We had been hired by the Travar Elemental Mining Cie to defend their mining ship since their drakar normal used for defense had been damaged on their last expedition.
We were young and out to make a name for ourselves as quickly as possible. An elemental fire mining expedition over Death Sea was just the kind of thing to take our legend to that next level.
Late in the afternoon, in the eternal red glow of Death sea, the miners were trying their best to gather the elemental fire kernels we had just found. Out of the shimering caused by the heat, came the most beautiful ork woman I ever saw. She was so sensous and mysterious that I wanted her all to myself. So I leaped overboard and landed on a fool's island. She was signaling me to come to her and listening only my heart I dashed towards her.
This is when it all went wrong. I landed in the molten flows of Death sea and saw her for all she was, a crimson deadly creature of terror. And I was not the only one. Most of the ship's crew was sinking in the lava screaming in pain. This creature called a hak'o'lian, or Death's sirens, feed off brave name-givers like the members of the crew.
While I was trying to concentrate to swim out of the burning liquid, I saw the hak'o'lian run across the flows, charging head down to ram in the first one to come out of the sea. In its run, it stepped on several other crewmen trying to swim to safety. After knocking over the unfortunate that had just came out of the sea, it finished it off with the talons of its forelimbs.
Some of us managed to make are way back to the ship, but our sheer will is all that got us there because the extent of the damage to our bodies would have prevented any normal person to make it.
Game InformationA Hak'o'lian, or Death's Sirens, are creatures of the lava flows of Death sea. When first encountered, they look like tantalizing creatures of the opposite sex, very attractive and even with a little glow. They do not look the same to everybody, but they do look perfect though.
The Hak'o'lian will then invite the observer to approach it. This invitation is very sensual and not the invitation that it seems. This is actually a fight of will between the hak'o'lian and the target. In game terms, the hak'o'lian does a spellcasting test against the target's social defense. If the test succeeds, the target is compelled to start walking towards the hak'o'lian in a zombie-like fashion. When it reaches the lava, the hak'o'lian will use the heat of the lava to create a hot air lattice to allow the character to walk out over the lava without being hurt. The hak'o'lian can affect at one time, a number of characters equal to its spellcasting rank.
After having let the target walk over the lava flows for one complete round, the hak'o'lian removes the lattice from under its feet, plunging the target in the lava. This brings the target out of the trance, revealing the true form of the hak'o'lian. It will take three rounds for the target to reach the shore he came from. During this time he suffers step 17 damage per round caused by the lava. No protection protects against this damage.
If the hak'o'lian's spellcasting test is unsuccessful, the target is still in a trance but not compelled to walk the flows. If it fails, there is no trance. A target in a trance can make a willpower test to free itself from the effects, against a difficulty set by the effect of the spellcasting.
Once its true form is revealed, the hak'o'lian will run on the flows with its webbed talons and charge head down into any standing character. If it can make a little curve to run over a character trying to swim its way out of the lava, it will, inflicting damage with the talon of its hind legs. After the initial charge it will finish the target with the talons of its forelimbs.
Some legends tell of one hak'o'lian leading the entire crew of mining ships to their doom.
Hak'o'lian Attributes: DEX: 7 STR: 7 TOU: 9 PER: 9 WIL: 8 CHA: 7 Initiative: 8/ 2D6 Physical: 10 Number of attacks: 2 Mystic: 12 Attack: 13 Social: 9 Damage: Talon (16) Horn (18) Armor: 5 Movement: Combat:45 Myst. Arm: 8 Full: 90 Knockdown: 9 Spellcasting: Step: 15 Effect: 16 Death Rating: 92 Recovery test: 4 Wound Threshold: 12 Unconscious Rating: 76 Description The true form of the hak'o'lian is not so mesmerising. It is covered in crimson scales with the hind legs of a horse hooved with webed talons. The forelimbs are similar to an eagle's talons. The head has a red skined elven face with the incurved horns of a mountain goat. A hak'o'lian's teeth are small and pointy.
Legend Point: Loot: The horns are worth d6 x 100 sp counting toward legend points award
Copyright 1999. Eric Campeau