[hw-rules] Re: Geas-breaker

From: Jeff <jeff.kyer_at_...>
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2001 14:20:37 -0000

Humakt Doesn't CARE. Not At All. He's a god of OATHS. And Harshaltar, a _disciple_ to the god of oaths, was an oathbreaker. Seems very simple to me:

You Break Geas, You Pay. No weasle wording. No whinning. No whimpering about who's fault it was. You broke a sworn bargain with your god. Oaths and geas are not trivial things -- just like illumnation shouldn't be trival. (sadly, most folks seem to go into the gift/geas thing for power, just like most old RQ PC illuminates seemed to be out for the array of funky divine powers they can steal)

Geasa follow the letter of the law. Not the spirit. And the bigger the gift, the more powerful the geas.

If someone had a geas "never to fight a god-talker in his house," and you fired an arrow in through the window, that's fine. But if you do so much as raise a hand to him in his home... its time for penalties. (There's a wonderful writeup on how geases work in Irish myth in 'Pagan Shore' which I'm very fond of!)

Worse, the closer one is tied to a god, the more severe the penalty for breaking the rules is (as even the most casual glance at Agents of Reprisal reveals). An initiate of Orlanth who was not hospitible might find himself with a rash or some acne. A disciple who flouted the laws of hospitality could find himself being hounded by agents of reprisal or the focus of a clan-wide curse.

And tricking someone into breaking a powerful geas is just _so_ spiritually satisfying...

Hope this clarifies,

Jeff

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