>>> 'All Gloranthan societies outlaw the worship of Malia'
Me>>This is obviously the Orlanthi All at work.
>What are the Gloranthan (non chaotic) societies which don't prima facie
>outlaw Malia?
The Mandarins that lord it over Bliss in Ignorance appear not to outlaw the Shadow Cancer (which Sandy said was the Malia Cult equivalent). In any case you were using the above quote to try and forbid the existance of a Malia Healing Cult within the Lunar Empire. Remember how the official History in Sun County was superseded by the Elmal relevation?
>>>... 'there are no centers of power for the cult'
Me>> And what centres of power does Chalana Arroy have anyhow?
>I believe the centres of power of the healing cults are called hospitals. :)
>They form part of each community and through their reason for existence
>they exercise influence and therefore power of a sort.
>Unfortunately I didn't distinguish between power as being part of the
>establishment, or of the 'underground'. Because even the Disease Masters of
>Malia can exercise power, through threats and fear throughout their nearby
>communities.
And so what in all this precludes Malia the Healer from being a _minor_ cult within the Lunar Empire thus having 'no centre of power'?
Me>> The perception that Malia is evil, stems I think from the fact that the
>> Broos worship her.
>One of Malias diseases is Soul Rot. It seeks to obliterate your very
>spirit. Is this not objectively an 'evil' act?
How can a disease be objectively evil? Is syphilis evil? The CJD Prion? Diseases are not Evil, although they certainly are inimical. Malia is the Goddess of Diseases in the same way Gorakiki is the Goddess of Insects. Saying on the basis of one disease that Malia is evil is akin to saying Gorakiki is evil since her creatures include flies and other vermin.
And for the act of obliterating the spirit which seems to fill you with horror, the Malkioni do not need POW to pass on into Solace (cf the Theyalan belief that their souls dissolve to nothingless when they die).
>Malia is at least very self-serving. Malia feeds where she can. Other gods
>accept worship. As a 'worshipper' you supplicate yourself to Malia. A
>propitiatory worshipper doesn't get even full protection against disease,
>and they must continue to sacrifice magic points on seasonal holy days.
No worse then having visit the doctor ever now and then for your tetanus booster shots, methinks. And the protection against disease on the propitiatory level is far better than any which can be gotten from Chalana Arroy.
>Initiates (non broo) must carry a disease. Whilst they themselves, are
>immune from the effects of that type of spirit, the disease spirit
>continues to spread infection.
So? As I said, I have very little doubt that the Lunar Malia Cult knows how to make the disease _inactive_ so as to stop it from spreading disease. The Malia cult in da roolz is only true for the broos and other malcontents.
>And for Plague? No protection is given to initiates by Malia for this, her
>dark child. I hope this has given an evil enough overtone for you.
Is Ebola evil because no cure exists for it? As for the Plague 'Research is Continuing. We hope to have a cure Real Soon Now.'
>And even the dwarves fought (successfully) against Malia. Surely this is
>enough evidence by itself that Malia is evil. But still a necessary part
>to stabilise and effect repairs to the world machine.
The Dwarves also fought against Aldrya and the Elves. Does not make them or Malia evil.
Me>> Erm, so when you get innoculated in the Real World, are you giving up
>>your soul to the 'spirits' of disease?
>Being inocculated is different to being made an active carrier and spreader
>of a disease. [...] In a Malia initiate, the bargain is that you won't be
>attacked so that the spirit has lots of chances to spread disease.
So? I said that the Lunar Malia Cult knows how to make the spirit *inactive*, in that you carry the disease around but it doesn't harm you or infect others. Problem solved. There *is* a side-effect given in the roolz that a disease can re-activate in certain circumstances but I don't see this as a problem MGFwise.
>I do like the idea of a Lunar Malia cult. It would slot very nicely into
>the very dirty tricks department of Lunar Military intelligence. A small
>secret sect exists, funded by the military, to spread disease throughout
>an enemy before military combat.
We're not discussing biologicial warfare but whether Malia could be a healing cult. Besides biological warfare is so easy, one hardly needs a Malia Cultists to tell you what to do. Frex, to render a well unfit for human consumption, slaughter a diseased animal and leave it in the well and crap in it for good measure.
>>[suspision that Nysalor Cultists were only innoculating the plague
>>victims of Tanisor rather than spreading disease]
>Weren't these illuminates who first spread the disease and then _saved_
>the people from the disease?
That is what Arkat and the Malkioni *allege*. We do not know if this is true. It may be another Donation of Constantine, Mukden incident or Polish attack on the Gleiwitz Radio Station.
Timothy Byrd:
>To me this sounds as if one needs to feel hatred of an enemy to cast
>disruption and nurturing in order to heal a friend. Do you prevent
>characters from routinely casting a healing spell right after an
>attack spell in combat? Or do their emotions flip flop so quickly?
The ability to muster the required emotion is covered IMO by the POWx5 roll.
>What happens when one character is trying to heal another while
>thinking, "You stupid *bleep*! Why'd you have to get wounded now!?!
>I could just kill you! We're all gonna die because of you!"?
I would say that mechanistically he just failed his POWx5 roll.
>Would it also rule out cold-blooded killer types? (Like the
>six-fingered man in _The Princess Bride_) "I'm so sorry, but I'm
>going to have to Disrupt you now."
He could also use emotions like contempt or malice. It's only a one point spell so he doesn't need to scream his head off. Most spirit magicians overkill on the emotion necessary IMO.
>Hmmm... And then spells or drugs which influence one's emotions
>should make it easier or more difficult to cast spells... Extreme
>cases could make certain spells involuntary or automatic. Yikes!
Well I did say that seeing the Crimson Bat could trigger that Mobility 6 you knew so I don't see a problem with this. A demoralize spell certainly inhibits one from casting offensive spells.
>What emotion would one need to cast Glamour?
[Looks in mirror. Preens self]
"Gosh, I feel absolutely Fantaaaastic!"
>Would Mobility to chase something be a different spell than Mobility
>to flee?
Good point. IMO they're the same spell but the knower of one effect (Chase Prey) would need tuiton (ie shaman sends him out into the desert to meditate) to know how to cast the other effect (Run Like Buggery).
>Once Mobility is cast if the target stands still would there be
>a chance of losing the adrenaline 'rush' and thus having the
>spell fade?
I suppose if the target stood still, his kneecaps and ankles will be as twitchy as hell. If he tried to walk slowly, his gait would look like a sheriff walking down the street in a Western.
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