mutterings...

From: Peter Metcalfe <P.Metcalfe_at_student.canterbury.ac.nz>
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 12:59:58 +1200


Mark Mohrfield:

[Malian spirit of Reprisal]

>Well OK, but I think that this is kind of hard on a healing cult. After all
>the spirits are supposed to attack anyone, presumably including the rune
>master's former patients.Imagine what happen to Downtown Glamour if someone
>went bad! One evil priest could get the cult banned.

Clearly Society was to blame for the Priest turning Evil and was Punished Accordingly. There are plenty of gods who send furies which affect entire societies due to the failure of one person. Orlanth sends Daga, Goodness knows what Magasta sends and so on. Given that this occurs in a highly urbanized area, I think retribution will be swift in securing the Priest's body and disposing of it.

>If you do want to keep this in the cult I can see the CA priestesses
>claiming at least one advantage over their opponents

I don't think the CA healers are striving to compete is with the Malian Cult. They treat wounds and other trauma while Malia treats diseases.

Nils Weinander:


Me>>I think that some parts of Kralorela are virtual tinderboxes (like
>>Boshan) and need only a spark before widespread violence flares.

>I won't challenge this, but I would like to know what conflict you see
>waiting to flare up.

Boshan, the capital of which 'never pays its taxes on time' is the most pressing problem. The people appear to have forcibly been incorporated into the Empire and never forgotten it.

The province of Wanzow is probably chaffing under its unclean status and high taxes they have to pay for the 'purification rites' to 'cure' them of pollution by foreigners IMO.

I think the Imperial Adminstration in the province of Shiyang has lapsed to such a degree that Warlords with Private Armies are prevalent there. Although their focus is on repelling incursions from Bliss in Ignorance, rivalry is springing up amongst them and could soon render the province ungovernable.

There's probably others.

Me>>A capable Emperor would solve the current problems of Kralorela long
>>ago; but as Godunya is nearing the end of his reign, the Highest
>>Authorities are devoid of new intiatives akin to what happened in the
>>last years of Brezhnev

>But Godunya isn't senile and dying. He is vital and magically active.

At the expense of the material world IMO. He's not at all quite there most of the time as he 'governs the far realms' these days. Fortunately Godunya does have brief periods of lucidity in which he ablely turns his attention to mortal affairs.

Nigel Smith:


[Inactive disease spirits]

>But the inactive disease spirits can still infect others, shed minor
>spirits to infect places, etc. Worship of Malia protects only the
>worshipper and so doesn't equate to a cure.

This has not been stated in da roolz and the only justification for the interpretation that inactive disease spirits do infect others was that it was in Malia's 'nature' to do so.

If an inactive disease spirit still infects others than there would be little difference between this status and that of an involunatary Malian initiate. Furthermore the information that the diseases that are most likely to turn inactive are found in marshy areas seems to me to indicate that a parallel with the RW disease Malaria is being sought.

If you are still not convinced that inactive diseases = noninfectionous, then I will say that IMO the spiritual technique of the Malian Healing Cult turns the disease spirits noninfectionous as well as inactive.

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