Re: Illumination

From: Sandy Petersen <sandyp_at_idgecko.idsoftware.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 96 08:23:00 -0600


Nick Fortune
>Did Nysalor invent Illumination, or did he just teach people how
to attain that >state?

        To educated Theyalans, "Rashoran" is a deity who appeared at the end of the Lesser Darkness, whom they equate with Nysalor. The Malkioni say that it was not a deity, but a concept. In any case, students of Illumination agree that certain deities were Illuminated in Godtime. As a concept, it has existed probably since Glorantha's inception. Nysalor's connection is unclear. But then, the relationship of Nysalor and Gbaji and Ostentalka and the Black Eater and Arkat and Rashoran is also unclear. Not to mention the Red Goddess, who is known to have encountered "Gbaji" in her Goddess quest.

>Are dragons and dragonewts, with their apparent indifference to
chaos, >Illuminated?

        Technically no. But since they can't be illuminated, who cares?

>Do the Uz have their own term for Illumination, to avoid the nasty
>associations, or is it a terrible Mystery like the ZZ mastery of
fire?

        Illumination is something different for trolls than for humans. Trolls have different psyches, mental barriers, instincts, and weltanschaungs. Illumination is about more than chaos, and this becomes most obvious when one views the effects on a non-human entity. Also, human techniques of illumination are less effective on non-humans.

>Is a Nysalor riddle itself capable of Illuminating, or must it be
posed by an
>Illuminate?

        The Riddle has nothing to do with it. Learning the pat answer to a riddle does nothing towards illuminating you. It can even hamper illumination, because when asked the riddle you give the reply, instead of needing to think about it. Take the following Riddle-like study (which, in my campaign, rewards comprehension with an illumination check:

        Two guides can take you through the forest. You know one of them is an ogre. You also know that one of them always lies. The first guide says, "The ogre is the liar." The second guide says, "The human is the liar." Who is the ogre?

>Why do we see so few riddles expressed through non-lingustic media?

        Lack of imagination.


Powered by hypermail