The concept of "healed" and Unhealed" cults in the Lunar Way is useful, but doesn't really work well with Chaos.
Peter Metcalphe:
> That still doesn't mesh very well with the Lunar Way. If something
> is unhealed, you don't go around screaming "It's evil, kill it!"
> or variations thereof.
Agreed, in fact Lunar Heroes might choose to try and "heal" the chaos in order to make it acceptable. So, Krarsht might be healed to become am underground intelligence gathering cult rather than a cult of tunneling monsters.
> > In any case, in the end what we have struggled with is finding a
> > good definition of what is "healed" chaos and what is "unhealed"
> > chaos.
>
> The unhealed chaos theme was only a brief line in Gods of Glorantha
> and isn't a core tenet of the Lunar Way. Chaos only appears evil
> and frightening because *you* have not come to terms with your own
> fears about what you do not know. Seeking to "heal" chaos is like
> putting a cat in a cage for all eternity. The ideal response is
> to cease to fear chaos so that it will have no power over you and
> to teach others to do likewise.
The Lunar Way do not have a problem with Chaos, as it accepts Chaos in all its forms.
The Red Goddess and Red Emperor have both used chaos forces in the past, not just through chaos eruptions from chaos nests, but explicitly as chaos powers. To the minds of Lunar Priestesses, Chaos is not evil, nor is it good, it just is and the Lunar Way accepts it.
What does this mean in practice? Do the Lunars accept all chaos worship and chaos manifestations wherever they appear? Of course not. Allowing chaos to go unchecked would cause the Lunar Emnpire to break down. Nobody wants hordes of rampaging broos crossing the Empire, in the same way that nobody wants hordes of Orlanthi bandits crossong the empire.
Some Lunars fight chaos manifestations where they happen or where they kill innocent people. Other Lunars befriend and encourage chaos. Still others delve deeply into the Well of Chaos in order to extract new powers with which to serve the Lunar way.
I can see some Yanafan Tarnils cultists fighting undead hordes, in the same way that Hunakti do. I can also see Rams of Yanafal Tarnils volunteering to become part of the Vampire Legion.
As to cults such as Thanatat, I agree that this is an Orlanthi practice, although Orlanthi might disagree. Their cultists hate silver, the Lunar metal, and prefer tarnished silver. They take heads as trophies and destroy knowledge. So far, so what? Irrippi Ontor cultists might not like them, but that's about it.
Lunars are more likely to try and find a way to use the chaos rather than destroy it.
Simon
Powered by hypermail