Yanafowl Tarnbill

Though my own thoughts on ducks have been pretty light-hearted at times, I've usually tried to avoid some of the more common jokes in the community. Not necessarily because I don't like them--I do, and think they have their own fun place--but because I wanted to try something a little different. This following cult write-up of Yanafowl Tarnbill, therefore, marks something of an homage to John Castellucci and "What the Beak Quacks."




Yanafowl Tarnbill
“Warbler and Warrior”

Yanafowl Tarnbill was a durulz, a Hueymakti commander of the D­ucks And legion who traveled with his comrades to the far north and there performed a great ritual; one that reforged the shards of the Red Cosmic Egg, and cast it into the Sky in the Dehatching of Ruffled Zar. He fought his own god to gain divinity, and now resides within the Egg itself. For some utterly ludicrous reason (as also noted in the case of Hueymakt) humans persist in the notion of defining every major cosmic entity as one of their own kind (a foible to which the durulz are of course immune). The predominantly human congregation of the Red Cosmic Egg claimed that Yanafowl was from Yuthuppa, and sought to hide his durulz heritage in insinuated links to the bird-loving Rinliddi.

Yanafowl is war-god supreme of the durulz, greater even than Efrodar Blackflippers, though followed only by those dedicated to the gospels of the Red Cosmic Egg. In life, he was a master of the two greatest forms of warfare in the world: marshland operations and riverine barge fighting. As a god of unparalleled martial excellence, inextinguishable valor and unquestioned honor, worship of Yanafowl is naturally rare among the durulz. Nevertheless, The God That Defeated Hueymakt has no little kudos attached, and is seen as a refreshing alternative to the grim psychoses of the Deathdrakes by many nascent war-leaders and waghalters. Yanafowl’s followers are true heroes and dogged enemies of all Hueymakti bandits, splendidly marked by their large Eggshard scimitars, bronze panoply, crimson togas and scarlet-dyed war feathers.

Entry Requirements: Candidates must defeat a Hueymakti in single combat.

Abilities: Command River Barge, Egg Eye, Initiate or Devotee of Yanafowl Tarnbill, Marshland Fighting Tactics, Marshlore, Oratory, Riverine Tactics, Two-Handed Scimitar Fighting.

Virtues: Honorable, Militaristic, Valorous, Warmonger.

Affinities and Feats:
Marshland Myrmidon (Cunning Stratagem, Feigned Retreat, Perceive Enemy in Mist, Real Retreat, Silent Approach, Whistled Command)
River Reiver (Boarding Bound, Daring Dash, Engage the Enemy More Closely, Swim Silently)
Warbling Warlord (Feathers of Iron, Reinvigorating Yodel, Slicing Scimitar, Strike Aside Death, Warble of Command)

Secret: Defeat Death (if reduced to Dying in a contest, the Yanafowli may once only roll the rating of his secret against a passive resistance, and if successful return to the contest Unhurt, with 1 AP)

Other Side: Yanafowl Tarnbill serves Ruffled Zar in the Red Cosmic Egg, and loyal warriors join his glorious legions upon their passing from the Mortal World.

(Originally posted on HeroQuest-RPG, 9 July 2005.)