Re: Another Elmal question

From: Jeff Kyer <jeff.kyer_at_...>
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 22:51:49 -0000

> > > > > Was Elmal ambushed at the Hill of Gold, or is that a pure
> > > > > Yelmalio schtick?
>
> >It's originally an Antirius one.
>
> Debatable. When Antirius mentions first mentions it, it seems
> to be something well known.

I've just gone back and re-read the passage and yes, it seems that the
Hill of Gold is one of those places where Bad Things Happen To Bright People.  

> >I'll always have trouble swallowing this one ; the major sun god of
> >a whole pantheon has no fire powers?
>
> That's because he's the sun of the high mountain tops where light
> is more noticable than heat.

I agree. If you've ever been up in the highlands, the sun doesn't provide a heck of a lot of warmth. And the Age of Elmal's myths are more Storm than Golden. And that was during the slow decline of Fire's power.

Light seems to be more probably than heat. And, the new keyword on HeroWars site is Light rather than Heat/Fire. It can, I think, be considered offical (if bland).  

> >So it's most likely a cyclical thing, wherein Elmal has Fire
powers,
> >that are lost to him at the end of the autumn (but this doesn't
have
> >to be a Hill of Gold thing).
>
> That actually comes from a torch Orlanth gave him at the dawn AFAIK.
> From the Elmal cult writeup:

Yes, this would be the finale and epilog of Elmal's myths -- and it happens at the Dawn, when things go Mythic and change is impossible for the gods.  

> ::the sky and underworld now, while he himself took the
chieftainship again

(Everytime I read that, I keep hearing the 2001 music in the background...)  

> --Peter Metcalfe

Of course, what's happening here is a quick recapitulation of the Elmal/Yelmalio debate. I'm just glad to see that both will be able to co-exist in Hero Wars.

And yes, I think that Yelm = The Emperor for most Orlanthi and that Elmal has been overwhelmed or subsumed into the stronger Pelorian solar culture in many areas (especiall Tarsh and further north). But then, I also believe in the Easter Bunny.

Jeff Kyer

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