Delurking again (hmm) for a quick comment on the "Lunar" version of Argrath's supposed victory (a version I wholeheartedly endorse and long suspected).
Philippe Krait, who seems mighty perturbed by this whole line of thinking, asks:
>What ? The Lunars planned it ? Why did they fight like cornered rats to
>prevent it, then ?
First off, IMO there could easily be a distinction between what the Lunars, as a material, worldly culture, and the Red Goddess Herself had in mind in their goals and objectives re: Argrath; in fact, there is no reason to suppose that any member of the Lunar hierarchy, including Her own sons, daughters and incarnations, had any idea of what Her true intentions were. Indeed, if _anyone_ in Glorantha was aware of the inevitable consequences of Argrath's somewhat hollow victory -- the sundering of the relationship between gods and men (which screws the Orlanthi as well as everyone else), the loss of literacy, etc. -- I can't imagine any Gloranthan would have aided Argrath in his tasks (indeed, that might explain why I've never played in a pro-Argrath campaign; it also might explain why there are so many First and Second Age campaigns out there [who wants to help someone destroy Glorantha As We Know It?]).
Secondly, it can easily be supposed that the ceremonial utuma suicide/self-sacrifice rite planned by the Goddess actually _required_ the summoning of the oft-cited Dragons, a Power which seems to have been outside the realm of Lunar magic; i.e., Argrath and his addle-brained minions, despite being Heroes all, were not in and of themselves capable of achieving this end. The Lunar War against Argrath -- and perhaps even the more "hideous" incarnations which the Lunar Empire evolves into -- becomes, therefore, an effort to drive/goad him into using his Dragon Powers and summoning the Seven Great Ancestral Worms. (As an aside, his summoning of Sheng can then come as a major surprise to the Goddess, who thought him safely locked away; while Sheng is a major threat to the Goddess/Empire, without Dragon Powers he is useless to Her plans. Alternatively, if Argrath _is_ aware of the Goddess' manipulations [though personally I don't give him that much credit], then perhaps his summoning of Sheng was a way for him to attempt to circumvent the inevitable Dragon rites, an attempt to defeat the Goddess/Empire without giving the Goddess Her ultimate victory).
Just a few thoughts.
Relurking and busy hailing the Red and the White,
Mark
Powered by hypermail