>>> Well, more or less. In a more extreme version, cannibalism is
>>>problematic for Heortlings -- Maran cultists can get away with it in
>>>rituals (barely -- people think they are awful and strange and a lot
>>>of people think they are nasty, if not quite evil).
The Marani can "get away with it" for the same reason that Humakti can "get away" with killing their kin: they are contained within a compartment of the social structure that is specifically "designed" to contain them. Their deities did these things and survived the Darkness into the current Time/Space cosmos. This does not mean that their acts are inherently different from the raw actions of cannibalism or murdering kin, but that the outlet exists, is acknowledged and contained. "Containment" is not the same as total acceptance. Their containment is part of society, probably because the rest of society is actively engaged in containing it. Thus the Marani blood drinking is possible because everyone contains it there: if you want to drink blood, you either become a Marani or you re condemned. Everyone works to contain it there because it is overt, open and acknowledged. We know where it is can keep it there. It does not mean the action is harmless. It means that we know where it is, can contain it.
>>>That's pretty clear. But what about Uz?
My discussion about evil and chaos is about human beings, not other
species. We can not apply human considerations to other creatures. Fish eat
their babies, but this is not to say people can do so.
>If cannibalism, rape,
>violence, and treachery have to be carried to heroic depths to bring the
>taint of chaos to a person, then the occassional Alfred Packer among the
>Heortlings has nothing to fear
Sometimes even a thought of such actions would condemn a person to become chaotic. Sometimes it would take a person devouring a hundred people to become chaotic. Who can tell which it is beforehand? NO ONE.
>b) have some sort of
>cultural protections in place (like a lesser or broader version of the
>ritual status of Marani cannibalism). Either way, some sins are "worse" for
>some cultures and people than others.
The fact that it is contained does not diminish the "worseness" of it. It only means we know where it is and can avoid it as normal human beings.
>In Heortling culture, secret murder and kinstrife are
>two acts that damage the compact. In Solar and Lunar lands, neither of
>these would do it
I would not agree with the above statement about the Dara Happans.
>I guess I would try to get out of the relativety trap by suggesting
>that the "slippery slope of chaos" is invoked partly by the acts and partly
>by the person's feelings or guilt and perversion. The Marani eating human
>flesh knows that this is a holy act -- she feels no guilt and she is
>squarely within the embrace of her goddess
Nice point. Look at it this way: the Marani performs these perverse and evil actions SO THAT it can be contained and recognized. It IS a "holy act" for her. This does not make it OK for others.
>Anyway, all evil is not chaos.
Alternately, all chaos is not tentacles and squiggly bits. Performing evil doesn't always bring a chaos of becoming a broo or getting a chaos feature. Sometimes it weakens society, the cosmos or some other part of the cosmos that you may not even know about.
>Glorantha needs to have room for
>villainy that doesn't lead to mutation and tentacles. The worst people are
>not necessarily broos, ogres, or gibbering horrors. Normal people are
>capable of atrocities
I agree here. And make it worse: some people perform evil actions and DON'T suffer the way other people might. They appear to get away with cosmic crimes. Whole societies seem to get away with crimes! What is that about? How does that happen? It's not fair! Damn right, and that is EXACTLY the kind of moral crisis that generates hot, dangerous and challenging adventures.
>Glorantha has not been known for absolutism.
The "absolutes" of Glorantha exist, but they are far outside of the possible experience of normal people.
--__--__--
Powered by hypermail