Re: Ikadz questions

From: Loren Miller <loren_at_wharton.upenn.edu>
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 1997 13:44:04 +0000


James Turner <lib155_at_abdn.ac.uk> asks me very hard questions:
> > Ikadz accepts all races, including those of chaos, into the cult..
> What about ogres who hide their true being under a fleshy cloak of
> humanity. Sounds very anti Ikadz.

Sure does. I'd think that the Examination of Holiness (using Torture, Interrogate, Truespeak, and other cult specialties) would catch em, revealing their lies and shriving them pretty thoroughly, but I tend to doubt that every initiate gets tested to that extent. IMG, ogre torturers would tend to belong to all-ogre temples of Ikadz, or maybe mixed ogre/vampire temples, but in any case would associate with other chaos types rather than humans. Humans would have analogous troubles in an ogre or vampire temple.

> >Initiates are discouraged from joining any large military unit, and
> >must swear not to use any blade longer than their forearm. Thus, they
> >may use knives and shortswords, but no broadswords or other swords of
> >war.
> Could you elaborate more on this rational. If it's to do with
> inflicting pain rather than death this would rule out most weapons
> altogether. After all you can kill a person with one knife blow. It
> would be more of a question of how you used a weapon than the weapon
> itself.

That's a toughie, and it requires me to reach into the ***WELL OF INSPIRATION*** and pull out something that I just made up.

Many people will tell you about the spirit of darkness who guarded Death, such a terrible guard that Eurmal and Humakt could waltz in and out without its noticing anything, and was much later warped into Vivamort. But what they don't tell you is that urVivamort was the guardian of Death only at night, and Ikadz was Death's guardian during the hours of daylight. Both urVivamort and Ikadz had to swear that they would never wield Death in the shape of a sword as a precondition to their guardianship. After it failed in its duty, urVivamort fled Hell. But Ikadz continued to guard Death from the living, and that is why he shrives the newly dead when they approach the land of death.

The oaths they swore are the reason why Ikadz uses the knife and Vivamort uses the sword-breaker.

As for discouraging initiates from joining military units, it's a practical decision to keep them away from fanatical Humakti who might let their brainwashing get in the way of esprit des corps, and accidentally wound the innocent torturer mortally. :(

Cheers,
Loren

p.s. Humakt's ritual challenge to Ikadz and vice versa is "You want death so much? Here! Have it!"

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