heroquesting

From: David Cake <davidc_at_cs.uwa.edu.au>
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 13:01:08 +0800


>I have a problem with Joe Heroquester changing the story so that the
>Sun was a female principle, and instead of dying was seduced and
>impregnated.

        I think the key concept here is opposition.

        If an Orlanthi tells a Dara Happan that he killed the Emperor, the Dara Happan says 'ah, yes, your god is indeed a vile rebel. (You are a little wrong on some of the details though.)' Neither disagrees with the other much. If an Orlanthi rebel decides to go on a heroquest to kill the Emperor, the Emperor can fight back, but will probably end up dieing and being resurrected. Both of them know the plot, and both will fight to the best of their ability, but the path is pretty much laid out.

        If a bizarre heroquester tells a Dara Happan that the sun is seduced and impregnated, the Dara Happan gets alarmed. If the heroquester tries to heroquest to prove that it is true, then probably alarm bells (well, divinations and spiritual messengers and omens) start ringing in Yelm temples (and probably every other masculine sun god) everywhere. They know that Yelm (as they know him) is under spiritual attack. The Yelmies probably do something about it. Almost the entire Dara Happan empire opposes our hypthetical subversive, all other things being equal. They almost certainly lose. They are trying to do something new and unique, probably with limited support, while the solar temples of the world oppose them.

        And if an even stranger heroquester tries to convince someone that the sun is dark, they are effectively trying to put out the sun. The entire universe opposes them. They lose (I hope).

        But wait! I think real, successful, heroquesters are a bit more devious than this. They know when they are going to lose in a straight out fight, and act more deviously accordingly. For example, if you wanted to prove that the sun was female, I think to have any hope at all you get an illuminated Dara Happan emperor on side, or similarly subvert the existing solar hierarchy (I think if you managed to get a woman as Dara Happan emperor (bloody near impossible) you'd be more than halfway there). If you want to prove the sun has darkness powers, you start by pointing out that the sun makes things cast shadows, or similar. Actually, there is already a darkness and sun related god - the Black Sun (which IMHO is intimately connected, if not mostly the same as, Kazkurtum from solar myth), so there is a place to start (again, the abscence of an Emperor, or perhaps a Spolite on the throne <*spits*> aids your cause).

        Cheers

                Dave





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