> On 2/25/2013 5:33 AM, jorganos wrote:
>>> Consider the Four Arrows of Light. These were terrible revelations >>> of the Lunar mysteries that astounded the Carmanian men and gods. >>> Yet Lunar magicians can cast them as glamours without any need for >>> mystical magic rules. >> Touche - in that I don't consider any of the four arrows as mystical manifestations, but rather more or less impressive magical feats.
> Again I don't see the need for deciding whether or not some
> impressive magic does not have a mystical truth behind it.
Hey, I agree with you in that I don't see the Four Arrows as mystical in nature.
>> I'm not aware of a similar massed reaction [to mystical phenomena - PHM] at Four Arrows of Light.
> I think that is because the arrows were primarily sent against the
> Carmanian Gods rather than the Carmanian mortals as said in the text.
I don't have any info what the Four Arrows did on that plane, and whether it was mystical revelation or exposure to chaos that did the Carmanian gods. Given that the Pelandan mysteries have some mystics and that those weren't especially targeted by the Carmanians, I don't think that mysticism was seen as inimical to the Carmanian ways. Chaos on the other hand was.
>> The rulers of the EWF like (Isgang)Drang, Lorenkargatan or Sun Dragon appear to have followed mystical practices before being able to manifest themselves in dragon shape, but the common view among scholars seems to be that they were failed mystics on the draconic path, and failures to a much greater extent than Ingolf.
> What scholars were these?
For a start, Godunya. And probably all the scholars of draconic wisdom schooled by him, teachings that went back to Dragon Pass with the Kralorelan journey of Tosti Runefriend and company.
> The EWF was not a pyramid scheme. It did not exhibit any
> features of a pyramid scheme and was no more fraudulent than
> Kralorela.
Yes it was - the outlying provinces were drained of magic, and all of that piled up in the draconic heartlands.
> The cause of the unrest was the disparity between those who had
> been in the EWF at the beginning and those who had newly joined.
> But in a pyramid scheme those who had newly joined won't be trouble
> by such a disparity because they believe the money will be coming
> in anyway. It is when the money stops coming in that pyramid
> scheme collapses whereas with the EWF, it was betrayed by the
> Dragonewts.
The "money" stopped coming in when the outer provinces were lost, due to agents like Alakoring or the Sairdites. As a result, the understanding with the dragonewts that extended the Draconic Dream across all the heartlands of the EWF was betrayed, and the newts retaliated. It is purely racial loyalty that pictures the EWF leadership as victims of the betrayal rather than as perpretators who found their justice.
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