Dragon Pass is positively crawling with dragons, and their religion is currently fairly hostile to them. The only dragon we really now about seriously interacting with the natives is Thrunhin Da, whose contribution to Kralori religion is the rather undraconic sounding cult of the Orca.
And the Darudans mainly revere the sort of 'dragon' that looks less like a dragon and more like a wacky mystic guy, and doesn't do anything particularly draconic. Basically, they look a lot like plain mystics who talk some dragon talk, but don't walk much dragon walk.
Now, I grant you, they spend a lot of time thinking about draconic things - but really, what is the difference between Darudism, and Vithelan mysticism with a strong draconic motif?
Basically, what I am asking is what actual draconic powers does Darudism use - are the Five Dragon Warriors examples of what Darudism can do when it gets going, or are all such manifest acts of draconism the terrible misunderstandings of immanent mastery, leaving Darudist draconism something observed mostly in the warning against.
I guess we have to fall back on Peters rather convincing comparison
of Darudism with dragonnewt practices - which looks good at first.
>Darudists aim to become dragons through various methods but
>refrain from manifesting overt draconic powers because to do
>so will inhibit their spiritual advancement. This path is
>littered with failures (immanent masters, CanShu) that have
>caused much damage. Yet the Darudists are not adverse to
>using these failures (immanent masters) for their own ends.
But lets compare them to Vithelan mysticism, replacing the word dragon with enlightened being, and just removing the word draconic entirely.
Orthodox mystics aim to become enlightened beings through various methods but
refrain from manifesting overt powers because to do
so will inhibit their spiritual advancement. This path is
littered with failures that have
caused much damage. Yet the mystics are not adverse to
using these failures for their own ends.
So I still don't see how the Darudists differ from orthodox mystics on that comparison, except perhaps a little more ethical pragmatism on the last sentence.
Perhaps what I am saying is perhaps Darudists would be a bit more distinct if they actually had some dragon related abilities that anyone was allowed to use ever.... if the Five Dragon Warriors were Darudists not POIM, we could point and say - look, Darudan Draconism in action. But it seems that every incidence of actual draconism is labelled an unfortunate error that has nothing to do with Darudism at all. Which just seems wrong to me.
Or at least, some version of Darudism (and I am quite willing to entertain all sorts of interpretations) that differs in an interesting and obvious way from orthodox mysticism other than by not using draconic magic (as opposed to not using other magic).
>while you're simultaneously convinced that the city-
>dwelling, intensively agrarian, hsunchen-hating kralori are really
>harbouring a hotbed of neo-hsunchenism, Dave.
Nah, that would be a misrepresentation - for most Kralori, hsunchen practices are nothing more than folk tales and the occasional decorative motif (though even that appears to differ from your version of the orthodoxy - I thought the Kralori fought with the Hsunchen and denigrated them officially, but I didn't think that meant all the people hated them). But I think that the Hsunchen tribes were sometimes conquered and assimilated, rather than exterminated, and culturally, assimilation works both ways to some extent. But thats only some parts - most of the empire has only stories of hsunchen, its just a few people in the outer provinces that have hsunchenish folk customs.
Cheers David ------------------------------
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