> >>>Two things - Gark isn't worshipped in Genertela so the scope for
> >>>seduction of foolish westerners is pretty close to zero.
>Says who?
RuneQuest 3 Book 5 the Introduction to Glorantha Booklet which cites him as a god found in Pamaltela.
>The sources say his priests travel the world and they call
>him by many names, portraying him in whatever form is most pleasing
>to potential worshippers.
So Gark must be seen by now in Dragon Pass? Poetic descriptions "travel the world" are not always true.
>I should think westerners are particularly
>good targets thanks to the feudal system and the opressiveness of the
>churches.
The westerners have their own problems, the feudal system is no
worse than the Orlanthi and Lunar Governments (rather it manifests
different kinds of turmoil in different ways) and the churches are
not oppressive. Malkionism is richer than just being the enlightenment
stereotypes of the middle ages.
>
> > More importantly is the assumption that he's chaotic so must
> > have nefarious motives. Cults can be objectively bad even if
> > they have motivations which are justifiably good. For example
> > Pocharngo the Mutator conveys the gift of freedom from the
> > constricting confines of shape but to everybody else he's a cosmic
> > cancer.
>
>This gift can also end up killing you. I think that Gark survives as
>a cult by fooling people into believing that he offers spiritual
>peace [...] and instead he enslaves their body and soul.
Again "fooling" and 'enslavement". You are declaring that he acts out of bad faith. What's wrong with the Garki actually knowing what their god says is true?
>This is manifestly nefarious, just like Cacodemon, etc..
That it is bad for glorantha as a whole does not mean that the Garki must act with bad intentions.
>I think people put too much stock in the "eternal peace" part,and
>not enough in the Zombie part, which is the most important since it
>has a concrete magical manifestation and a runic
>association, "eternal peace" has neither, its a cover, PR for the
>cult.
What an odd thing to say. This is like saying that the Viking beliefs of Vahalla is bunk and that it's just a cover for incessant fighting. Garki act as they do because they are bringing eternal peace and eternal life.
> > Except that Thanatar and Vivamort do not have anything to do
> > with Gark when they make Zombies - I'm not even sure that
> > their zombies are even chaotic.
>The sources say: Chaos pantheon - chaos god of eternal
>peace, eternal life, and zombies.
Just one line is hardly a firm basis for sweeping statements.
>This would imply that Gark is THE chaos source of zombie making, and
>so all chaotic zombie making borrow from his power.
Except that we know of chaotic cults make zombies without reference to Gark.
--Peter Metcalfe
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