Re: Arkat and Dorasta

From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_quicksilver.net.nz>
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 20:29:26 +1300

On 10/30/2013 1:37 AM, David Scott wrote:
>
>
> On 28 Oct 2013, at 10:21, Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_quicksilver.net.nz
> <mailto:metcalph_at_quicksilver.net.nz>> wrote:
>
>> IMO Nysalor/Rashoran taught people how not to fear what they did not
>> know. So in Dorastor, they took that lesson to extreme lengths and
>> came up with Ralzakark, the friendly face of the Devil. I think that
>> Ralzakark was a manifestation of Wakboth that destroyed Dorastor in
>> the Chaos Age but was defeated through unknown means. Perhaps the
>> last Feldichi killed him and made his body into the Pseudocosmic Egg
>> to repair the Cosmos but failed to finish the job. Thus when Nysalor
>> was born, Ralzakark came brought to life again.
>
> So Ralzakark survived the destruction by not being in Dorastor?

There's two theories about Ralzakark.

1. The first is that he was killed by Arkat Kingtroll and brought back to life by God Learners. This is given in the Elder Secrets Book.
2. The second is that he was "asleep" when Arkat laid waste to Dorastor. This was something said by Greg at a convention.

What I find interesting about the God Learner theory is not that he was killed or put asleep but that the God Learners brought him back because they did not believe the tales of his evil. Thinking about this, Ralzakark is hardly a prominent person in the Empire of Light, he's not even mentioned at all in History of the Heortling Peoples or the Fortunate Succession. So what tales could the God Learners have been disbelieving? And of anybody to bring back to life in Dorastor, why did they did they choose Ralzakark?

I don't think the solution that the God Learners reasoned that a) Arkat slew Ralzakark b) Arkat is evil ergo c) Ralzakark must be good. The Seshnegi and to a lesser extent, the Loskalmi, had troops in Dorastor when it fell and they would have been hard-pressed to find anything good to say about the defenders there.

A possible solution is that the Empire of Light imprisoned Ralzakark beneath Fort Wrath for crimes before Dorastor fell. The God Learners investigating Dorastor found a wall inscription of Ralzakark's imprisonment at Nysalor's hands. They concluded Ralzakark was good because he was an unjust victim of Gbaji and so released him.

Another possible solution was that Ralzakark was negotiating with the Malkioni for Dorastor's possible surrender when Arkat burst into the room and whacked Ralzakark in grotesque violation of the truce. That might give the God Learners some background to view Ralzakark favourably in light of Arkat's infamy.

A third possible solution is that just as Lokamayadon was known as Jotorang and Jajamokki, so Ralzakark might be an important Nysaloran under another name. Probably not Palangio tho...

--Peter Metcalfe