Re: Red Goddess and Compromise

From: jorganos <joe_at_At5d6M5nyrpDjlUX-ubWgaTlh_Ceu_IdxY1CmakeAtRnWukOnrdmJehqs7Xsz7K138mECN5d>
Date: Sat, 10 Dec 2011 13:23:19 -0000


Me:
>> So, let's play advocatus diaboli within the Heortling perspective as to why Shepelkirt is breaking the Compromise.

>> Shepelkirt did something outrageous, invading and taking over the Middle Air above the Crater. That was one of the dangerous moments that stopped normal Time.

Peter Metcalfe:
> Did it stop time? Although the Gods were able to act, I'm not aware of any reference to time being stopped in the same fashion as the Sunstop.

Not the same as the Sunstop, no, but it did alter the running time into a piece of Godtime. (i.e. something that might be the object of heroquesting, IMO)

> Moreover the rise of the Red Moon came after the Battle for Castle Blue and not at its beginning.

She created the conditions and then did her magic.

>> Ok, but if we look to the south, there is Belintar, who did similar things (raising Loon Island, destroying the Obsidian Palace and the Serpent).

> Any fule can destroy a mountain and kill a monster. There is qualititative difference between that and directly going after another god's territory, If the Red Goddess had set up a rival sea (say one of oil), a rival sky (instead of blue it glowed silver) and so forth that would have been direct infringements on the territory of Magasta and Dayzatar, also major violations of the Cosmic Compromise.

Any old fool can destroy a castle (dangerous monsters as a side dish) and raise some lump of earth... sure, Loon Island is a lot less dramatic than the Red Moon. Its contents, the City of Wonders, were almost Other Side quality.

>> In the Hero Wars, either side might ally the Hydra or Hungry Jack.
> It's a bit hard for the Sartarites to ally the Hydra or Hungry Jack.

In the boardgame, the hydra has been tricky, yes, unless you did use the Stormwalker Storm early on and sacrificed that unit. Since you need a dragon to get Hungry Jack, that's rather evenly distributed.

> The Ducks for Delecti tactic would have been a better analogy to use.

Except that the chaotic nature of Delecti is subjective rather than objective. Delecti and the Tusk Riders are about the same in terms of unpleasantness to obtain.

Leaving the boardgame aside, luring an arch-enemy into a chaos hole would be an acceptable Heortling tactic. These guys aren't pure virgins when it comes to arranging with Chaos.

>> Which of the two outrageous acts of the Goddess was it that broke the Compromise - bringing the Bat to the First Battle of Chaos, or raising the Red Moon (as a result of the Battle of Castle Blue) and creating the different realm of the Silver Shadow (the earliest manifestation of the Glowline)?

> I would say that the Red Goddess saw the Castle Blue as a potential weak zone where the Compromise could be broken and remade. She fought at Castle Blue to break the Compromise so she could raise the Red Moon.

This seems to correspond to my "stopped normal time" above, so I guess we're not too far apart here. However, bringing the Bat (and becoming a Goddess rather than an avatar) was a major struggle, and is the one commemorated on the seven disks, rather than raising the Red Moon. Was that one a breaching of the Compromise as well?            

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