Me> >Upon rereading the passage, I had the impression that the son and
>Drat, on rereading I think you may be right. Did his Human or his Trollish
>line rule the Dark Empire? He was a troll at the time, and I'd assumed it
>was his trollish kids that succeeded him -- unless "someone" illuminated
>them, I wouldn't think they'd be thrilled about Dad's new trollish body,
>dining habits and Zorak Zoran confessor.
Note that the one of the names of the Dark Empire is the Stygian Alliance. IMO the Dark Empire was a loose confederation of states held by princelings who claimed descent from Arkat. What most people remember as the Dark Emperor was really the hooman son of Arkat who was gifted with the lands of Safelster since its conquest at the hands of Arkat. I should note that Gerlant is sometimes declared to be Arkat's Son which implies that he swore fealty to Arkat or the Dark Empire at some stage...
John R. Hutchinson:
>What is current thinking on the Iffinbix cult (of the Pavis city
>magician)?
I think that it's a variant form of the Mee Vorala Cult crossbred with some sorcery looted from the offices of the City Magician. The cult relied on the consumption of special roots to achieve an altered state of consciousness. Its temples would be breeding grounds for the special fungie/truffles/roots.
Joerg Baumgartner:
>I have been tearing my hair for a good action for Heortland, but so far
>inspiration has failed me. Bitter for someone whose campaign setting is
>there...
Belintar revolts against the King of Heortland as the Evil Emperor and kills him. The land falls into anarchy. Belintar repents of his rash actions and brings him back to life and acknowleges his right to rule. The King then recognizes Belintar as the High King of Heortland.
This does imply that Belintar has to do the Full Lightbringers Quest but I don't think this is necessary. The FLBQ ressurects those whose bodies have thoroughly decomposed (Sheng Seleris, Arkat) whereas I envisiage Belintar's ritual as a shorter one which revives the King after a week or so in the otherworld. (Normal ressurections didn't work because of Belintar's magic).
Nick Brooke:
>I'm not a HQing guru or anything, and my "King of Sartar" now appears to
>have gone walkies (or been eaten by Calvin),
I would have thought the Cat was Hobbes. Or is there some subtle theological joke (such as 'predestined to be bad?')
Simon Bray:
>The lands and cities controlled by Afadjann are;
>[snip]
You forgot the City of Karo which is famous for the Horse Assasins. After witnessing the assasination of the Horse of the Prince of Karo at the hands of a band of unknown heroes, the traveller Anthippias recieved a relevation from Heaven in which Horses were revealed as Demons in mortal form. They are famous for killing people's horses and leaving the heads in their beds.
Paolo Guccione:
>There are differences between Malkioni Saints and Heroes, and I think
>the main one is exactly the one Michael pointed out: Saints receive no
>worship in life, heroes do.
'Gerlant's prowess and honor became so legendary that even
before his death, he was worshipped as a Saint'.
Prosopaedia p7.
Dormal is also spoken of as a Saint when he landed at various places (and is also worshipped as a God among the seagoing pagans). I do recall at the Seventh Ecclesiastical Conference, Notslor was named a Living Saint and I have no doubt that there were Living Saints among the ranks of the God Learners.
>Of course, many Saints may have been HeroQuesters (notably Arkat and
>Talor, but Hrestol is a suitable candidate, too). But being able to
>change the mythic framework of reality is not a Malkioni's main goal.
>In a society that does not rely on the physical evidence of its god's
>reality provided by perpetual reenactment of myth, a "hero"'s goal is
>changing his people's belief, not mythic reality.
I'm not so sure that a generic Heroquestor actually works with the aim of trying to change mythic reality. A heroquester could work with the aim of trying to kill an enemy or bring back the words of the God(s) that has been lost for so long. To say that a pagan hero aims to alter mythic reality and a malkioni saint aims to change his people's belief sounds like an artificial distinction (but one earnestly propounded by the Malkioni).
>Which Rokar, for instance, did perfectly well with the mundane means
>of teaching and martyrdom. And may I remind you that Rokar's
>non-heroplane deeds influenced much more people than, say, the
>extremely hard and devastating quest to free Siglolf?
Rokar also recieved visitations from Malkion and Hrestol. Which would be a form of Heroquesting in my book. It's not as dramatic and "heroic" as 'kill the dragon and bonk the princess' stuff but it is potent in its own way (as your comparison between Rokar and Garundyer amply illustrates).
End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #41
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