Odayla Initiation Heroquest

This Heroquest is designed to be used with the myth Odayla - The Hunt for the Great Bear.

It is meant for low-level characters to initiate into the cult of Odayla.

If you aren't playing Six Seasons in Sartar, you can leave out the Black Stag references.


STATION 1: AMONG BEASTS AND BREATH

Theme: Identity in the Wild 

Myth Reference: Odayla... learned the magic of each creature that dwelt in the wilderness. He learned of the cycles of seasons, magic, and souls.

Setting

Dawn in the forest. The initiate roams in bear shape. They are not yet named or known. Spirit creatures observe from the trees.

Challenge

The player needs to choose how to engage the wild.  Each creature-spirit offers insight, mystery, or challenge.  A hunter does not kill every creature he meets, the initiate may observe, interact, or hunt.

Note that the player is in bear form in this stage.  They will need to use unarmed combat.  Feel free to let them use their bite at their unarmed combat rating.

Encounters (Choose or Improvise):

  • The Deer: Teaches patience through stillness.
  • The Boar: Challenges restraint in the face of strength.
  • The Hare: Tests adaptability under pressure.
  • The Snake: Offers secrets in exchange for vulnerability.

The Black Stag, wyter of the Haraborn, appears briefly at the end, silent and watchful. If the initiate acted to keep the balance, it nods once and vanishes.

GM Guidance

The choices here define the initiate’s first shape. Do they act with violence? Curiosity? Hesitation?  Each choice informs later stations.

Note that Deer are sacred to the Haraborn, for an initiate to hunt the deer would be to fail this station.  Any hunter in the Haraborn clan would know this.

Station Rewards

  • +10% to the most relevant wilderness or insight skills
  • Temporary Bonus: While in bear shape, gain the effects of the rune spell Bear’s Strength (double Strength) and Bear Skin (+6 Size).


STATION 2: THE UNANSWERED QUESTION

Theme: Longing for Recognition 

Myth Reference: He asked, “Why do I have no father?” She said, “You do.  But he left when he saw your shape.  The wild ones are not accepted in the Stead”

Setting

A twilight path between forest and cloud. Velhara watches. The stead glimmers far off. Voices whisper from smoke.

Challenge

The initiate seeks a path toward their kin. Spirits offer gifts of “civilizing” change—speech, names, bipedal form. These come with costs.

The initiate can choose to learn from each of the creatures, but they need to pay a cost - generally by increasing their human attributes at the cost of the wild attributes.  They can take as many or as few trades as they like - even none.

Either way, this is where the initiate turns human and loses the bear shape.

Encounters (Choose or Improvise):

  • The Lizard – Teacher of Upright Bearing
    • Appearance: A lizard dressed in ritual regalia, walking on two hind legs.
    • Offer: Teaches the initiate to walk upright, making them more “man-like.”
    • Mechanic:
      • +10% to Man Rune
      • –10% to Beast Rune
  • The Song-Thief Bird – Whisperer of Names
    • Appearance: A small glimmering corvid that speaks only in questions and riddles.
    • Offer: Teaches speech and the power of naming.
    • Mechanic:
      • +10% Oratory or Spirit Speech
      • Reduce animalistic skill (e.g., Sneak, Track, Scan) by same amount
  • The Owl – Giver of Shame
    • Appearance: A large owl sitting in a tree, its feathers mottled with silver and shadow.
    • Offer: Self-awareness, “what the stead calls conscience.”
    • Mechanic:
      • +10% Lore (Clan Traditions)
      • Reduce animalistic skill (e.g., Sneak, Track, Scan) by same amount
  • The Dog
    • Appearance: A glowing dog, surrounded by its pack, all others sleeping.
    • Offer: Teaches comfort, companionship, and the yearning to belong.
    • Mechanic:
      • +10% Loyalty (Kin) or Harmony Rune
      • Reduce Move Quietly or Animal Lore

Each one presents a bittersweet offer: power with alienation, recognition with distance from Velhara and the wild.

GM Guidance

Let this be the player’s confrontation with the changes needed to live in a Stead. Some gifts may comfort. Others may sting. All mark a transition.

The player doesn’t need to choose any trades but either way they are now man-shaped.

Station Rewards

  • Gains and losses as per the trades chosen by the player
  • Temporary Bonus Removed: As the initiate becomes more human, the effects of Bear’s Strength and Bear Skin are lost.


STATION 3: THE TURNED TRACK

Theme: Reversal of the Hunt 

Myth Reference: When he gave up, the Bear began to stalk him...

Setting

Frosty forest by moonlight. Giant prints ahead. Then: identical prints behind. Echoes move the wrong direction. Breath fogs twice.

Challenge

The player is hunting the bear through a variety of different terrains and finally realises that the Bear hunting them. Engage with its presence not as foe, but as shadow.

GM Guidance

Use disorientation. Alter terrain subtly. Have spirits retreat or speak backwards. Let realization dawn through sensory distortion.

Have the player use Listen, Track, Move Silently to track the bear, tempt them by coming ever closer.  At some point when they fail a Track roll, they realise they have lost the trail.

This is when they realise the Bear is behind them and they are being hunted.

Station Rewards

  • +1D6 to one of the skills used.


STATION 4: THE FIRE AND THE BEAR

Theme: Confrontation and Becoming 

Myth Reference: They wrestled... In the end, one took the skin of the other.

Setting

Silver fire in a starlit glade. The Bear sits across the flames. Silent. Vast. Waiting.

Challenge

Confront the Bear. Wrestle. Mirror. Surrender. Flee. Merge. Let the player choose their path:

  • Wrestle: Test strength and endurance against the Bear.
  • Mirror: Reflect the Bear’s movements and essence, seeking unity.
  • Surrender: Accept the Bear’s dominance and learn from submission.
  • Flee: Attempt to escape, knowing the Bear will always follow.
  • Merge: Embrace the Bear fully, becoming one with its spirit.

Each choice leads to a transformation, with consequences for the initiate’s identity and connection to the wild.

GM Guidance

Encourage players to explore their character’s motivations and fears. The Bear represents both a challenge and an opportunity for growth. Use sensory details and mythic imagery to heighten the tension and significance of the encounter.

It is not necessary to fight the bear; wrestling can be metaphorical.

Station Rewards

  • Either
    • Fight – Gain rune spell Bear Strength.
    • Mirror – Gaun rune spell Bear Skin
    • Merge – Gain bear tooth totem with POW storage 8 magic points
  • Or give the player a choice of which gift they get.
  • The player gets a bear skin that they wear as an initiate of Odayla.

STATION 5: THE PATH BETWEEN

Theme: Integration and Legacy 

Myth Reference: He was no longer just part of the wild. He was the path between.

Setting

A liminal space between the forest and the stead. The initiate stands at the threshold, cloaked in the Bear’s essence. Spirits and kin alike watch, waiting to see what they will choose.

  • ·       Ormalaya appears before the path to the stead
  • ·       The Black Stag appears, with Velhara at his shoulder before the vast forest

·       The initiate realises that he doesn’t necessarily need to choose, there is a path in between the two.

Challenge

The initiate must decide how to balance their dual nature as both wild and kin. They may choose to embrace one side fully, walk the path between, or forge a new identity altogether.

Encounters (Choose or Improvise):

  • The Spirit of the Wild: Represents the untamed wilderness and the freedom it offers.
    • Offer: Embrace the wild fully, forsaking the stead and its constraints.
    • Mechanic:
      • Gain +10% to Beast Rune and wilderness skills.
      • Lose points in Loyalty (Kin) or Harmony Rune.
      • Trait: “Wild-Hearted” (You are forever tied to the wild, but distant from human connections.)
  • The Voice of the Stead: Represents the bonds of kinship and the responsibilities of community.
    • Offer: Embrace the stead fully, leaving behind the wild.
    • Mechanic:
      • Gain +10% to Loyalty (Kin) or Harmony Rune.
      • Lose points in Beast Rune and wilderness skills.
      • Trait: “Hearth-Bound” (You are deeply connected to your kin, but the wild feels alien to you.)
  • The Path Between: Represents the balance between wild and kin, forging a new way forward.
    • Offer: Walk the path between, integrating both aspects of your identity.
    • Mechanic:
      • Gain +5% to both Beast Rune and Loyalty (Kin).
      • Trait: “Pathfinder” (You are a bridge between worlds, but may struggle to fully belong to either.)

GM Guidance

This station is about resolution and choice.  Encourage players to reflect on their journey and the decisions they’ve made.  Use this moment to tie together the themes of the heroquest and set the stage for the character’s future.

Most Odayla initiates choose the path between, given this is what the myth says.  There is nothing stopping the initiate from choosing one of the other two paths, although a player returning completely to the wild might not be much good in a campaign.

Station Rewards

  • Rewards as above

NPCs & SPIRIT ROLES

Velhara – Lady of the Wild

The Great Mother of Beasts. Speaks in silence or image.

·       Insight 95%

·       Spirit Speech 90%,

·       Beast Speech 90%

·       Orate 70%

·       Beast Rune 100%

·       Appears in Stations 2 and 5


Ormalaya – Brother Who Stayed

The keeper of kinship. Wants Odayla back but knows he cannot demand it.

·       Orate 70%,

·       Loyalty (Family) 90%

·       Loyalty (Orlanth) 80%


Orlanth – The Father Who Rejected

Appears only at the end. Can accept but never apologize.

·       Leadership 80%,

·       Loyalty (Clan) 95%

The Boar

·       Strength & Restraint

·       Challenges pride and aggression

Traits:

·       Brawl 65%

·       Core with tusk 65%

·       Intimidate 60%

·       Endurance 70%


The Owl

·       Stillness & Watchfulness

·       Tests perception and patience

Traits:

·       Insight 75%

·       Spirit Dance 70%

·       Scan 65%


The Hare

·       Agility & Evasion

·       Tricks, teases, flees

Traits:

·       Dodge 80%

·       Sprint 80%

·       Move Quietly 75%

·       Fast Talk 50%


The Snake

·       Shadow & Instinct

·       Gives riddles or poison

Traits:

·       Spirit Combat 60%,

·       Sense Spirit 65%,

·       Sing 40%


The Sky Bear

The Other Self

·       Played by another player

·       Identical stats to the initiate (but don't tell the initiate)

·       May wrestle, mirror, or merge with the player – the player will decide

·       Speaks rarely (if at all), acts with symbolism

 

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