And then there were two! ;-)
Perhaps, as jeff points out I'm just way too caught up on the trappings of "nysalorian illumination" - riddling, breaking geasa and a propensity to embrace chaos. I certainly agree that trolls are capable of deep mystical insight. I also think they are deeply aware that everything you know and everything you have been exposed can change you in ways you may not be able to un-change. That is why the nursery is so sacred and important. Every troll should be allowed to experience Wonderhome, however briefly and imperfectly, before they are forced to confront the corrupting pain of light.
I wonder if the real question so far as trolls are concerned is "is it possible for a Mistress Uz, born before the compromise, to NOT be illuminated?" It is hard to imagine that personal experience of the "god time" wouldn't have side-effects very similar to those of sevening, illumination, or the awakening of draconic consciousness in more "mortal" mortals.
That actually would make an awful lot of sense to me, and may be the source of my misunderstanding. It also creates some cool MGF tension between the Mistresses and their worshipful descendants, as the elder trolls plot to prevent their underlings from attaining "dangerous" insight.
In which case, it would not be that Uzko cannot become illuminated, but that the concept is taboo, and society is specifically set up to prevent it. Those who DO attain such insight are either killed by (the minions of) jealous and paranoid uzuz, or promoted to an inner circle of trusted attendants.
I think my understanding has improved... don't tell mom, ok?
Uzko are the result of Korasting's first "death" at the hands of the Burner, when he invaded wonderhome. D'Wargon almost certainly made use of that when he created the curse of kin.
> PRE-BoNaD = UZ
> POS-BoNaD = uzko / enlo / shadow-men
"Uz" has always been a loosish term comprising a large variety of creatures of varying descent. The most important and best, of course are the actual children of Kyger Litor, and the closer to the goddess, the better (uzuz > uzko > uzdo > enlo). But spirits, gods, shades, insects, and all manner of other things that go bump in the night can, and often are, considered part of "the folk"
The battle of night and day may have provided some motivation to emphasize one's non-troll traits, so as to avoid "the curse" - but was not the origin of those differences in most cases.
> (Are Arkati trolls illuminated or just weird?)
>
Always weird. Probably more often illuminated than other uz. (which also makes them weird, if my new understanding holds up) They are especially Scary, because they are weird, and because they are powerful, and that is a scary scary combination.
>
> I was thinking about [Mistress the Last] and wondering whether Her Mistressness (and maybe the weird affiliated gift and geas) might be what She has *instead of* illumination. Can Mistressness can be attained via HeroQuest and not just born?
>
I think the troll understanding of this would be that a Mistress who was pretending to be something lesser can sometimes reveal herself through HeroQuests. Obviously, no mere enlo could ever "become" a mistress - that's just silly. But a powerful mistress could easily trick her fellow uz into thinking she was a stunted trollkin if she really wanted to.
> Is Craigspider an experimental HeroQuester or just a very powerful magician who sometimes experiments to break the Curse?
>
Both. Though really, Cragspider is a strange shape-changing darkness entity - http://moondesignpublications.com/library/cragspider-firewitch
Probably not directly descended from Kyger Litor herself, but definately strongly allied with the trolls, and serving in the role of Uzuz within her domain.
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