This is an Armenian folktale, from a collection called “The Golden Maiden” by A G Seklemian. This story, and the one which will follow next week, are both possible starting points for a Spring covenant. This one is also of interest to us, because it suggests there is a political structure in the least-powerful tribe of dragons, the orms, and that the smallest orms look much like common snakes. Statistics for the king, and his daughter, will eventually land on the blog which accompanies the podcast.
The audio used in this episode was released into the public domain by Noel Badrian through Libivox. Thanks to Noel, and the production team. I’ll pop back in at the end with a few plot hooks.
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The King of the Snakes lives in the ruins of a big tower between Nineveh and Babylon, and rules all the snake tribe, both on land and sea. Once the King’s son, who was viceroy of the province of Diarbekir, wrote a letter to his royal father, as follows:
“Long live the King! May Heaven bestow upon you life everlasting. Amen. Be it known to you that your daughter-in-law and grandchildren were sick last summer, and the doctors advised that they must have a change of climate and must go to Mount Ararat and bathe in its pure streams, and eat its fragrant flowers, and this will immediately heal them. Consequently I sent her and the children, with their attendants, to Mount Ararat. I also wrote letters to the provincial viceroys and princes to assist the Princess and her train during their sojourn in that district. But the Prince of Aderbadagan, after receiving my letter, instead of giving help to the traveling Princess, collected his troops and assaulted her and her train. The attendants of the Princess met them bravely, and there, at the foot of Mount Ararat, occurred a bloody battle, which would doubtless have resulted in the total defeat of the Princess’ train, on account of the superior numbers of the enemy, if a human being, Simon the Shepherd, who was tending his flock in a neighboring field, had not come to the assistance of our fatigued combatants. He took his great club, and entering the ranks of the warriors, beat and killed and pursued the assaulting brigands of the Prince of Aderbadagan, and saved the life of your daughter-in-law, who thus came safely through this perilous journey. You see, my liege, that there is good even among men. I will punish the vile Prince of Aderbadagan for his wicked conduct; but it remains for you to reward the goodness of this noble human being as you deem best, and oblige your affectionate son.”
The King of the Snakes, receiving this letter, took with him a vast quantity of gold and jewels, and went to his palace, in a ruined castle between Aleppo and Diarbekir. He posted his attendants on the highways to keep watch and inform him when Shepherd Simon should pass. The Shepherd was employed by dealers in live-stock, who did business with Damascus and Aleppo, and was now on his way to Aleppo. As soon as he approached the palace of the Snake King the watchers informed their sovereign, and in the twinkling of an eye the whole army of snakes stood near the highway and began to conjure. Simon the Shepherd felt a strange dizziness,—the heavens above and the earth below seemed to change. He stood there bewitched, while his companions drove away. Presently he opened his eyes, and lo! he was surrounded by innumerable snakes of all sizes and colors. Upon a golden throne was sitting a snake as thick as the body of an elephant, and upon his head there was a crown of costly jewels and diamonds. One of the snakes read a paper praising the goodness of the Shepherd, his natural fondness for the snake tribe, and his gallant defense of the weak and the wronged.
“Now, noble human being,” said the King, “here is gold for you, precious jewels and diamonds; take as much as you like; and in addition to these, if you have a desire in your heart tell it to me and I will cause it to be satisfied.”
Simon, after filling his shepherd’s bag and his pockets with gold and jewels, said:
“I wish to understand the language of all animals, reptiles and birds.”
“Let it be so,” said the King; “but the day on which you shall tell anything of what you have seen or heard, you shall die.”
The spell was removed, the snakes vanished, and Simon the Shepherd returned to his home near the foot of Mount Ararat. On the way he heard the animals talking, and lo! they knew all the secrets of men, and foretold events that would happen. Sometimes he laughed at what he heard, and sometimes he was terrified so that his hair stood erect upon his head. He entered his native village, and lo! all the dogs, cats, chickens, and even the long-legged storks were hallooing to one another and saying:
“Simon the Shepherd has come; his bag and pockets are full of gold and jewels.”
Simon came to his house and put his treasure before his wife who, being a very curious woman, instantly asked him where and how he obtained so much wealth.
“Enjoy it, but never ask,” answered Simon.
Simon heard his dog and chickens talking in regard to the secrets of his house. Some times he laughed and sometimes he was angry. His wife, noticing Simon’s strange conduct towards the animals, asked the reason. He refused to tell, but she begged and importuned him, weeping all the time. Finally he could resist her entreaties no longer, and he promised to tell her everything on the following day. That evening he heard the dog talking to the cock, which was leading the chickens to roost, chuckling and gurgling:
“Tell me, master rooster,” said the dog, “what is the use of your chuckling and gurgling, since our master has promised his wife to-morrow to tell her everything? He will die; people will come and kill you, shoot me, and plunder and ruin everything which belongs to our master.”
“Eh! the sooner it is ruined the better,” answered the rooster, contemptuously. “I have a family of forty wives, who are all obedient to me; if our master was as wise as he is rich, he would not pay attention to the vain inquisitiveness of his wife; he himself would not die, and no harm would befall us or his house. But now he deserves death.”
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I’ll cut the story there, because it ends with the threat of domestic violence, and that gains us nothing for the game.
Plot hooks
Simon has undergone some sort of mystagogic initiation here: he has a sort of permanent Intelligo Animal effect. A similar thing is gained, in German folklore, by consuming a dragon’s heart. The virtue’s weak enough that a companion could take it.
The king has a palace in a ruined castle, and a throne in a regio. Mixed with the treasure, this is sufficent to begin a covenant. The serpents also act as spies, informers, guards and familiars.
Statistics: A Princess of Serpents
Faerie Might: 10 (Animal)
Characteristics: Int* 0, Per –2, Pre –6, Com –6, Str +1, Sta -6, Dex +2, Qik +4 Size: –4 Virtues and Flaws: 2 x Little, Faerie Ally (father), Faerie Beast; Faerie Sight, Faerie Speech, Highly Cognizant, Increased Characteristics, Personal Faerie Power (Constant Damaging Effect) Personality Traits: Regal +3, Tired all the time +2 Combat: Fangs: Init +4, Attack +15, Defense +10, Damage -6
Constriction*: Init 0, Attack +9, Defense +5, Damage +8
* +6 to Defense against grapple attacks
** May grapple -4 Size enemies.
*** Does not include the Constant Damaging Effect power, which adds +5 when appropriate.
Soak: +2
Wound Penalties: –1 (1), –3 (2), –5 (3), Incapacitated (4), Dead (5+)
Powers:
Constrict:* When successfully struck with a constrict attack, the character is encoiled and unable to use mêlée weapons. The orm automatically does damage in each subsequent round, without requiring an Attack roll. The victim may still Soak damage. At the end of each round, including the round in which the constriction attack succeeds, the character may attempt to break free by an opposed Strength roll. To do this, he rolls Strength + a stress die, and compares it to the orm’s Strength + a stress die. Success indicates he is free, and may attack normally in the following round. For each character assisting him to break free, he may add +1 to the Strength roll, but an assistant is unable to attack the orm in that round. A character unable to break free for 30 seconds (6 combat rounds) needs to make deprivation rolls, as described on page 179 of ArM5.
Constant Damaging Effect, 3 points, constant, Auram: Many orms emit a noxious slime or have toxic breath, and poison their surroundings, but many other damaging effects are known. This effect does +5 Damage, but is always active. 25 spell levels (Base 5 +1 Part, +2 Sun, +1 Constant)
Venomous Bite:* When the orm attacks, compare its Attack Advantage to the victim’s armor Protection (not his Soak). If the orm’s advantage is higher, the victim suffers the effects of adder venom as listed in the Poison Table on page 180 of ArM5, regardless of whether the bite inflicts an actual wound. The storyguide may adjust the required Attack Advantage for special circumstances.
* These are natural abilities of the faerie’s form, and do not require the Personal Faerie Powers Virtue.
Pretenses: Area Lore 3 (home territory), Awareness 3 (prey), Brawl 7 (bite), Hunt 4 (rodents), Faerie Speech 5 (threats), Folk Ken 1 (humans in her home territory), Intrigue 5 (faerie dragons), Stealth 3 (stalking prey)
Equipment: Has treasure, but does not carry it with her.
Vis: 2 pawns (Animal) snakeskin
Appearance: Appears to be a normal snake, if a little apathetic.
Source: Simon, the friend of dsnakes by A. G. Seklemian
Blog post: https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/timothyferguson.wordpress.com/12781
Podcast: http://traffic.libsyn.com/gamesfromfolktales/236_-_Simon_the_friend_of_snakes.mp3
Games From Folktales 