> Dara Happan culture _is_ staid and boring ... it doesn't change because
> you are born where you ought to be.
I hope "The Glorious ReAscent of Yelm" and "The Fortunate Succession" are still available, to dispel this illusion. Dara Happan culture is just as staid and boring as any other patriarchal hereditary culture: loads of plot hooks, adventure nuggets, etc. Smash the system! Reclaim your inheritance! Prove your birth! Family intrigues, murders, etc. aplenty. And you don't have to be born on top to take part.
Plus, modern Dara Happan culture is thoroughly impregnated with Lunar ideas. "The women are getting restive, Sir". And the young men don't *want* to join the Army prior to a career in the Senate: some of them want to study philosophy, or become hairdressers, or join the Moonies.
The illusion of stasis (compared to Orlanthi dynamism) is dispelled when you look at the very real progress that has been made in Peloria under Dara Happan and DH-descended imperial rule (High Carmanian and Lunar Empires). Compare this to the oh-so-impressive social advances of the Barbarians in the same period...
Sure, there's mythical truth in it: Yelmic society is centred, where Orlanthi is aimless. But coming from a staid and boring society doesn't make you a staid and boring individual: read Cato the Elder for traditional Roman mores, with Sallust, Catullus and Suetonius for a contrast.
Yanafal Tarnils was a Superhero at the First Battle of Chaos. Mind you, he's now one of the most wonderful gods you could ever hope to worship (if the recruiting sergeant likes the cut of your jib), so I suppose that takes precedence.
> How Harrek managed [Superhero status] I don't know...
Did I post my "Harrek the Dreamer" theory here before?
If heroquesting is a dream-like experience, then maybe dreaming is (in some ways) a heroquest-like experience. Perhaps Harrek the Berserk was a vivid dreamer, who spent a hundred years asleep under the Syndics Ban exploring the Hero Plane through dreams -- subconsciously. So he "knows" exactly what to do while he's heroquesting, but he couldn't possibly tell you how. When he's in a situation he "dreamed" (and forgot) before, it all comes flashing back. Deja vu in situ, on the Hero Plane. To the rest of us, it looks like phenomenal luck: he seems to be making it up as he goes along, and getting away with it.
> Q: How do the Blue Moon Trolls reconcile the fact that the Red Moon is
> in "Bed" with Nysalor who is indirectly responsible for the curse of kin?
Oh no, Brad: she's in bed with Nysalor, the Bright Illuminator and World Redeemer. It was evil *Gbaji* the black-hearted Deceiver who caused the Curse of Kin, and the Red Moon Goddess *hates* Gbaji. She strives, every day and in every way, to Heal the World -- Trollkin included! Follow the Lunar Way, our Uzly brethren (and sistren), and you too will be part of our perfected recreation of existence!
The whole cosmos is replete with wounds caused by the mutual incomprehension of Natural Law and Chaotic Freedom. The Trollkin Curse is one of the more recent outrages caused by this terrible ignorance. Understand this, and you will see the Lunar Light -- which can be Red, Blue and White at the same time!
All Hail the Reaching Moon!
Powered by hypermail