. The pain is incapacitating and lasts for a minimum of one 'turn'. To figure out how much longer it lasts draw 3 stones. Each Earthstone is an extra 'turn' in which the Hunter is incapacitated. Only inflict such a grievous disadvantage on a Hunter once per session. Obviously a spirit will not plague a member of the Rhino Clan with this Curse!

Blur - The victim's eyesight deteriorates rapidly and he or she becomes partially sighted, able to make out shapes, movement and people, but unable to recognize faces or see anything remotely useful further than 20m.

Cripple - The victim is cursed with a pain when he moves. Walking is painful; running, climbing and jumping are all more difficult.

Deaf & Dumb - The victim loses the power of hearing and speech.

Fear - When faced with a situation in which he may be placed in immediate physical danger (being charged by a bison, negotiating the steep part of a very high climb) the victim will break into a sweat and either freeze or panic! Draw 3 stones. If he draws more Sunstones than Earthstones then he freezes until someone can convince him to move or physically move him. If there are more Earthstones then he panics. He might flee blindly, attack blindly, jump to 'safety' or do some other reckless and dangerous act to get out of hot water.

Illness - The victim is constantly ill and the GM may describe the effects based on some real life illness. The illness removes one Tough point from the Hunter's record sheet - he now only has two points! Nothing seems to shift the illness, neither rest, good food or herbal remedies.

Nightmares - The victim is afflicted with terrifying nightmares associated with the caster of the spell, either a spirit or a Storyteller. These nightmares keep him awake at night, and result in him being tired in the afternoon and also under stress, worrying about the coming night's sleep. Any tasks conducted in the afternoon have their difficulties increased.

Possession - The spirit actually enters the victim and possesses him (or the Storyteller sends a spirit to do the same). What this means in game turns is that there are long periods where the Hunter cannot remember what he was doing. Sometimes it might be hours or days. The spirit has taken over and often acts in an antisocial and evil way, bringing harm and pain to the victim's Kin and disrepute onto the victim. Today this would be described as schizophrenic behaviour.

Sleep - The victim wants to sleep all of the time. He must always be woken by others first thing in the morning, he is the first to drop off to sleep in the evening and he cannot stay awake at night for more than an hour in total. At any time when the victim is not engaged in some activity, draw two stones. If he draws an Earthstone then he drops off to sleep.

BLESSINGS

Banish - This Blessing is only gifted to a Hunter who is under a Curse. If a spirit banishes a Curse then the effect takes place immediately. Draw two stones; if one is a Sunstone then the Curse is banished for good. Otherwise this particular spirit cannot help. If a Storyteller attempts to banish a Curse then follow the same procedure, but he must organize a fairly elaborate ritual involving ceremonially cleansing the victim and causing him terrible pain that will shift the Curse. If it fails then the victim must seek another Storyteller or another remedy.

Often a Storyteller or spirit can only banish a Curse for a week or so, and in that time the Hunter must undergo an ordeal, locating some sacred object, setting something to rights, restoring the damage he has done etc. If the ordeal was unfulfilled after the time is up, then the Curse re-establishes itself. Note that since many Curses are triggered by murders, one ordeal may be to find the body of the victim, give it a decent burial (sometimes with the head buried separately) and to return to the grave any objects looted from (or manufactured from parts of) the victim.

Divination - The spirit or Storyteller (using a means of divination such as reading flames or entrails or dreams) can answer one question. The question can be about anything that has occurred. Not the future, not the thoughts or intents of other people or animals - only events that have occurred in the past or are ongoing in the present. In TOTEM we avoid thorny problems of prediction.

Feast - This power conjures up a bountiful feast of broth, tender-cooked meats, berry juice and honey, enough for half a dozen Hunters. The Hunters eating this heavenly meal do not need to eat for the rest of the day or for the day after.

Found It - This power conjures from thin air some item, weapon or artefact that the Hunter has lost or mislaid or left behind or had stolen or that he knows has been broken sometime in the past.

Miracle Heal - A Hunter can have his Tough points restored to full strength by this power. If cast by a Storyteller then it may involve an elaborate ceremony in which the magician removes a pestilent object from the injured man which has been the source of the illness (often a stone or thorn).

Second Chance - The power gives the Hunter a second chance at resolving some task. When stones are drawn and not to the liking of the player, then the Hunter can invoke the Blessing agent (spirit or Storyteller) and draw again, choosing whether to use the first or second draws as he sees fit. Once invoked, this power is used up.

STORYTELLERS
Storytellers aren't viable player characters, they know too much, have too many answers. They're better left as non-player characters. But it's still handy to know what they are capable of, what they do. They are most certainly odd-balls, able to see spirits all day everyday and talk to them as other people talk to their Kin. They dress differently, elaborately, impractically. The Storyteller needs to catch the attention of the spirits, and he often scars his face or body or tattoos his body to separate himself from the earthly world. His behaviour and appearance are strange and disturbing, but his Tribe will understand and allow the Storyteller to be different. He isn't one of them. He sees dead people.

The Storyteller gets his title from his day-to-day role as a keeper and dispenser of Tribal lore. The Storyteller tells the epic tales of the tribe, the myths of the spirits, how StrongPaw once made an alliance with Howler and then tried to kill Tanglehorn and blame the attack on his wolf companion. He tells the tale of the StoneTooth Tribe, of the early chiefs and their exploits, their discoveries, traumas and warm-hearted tales of camaraderie and loyalty. And he tells the stories of more recent heroes, of grandfathers, fathers ... maybe even of the player character Hunters themselves if they perform great deeds!!

TALENTS
First off, the Storyteller is a member of the Tribe, but he has renounced his Clan. As young boys (or girls, or both - different Tribes have different methods for recruiting Storytellers) potential candidates are put through a series of ordeals. If they pass they become apprentice Storytellers. Every Tribe will have one Storyteller and one apprentice. A fully-fledged Storyteller will be fairly old and have two Talents. The first Talent is Spirit Guide. The second is Healing Herbs.

Spirit Guide - At his initiation into the Storyteller profession, a friendly spirit and lieutenant of the Great Spirit is summoned and quickly possesses the candidate. This Spirit Guide teaches the new Storyteller the history of the Tribe and its Clans and knowledge of the natural world and the spirits that inhabit it. The Storyteller sees through the eyes of his Spirit Guide and can therefore see all spirits and the normally invisible sources of power and magic.

The Spirit Guide essentially possesses the Talents of Calm Spirit, Identify Spirit and Sense the Invisible! This loyal and dutiful spirit is the source of a Storyteller's power. When he enters a trance (induced by sleep and food deprivation as well as certain herbal poisons) the Spirit Guide watches over the body while the Storyteller's spirit wanders across the landscape at great speed, talking to spirits as if they were people. Focus is an item of clothing, a hat or a coat or skin jacket that is embroidered with numerous carved ivory beads. Some Storytellers have deerskin coats decorated with hundreds of these beads woven into an intricate pattern!

BLESSINGS & CURSES
The Storyteller's power comes from his ability to cast Blessings and Curses. All require at least a two hour ritual involving much chanting, dancing and strange mixtures and invocations. He does not cast the spell himself but asks his Spirit Guide to order a suitable spirit to carry out the task of healing, divining or cursing or whatever. A Spirit Guide can only be persuaded to find a suitable spirit three times in three days. He might find three spirits on the first morning and no more for the next two days, OR, he might find one spirit each day. It's all up to the Storyteller.

Unlike a malign spirit, a Storyteller must draw stones to discover whether his Blessing or Curse worked. Draw two stones for each casting, a Sunstone indicates the Blessing or Curse was cast as desired. An Earthstone indicates that something else happened.