Nick on Nysalor.

From: Alex Ferguson <abf_at_interzone.ucc.ie>
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 00:26:16 GMT


"Nicknameless Nick" Brooke commented:
> While I agree with Joerg's quibbles about whether "Arkati Illumination"
> is or is not identical to "Nysalor Illumination", the fact remains that
> the two look exactly the same to both Arkati (St. Arkat's Blessing) and
> Illuminates (special ability to recognise other Illuminates)

I think Joerg understates the case for Quibbling, rather than exaggerates it. As I've previously reported, I was once rather acutely Gregged for being so sloppy as to even use the terms "Arkati" and "Illumination" in the same sentence. Said FGS has also pretty much disclaimed most aspects of the published Illumination rules, over and above the usual hazards of reverse-engineering Gloranthan Truth from Chaosium Game Mechanics. For my money, said fact seems a fairly insecure supposition, though to be fair, about the best one can do on current Official Evidence.

> while our
> sources explicitly raise the spectre of Arkat's own Illumination.

Indeedy. Even taking this as unqualifiedly true, however, doesn't necessarily imply that any subsequent "Arkati" were Illuminated per se. After all, they pretty much have a built-in imperative to be as distinct from (Nysalorian) Illumination as possible (insofar as this _is_ metaphysically possible, which is an admittedly large pig-in-a-poke).

Another complication is of course the parlous state of "modern" Arkat cults, bedraggled and mutually heretical as they are, and often, I suspect, having little or nothing to do with the original "Arkati Way" in the sense of this discussion. Hence speculation about them is at least one further remove from whatever was actually the case of Arkat's immediate cronies and successors.

Of course, YG(reg)MV.

Slainte,
Alex.


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