God Forgot from Nick Brooke on 1995-03-17 (Glorantha Digest Vol 01)

From: Nick Brooke <100270.337_at_compuserve.com>
Date: 17 Mar 95 03:45:09 EST

Alison wrote:

> I've got rather a different take on God Forgot...

And follows this up with a detailed and entertaining explanation.

I agree. I think it's unnecessary for there to have been "real" Brithini in God Forgot, ever. The people there today who look and act like Brithini are remnants of the (Seshnegi/Malkioni) God Learner settlers who've gone "back to basics" - only in a rather more extreme way than even the Rokari managed. They've suffered bereavement from the Divine three times, now:

the Natives, whose god abandoned them during the Great Darkness: in a early draft Ms. for "Masters of Luck and Death", this deity is a Light/Solar god whose name is no longer remembered, and whose children, the Lowfires, also fail his people;
the Seshnegi settlers, for whom Malkion their God died during the Great Darkness (cf. Glorantha Digest passim)
- a "back to basics" movement could easily junk Hrestol's revelations, as the Rokari are said to have done, and go back to the moribund/mundane "atheist" Old Malkioni religion of the Dawning;
the God Learner remnants, whose Machine God Zistor was killed off at the end of the Second Age after the Machine Wars: a terrible loss for his worshippers (cf. KoS p.96).

Given this, it'd be possible to blend these elements together, keeping track of where each of them came from, then reinforce different world-views on different islands. The natives of Thoxos might tell one story of when "God Forgot", but those of Tosk and Tang, might have different tales...

Remember that "Talar" is probably just the Western word meaning "Lord". The presence of the word "Talar" (as at "Talar Hold") doesn't necessarily mean that there must be Brithini about!

Remember, too, that the God Learners are selfish exploiters of other peoples' cultures and myths, and even their own. Perhaps the set-up on Tosk is an almost predatory form of Brithini-ism:

"Dronar" peasants (who're descended from the native Carillion islanders) are exploited, hopeless drudges. They don't live any longer than peasants anywhere else: worse, they have to pretend to be unchanging, hiding their children from their lords, naming their sons after themselves, with hereditary jobs and no social mobility...
The "Horal" soldiers are also exploited: they have to be ready to die at their lords' command, and enforce the iron laws which preserve the appearance of Brithini-ish society on Tosk. But they're higher up the social pyramid, and do live longer because of it. They just don't get any benefit from doing so.
The "Zzabur" sorcerers are also exploited: most of the sorcery they perform is aimed at keeping their Lords alive forever, and warding off all change from the islands.
The "Talar" lords are on top of the pyramid, but even they don't enjoy themselves any more. The pyramid structure, which the God Learner founders "ripped-off" from the Brithini to serve themselves, is now an end in itself: its former masters are slaves to the system they have inherited.

A set-up like this would be fun, as it emphasises the "pointlessness" of this Brithini-like atheism. Nobody in fact benefits from the system which is now in place. Everyone is enslaved to their place in the hierarchy, which is rigid, sterile and unchanging.

These artificial "Brithini" of Tosk would be fearful xenophobes. They could not even permit themselves to hope: hope is the expectation of change for the better, and there can be nothing better than the perfect society to which they are heirs.

Unlike normal Brithini, they would all be ageing slowly -- very slowly, perhaps, but the sense of timelessness that exists in orthodox Brithini lands would not be present in God Forgot. EVERYTHING is running down, and everybody knows it, but no-one can possibly admit that the whole basis of their society is just not working any more.

(Ever get the impression I don't like Brithini?)

Apropos of which, I think Alison's suggestion that the God Forgot people believe in reincarnation is wrong. It dispels some of the wonderful sense of hopelessness and despair which prevails there. Maybe a heresy for one of the islands?

Nick