Argrath and the Devil

From: Arkat_at_aol.com
Date: Thu, 13 Jun 1996 08:42:52 -0400

In a message dated 96-06-13 00:17:35 EDT, Nick Effingham writes:

> If Argrath kills all the gods (circa 1725 ST),
>then the Cosmos doesn't collapse, but the HeroPlane does.

OK everybody, there is a FUNDAMENTAL flaw with Argrath Killing all the gods. Argrath completes the Lightbringer's Quest around 1677 (pgs 270-271 KoS). In the Lightbringer's Quest, the Orlanthi figure confronts the Devil near the end before the journey Home. This is when the events described in Argrath and the Devil would have occurred and there fore this is when the Gods should have been killed. BUT on pg 37 of KoS we have an incredible paragraph that goes like this:

"The King was not the onlyperson to be alarmed by this oncoming disaster. The dissolution of the world had progressed so far that namy of the ancient gods woke into conscious action. Those beings had been forbidden by their own oaths to ever intervene directly into the world of life unless their very essence was threatened with entropic destruction. And in the days when the Great King fought against the Monster Empire, the gods walked beside him."

All of this stuff happened AFTER the battle of Gardint around 1708! Clearly if the gods are walking around in 1708, they were NOT killed in Argrath's confrontation with the Devil at the end of the Lightbringer's quest in 1677!!!!

So of what significance is the bit entitled "Argrath and the Devil" in KoS? Clearly it is a MYTH* to explain why the gods are no longer around. The probable real explanation why the gods aren't around anymore goes something like this: Science and technology probably developed even on Glorantha to the extent that it developed on our Earth when we stopped believing in unicorns, dragons, and faeries. Science became the new religion and the gods were eventually forgotten.

Perhaps when the Devil returns in 2277 (as supposed by the author of the Conclusion in his closing), the people will remember the gods and they will once again inspire someone to follow the path of Orlanth and save the world.

• That's ironic isn't it? A myth was created in a mythical world. Why would you create a myth when anything is possible in Glorantha? I guess this comment is really directed to some of the contributors of the Digest. Many of you seem to believe that what happened on Glorantha is all myth IMHO. Let's not forget that Glorantha is a fantasy world and that just about ALL of the events ever described by the Chaosium actually happened in Glorantha EXCEPT the Argrath and the Devil story. As clearly demonstrated above...that story never REALLY happened.

Go figure that out.

John Brown
Arkat_at_aol.com

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