>From my understanding, when Argrath first appeared, his magic and tactics
took the Lunar Empire entirely off guard. Form what I know, he made use of
Lunar innovations, such as Sartarite militias of Magicians that were the
equivalent of the Lunar Magical colleges, as well as being a skilled
Heroquester and magician. Supposedly, during his time in Pavis, he made the
first discoveries of old EWF Draconic lore that enable him to counter the
arcane Lunar sorceries.
Now, from my understanding, up until that point, all other things being equal, Lunar magicians had been able to basically whup the butts of most other magicians, due to not only the breadth and depths of Lunar magical theory, but also due to secrets gained from Nysaloran illumination and some use of western style sorcery. Even though the Lightbringer capabilities come close, most Orlanthi magicians folded when brought up against Lunar counterparts, especially on a large scale (as opposed to small scale skirmishes, where Orlanthi magicians and fighters usually won.) However, I'm assuming that much of the Empire's success was due to the arcane secrets and outlook that the Lunar Way itself provides, as well as the powers of the Red Goddess herself. Until the appearance of Argrath, and perhaps the Starbrow rebellion, the binding and defeat or Orlanth was almost inevitable.
However, Argrath appears, and suddenly there's this massive turnaround. Lunar secrets fail against Argrath's Draconic powers. He resurrects old myths, Heroquests, and Dragon Pass itself rises to aid him.
Now, did Argrath keep his powers to himself, or did he teach his followers the Draconic secrets he knew? Where they different from what the Waltzing and Hunting bands of the EWF taught? How did he reconcile this with the memories of the Dragonkill and existing Orlanthi feelings in regards to Dragons, especially the cult of Alakoring Dragonbreaker at the time. How did Argrath's "Enlightenment" surpass or bypass Lunar Illumination? I'm assuming that Argrath's Draconic magics were a counter to the Lunar Illumiannt mysteries and techniques, as far as I can tell. How did Argrath's Dragon Magics become integrated with traditional Lightrbinger magic?
As far as I can see, Argrath must have been packing so pretty powerful mojo to stop the Lunars so dead cold, especially as the Lunars had up until that time met with very few defeats. The only one I can think of is how Pharoah thwarted their invasion. Also, until the royal house was destroyed, Sartar was also the nut they couldn't crack, as Sartar, a unified kingdom, had resisted them for many years (about 2 centuries, if memory serves?)
Thanks in advance,
Chris Bell
argrath_at_xsite.net
End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #570
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