Stephen, I don't think I originally brought up the subject to begin with!But, I enjoyed your response anyway :)
> Yes, there is a contradiction in the concept of Humakt as being
> introduced to Dragon Pass by Arkat, and of the Humakti entering Prax in
> 35 S.T.
As a relativistic objectivist, I personally prefer the notion that the tales that comedown to us from the Greater Darkness are more or less True, as I dislike the Gods as impersonal forces (takes all the fun out of it ;) But from a God-Learnerish point of view, this makes perfect sense. Also, according to the canon, the current Gloranthan pantheons we may know could all just simply be mostly god-learner constructs :)
> When Arkat came to Dragon Pass, he was already an initiate of the Ralian
> storm god, Humath, Lord of Storms and Lord of Swords. For whatever
> reason, he forced his god to change, to lose his Storm Aspect in favor of
> becoming solely the Lord of Swords. This cult, of Humakt, eventually (and
> probably quite quickly) supplanted and absorbed the Orlanth Death-Wielder
> subcult, so that now there is Orlanth, with no Death powers (not even
> Trusword, note) and Humakt, with absolutely no Storm Powers. Thus, the
> myth of Humakt's severing all ties with the Air Gods originates in
> Arkat's severing of his ties with the Storm Gods, to focus exclusively on
> the best tool against Gbaji, the Unbreakable Sword. Think about it: in
> this context, the Unbreakable Sword itself _is_ Humakt.
>
> Does this work for you, Chris? Does it work for anyone else?
>
Personally, for me, no, for a number of reasons, although to the subjectivistframework it makes perfect sense.
Regardless of what side you take (Obj or Sub), IMO while Arkat developed the HeroQuesting skills that enabled him to defeat Gbaji, I disagree with the notion that Arkat was capable of the kind of manipulation you describe. We don't really see this kind of manipulation until the God Learners appeared. Arkat was always able to Quest into Myth to gain powers and tools, but he was not the changer, but the changed, in most cases (except for the changes of death and destruction he wrought upon Gbaji and his followers.) I feel that the God Learners discovered their special magic on their own, although thet definitely built upon Arkat's HeroQuesting techniques.
One area where perhaps we can find common ground is that HeroQuesting and God Learner style manipulation do not truly change the nature of the Gods, but merely our perception of them :)
Chris Bell
remster_at_interport.net
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