Finding Favor

Teaser. Escorting a pretty young woman to the northern frontier is an easier way to earn your
citizenship than manual labor. But will your tauther guide be enough to help you deal with
obstinate thombos, inquisitive thriddle, and surly crugar? Explore a world unlike any other. An
introductory adventure for the cult classic Skyrealms of Jorune game: Leave your world behind(tm)!
Note for the Sholari: This is intended to be an introductory adventure for players new to Jorune. It
is intended to introduce players to the concepts of tauther, thriddle, drenn, earthtec, thombos, and
especially crugar. It is a good opportunity for players to see some of the complexities of the Jorune
background. Players should see that crugars are more than mere swordfodder, but possess a rich
and complex culture, for all that they are touchy and dangerous to deal with.
This adventure may also be the springboard for a campaign, as depending on their choices, players
may alienate a powerful Drenn, or simply choose to enter the humanocentric perspective of Ardoth
as given in the tauther guide.
The scenario was originally written for the 3rd edition Jorune rules, but was later updated for
JOTE.

1. Starting the adventure, and a bit of background.

The party is a group of tauther in Ardoth. They show up for their monthly work assignment, only
to find that today they will not be needed to work on the seawall. Instead, they have been engaged
by Drenn Jared Moshu, a wealthy collector and seller of natural curios. Drenn Moshu is sending
his assistant, Marlis Tokno to Eeshi Lerrin (plantation), in the northernmost part of Gauss, on an
annual visit to purchase collectable curios from his brother, Drenn Kodos Moshu. The tauther are
expected to serve as guards and assistants for Marliss journey. If they succeed, they may expect a
copra mark from Jared. Since Jared occasionally sends people searching for curios for him,
impressing him may get the party a useful patron.
Drenn Jared will supply the party with food, tents, and blankets. [Although its a big expense,
Jared might provide thombos so new players can experience them.] All nonperishables are
expected to be returned. Its up to the party to provide their own spending money for incleps along
the way if they choose not to sleep under the seven moons.
Marlis Tokno is a short, pretty, darkhaired woman who is also tauther. She has been working for
Drenn Moshu for about two years, slowly learning about evaluating curios and managing his
collection. Drenn Moshu is neither a good master nor a poor one. He can be nasty, sarcastic, and
even vindictive when thwarted, but can be generous when excited. He had let drop a couple of
comments that he found Marlis attractive when she began working for him, but she firmly told him
of her wish to keep their relationship a business one, and he has not bothered her since.
Marlis is very businesslike. She is pursuing drennship slowly, spending most of her time learning
the curios business. Her ambition is to open a shop to buy curios from wanderers, and sell them at
a great profit to collectors. She is brusque and practical. She views this trip as mostly an
annoyance, but will take the opportunity to learn more about her future business.
Jared trusts Marliss judgment enough to trust her with money to pay Moshu for the mysterious
item. She carries it in a hidden belt around her waist. In addition to the extra money, Marlis has a
thombo.

Eeshie sits on the Sholur tributary of the Agis river, north and west of Ellpie in the northern corner
of the Gauss valley. It will take about 67 days to get there on thombos.
Timeline: Jared regularly visits or sends a clerk to visit his brother on the old farmstead this time of
year, and Kodos usually goes searching for something to sell his brother. Its a useful relationship,
as Kodos gets a little money from his urban brother and has an excuse to irritate the crugar, and
Jared gets new curios every year to keep or sell.

2. The party meets Robay DharShin, the iscin of crugarlore.

Robay is travelling in the company of Mingo, a crugar. Robay will be tending the fire alone when
the players arrive, and hell invite them to camp with him and dine. Mingo will then appear from
the woods. Robay will tell them not to startle, and some basic rules of crugar etiquette: hold your
head low when speaking to them, and squint. Use no ch in their speech, make no unnecessary
motions, and dont keep eye contact. Never disparage or call out another directly, and if a crugar is
angered at you, try to leave them alone, if possible. Robay is headed to Ardoth to drop off his notes
to be printed for the Iscin academy. He hopes to dispel some of the popular misunderstandings of
the crugar (but wont specify what they are while Mingo is around). Mingo will be stiff, withdrawn,
and a bit edgy, and both he and Robay should be making players a little uncomfortable. (They can
lunge to spear something out of the cookpot, gobble their food, lick their chops while staring at a
PC suddenly start and bound into the woods for a moment, return silently from behind the players,
sharpen their weapons while staring around at the darkness, etc.) In general, the Sholari should do
all he can to make players uncomfortable around them while at the same time never being overtly
threatening. Robay will be overtly rather polite, but hes been away from humans for a long time,
and hes acquired a few crugar habits of his own.
Later in the evening, if the PCs have made a good impression on Robay and Mingo, Mingo may sing
some of his pawm's songs for them. They are somewhat monotonous at first, a series of purrs, but
motivated PCs may discover complex undertones and trills to them, something like the throat
singing of the Tibetan monks in our world. Marlis will be disgusted and attempt to sleep. If
especially pleased with the party, Robay may convince Mingo to let him tell an old legend from his
pawm, where two cubs make a blood pact to never compete, but how a treacherous human forces
them to fight each other to the death over a matter of honor. The winner, upon recognizing his
brothers body in the rising moon, rips his own throat with his brothers paws, and the two of them
are reborn as morning and evening star so they may never compete again.
Hopefully, players will see that crugar can be more than mere swordfodder, and learn a bit of
crugar etiquette.

3. A Thriddle Encounter.
A couple of days later, the party sees weird forms around a campfire. There are huge hulking
brutes and smaller creatures that move with a funny hopping gait. They are cooking food, and it
smells better than trail mix.
This is an encampment of thriddle on their way to Ardoth from Cosahmi, with their corastin
guards. If the party tries to get to the camp, they are likely to meet a corastin guard who will be
slightly suspicious. If not treated with deference and friendliness, he will not let the party past, but
if treated well, hell let them meet Bennid Ho Trildo, the leader of the group.
There are four thriddle and three corastin in the group. (Bennid, Hilsud Ko Dalto, Latro Ho Gomo,
and Nillet Do Yom the corastin answer to Hugg, Thill, and Isht). Nillet is a rather young thriddle,
and will pester the PCs with many questions, some rather personal: How old are you? How many
yules do you have? How many copras do you have, and how many do you get a year? What is the

longest you have let your hair grow? How often do you bathe? Do you like rusper, and how often
have you gotten drunk? How much would it cost to buy a home in Ardoth? Do you find Boccord or
Muadra women attractive? Do you get rashes when you ride thombos? Do you have any offspring?
Are you sexually mature? Sholari: Keep asking questions, and the more personal, the better. If the
PCs protest, Nillet will note (out loud, as he writes) that the subject is uncooperative and displaying
hostility. He may then ask for a quantification of that hostility. Players should be slightly amused
and slightly embarrassed.
Bennid is older, and will try to shush the irrepressible little one. If the PCs are evasive to the
stream of questions, Latro may make a comment to Nillet that these are uncooperative or simple
subjects, and he can learn much more from the people at Ardoth. Hilsud will offer to answer any
questions he can, and if the PCs have none, he may offer to describe his research on the lifecycle of
the blowfly, which he will narrate in excruciating detail. The other thriddle may enjoy his tale, but
its likely to take more time than the party has.
The thriddle are simply travelling to Ardoth to visit friends, and are harmless. If the corastin are
treated badly, the thriddle will intervene to avoid trouble (unless the trouble is so large that the
thriddle think the humans deserve a thrashing). Notice that the thriddle will spend all the time
standing, and wont sit down unless they trust the humans a lot. They will offer to share their food,
but coditchpatties are pretty bland stuff. Bennid will take out a giggitpipe to have a smoke after
dinner, explaining that nothing compliments a meal better. If a PC has made a good impression, he
may offer to share, but giggit are expensive!

JOTE corastin combat stats:

Attack with 5 dice (x2 with clubs) +3 (because of their size)
Defend with 3 dice (+3).
Armor: 1d+4 (Their skin is a thick protective layer called Crudge, and they also are
protected by their large size).

4. Eeshie: the arrival.

Eeshie Lerrin is populated by about 60 people (40 men, 15 women, 5 children). The dirt track
curves through the hills, and atop one large hill is a large building of stone and wood, with an
observation tower on top, flying a pale green banner. Many smaller buildings are scattered around
the large house, and the land going down to the river is filled with planted fields. Curious, but
cautious faces peer around doors and through crackedopen shutters as you ride to the large house.

5. Moshu House
Two roughlooking men armed with spears and swords are waiting at the front door. They are
Thobad and Landon, two farmers here. They are normally rather truculant, but they are in a
relatively jovial mood: Drenn Kodos Moshu is celebrating his return from his latest collecting trip.
Thobad begins the formalities. "Who are yer, and what yer be doing roun' here?
Yerr from Drenn Jared? Mebbee Kodoswill see yer now. Gwan in.
The interior of the house is an odd mix the walls are crude panels, the floor simple planks, but
there are paintings and other works of art hanging on the walls. There is a loud hubbub deeper in
the house: people are celebrating. It is easy to find where the noise is.

A large room is filled with people drinking rusper and talking loudly. The walls are hung with art,
and there is a large fireplace. The densest clot of people is at the far end of the room, by a large
table where cups and bottles sit. Lying in the middle of the table is a broken hooked sword. Strips
of leather are wrapped around it, along with patches of fur and a few crystals. The broken weapon
looks both crude and dangerous. People are admiring it and experimentally touching it. Kodos
Moshu sprawls nearby in a comfortable armchair surrounded by four other men. A laser is
obviously holstered at his hip EarthTec devices such as this are rarely seen outside of Ardoth.
Kodos Moshu is an unpleasant man. He is used to wielding power here, first as the eldest son of the
landholder, then as the landholder himself. He will glare at the party: "Who the cleashcrap are
you? Oh, Marlis: I didnt see your pretty face under the roaddust. Ill have a room for you. You
(waving vaguely at the party) can sleep in the barracks and stake the thombos in the stables. After
you clean up, you can take a drink of rusper here I'm in a generous mood. Go."
6. Accomodations
Thobad and Landon can show the party to the stables and the barracks. The barracks are cold and
dusty. They haven't been used (or cleaned) in a couple of months, and they don't look comfortable.
Water for washing can be taken from the river, and a warm bath can be drawn by dropping hot
stones from the fire into a pit in the floor.
Once cleaned up, the party may return to the house. Most of the guests have left, leaving Kodos
Moshu chatting with Marlis and his four lieutenants, Pantho, Olothus, Modro, and Harall, are
hanging around. They are talking around the broken sword glimpsed earlier.
Marlis: clearly crugarmake, but it seems strange that theyd decorate a broken hooksword.
Kodos: We found it in one of their stiltnests. At first I thought it was trash, but it was lying on
bed of grass, and the rest of the place was empty.
Olothus: Told ya: stupid crugar think their stiltnests are sacred.
Harall: Is it worth much?
silence
Marlis: You got this out of a hawma?um, stiltnest?
Kodos: So? (laughs)
Marlis: (long pause) This is sacred for them. Theyre going to be real mad.
Modro: (with satisfaction) If the crugar raid, well be ready for em.
Olothus: Yeah. Well show em what it costs to attack humans.
Marlis: Tell me more about the haw stilt nest.
(Boring details of the hawma where the chaunpo was found.)
[For the Sholari: the Chaunpo is a crugar sacred artifact. Originally a famous weapon, the chaun
po is ritually broken and decorated to indicate it is now no longer a violent instrument. Placed
inside the hawma, it symbolizes that fighting is not permitted in this place. The theft of the Chaun
po defiles the hawma and humiliates all pawms that use the hawma, especially the one that
originally contributed the Chaunpo.]
Conversation stops as soon as the party makes noise or enters the room. If the conversants think
the PCs were eavesdropping, theyll be annoyed.
Mosho scowls and drops a hand to near his laser, then relaxes as he recognizes the party. "What do
you want? Oh, yes, the tauthers. Pantho, see about getting them a bit to eat in the kitchenand a
cup of rusper apiece, then send them back to the barracks. Oh, tauther: see Modro first thing in the
morning for your work assignment."

Pantho is a lean, leathery man with a stern, fixed expression. He will motion the party to follow
him to the kitchen. He will slap a platter on the table, and casually toss onto it pickled creshifish,
cold fried Jorbus melon, and some durlig. He will pour each person a cup of rusper, then lean
against the wall, cross his arms, and silently watch while they eat. When they are done, he will
lead them to the front door again.
If the party attempts to converse with Pantho, they will find him less than cooperative. He
obviously thinks little of them and would rather not waste his time.

7. A work day
On the next day, the party will be woken shortly after dawn by the rattle of the woodenhooped
"clatter". Modro is dressed and ready. "You'll be digging with Wooten in the north fields today.
Here are hoes. Work until the noon, take a halfhour break for lunch, and then work until the
clatter sounds. You'll eat with Wooten."
Wooten is an older man, with muscles like knots of steel under his skin. If the party makes friends,
he'll warm quickly to them, and as they hoe, he'll pass on what information they need to know.
What's Kodos like?
"Gruff. E's used to getting is way, 'e is. Been like that since 'e was a boy. Not like 'is dad."
What was his dad like?
"Ol Landador Moshu, 'e was a proper fellow, if you follow my row. 'E did well in foundin the Lerrin,
treated the workers right, 'e did. Wanted to do right by everybody. Even the crugar."
What do you mean by that?
"Landador, 'e figgured the best way to keep away crugar was to look tough, and treat 'em fair. After
Kodos took over, he started pushin' 'em around. Says there's no point treating nonhumans fair."
Does it help?
(spits) "More boys get hurt, couple more get'n killed. Boys feel prouder, though."
What is that hooked sword on the table?
"Dunno fer sure, but I'd bet a yulie it's crugar, and pricey. Kodos likes to go out to their land and
find stuff 'is brother Jared can sell in Ardoth for a few linkies. Someday it'll bring trouble, mark my
words." Squints at the players. "Yer Ardothen tauther, aincha? Yull prob'ly be carryin' it south
withyah."
Why does Kodos have a laser?
"Dunno. Pricey bit, isn't it? 'E prob'ly got it fer shootin' crugar."
What about Kodos's henchmen?
"Tough men. Stay autter their way, and do what they says. Kodos is real close to 'em, and nobody
else is."

For lunch, Wooten fetches a bag. There are some hard rusks of bread, and a jug of warm water.
When that's empty, it can be refilled at the well.
The clatter sounds as the sun begins to set. The workers return home with their tools and clean up
for the evening. Wooten will invite the PCs for dinner, since Kodos won't be inviting the PCs. After

dinner, Wooten will broach a cask of rusper. Everybody will be pretty tired, especially the PCs, and
bedtime will be fairly soon.

8. FIRE!
The party will be awoken in the middle of the night by cries of "FIRE!" Workers are rushing with
buckets to throw water on a burning barn on the outskirts of the lerrin. The barn is burning
fiercely. Before the workers can bring it under control, there is more shouting: a house at the other
side of the Lerrin has also caught fire. People are confused Olothus and Modro are shouting orders
to split the workers into two firefighting parties. Kodos and Pantho soon arrive, and the fires are
being brought under some control. Kodos is growling as he helps fight the fire, but Pantho is
impassive, as always.
Once the fires are out, Kodos is in a fury. Shouting, he declares: The kitties have gone too far!
Were going to clean them out! Burning is a cowards way! Every crugar, male, female, and cub is
getting cut down, do you hear! Ill personally pay a cluster for the head of Tuscha for this, and two
clusters for saving him for me so I can blow a hole in him! Whos with me? The younger males are
enthusiastic, but the older ones are slower and hold back. The PCs will not be invited, and if they
volunteer, they will be sneered at as useless tauther. If the PCs can convince Kodos to take them,
he may do so, otherwise they will be left behind at Eeshie.
If the PCs accompany the raiding party, Marlis will attempt to speak with them privately before
they leave (see Real trouble, below). If the PCs insist on joining the party, Marliss will steal the
chaunpo and attempt to return to Ardoth on her own.
The raiding partys experience will be two days of walking around uselessly, following wildgoose
chases, and accomplishing next to nothing. Six crugar will be eventually cornered and killed, but
its clear these werent the best of the tribe, and the group they followed was a diversion.
9. Real trouble.
The war party will be off early. Bristling with weapons, theyre off to track the crugar raiders, who
wont be easy to find. Kodos will leave Harall behind to run the lerrin. The PCs will be sent back to
work with Wooten unless they managed to join the raiding party.
Marliss will come to see the party as they hoe. She will insist on speaking to them privately: Look,
weve got to get out of here. The crugar arent going to give up, and Kodos isnt going to be able to
keep this place safe. Lets get the Desti out of here and head for home. Marliss wants the party to
escort her and the chaunpo back to Ardoth.
The party has some real options here:
1. They can agree to Marliss plan. Harall will not let them go without a confrontation.
a. Harall doesnt believe the lerrin is in real danger. He has great faith that Kodos will kill
all the local crugar, and even if he doesnt get them all, the lerrin has always won in the
past. Marlis will try to explain that every crugar that the local pawm can summon will be
involved in this attack, probably at least 100 crugar.
b. Harall will certainly not allow Marlis to bring the chaunpo back to Ardoth, even if she
leaves money for it. Kodos hasnt agreed to a price yet.
c. The party can try to sneak out. Its up to the sholari if Harall will notice and what his
response would be. In any case, these tauther will be in serious trouble with both Drenn for
their cowardice.

d. The party can knock Harall out. If word gets out as to who did it, there will be serious
repercussions in Ardoth for such an act.
e. Harall might be bribed if hes approached properly, but his likely story is that they snuck
out. It would be very difficult to preserve ones honor among Drenn with this tactic.
2. The party can try to convince Marlis to stay. She will be increasingly agitated, and will insist
that this will be a replay of Chaln Dolchas invasion of sixtyodd years ago. It will be a hard sell to
convince her.
3. The party can incapacitate Marlis, recruit Haralls help, or find some other means to force her to
stay (disable the thombos?)
If the party stays, see the events starting with Return Fire and Raiders. If they head out, see
Head for the hills.
10. Return fire.
When the sun is high in the sky, another house erupts in flame. The clatter is banging wildly. As
the workers leave the fields for the house, a force of 30 crugar erupt from the scrubby terrain and
charge for the manor.

11. Raiders
While the bulk of the lerrin is busy fighting fires, the main force of crugar warriors charges the
house. Any who interfere with them will be cut down immediately. The crugar will lightning strike
the door and batter windows until they gain entry, and they will charge in. Any inside the house
who defend will be cut down, but if they run away fast enough, they will be ignored. Marlis will
hide, and the crugar will probably ignore her. Theyre after the Chaunpo, and when they recover
it, they will leave the house, and then set it afire, not bothering to loot anything else. Marlis may
need to be rescued if she cant jump out in time.
If the party opposes the crugar, theyre in trouble. They can be slain or knocked unconscious with
bad wounds. The crugar are in too much of a hurry to kill downed victims. If the party surrenders,
the crugar will probably knock them down and proceed anyway. The party can also run away or
simply ignore the crugar, in which case nothing happens to them (although Drenn Moshu will be
very disappointed in them, and there will be political repercussions).
12. Drenn Moshu Returns.
In a very foul mood. The retaliatory party has six crugar heads, but its clear to them that this
wasnt the bulk of their force, and when they see the manor has been burned, they will be besides
themselves with rage. Drenn Moshu will insist on sending a runner to the nearest city for militia
backup. The kitties have gone berserk! Its another war! If the PCs havent been too spineless in
his eyes, he may send them as his emissaries, but if he thinks theyre unreliable, hell send a
villager or two. If the PCs helped the crugar at all (unlikely?) and were seen, hell have them
disarmed by his henchmen, and debate either executing them on the spot or sending them to town
to stand trial for treason.
The PCs will be hard pressed to impress Drenn Moshu: if they fought and lost, hell scornfully ask
why they didnt get help. If they didnt fight, hell call them cowards. If they were beaten by the
crugar and sat out the rest of the activity, hell consider them lazy or derelict. About the only way
to have impressed Kodos would have been to fight the crugar, preferably killing one or more, then
fought the fire or pursued the crugar into the grasslands. Saving the Moshu family treasures would

count for something, too, provided they arent accused of looting at the same time. Remember:
Kodos finds fault with everybody, and hes almost completely irrational with rage now.
13. Kodos goes on the offensive/endgame.
By now we have the fixings of a nice little race war. Kodos is waiting for the militia in the
meanwhile hell send Pantho and Olothos to track the crugar so the militia will know where to find
them. The PCs can volunteer for the counterattack, which will be an apocalyptic fight with
Tuschas pawm of 35 remaining crugar, plus 4 elderly who can no longer fight. Tuschas is an old
and worn out pawm, and they will fight to the death. Theyll take many men with them if they go.
Kodos wants the entire pawm exterminated, including the 4 elders and 5 cubs.
Or, the PCs may decide they want no part of this unpleasant little battle, and return to Ardoth.
They will have to decide if they want Kodoss good will and mark on their challisk or not. Getting
them will be very hard, but if they dont at least make an effort to make him happy, Kodos will
blacklist them, and achieving drennship will be that much harder: Kodos will agitate against their
ever gaining status. Theres also the question of dealing with Jared on their return: although less
touchy than Kodos, hes no less vindictive, and if PCs did not take appropriate measures to save or
recover the Chaunpo, Jared is likely to be disappointed, and he will be at least a passive enemy in
the future.
Marlis had a typical Ardothian attitude about crugar before, and depending on how the party
interacts with her, she may harden or soften her attitude. Shes aware that Kodos stole a sacred
artifact and is personally responsible for inflaming the pawm, but her attitudes about whether she
feels the crugar deserve any consideration or not depends to a large extent on how the PCs talk to
her about it.
The party can earn their marks for their challisks by siding with the Moshus, seeing to the
extermination of the crugar pawm, and bringing the chaunpo to Jared Moshu in Ardoth. Doing so
will probably make them deadly foes of the crugar forever. Hopefully they will see that nonhuman
opponents arent always monsters, and they will opt for a more humane solution to their situation,
perhaps even including sabotaging Kodoss plans and lighting out for some territory far from
Ardoth.
The sholari should be aware, even if the party never figures it out, that unless Kodos is stopped at
some point, he is likely to provoke yet another fullscale humancrugar war here.
14. Head for the hills
The party may flee with Marlis or alone. The crugar will send a small force to follow any group that
leaves the lerrin so the chaunpo wont get away. (One crugar for each party member, plus 2 more.)
One of every five crugar in this force has the Lightning Strike dysha. If the party sweettalks the
crugar and can convince them that they dont have the chaunpo (and the crugar may well insist on
a search) they may escape without a fight, but these crugar are very, very touchy. The party will
have to be submissive enough to not look threatening, but not so submissive that they can be killed
without a fight.
If there is a fight, dont hesitate to have the crugar do some serious damage. PCs will be seriously
wounded, one or two may even die. If the PCs do an extraordinary job, they may chase off the
crugar, but theyll be back with a larger force, following them down to Ardoth until theyre killed off
by Ardothian soldiers.
If the Sholari is especially generous, the party can be saved by the intervention of Robay DarShinn
and Mingo, but if they actually have the chaunpo, they had better plead ignorance: DarShinn isnt
going to be very pleasant about the theft of such an important artifact.

If Marlis headed back for Ardoth on her own, with our without the Chaunpo, she will be caught
and killed by the crugar. Its up to the players as to whether they wish to pursue, but its not
exactly advisable unless they were riding hard on her trail.
15. Conclusion
If the party decides to return to Ardoth, they will be rewarded based on how well they maintained
Ardothian sensibilities. Kodos and Jared won't see exactly eyetoeye on much: Kodos is unlikely to
give a good report about the tauther unless they supported him in every way possible and never
annoyed him (good luck!), but if the party actively opposed him, he'll attempt to poison their
chances to become drenn. Jared knows his brother is a hothead, and will base his evaluation on
Marlis' report. Marlis, as hopefully shown above, is not going to be impressed by any attempts to
make life pleasant for crugar, but she's smart enough to know that a new war is a bad idea. If the
party returned the chaunpo to the crugar, that can work out okay if the party convinces her that it
was necessary to either save her life or prevent the warassuming Marlis realizes that it was the
only way to prevent a war.
Jared has more clout than Kodos, but he's a minor player. He can't prevent the players from getting
drenn status, but labeling them crugarlovers will likely lead to future problems. If the party openly
defied Burdothian sensibilities (taking the side of the crugar over that of humans, disobeying Kodos
and Marlis), the party will find life in Ardoth to be a lot harder, and few drenn will care to mark
their challisks.
If this scenario is used as a campaign, and the party took the crugar side of things, they may find it
easier to simply abandon the tauther process, and maybe leave Burdoth altogether, since they will
find Burdothian attitudes about crugar hard to stomach.