Sun Hawk is one of the Three Feathered Rivals of Prax, along with Raven and Thunderbird. They are all bird spirits that were not originally from Prax, but who ended up residing there. All nomadic Praxian peoples tell tales of these spirits, and there is a common theme which runs through the stories. This theme is how the powers of each of these spirits always bests the powers of a second spirit, but are also always bested by the powers of the third spirit. For his part, Sun Hawk's clarity always overcomes Raven's deceptions, but Sun Hawk is always bested by Thunderhawk's air powers. In addition to the Three Feathered Rival tales, other stories are also told about Sun Hawk.
Before Time
Sun Hawk is a sky spirit found in Prax. He survived the Lesser Darkness with the help of brother sky gods, but wandered seeking shelter. During the Great Darkness Waha offered Sun Hawk a place in Prax. When the Horned Man taught shamans how to work with spirits, Sun Hawk was one of the first summoned.
After Time
As shamans continued to regularly contact and worship Sun Hawk, he was able to solidify his part in Praxian nomadic society.
The God Learners came and explored Prax during the Second Age. They tried to convince the Praxians that Sun Hawk was related to an elf god of light. Next the Dragonfriends came and took over the God Learner place Robcradle, building the Sun Dome on the banks of the river. They tried to convince the Praxians that Sun Hawk was a kin-slave to their god Yelmalio. The Sun Hawk shamans and worshippers did not believe either of the outsiders, and were proven correct when both the Wyrms Friends and God Learner empires collapsed.
In the Third Age, Sun Hawk continues to be worshipped through a spirit cult.
Life After Death
Sun Hawk worshipers retain their Praxian beliefs about life after death, and follow Praxian funerary rituals.
Runic Associations
Sun Hawk is associated with the runes of Light and Beast.
Sun Hawk's magic provides Praxian nomads with hightened visual acuity and the ability to see through deceptive magic. As a Three Feathered Rival, he helps create a stable dynamic of magical powers in Prax.
Sun Hawk can only be contacted in Prax. Although all Praxian nomads (excepting the Morokanth tribe) worship Sun Hawk occasionally, he has traditionally been worshipped most by the Alticamelus and Ostrich tribes. Since Moonbroth, Sable shamans have also been worshiping Sun Hawk more often, especially after the Lunars convinced Count Solanthos in Sun County to permit Praxian nomads to worship at an ancient Sun Hawk shrine near Yellow Sky (in the hopes of fomenting a stronger Solar presence among the Praxian tribes). Another Sun Hawk holy place is said to be Spirit Mountain, in the south east range of the Eiritha Hills.
Requirements: most shamans will only allow someone from their own tribe to join them in worship. Outsiders almost always must have joined the tribe before they are allowed to worship Sun Hawk.
Requirements: The shaman rules for RuneQuest describe the correct practices for Gloranthan shamans.
The spirit cult rules for RuneQuest describe the correct way for shamans to contact and worship Sun Hawk. He provides the Divine Magic spell Clear Sight as a reusable spell. If Sun Hawk's worship service is a special success, he provides his shaman with one use of the Divine Magic spell Cloudclear.
Clear Sight/2 points/ Sight Range, Temporal, Nonstackable, Reusable
This spell increases the caster's visual Scan and Search skills by 30% each. It also permits the caster to see any illusion for what it is, and to see through such cloaking spells as Invisibility and Conceal. However, the caster cannot see in the dark or through opaque objects such as walls, fog, or smoke.
(© Chaosium, from the official but unpublished Praxian spirit cult descriptions)
When summoned, Sun Hawk appears as a large, brilliant red hawk limned with yellow and white flames.
The worship of Sun Hawk is not accepted readily by most other sky worshipers. Sun Hawk is seen as untrustworthy for accepting the agreement with Waha, and almost all of his worshipers are native Praxian nomads. Only because of Lunar influence has the Yelmalio cult allowed for a shrine to be reactivated on Sun Dome Temple property.
Nomad Gods stats for Sun Hawk:
combat factor: 6 (no support required)
magic factor: 6* (may carry other units)
movement factor: 10 (flyer)
reflection factor: none
Whenever Sun Hawk is within 10 hexes of Thunder Hawk, he must drop all chattal property and retreat to at least 11 hexes away. If Sun Hawk is within 10 hexes of Raven, Raven must retreat.
Bryan Maloney also has a Sun Hawk cult write up.
Peter "do you see what I see" Michaels
Please send email to me at pmichaels@aol.com.
From here you can go back to my Glorantha page, or back to Fool's Paradise.
Last Updated: 13 October 1996
URL: http://members.aol.com/pmichaels/glorantha/praxsh.html
Glorantha is the creation of Greg Stafford. RuneQuest is a registered trademark of the Avalon Hill Game Co., a division of Monarch Avalon Inc. No challenge of these or any other trademarks or copyrights is intended, implied, or inferred by this or any other pages by this writer.