Re: Orlanthi and Dragonfriends

From: Kevin Blackburn <kevin_at_fairbruk.demon.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 20:25:52 +0100

In article , Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_bigfoot.com> writes
>Kevin Blackburn:
>
>>Me>There's a difference between a follower of Orlanth Dragonfriend
>> >and an Orlanthi using Dragon magics. An Orlanthi can use
>> >dragon magics without having to be a member of the EWF cult
>> >of Orlanth Dragonfriend.
>
>>If the Dragon Magics are used outside the context of theistic magic,
>>aren't they going to be at best "misapplied worship" and therefore a bit
>>weak (which doesn't seem to be the case), or otherwise going to lose
>>Argrath his theistic magic altogether.
>
>Dragon magic is outside the normal magic rules of HW (c.f. the
>description of Dragon Magic in Anaxial's Record p156) and thus
>arguments based on those rules (i.e. invoking misapplied worship)
>do not apply.

Well, yes. But Argrath has presumably got to be doing something that isn't irritating Orlanth. And using an alternative magical paradigm of any sort isn't often going to be popular (Obduran the Flyer got lucky!)

[Snip]

>
>Since Ingolf uses a similar method (KoS p187, where he makes a
>_yrtgal_ with a dragon), I believe that Dragonfriends have a
>draconic self that does all their dragon magics for them in
>addition to their normal self. The secret behind Orlanth
>Dragonfriend was that having Arangorf as a draconic self was
>wholly compatible with their Orlanth magics. Having other
>dragons as a dragon-self would interfere with this.

I agree, the explanation has to include some sort of Inner Dragon, to match with what we know. But you have Arangorf is another Many-as-one one-as-many sort of being, once split all over the EWF Dragonfriend cultists. It's one explanation, but doesn't feel right to me. Perhaps some sort of seed or thought form from Arangorf for a cultist, to mirror the mythic event. Presumably some other dragons can do the same sort of effect to some degree or other, with greater or lesser dislike from Orlanth.

>>I grant you, there's other ways to explain matters, but hero questing to
>>discover secrets of Orlanth Dragonfriend seems the most plausible,
>>especially given a companion of Argrath at Dragonrise with the name
>>Orlaront Dragonfriend.
>
>But Argrath wasn't at the Dragonrise ('twas Kallyr)

Have I been using "Dragonrise" incorrectly? I mean when Tatius the Bright was eaten by the rising Brown Dragon in 1625. KoS p24, body of text places Argrath there, and footnote 52 gives other references.

> and there's
>other ways to become a dragonfriend other then joining the Cult
>of Orlanth Dragonfriend. Ingolf (KoS p186) is a dragonfriend
>even though he was never initiated into Orlanth.

True, though he was bought up to be such by the looks of it. He also seems to have a body of draconic knowledge from somewhere, else he wouldn't know to use only the left hand, etc. Another inner dragon? - --

Kevin Blackburn                         Kevin_at_fairbruk.demon.co.uk

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