> Joerg Baumgartner seems to think that the Pharaoh made a quest, was
> ambushed, sent to a Lunar Hell and then (and only then) the Tournament
> took place to resurrect him. =
>
> Stephen Martin thinks (as I do, although I have no proof) that the
> Pharaoh was captured during an apparently normal MOLAD Tourney that
> got wrong.
=
Nick Brooke thinks the Pharaoh was ambushed at Jar-Eel's instigation while performing some other ritual (probably the Esrolite Year King Sacrifice), and that the subsequent Tournament was a disaster because he was still "alive" in a Lunar Hell (albeit spiritually dismembered), and thus not available to possess the victor. The Year King Ritual is picturesque, fascinating and performed on a grand scale: it is the supreme ritual of Earth Sovereignty performed in the land of Esrolia, an apparent survival from the Green Age at the dawn of mythology. Go there and be amazed!
In outline this is the most "obvious" explanation of GB 48: "the Pharaoh disappeared, and the Tournament of the Masters of Luck and Death failed to provide a new body." I add the Year Kings because they are inherently fascinating, and tell you a lot about how Belintar worked.
After all, the Pharaoh doesn't *ever* take part in the Tournament of the MOLAD, any more than beautiful Xiola Umbar priestesses take part in Trollball matches. There shouldn't ever be a ToMoLaD while Pharaoh is alive; when he's disembodied (due to the death of his most recent host), other people take part in the Tournament to prove themselves worthy to embody Belintar's spirit. The Pharaoh *cannot* "mysteriously die" during the Tournament, as he's already "dead" when it starts!
Banishing Stygian Gloom,
::::
Nick
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