Heroquest

“	Harmast Barefoot's successful heroquest saved the world from Gbaji. Karsent Fardrosson's spectacular failure caused stars to fall on his people.	”
–Ring Member, King of Dragon Pass

A heroquest is when a quester enters the realm of the gods and reenacts a myth specific to a god.

Heroquests are a very important part of the game, and you will have to perform several of them to win the game.

A heroquest, however, is not to be taken lightly. The rewards may be great, but the consequences of failure are dire: your quester could very well die... or worse! Make sure you are well prepared.

Preparing for a Heroquest[]

First of all, you should be aware that no matter how much preparation you have put into a heroquest, there is always a chance that you will fail. That said, the following information should give you the best chance at success.

Also, be aware, deaths during heroquests are permanent. Chalana Arroy's blessing Resurrection won't work. However, if your quester dies after returning from the quest, Resurrection may work.

Learning the myths[]

In order to attempt a heroquest, your clan needs to know the myths they are trying to reenact. The more details they know, the better. You can check the lore screen to see how much they know about a specific myth.

(If you cannot proceed to the heroquest from the quest screen, you may not know enough about the myth yet.)

To learn more about a heroquest myth, you can:

Sacrifice to the mysteries of the god whose heroquest you wish to perform, they may reveal more details of the story,
Send an emissary to an allied clan, a clan of your tribe, or a clan that owes you a favor and ask for information,
Perform Issaries' or Lhankor Mhy's heroquest asking for details about a myth.

Sacred Time[]

Allocating magic points to Quests during Sacred Time can greatly improve your chances of success in your heroquest. Remember that having a worshipper of Eurmal on your ring will allow you to spend more points on Questing.

If you are lucky, you may get a favorable forecast that year that further increases your chance at having a successful heroquest.

Worshippers[]

The more worshippers you have, the better your chances. To increase the number of worshippers, you can:

Ask allied clans

Call on your favours

Ask the other clans in your tribe, if you have one.

The Quester[]

The game automatically selects the quester that it thinks will have the best chance at succeeding in the heroquest you have chosen. Orlanth worshippers, for example, will have the best chance at succeeding an Orlanth quest. The questers skills (combat, leadership, magic...) are also taken into account.

If you want to choose your own quester, keep in mind that there are some restrictions:

Men cannot attempt Uralda or Ernalda quests.
Humakti are forbidden from performing the Chalana Arroy quest.
Female worshippers of Issaries or Humakt can attempt their god's heroquests with no penalties, as can male worshippers of Chalana Arroy. The text and art will often look strange since the female (or male) quester will be assuming the male (or female) god's role.
Vinga worshippers can perform any Orlanth quest as if they were worshippers of Orlanth.
Females may not attempt the Elmal heroquest.

Clan Magic[]

The more clan magic you have, the better your chances of crossing into the realm of the gods. Negative magic hurts your chances.

The magic skill of your Ring member assigned to magic may have a role too (verification required).

Treasures[]

The following are treasures that can help with heroquesting:

Scarf of Seven Runes: Helps with Chalana Arroy, Issaries, Lhankor Mhy and Orlanth's heroquests.

Heroquests[]

Note : It is easier to choose to contact the gods directly in the Issaries and Lhankor Mhy quests as when you bring helpers from your clan, they may fail at critical points of the quest. The gods themselves never fail, and it is very eay to convince them to come along.

Certain quests are much easier than others. Chalana Arroy seems to be the easiest and you can fail multiple parts of the quest without any penalty. For example, you can simply choose not to heal the fire tribe, which avoids the encounter with Elmal and Orlanth. You can also fail the stormbull encounter with no penalty. The making of the storm tribe and Lhankor Mhy finds the truth is also quite easy. The Elmal quest seems to be the longest and hardest.

Benefits[]

At the beginning of each heroquest, you will be asked which benefit you are aiming for. Each heroquest has a different set of benefits for you to choose from, ranging from improving one of your quester's skills, to making peace with feuding clans. Check the individual heroquest pages for a list of their respective benefits.

Successfully completing a heroquest also grants a secondary benefit beyond the primary one you aimed for in the heroquest. These secondary benefits tend to last for three years.

Chalana Arroy Heals The Scars - Reduces the rates of sickness and disease
Elmal Guards the Stead - Lessens the threat of Chaos; provides horses if the clan's horse herd gets too small
Ernalda Feeds the Tribe - Aids cattle fertility, grain yield, and farmer productivity
Humakt the Champion - Five of your warriors fight as well as six of your enemies
Issaries the Concilliator - Reduces the threat of banditry
Lhankor Mhy Finds the Truth - Bonus in situations involving Custom, Mystery, and Divination
The Making of the Storm Tribe - Bonus in situations in which you're trying to persuade others
Orlanth and Aroka - Prevents drought, gives your warriors a bonus in battle
Uralda's Blessing - Increases cattle fertility and reduces cattle diseases

Heroquesting and winning the game[]

Short Game[]

Winning the Short Game requires the successful completion of The Making of the Storm Tribe quest and at least 3 additional heroquests during the ten years you need to hold on to the crown.

Long Game[]

Winning the Long Game also requires the successful completion of The Making of the Storm Tribe quest and 7 more heroquests.