On 18 Jan 2010, at 03:41, Jeff wrote:
>> Regardless of the designers thinking (which might be partly motivated
>> by a desire to hark back to RuneQuest), I don't think that that is
>> how
>> the Orlanthi see it. Thinking of the Runes as impersonal powers is
>> thinking like an accursed soulless Meldek (to an Orlanthi).
>> (And beware, the rules may be tainted with God-Learnerism :-)
>
> The idea of there being Runes beyond the gods is well established in
> Orlanthi mythology. The Council of Pairs, the Elementals, and the
> Elder Powers all pre-existed the current gods and are part of the
> Orlanthi Creation Myth.
And they are all represented as Gods, not impersonal powers. The only stories I can remember that really deal with a Rune as a separate power are those concerning Death. But more recently it has been stated that Humakt *is* Death, so even that is less clear-cut than it once seemed. I would guess that it is possible that the more sophisticated religious thinkers among the Orlanthi have some sort of duality in mind where the Runes can be viewed in both ways, but I don't think that any of them would view a Rune as solely an impersonal power.
So far as I can see if you accept the Runes as impersonal powers that the Gods simply use, then you are really thinking in the way of Wizardry and Sorcery (isn't that what figures like Humct are about ?). Which makes sense given that even in the early material the Rune system is presented as a creation of the God-Learners.
Powered by hypermail