Cults of Glorantha

Star Bear

King Bear

The Star Bear is one of the primal powers of the cosmos, the storm of the heavens, and the hunter of the distant darks, whose progress across the sky makes the heavens revolve as the year turns. He is a passionate god, whose children prey on men, but who also spared a life and taught men to hunt when one showed the courage to face him down. The women say that the huntress Orogeria tamed the Star Bear. The men know that it was instead that the Star Bear taught her the ways of the hunt, so that she could keep her people’s bellies full during the Long Winters when the Star Bear must sleep. He fathered his cubs on her, such that bears are found across Glorantha. The Star Bear is the god of masculine authority and power across much of Saird and southern Peloria. He represents not so much human, political authority as the raw confidence and inevitability of nature. Thus, he is a hunter, a warrior and a king, but always untamed. His worshippers tend to be similarly unruly and respectful of what people do rather than the privileges of their birth or title. His shrines are typically simple cave or woodland ones and he expects little in the way of formal rites, beyond a great feast before winter to fill his belly for the Long Sleep and a loud party to awaken him when the snows recede. His worshippers cannot abide disrespect to bears – they may hunt and kill them, of course, for that is the way of the hunter, but then he must sing the bear’s spirit back to the stars. His shrines teach Beast Claw.

Runes: Beast, Death, Harmony.

Pantheon: None.

Type: Hunter.

Worshippers: Men only; hunters, warriors, chieftains.

Worshipper’s Duties: Hunt and fish, channel divine masculine power.

Initiate Membership

Requirements: Standard; only men may join.

Cult Skills: Lore (Animal, Star Bear Theology), Perception, Survival, Tracking, Unarmed.

Cult Spells: Endurance, Frostbite, Strength, Warmth.

Common Divine Magic: All.

Special Divine Magic: Beast Claw, Command (Bear), Draw Beast, Great Roar, Identify Scent.

Acolyte Membership

Requirements: Standard.

Star Bear (Runepriest) Membership

Requirements: Standard.

Special Benefits

Initiates gain a +10% bonus on any Survival and Tracking tests while hunting. Acolytes can speak with bears, raccoons, badgers and wolverines. Runepriests gain the ability to hibernate through the winter season.