> > >>>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.
>
I cannot find the reference now, so perhaps I made it up, but isn't the town of Neverdead in Dorastor some sort of Garki site? Which means that Gark was known in Genertela during the 1st Age. And a GM could have Garki running around or not as desired without much danger to Known History. I mean, a lot of marginal stuff from the Bright Empire didn't survive.
>
> >
> >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?
>
> I am enormously in agreement with Peter's comments here. I think it makes
> things a lot richer if you assume that some people follow Chaos out of
> "reasonable" motives -- Malia is a cancer, but she keeps disease from you if
> you sacrifice -- she is cruel and malicious but not necessarily a liar. You
> get what you pay for. Similarly, Gark's followers get relief from the pain
> of living. People in the real world make that bargain all the time through
> suicide, drug use, numbing themselves with all sorts of pursuits. Gark is
> more horrible if some of its followers are willing.
>
> >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.
>
And, let's face it, there are so many ways to make zombies that saying "this is the right way" is pretty futile. I mean, Zorak Zoran seems to do some sort of Hell Magic with the souls of his followers. The Servants of the Cleansing stick spirits into dead bodies to make them move around, and I expect there are sorcerers who do the same thing with Essences. And saying "this is the one way that Chaos does something" is just silly when you think about it. If one wanted to have a zombie-rich game, I think it would be more amusing to have a wide variety of zombies, each with its own strengths and weaknesses -- imagine Humakti faced with sorcerous creations where their "Destroy Zombie" feats don't work, but removing a talisman from the corpse stops it. Zombies created by Garki act one way, zombies created by Vivamort's followers another, and so on. Not only does this make the game world richer, but it keeps the players on their toes -- no "yeah, a zombie; I use my "Kill Zombie" power..." more a "Oh crap, what now?" Or so I would hope.
Peter Larsen
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