> Hm, I wonder if Soul Sight would show if somebody had performed a
> "banned" quest. Are there any quests that anybody knows, "should
> not be performed...?"
Logically, yes, as they make such great scenarios!
In practical terms, some quests should *only* be performed under the appropriate circumstances. For example, the quest of undertaking the Ten Tests is a very holy, very important heroquest of the Dara Happan Yelmic religion, certainly not "dodgy" or "inappropriate" or "looked down upon" by its practitioners. But if there's already an Emperor on the throne, it's "banned". Why? Because it's the quest that makes you into the Emperor. So that, effectively, it *is* banned, and only a traitor would attempt it. Unless he won, of course. ("Treason never doth prosper...")
Likewise, it appears from "King of Sartar" that performing the fullblown Lightbringer's Quest (as opposed to the shorter version we do every Sacred Time) is -- not formally "banned", but recognised to be dangerous and unnecessarily powerful, except in times of great need. Like taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut, except that it's a sledgehammer that's difficult and dangerous to wield (and you're using the RQ fumble tables whenever you swing it). As Kallyr learned.
And, following on from that, some heroquest stages are known to be so dangerous that anyone in their right mind would avoid them -- like the Baths of Nelat, generally replaced by the functionally-similar but less deadly (and therefore less rewarding) Fires of Ehilm. Again, the Baths of Nelat aren't "banned", but your wannabe quester will find (if he asks around) that nobody reputable will support their desire to undertake this quest. Yes, it's part of mainstream Orlanthi myth -- but it kills almost everyone who attempts it, so the Storm Voices and Grey Sages and Goldentongues and everyone else who you might ask for guidance will tell you, in the words of the incomparable Rick Meints, "Don't go there!" It's not "banned" -- it's just suicidally dangerous. (And your quester who *does* complete the quest has achieved something magnificent, not reprehensible).
My final example would be the Seven Mothers. Everyone knows that these were the revolutionaries who transformed Peloria into a Lunar land by armed rebellion, social upheaval and religious conversion. Ever wonder why their cult is only found out in the Provinces? Because the Powers That Be don't really want to have armed rebellion, social upheaval and religious conversions going on in the Heartlands of the Empire! There's a time and a place for everything, and the *last* thing the Lunars now want to encourage is a messianic, transformative religious ideological movement at the centre of their creaking, tottering, decadent Empire.
Which is, of course, exactly what they'll be faced with when the White Moonies get underway -- and I strongly suspect that the Keepers of the White Moon use *exactly* the same missionary techniques as the Priestesses of the Seven Mothers, only they're preaching to the poor downtrodden masses on the back streets of Glamour, not out in the boonies where they *ought* to be spreading the transformative joys of the New Moon Way. Plus, they've got the colour wrong. And they don't have missionary licenses. Apart from that...
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Nick
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