Re: The Glorantha Digest V6 #531

From: Loren Miller <loren_at_wharton.upenn.edu>
Date: Sun, 18 Apr 1999 23:36:07 -0400


<color><param>0000,0000,7F00</param>"Sir Alisander" <<sir.alisander_at_earthling.net>

writes a scenario thumbnail concerning an arroyan mission to a neighboring village under the leadership of a mad, heroquesting woman in white who would have her charges, all young, untried farmboys and farmgirls, become broo-chattel.  

> Why does the Healer choose them instead of Wind Lords and Storm Khans?

> Because these have no choice. Their vows compel them to fight Chaos at any

> stake. What matters is the decision of those who can make a free choice.

> If they choose to risk their lives (and maybe more...) for her, the Healer

> has thus proven her worthiness in the eyes of the Goddess and then can

> continue the Quest. If they refuse it's as if they participate actively in

> the chaotic corruption of the world.

</color>If I were playing one of the characters I'd feel set-up.

<color><param>0000,0000,7F00</param>"</color>If we choose to play her game we become victims of rape, possibly victims of murder. If we choose to fight and run we might escape. Her goal is warped and instead of pursuing the goals she claims she wants, she is working for Thed's goals. If we do what she wants Thed grows stronger, and we are no longer men. If   we do as she wishes we do not risk it all, we throw it all away. If we run, if we fight so we might run, we risk the disapproval of a madwoman so that we can keep our lives. These villagers have made a deal with the devil. Warriors must come and kill them all, and sane Healers must come and summon many spirits of Healing to stop the diseases that plague this place, and maybe the children can be saved."

My goals would be, (1) escape, (2) bring back warriors, (3) burn the town down and kill the adult chaos sympathizers. Propitiation of Thed and Malia is something that Sartarite Orlanthi cannot stomach.

As a GM, I would suggest that her quest is overly melodramatic, and rather more  accomodating of obvious chaos than Chalana Arroy as described in Prax and Sartar. Note that the Lightbringer pantheon's Chalana Arroy does not approve of chaos. Her son, Arroin, was badly wounded by Chaos. She could not cure his wound. She is under no obligation to heal chaotics, nor to place chaotics under her protection. She undertook the lightbringers' quest in order to stop chaos, for Ge's sake!

I'd rethink this scenario before actually playing it. You can find much more artful ways to show the moral ambiguity of Chaos.

Here's one. As all know, Glorantha was formed as a bubble of stability and reality  in the midst of formless Chaos. It suddenly appeared, and as it was stable and thereby unique, it persisted. Thereby all that is real and lawful was formed from lawless, formless, unreal Chaos. It happened again. A terribly strange creature, glowing with brilliant purple light, three men tall, with six legs, three faces, three blue-scaled tails, and six arms, has appeared. He entered the nearby town. The town militia could not even stop him. He was too artful with his six swords to be stopped. He slew an ancient wizard who had been rumored to tap strangers and set his tower on fire and left town. Following his trail back to where he came from  shows he came from an underground tunnel, and tracing further takes the feckless explorers past hundreds of corpses of all sorts of chaotic creatures, through the tunnels, and out into a dismal swamp. In the dismal swamp is the remnant of a worship ground for Primal Chaos. If Lhankor Mhy recreates what happened, they will see that the priest cast a maw of chaos, threw in many sacrifices, and from chaos came something that was not chaos. And it slew all the chaos it found. It was unstoppable.

Now, there is a weapon against chaos. But it was created by chaos, so it must be of chaos. It is chaos.

And there are more subtle ways to send similar messages.

Good luck,

Loren

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Loren Miller <loren_at_wharton.upenn.edu> "If men cease to believe that they will one day become gods then they will surely become worms." --Henry Miller, "The Colossus of Maroussi"

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