Nils>>>Think an immortal and magically potent mister Spock without
>>>a sense of right and wrong.
Me>>The trouble is that we already have this in the form of Zzabur
>>and other Brithini Wizards!
>Exactly. The Brithini don't like competition (hmm, actually they don't
>like anybody).
But it would be very difficult for the other Brithini to hate the Blues if their wizards were doing the same sort of thing and it would be next to impossible for the other Malkioni to hate the Blues. If Zzabur is like a Lion, then the Vadeli should be like Hyenas (I am using idealized conceptions of said beasts if anybody wants to nitpick).
Simon Phipp:
>Clearly, the City Gods of Dara Happa are not [bound by the Compromise]
>because they can leave their cities and fight.
I'm not sure about this. The Denesiod dynasty description in the Fortunate Succession says that Raiba(mu)[s/th] manifests in his descendants from time to time. IMO this is what happened during the zero wane IMO. It's not the actual god violating the Great Compromise but its essense of residing within the person.
The Pelorians seem to be very big on this as we have the Emperors sharing some part of Yelm and Jar-Eel et al sharing some part of the Red Goddess.
Ian Gorlick:
>We seem to have a fundamental difference in viewpoints about this sort of
>bloodmagic and other disgusting rituals. Shall we agree to disagree?
Alas, this has wider implications so I must decline the opportunity. I'm trying to see why you think that the practice of 'disgusting' rites *should* be evil. I've already mentioned mesoamerican bloodletting and added that they themselves did not see the practices as evil.
Frex in the following anecdote about Darius should enlighten matters:
'When [Darius] was king of Persia, he summoned the Greeks who happened to be present at his court and asked them what they would take to eat the dead bodies of their fathers. They replied they would not do it for any money in the world. Later, in the presence of the Greeks, and through an interpreter, so they could understand what was said, he asked some Indians, of the tribe called Callatiae, who do in fact eat their parents dead bodies, what they would take to burn them. They uttered a cry of horror and forbade him to mention such a dreadful thing.'
In short to say that the acts are evil, because they are disgusting leaves yourself open to the charge that what you might do could be considered disgusting by some people upon earth *hence* you are evil.
Now I am of the opinion that the Vadeli in addition to practicing disgusting rites, don't give a damn about Good or Evil (like the Brithini). One could say that in cultivating this mindset, the Vadeli are evil and many would agree.
But to say that the Vadeli are evil because they do such and such (Buggery, Menstrual Intercourse etc) seems to imply that that cultures with vile practices (Borists consorting with Chaos or the Blood Sun Rites of Bliss in Ignorance) are evil, which I don't believe is the case.
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