Re: Sandy's latest

From: Sandy Petersen <sandyp_at_idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 94 13:34:47 -0600


Peter Metcalfe:
>I think the name of Yelmalio comes from Winterwood, where Yelmalio
>is said to have made his last stand (Cults of Terror).

        I think that the elf cult Yelmalio is known everywhere that brown and green elves exist. The brown and green elves don't have a "culture" in the way that humans do -- their behavior patterns, even language, are ingrained at a deeper level than humans. Elfs don't "learn" Aldryami -- they just speak it. So, while it's possible that heavy Yelmalio worship among elves took root in Winterwood first, I think that that god is known as "Yelmalio" everywhere that (brown and green) elves are found. Presumably he was originally just a green elf deity, since the brown elves, all being asleep, didn't see his heroism. I imagine that even today he is more important among the green elves than the brown.

>What's to stop one of Ralzakark's Broos taking out untold gifts so
>he can kill everybody in the whole world and ignoring the geases?

        He can only get one (1) geas/gift combo before becoming a Sword. At Sword-dom, though, he could take a whole lot of gifts without worrying too much about the geases, and that's exactly what Ralzakark's broos do. Not every geas is available at every temple, though. The only limit that the broos face with regards to such geases is that normally you can only take one geas per High Holy Day. Not much of a limit, I know.

Neil Smith:
I'm sure you'll get lots of answers to your questions. Here are mine:
>What is Illumination? What does it mean?

        A subversive philosophy, associated somehow with Chaos.

>How does one get to be Illuminated?

        Lots of ways. The most common is by prolonged or frequent communication with someone who is already Illuminated. This communication can be by reading a book he has written, viewing a play, making pleasant conversation, etc. The illumination does not happen automatically (usually) -- it requires knowing effort on the part of the Illuminate.

>What benefits/ penalties/ odd personal habits does it impose?

        None. It grants you freedom, of a sort. You're no longer afflicted by irritating little quibbles like spirits of retribution, geases, or vows you've taken, but nothing stops you from keeping all your obligations just as before. Oh yeah, if you're chaotic, you don't register as same except when you're actively being affected by a chaos spell.

>Who are the Riddlers?

        The nickname for Nysalor's original missionaries. Sometimes the term is still used today.

Who is Elmal?

        The original Orlanthi name for their sun deity, Orlanth's loyal minion. Depending on who you believe (and your own campaign needs) this original cult is (pick one)

  1. extinct -- replaced by the hybrid cult of Yelmalio, which contains elements of several different solar cults (the name Yelmalio comes from the elf cult).
  2. increasingly rare -- being elbowed out by the newcomer Yelmalio faith, which is more interesting.
  3. still around, at least in the boondocks.
  4. thriving, though sometimes it's called "Yelmalio" or "Khelmal" or "Antirius" or whatever.

        In my campaign, I follow choice (A), as convenient for my campaign's needs. But I must note here that my players are not culturally Orlanthi, so that a complex Yelmalio culture is unnecessary, even undesirable and confusing, in my own games.

>Where physically is the Hill of Gold?

        In Peloria, in the province of Vanch.

Colin W.

        Your example (re: the applause/clapping) was so appealing it nearly made me abandon my position in favor of yours. Not quite, but what a great example. Soon my Nysalor Riddlers will use it in attempts to crack the faith of my PCs.

Harald Smith:
>Personally, I don't think the elves (if viewed as plant tenders)
>would view fire and darkness as necessarily bad or evil or even as
>life takers

Shannon Appel
>To the elves, everything is a cycle: water and fire, earth and
>stone, light and darkness, life and death. They're extremely
>dualistic.

        Ah, but I do NOT think that the elves are dualistic. I agree that they believe in cycles, but I think they see the cycle as a unity. They know that the water cycles from the sky to the soil (through rain) into the river to the ocean down to Hell and back to the sky again, but they don't see this as a life-death/sky-hell dualism, but as one great wheel. I don't think they differentiate between life and death even, the way humans do. Humans tend to set waypoints, and judge ourselves by how far along we've gone -- birth, adolescence, marriage, kids, Runemasterdom, death. The elves see it all as one long growth process, IMO. I suspect they don't have complex rituals to anoint new priests, but simply recognize that some initiates are further along than others. The whole Children of the Forest construct is, I believe, a human interpretation of the elf habits. Elves start off knowing little about the Aldrya cult, and gradually learning more, but they don't have special tests, etc. at different stages, they just accrue more knowledge, wisdom and skills, and with those, responsibility.

        In general, they're not imperialistic, and are content to let the outside world do whatever it does, and work however it works, while they maintain their own little world of the forest kingdom. They periodically attempt to expand their forests, because that way in time of disaster, they can afford to lose ground. But I think that in general they see fire and darkness as bad things from Outside, that impinge on their world in a violent and evil way. Now, if an elf used Fire, that would be different. He'd be using it as a tool of regrowth.

        In general, everything Outside the elf woods is bad or potentially bad, and everything Inside is good or potentially good. It's not a matter of Fire being bad, it's that humans' Fire is bad. And dwarfs' Fire is bad. But elf Fire is good.

Crim:
> I propose that all Gloranthan cults with double (and triple) names
>(with the exceptions noted below) are composites of the God
>Learners: Daka Fal, Lhankor Mhy, Argan Argar, Ty Kora Tek, etc.

        I object. While some of these may be, this is not necessarily a universal principle. For that matter, we know of some composite gods that they created that were not given multiple names.

        Here follow all the entities listed in the Prosopaedia with more than one name (this is a cursory look-through, so I probably missed a couple):

        I'm not listing critters with two-word names that are real words, like Wild Man, since these are obviously not subject to this rule. I'm also not listing the "Gors", troll names, or Lunar names, since these were not God Learner constructs (at least the names weren't).

Chalana Arroy, Harana Ilor, Hondori Mal, Kargan Tor, Lhankor Mhy, Ty Kora Tek

I suggest that, not counting Hondori Mal (a Doraddi goddess), _all_ these deities, with the possible exception of Lhankhor Mhy, were originally Dara Happan or at least Pelorian, and perhaps the double-naming technique came from there, rather than from the God Learners. Of all the Earth deities, Ty Kora Tek seems to be one of the least composite. Ernalda may well be a God Learner construct (presumably before her creation, everyone just worshiped their local land goddess, and that's who Orlanth was married to, too), but Ty Kora Tek? Note that Hondori Mal was thought by the Six Legged Empire to be the equivalent of Babeester Gor, and perhaps the "Mal" fragment was added by them as an equivalent to "Gor" (or maybe the "Hondori" was the addition).

Pam Carlson
>Did anyone catch any real-word Sacred Time activity this past
>weekend?

        You bet. Both at church and at home, we re-enacted the Christmas occurrences (adding events from the Book of Mormon, as well as the Bible).


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