Bullhead

The Minotaur Hero Cult

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History

Before Time

Bullhead was a great hero of the minotaurs that led them to victory in the Godtime. Bullhead went on many quests for Powers and so has more runes than any other cult.

Since Time

Bullhead's extreme specialisation has always caused it to be restricted in membership, but recently it appears that the cult is dwindling, for it cannot face competition from other cults.

Life After Death

Cultists believe that there is a place reserved for them in Bell by Bullhead where they will await the Last Battle, occasionally returning to visit their descendants as spirits. The Earth Rune links them to life, and so they gain Death-Divints.

Runic Associations

Minotaurs are of course Beast-Men, those in Bullhead express these runes with a third form rune - Spirit plus Earth and Disorder. This is an excessive number of runes which do not fit together particularly well. Certain alchemists point to these runes as the reason for the cult's current demise, for they cause over specialisation and so Bullhead is being strangled by its own runes.

Nature of Cult

Bullhead is a tribal cult and is the cult of birth for all minotaurs although few remain in it, as it does not offer the things minotaurs look for. Minotaurs are very uncommon, although a few are found in elf-woods. In any tribe, a few individuals will remain in Bullhead. The last tribe of Minotaurs to remain dominated by Bullhead worshippers can be found in the Vale of Copperhead and numbers about fifty-strong.

Particular Likes and Dislikes

The cult is associated to all the Woodland cults (Faerie, Pan, Blueface), Azrael, and berserker lawful disorder rune cults (Typhon, Viking, Zorak-Zoran). Bullhead finds Harmony/Order distasteful and has the usual Earth Rune's animosity towards water. Chaos is disliked and will be fought if encountered in the woods and anything attacking woodland is usually attacked with a berserker fury.

Organisation

Typically tribal with a Clan-Chief, Underchiefs and Shamen/Priests. The women have a more effective role in warfare than in human tribes and tend to specialise in fertility-Earth magics, whilst the men opt for beast and combat spells.

Centres of Power/Holy Places

Copperhead is the only place where the cult can be found in numbers exceeding half-a-dozen!

Holy Days and High Holy Days

Last Harvestday is the High Holy Day. The seasonal Holy Day is clayday of disorder week. But as with all other tribal cults, the Stamen cast for omens at dawn every day to see if the day has any special auspices.

Lay Membership

All minotaurs are members from birth. All other non-chaotic races may join; Man-Beasts at CHA−5, Humans at CHA−10, all other form runes at CHA−15. But all will be considered because the cult is desperate for members.

There are no real benefits, cult weapons are taught for free plus training in Parries, Tracking, Climbing, Jumping at half price; plus Set Ambush, Listen and Spot Hidden at full-cost. Bladesharp, Protection, and Fanaticism may be purchased at full price.

Initiate Membership

Requirements to become a Tribal Warrior are any attack at 50%, thus can be in natural weapons. Minotaurs initiate automatically, all others must pass a test of (POW + CHA) ⁄ 2 × 5%, and if they fail must wait one year. Charisma is modified as for Lay Members.

Initiates gain free training in Cult Weapon Attacks, Tracking, Climbing and Jumping; half price Parry Training, Set Ambush, Listen ,Spot Hidden, Oratory, Cult Weapon Making, Hide in Cover and Move Quietly; and Set/Disarm Trap at full cost. Faerie teaches them half price Identify Plant.

All initiates are taught Bladesharp II, Protection II and Fanaticism. Minotaurs with restrictive INT will suppress the Protection before Bladesharp and Fanaticism is never suppressed. The cult teaches half price Bladesharp, Protection, Farsee, Mobility, Binding, Ironhand, Spirit Binding and Spirit Shield; plus any other spells known by the shaman-priests at full-cost. Weapons are Great-Axe, 1-H Hattleaxe, Medium Shield, Throwing Axe and Javelin.

Runelords

Requirements for Runelordhood are any five relevant skills at 90%, at least two of which must weapon attacks, and 15+ POW. Runelords gain all normal benefits of their status. They form the tribal hierarchy in any temporal matters, bowing to the shaman-priests in the spiritual. At the moment, the shaman-priests are putting much pressure upon the runelords to quest to find a way to save the cult and so they are being lost as fast as they can be replaced, despite the ease of entry.

Rune Priests and Shaman

Restrictions on these ranks are the same as for the tribal cults. The shaman-priests are generally bound to their tribes, but all too frequently they find they are the only members of Bullhead left in the tribe and so they usually embark upon a cult-saving quest and are never heard of again.

Rune Spell Compatibility

Runepriests of Bullhead gain access to Divination, Mind-Link, Shield, Spellteaching and Spirit Block. They may summon Small Gnomes as their elementals. They gain the following cult special Runemagics.

Cult Special Rune Spells

One Point Spells

Speak to Beasts Range: 160m; Duration: 15 min; Non-Stackable; Reusable
Enables the recipient to converse with mammalian animals of INT 3 or less. Oratory can influence these beasts.

Summon Ancestor Range: 160m; Duration: 15 min; Non-Stackable; Reusable
Summons a random ancestor spirit of the caster's from the Halls of the Dead as per the Ancestral Summons Table.

Two Point Spells

Berserker Range: 80m; Duration: 15 min; Non-Stackable; Reusable
Can only be cast upon a willing recipient. Functions as Fanaticism, Countermagic II and Vigour. Compatible with Strength, Shield, etc. The recipient cannot be demoralised and must make an INT × 1% roll to stop fighting before the spell expires. A berserker with no obvious enemies will attack friends, mounts, trees, etc. Functions at double strength against persons invading tribal woods.

Subservient Cults

Spirit of Reprisal - Horn Rot

The initiates or better who leave the cult suffer the attention of a spirit that causes their horns to drop off at 1 point per week, but this is curable. The most effective reprisal would be cult vengeance were it not for the fact that there are so few cult members.

Associate Cults

Azrael

The Ancestor-God offers the Minotaur Shamans the following spell.

Summon Specific Ancestor Range: 160m; Duration: 15 wins; Non-Stackable; Reusable; 2 points
Must be stacked with Summon Ancestor. Summons a specific named ancestor from the Halls of the Dead.

Faerie

The Elfin God/Goddess has had a long association with Bullhead and teaches Identify Plant at half price as well as offering the following spell.

Tanglethicket Range: 160m; Duration: Instant; Stackable - No Limit; reusable; 1 point
Causes shrubs, undergrowth, grass, weeds etc. to grow into an impassable barrier 1m thick, 3m high and 3m long in 15 min (7 melee rounds with Mature Plant). It cannot be cut and takes 40 points of fire damage per metre length. Anyone attempting to push through or climb-over the thicket will suffer 1D6 attacks per round of 1D10+l at 100%. The thicket must be tended daily by receiving 1 point of Battlemagic power per day from any Earth or Plant rune initiate.

Matar

The Earth Mother is the source of all fertility magics, she offers the following spell.

Fertility Rite Range: 4Cm; Duration: 1 Hour; Non-Stackable; Reusable; 2 points
Cast during a ceremony on Midsummer's Day. Involves sacrificing a bull. Causes all females taking part to become pregnant and give birth in the spring. The spell also causes the woods to bear fruitfully in the autumn. Cast at any other time of the year, it is non-reusable and affects one creature.

Pan

The third of the woodland cults, Pan allows any minotaur to join in their orgies.

Typhon

Close to Bullhead in nature and occupying a nearby environment, Typhon fought alongside Bullhead briefly, and in recognition will teach Lyric Poetry at full cost and offers this spell to help keep the forests green.

Shower Range: 1 Mile Radius; Duration: 15 min; Stackable; Reusable; 1 point
Causes a light drizzle to fall over the area of effect. Takes 1D10 minutes to start, except on Waterday or in Sea Season when the duration is 1 hour Each extra point stacked doubles the radius or duration of the spell.

Miscellaneous Notes

Minotaurs

Minotaurs are large, humanoid beastmen with the heads of bulls.

Natural Butt attack for 1D8 + Damage Bonus which crushes

They never learn most Knowledge skills and complex dexterity skills such as Pick Locks etc. are beyond them.

All minotaurs are taught Bladesharp II, Protection II and Fanaticism.

Starting equipment includes a full set of weapons and light infantry armour but no headgear. All helmets must be made to the specification of their horned crania and so are at double cost.

Other Cults in Minotaur Society

Since Bullhead is declining, other cults have come to the fore, notably Typhon and Viking and to a lesser extent Blueface and Zorak-Zoran. It seems the minotaurs desire Disorder and the Beast rune, but detest the runes of Chaos and Illusion. These four cults are rapidly overwhelming traditional Bullhead society, and unless some Bullhead Hero brings new attributes to the cult it is destined for oblivion very shortly.

Minotaur Terrain

Minotaurs live in open or dense woodland in the foothills and lower slopes of mountains, but only in the Vale of Copperhead are they seen in any large numbers. A clan may easily be only a dozen individuals and only a couple of these will be in Bullhead.