Alternatively, bringing Sheng back created a Lunar Empire that was REALLY bad enough to require becoming a monster to destroy a Monster empire.
Argrath bringing Sheng back was such a bad, bad thing in practice, I like the resonance of the possibility that he had to do it for a just reason.
> In so doing, he naturally *became* what he once opposed.
> <Insert Nietzsche quotes about monsters and abysses here>.
>
> Classic example: the Temple of the Reaching Storm. If I interpret
> this correctly, it would be a focus for Storm magics that are always
> at maximum strength within a certain radius of the temple. In other
> words, Argrath has chained Orlanth to permanantly rotate in a fixed,
> unchanging spiral about one miserable little temple in Saird. Now
> tell me again how this differs from what the Lunars were trying to
> do...
Interesting theory. Of course, the Red Goddess doesn't seem to mind being "reached." Alternatively, it may extend the natural Stormy nature of Kerofinela north in some kind of mythically useful way.
> I'd say he was a decent guy "originally" rather than "underneath"
> (see above).
>
> But then, Arkat eventually retired from the god-killing business, gave
> up [some of] his powers, and settled down in a nice quiet little Dark
> Empire of his own in western Ralios, so there can be a happy ending
> sometimes...
Say, was Arkat still a troll at this point? I assumed so, but...
From: Greg Stafford <greg_at_glorantha.com>
>> One theory would be that the only folks a LBQ gets back are those >> trapped in a hell or the recently dead. Of the historical LBQ's, we don't >> know much about the status of the subjects of them. Anyone know if Arkat >> was simply killed, or was he intentionally trapped in hell?
Check. So he wasn't intentionally trapped in a particular hell or anything, just good and dead. Presumably, even at that point Arkat's "force of self" or whatever it is that keeps one from being dissolved after death was powerful enough to keep him going. Since the LBQ hadn't been done in time, folks we're so worried about the dead coming back.
So, what is "life" (well, existence) like for those in the land of the dead who aren't dissipating? Those in the later, Lunar hells seem to have had a bad time of it, but that was presumably much of their point, so the other experiences were presumably quite different, and less horrible. Was it like being on a continual HQ, with the eventual result of return to the living world? Or like being stuck at a single station of the HQ indefinitely.
>> And do we know >> if Talor was laughing before Harmast went looking for an anti-Arkat?
Cool.
>> And on another note, we know that CA resurrection is sort of a lesser >> version of the LBQ. Do we know what the rituals and myths behind >> resurrection is in other cultures that have that power? I'd be very curious >> to know how it comes out from a Yelmic perspective.
Does she have LBQ-style resurrection in that tradition?
> AND OTHER People added:
>
>> The more I think about it, the more I think the LBQ isn't about >> resurrection at all. It's the source of CA's resurrection powers,
Ah. So there was resurrection of the recently dead BEFORE the LBQ.
From: Peter Larsen <plarsen_at_mail.utexas.edu>
> You'd have to set up a very long term quest where you tricked
> your enemy into playing the role of Rebellious Terminius. Then he'd
> have to bring you back or wreck everything. Maybe you could do this
> if you were sure you were going to be killed. Of course, if your
> enemy is using a Shargash myth, he can kill you with impunity,
> assuming you've lost Justice.
Yeah, it seems like just not getting killed in the first place would be a lot easier.
Unless you were trying to pacify a foe, and integrate your cultures together in some way. Do the Yelmies think Yelm killed was a good thing after all. Him coming back was a good thing compared to getting killed, but the general point of view seems to be that things were better in the Old Days. The Orlanthi perspective seems to be that "it all worked out in the end."
> Maybe you're right. On the other hand, maybe Agrath got to
> the gods, discovered that they couldn't help him, and went on from
> there. Agrath's Saga is not exactly an unimpeachable source after
> all. Even for fairly straightforward events in mundane Glorantha with
> witnesses, it's kind of squirrely. For something that pretty much
> only Agrath saw and returned to report on, the truth could be
> anything. Most of what is in King of Sartar isn't myth; it's history
> written by biased, confused, wrong, and ignorant authors. I'm not
> saying your take isn't correct; just that the Agrath Saga is a
> complicated hook to hang an argument on.
No doubt there! That's what makes KoS such a MGF book. Great themes and background, and nearly infinite number of playable options. On first reading it, I thought that it would ruin 17th century Dragon Pass campaigns, but instead it seems to have improved them enormously.
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