> Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 16:09:34 -0600
> From: John Hughes <nysalor_at_primus.com.au>
> Subject: Diverse Bytes
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> THED & ORLANTH: MYTHIC ANALYSIS
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> A couple of points on the Sartarite myth 'The Greater Darkness' (KOS p. 77).
>
> It's primarily a warning tale about what happens when there is 'too much
> justice'.
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> Thed's action is essentially the first intrusion of chaos into Firststead
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> Nor should Orlanth be seen as a Yelm- or Solomon-like wise ruler. More than
> most, Orlanth stuffs up, as he does here.
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> To learn from those mistakes and to take responsibility
> for them is the way of Orlanth and the way of Orlanthi.
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You focus [in the parts not quoted here] on the corruption of virtues
by Chaos: good stuff, but perhaps a little too 'philosophical' for a
typical Orlanth? I think the parts of your reply I quote perhaps
gives the message that typical Orlanthi would receive: judges should
be flexible. Rather than following a Yelm-like rigid code of laws,
with precise punishments and compensations for particular offences,
an Orlanthi judge must consider the circumstances of the case, and be
prepared to refuse some demanded compensation.