>[I]f tapping is chaotic and the Brithini have
>been doing it since Malkion made dirt, why aren't they chaotic?
It depends on who actually does the tapping. Is it the Zzaburite Sorcerers or some rune they have created? I imagine Arolanit is slowly drained by an powerful rune within the Palace of the Pentacles to keep it at the level of vitality that the rulers find easiest to govern at.
Secondly Tapping is a secret knowledge according to HW:RiG p195 so only some Zzaburi have the knowledge as other Zzaburi would learn other secrets.
Exploring the question further - what is Tapping and why is the spell so prominent among the Malkioni? The Malkioni can probably think of other spells that are bad, yet Tapping is of great concern to them.
Perhaps the most relevant statement is in Cults of Terror in which Zzabur creates a new spell which harnesses entropy and sparks of a new reaction of powers to generate a new creation. This Great Spell is probably the Malkioni analog to the Sacred Time, the regeneration of the Cosmos, and thus recast every year. A major reason why Zzaburi are tolerated among venerating Malkioni (such as the Rokari and the Hrestoli) might be that only they have the knowledge to co-ordinate the Great Spell - a moiety in anthropology.
So there are two magics - one that uses entropy to renew a destroyed Cosmos and the other uses entropy to drain energy from a living Cosmos. I believe that the two magics are one and the same. Tapping is the Great Magic that Zzabur used to end the Great Darkness - its horrific harm is due to it being used in the wrong place at the wrong time.
IMO the right time to tap would be during the renewal of the Cosmos although tapping an utterly lifeless landscape (such as in Hell or Dorastor after Arkat finished with it) would also spark cosmic regeneration. Doing it in Vulture Country would not.
The hazard in tapping is possibly that the Tapper must strike a balance between Entropy and Cosmos. If he leans too far in favour of Entropy then Entropy might absorb a part or all of him altogether. This normally can be avoided but there is a slight risk of making a mistake. The effects of entropy might appear in several ways, such as a certain dullness in thought processes, an acquired infirmity in the body or in extreme cases, becoming a insubstantial specter or disappearing altogether.
So while the Zzaburi have no moral inhibitions about tapping, the long-lived ones dwelling in Arolanit or Sog City with their total paranoia about any threats to their immortality might have extreme fears about the safety of tapping, refusing do so unless explicitly ordered by their Talar. After centuries of casting it, they are bound to screw up one day.
Most Malkioni shun tapping as dangerous lore. Even though the lives of their wizards are short enough such that most of them can go through life without making a tapping mistake (significant exception: a wizard with extreme dementia), they still dislike it for the temptation and the damage it creates. It is far better for the local Zzaburi to use it - if he abuses it then he can be executed. The Galvosti were significant exceptions to this as they used to use tapping to control barbarian populations.
--Peter Metcalfe
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End of Glorantha Digest
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