fazzur and illumination

From: Peter Metcalfe <P.Metcalfe_at_student.canterbury.ac.nz>
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 1995 17:04:55 +1300


David Hall:

I had written:

>>hmm. I think Fazzur had died before Pharandros ascended to the Ivory Throne
>>of Tarsh. Ozzur was the Leader of the revolt against Pharandros. You can
>>blame Fazzur for bringing up his kids wrong...

David Hall:

>I'm sure he was a bad father too - it would be true to type. However,
>according to one source in King of Sartar p.127 Pharandros ascended the
>throne in 1610 well before Fazzur died. It also suggests that the
>relationship between Fazzur & Pharandros was not good.

Arggh! That horrible passage in the CHDP 'Moraides lived for 52 years'. If Moraides died in 1610, than that directly contradicts the statment in the Genertela Book G:CotHW that he is still ruling in 1621 ST and elsewhere in KoS. The solution to this conundrum would be to amend 'lived' for 'ruled' which would make Moriades die around 1630 or so. (Sloppy scrobal mistakes like this happen all the time!)

The picture about Argrath's invasion of Tarsh becomes clearer. The Evil King Moraides dies and Tarsh becomes riven with Civil War between the Fazzurites and the Phargentites. The leader of the Phargentites is the weakling Pharandros whereas the leader of the Fazzurites is the insane patricide Onjor. Argrath is invited in by Onjor when the going gets a little tough. King Pharandros is killed ('exiled to the city of wonders') and Onjur dissappears, for he is not made Regent of Tarsh when the fighting stops. I suspect he was committed by Argrath to the City of Wonders also for some peace and quiet to recover his mental balance.

>There is actually no mention of Fazzur's betrayal or death, which I believe is
>likely to show that the author was a Fazzur apologist and preferred not to
>sully his reputation further. I think that around 1630 or 1631 Fazzur finally
>rebelled against Pharandros and attempted to set up his own kingdom in the
>same mould as Palashee Longaxe.

I think that after the failure of the Esrolian Invasion and the loss of Sartar, Fazzur was a political has-been. I think that during the revolt of Sartar in 1625 ST, Fazzur returned to Tarsh after a few inconclusive battles prefering the passionate embraces of Queen Hendira. This is my feeling of what happened rather than the Fazzur apologist's explaination of learning that his kin were being purged. What drivel! Moraides _then_ purges the Fazzurites from power after realizing the general was toothless (although the CHDP says Pharandros did this, I believe the Phargentite Purges were asscribed to him because he was erroneously thought to be ruling in the year that it happened).

>Of course, as Joerg and I proved in an earlier digest, Fazzur was eventually
>killed by his own sons due to Fazzur's taking of an Esrolite mistress and the
>subsequent death of their mother. An additional motivation for his sons would
>have been gaining favour with Pharandros.

>Ozzur, presumably the only loyal son left, carried on his father's work, for
>the glory of the family and the clan. He hunted down every one of his murderous
>brothers and killed them.

hmm? I thought that your theory was that Onjur killed his father for bumping of his mom. The shock and trauma of finding out that his father ordered his beloved mother's death caused such insane passion that he calls in Argrath to help him win a civil war...

John Leske:


Wrote on my comment that Illuminatees composed 2% of the empires population and pointed out that this was slightly larger than the percentage of tough people with the result that:

>If there are more Illluminates than 'tough' persons
>(and highly skilled individuals are far more likely to be Illuminated),
>then I would think Glorantha would be far more peaceful.

True but Illumination does not equal Combat prowess. I suspect the the Lunar Empire is wealthy enough to support people seeking illumination full time (living on the corn dole). I propose this is the origin of most of the Empire Illuminates. I imagine they hang around in temples of Illumination being socratic philosophers and the like. The political influence and economical contibution of these people to Lunar Society is insignificant. Illuminates with potent magical power and such like are found only in the Lunar College of Magic and certain other elite organizations of the Empire. All IMO.

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