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# Part of Simon Phipp's RuneQuest/Glorantha Site

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Glorantha is a Fantasy world setting and RuneQuest is a Fantasy Game.
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Simon E. Phipp

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Last Updated On 25 June 2000

# Eurmal and the Fire Pods [1]

A long time ago, when the world was good, Eurmal decided to show that he was better than the other gods. He went to Flamal and asked him for a favour and gained a number of Fire Pods, the result of a liaison between Flamal and a Goddess of Fire. He took these Fire Pods to a meeting of the gods and challenged the gods to show how string they were and to eat the Fire Pods.

Zorak Zoran was first, for he was the Eater and Devourer. He marched to where Eurmal stood and took a Fire Pod in his hand and popped it into his mouth, but as soon as it touched his tongue he felt a searing fire, the likes of which he had never known before. He spat out the Fire Pod and screamed in agony, running deep below the Earth where he sucked on his mother's ice-cold nipple to soothe the pain. He swore vengeance on Flamal and Eurmal for this cruel trick. So much for Darkness. [2]

Next was Little Geyser, a water spirit who lived in a little pool in the earth near to where the gods had met. He had no fear of the Fire Pods as he was of water, so he took one into his mouth and his watery saliva was turned into steam. He too spat out the Fire Pod and with it a fountain of steam. Even today, he can be seen spitting his steam into the air from his home near the Stone Footprint. So much for Water.

Next was a giant named Long Tongue, who was a son of a son of Genert. He took the Fire Pod into his mouth and as soon as it touched his tongue it shrivelled that organ to ash, so that he could not speak, but could only roar in pain. The Fire Pod fell to the ground and No Tongue ran into the mountains. So much for Earth.

Next came the Fiery Grate who was a god of fire who had come from Lodril's Halls to help the people. He knew that any food could be rendered harmless in his grate by burning it first, so he had no fear. However, the Fire Pods were of Fire and became even stronger when burned, so when he ate them his mouth burned in a way he had never known, so he ran to drink from the Soothing Fountain. So much for Fire.

Finally came the Desert Wind from the East. This was a Storm God who lived in the Hottest lands, but even he knew that Winds could cool fire, so first he breathed his coldest wind on the Fire Pod before eating it. Unfortunately for him, the Fire Pod was not made of flame and so was not cooled and burned his mouth terribly. He returned to the Hottest lands where he sulked and never helped Eurmal. So much for Storm.

With all the Elements defeated, Eurmal prepared to leave when a minor god, ZaZoob the Dentist approached and asked to take the test. Zazoob was a follower of Arroin and Chalana Arroy and could extract teeth without them hurting, which was a useful skill, but nobody thought of him as being powerful. ZaZoob took a Fire Pod and worked his own magic on his mouth as if he was going to pull a tooth. His mouth became numb and cold, as if it had become a rock, and when the Fire Pod touched his tongue he could not feel the pain, so he swallowed the Fire Pod without as much as a murmur.

The other gods applauded and cheered him as he stood there dribbling, but when he opened his mouth, he found that he could breathe fire as he had gained the powers of the Fire Pods.[3] Pleased with this result, he claimed that he had gained the prize of the contest. Eurmal was annoyed by this but told him to wait a while to see whether he had truly won or whether he was prepared to give up his prize. After a while, ZaZoob felt a disturbance in his bowels as felt that he had to relieve himself of some burden there. He retired to behind a bush and screamed in agony as the bush was engulfed in a Fireball of mighty proportions. The other gods came to see what was happening and saw that the Fire Pod was trying to leave ZaZoob's body and was burning all the more on departure than it burned on entrance. ZaZoob yelled in pain and begged Eurmal to relieve him of this curse, so the trickster reached in with his left hand and pulled the Fire Pod from ZaZoob's bowels and swallowed the Fire Pod, taking its magic within himself and claiming victory in the contest.[4]

That is how Eurmal found the power of the Fiery Fart and Zazoob found the Fiery Breath that he could occasionally summon.

## Notes

[1] This tale is known to Eurmali of the Holy Country and southern Sartar.

[2] Another example of the Cry Baby aspect of Zorak Zoran.

[3] ZaZoob worshippers know a HeroQuest to gain a Fiery Breath but their cult is so small that they rarely practise the Quest. When they do, they can gain the Fire Breath spell but at the result of permanent severe burning pain whenever they defecate.

[4] Eurmali can gain the Fiery Fart spell from a shrine to the north of the Footprint in the Holy Country. This acts as an Ignite spell but comes from the backside of the caster as a jet of foul-smelling flame.

[5] The Fire Pods can be prepared by those who know its secret and act in a similar way to the hottest of peppers. They are described elsewhere.

[End]