In 'cults of terror' and 'Dorastor' we get an actual games mechanic for
illumination which is potentially enlightening (!). However, it seems to
me to provide evidence for the non-relativist nature of illumination
philosophy. For example, the rolling on particular skills when answering
nysalor riddles seems to indicate that the illumination actually takes
place on a non-conscious level.
for example, rolling on 'plant lore' for a particular riddle, lets say,
'where are the roots of truth grounded?'...answer: 'in the void truth
has no meaning.' (okay, its a bit crap, but i couldn't think of a better
one off-hand).
the answering of the riddle isn't based on the understanding of the
character itself, rather on how 'good' your character is with something,
which suggests that illumination strikes a chord with certain
essentialist truths in the consciousness. Now, this is odd, because this is
surely the thing which illumination ought to be challenging.
I know it is fun done this way, as the PC's gain illumination steadily
(rather like cthulhu mythos points, except that there isn't really
anything 'good' about illumination for most people)...inexorably sliding
towards...what?
Perhaps the game mechanic way is too 'forced,' because it seems to damage
the relativist potential of illumination. I would be sad to see riddles
abandoned though, what do you runequesters out there think?
Also, i have another question (sorry) ...is ralzakark ragnaglar, or is that a vile rumour spread by his cronies? Its just that in 'king of sartar' certain essential conflicts seem to occur in a cyclical manner eg. arkat/argrath in a great heroquest, the devil/wakboth/the red goddess(?), ragnaglar/ralzakark....
What do you think is in the crater which the red goddess ascended into the sky from? It sounds pretty earthshattering to me - could it be a copy of 'Borderlands?' (forget the book of drastic resolutions, i think if i saw a copy i would go insane).
What on earth do praxians record on their 'quipus' ie. knotted strings
(writing of a sort, mentioned in the Genertela box)???? The Incas used to
put their taxes on them, but obviously praxians have no need for this. a
knotted string can only provide so much information, which is why it
could be used for relatively basic things like taxes? Perhaps they record
the heights in hands of the herd beasts in their tribe?
This reminds me of a funny story about easter island (nothing to do with
cthulhu, honest). Some time ago, on 13 pieces of soggy wood,
archaeologists discovered a forgotten language, dubbed the 'RongoRongo'
script. When they went around the current indigenous islanders they asked
individuals what the words meant, and they all gave different answers!
perhaps quipus are a bit like this....praxians aren't noted for their
education.
where do slarges live? In the south east of genertela?
Dominic.
Powered by hypermail