(Gee, anybody notice the ugly parallel with RW environmental degradation and the KOW?)
Michael R. notes:
>I guess it's made up of lots of different Lands, like the Halls of the
Dead, Cavern of Plenty, Garden of Seeds, Daughterpale Island in the
Tearbless Sea, Ghost Tunnels, Forge of Hearts, Bloated Pond, the Womb Rock,
the Hurting Pit, the Softwarm Room, Glowmud River, Rumblefall Trail, the
Hall of Riches, the Ash Garden, Styx, Hungry Valley, Hissing Cave and stuff
like that.
>Just 'being in the Underworld' is pretty vague. Not every land in the
Underworld is for the dead.
Precisely my point. And even the realms of the dead needn't be permanent. Yelm and Ernalda go away, but they come back. They are not irrevocably dead. So they must go to some part of the underworld to do important things. (There could also be the "mythic coersion" reason - they go because they have to - but their worshippers would rather put a positive spin on it, IMO). And just because one is "dead" doesn't mean one must be inactive - especially if one has powers over life and death. (Yelm and Ernalda, as opposed to Basmol.)
And, according to Plentonius, Lodril does dwell in one of the deeper hells. He guards the gate to the fourth (worst and nastiest) hell. All according to the ancient DH's, however. Apparently they were comfortable with the idea that deities can move between hells, the surface world, and even the sky.
I'd love to see your heroquest path...
Peter Metcalfe - thanks for pointing out the possible relationship between Genert and Gerendetho.
Pam
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