Chaotic ecology

From: Bernuetz, Oliver: WPG <Bernuetz.Oliver_at_cbsc.ic.gc.ca>
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1998 17:10:00 -0400

I was driven to pondering by Pam and others theorizing about the connection between the nature of Chaos in a given area and the nature of the culture in that area. I think the main points that have to be remembered about Chaos are:

1. Most Chaotic creatures are carnivores. Many of these prey on sentient life by preference so they have to be somewhere where intelligent life can be found.
2. Most Chaotic creatures are poorly organized and completely lack subtlety. This makes it difficult for them to succeed against organized resistance.
3. Chaos operates in an area much like bandits would. By this I mean it's far more successful in those areas with a weak central government and far less successful in areas with strong organization and a large military presence. This means that Chaos is especially weak in regions with long histories of peace and "stable" government like Peloria, Esrolia, Dara Happa, Kralorela, etc. These are the places where subtle chaos* works best.
4. The worst chaos infestations/occurences occur in places that were heavily tainted by Chaos. e.g. The Devil's Swamp and Dorastor. Chaos is strong in these areas because even the land reinforces Chaos in these areas and makes them more or less unihabitable by the non-Chaotic.

*(Of course like any "rule" (not that this is a rule) there are exceptions. There are of course subtle chaotic creatures and cults-Karsht and Thanatar and these can thrive pretty much anywhere. (Interestingly in the case of Karsht we're talking about a pretty un-Chaotic chaos cult here). One of my pet theories is that Chaos was altered quite a bit by its exposure to Glorantha. The exposure stabilized the formerly extremely variable nature of Chaos and allowed for the creation of relatively stable Chaotic species. My feeling is that during the original Chaos Wars there were no standardized Chaos species. (This may very well be a duh statement as far as I know)).

The gist of my point is that I don't think we're talking a cause and effect thing here exactly. Yes there is a definite connection between the manner in which chaos manifests itself in a region and the type of society present. I don't think that the society or religious beliefs present in a act to mold chaos though. In simpler terms you get the chaos that "fits" your society. There are of course regional variations in Chaos just like there are species variations in the RW. You don't find all types of Chaos everywhere for this reason (and the four points I made above).

Hope this is reasonably clear (as I type between web page loads at work).

Oliver D. Bernuetz
www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/realm/5545 bernuetz.oliver_at_cbsc.ic.gc.ca

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