From: Trotsky <TTrotsky_at_blueyonder.co.uk>
> Since soldiers across
>Glorantha are not turning into broo in significant numbers AFAIK, we may
>reasonably suppose that such acts are less common in Gloranthan armies
>than they were in ancient RW ones. Including, one presumes, the Char-Un.
Or alternatively the chance of an ordinary person receiving a noticeable gift from Thed is very small. After all if a god interfered in the world very much it would be breaking the Great Compromise. Of course Heros, who are more noticeable to the gods, would be more likely to be affected.
<soltakss_at_yahoo.com>
>I can follow the idea of performing an act strengthens the deity who first performed that act, or
>the deity who "owns" the act, that makes sense in that performing the act causes some resonance in
>the God Plane, reinforcing the original path. However, I am having trouble connecting this to the
>idea that these acts are intrinsically chaotic.
>
>The main acts that have been mentioned are rape, kinstrife and cannibalism.
>
>Ragnaglar raped Thed and Thed demanded justice from Orlanth, becoming the goddess of rape. Does
>the act of rape strengthen Thed or Ragnaglar? What about Gagarth, Vadrus or even Orlanth? These
>carried off goddesses in God Time and raped them, so are they strengthened by the act? What about
>other deities outside the Orlanth pantheon? Are they strengthened by the act or do Orlanthi
>rapists only strengthen Ragnaglar? Was Ragnaglar's rape of Thed a chaotic act or was it an act
>that weakened the fabric of the cosmos, thus allowing Chaos in? After all, neither Ragnaglar nor
>Thed were chaotic at the time, they only became so afterwards. Ragnaglar was sent mad by the Sex
>Demons in the Pit, does this mean that the Sex Demons are the instigators of rape and hence they
>are strengthened? If so, where is the chaos, because the Sex Demons were probably not chaotic.
It may well be a reverse association - broo are chaotic so it follows that an act (rape) which turns a person into a broo is chaotic.
>What about kinstrife? Is this intrinsically chaotic? Orlanth practised kinstrife before he
>realised it was bad. He fought a number of his kin, including Storm Bull, Gagarth and Daga. DOes
>this make him chaotic? Does performing the Orlanth Defeats Gagarth HeroQuest strengthen the owner
>of Kinstrife and increase the strength of chaos? This would imply that re-enacting an Orlanth
>Quest strengthens Chaos.
I think this falls under the heading of actions which attack the structure of society. Kinstrife is chaotic to Heortlings because the family and clan are the basic structure of their society - stand by your family against the world if need be. Followers of Yelm would see treason as chaotic and expect family to renounce the traitor. To Malkioni someone who fails to act as befits a member of their caste is chaotic. To an Aldryami harming a forest is chaotic.
>I do not know who first practised cannibalism. Cacodemon taught this to the Ogres, but is this the
>first act? I doubt it. What about other deities who practice cannibalism? Are they strengthened by
>acts of cannibalism? Does ritual cannibalism, where the victor devours part of the vanquished to
>gain abilities/strength, strengthen chaos, even though it is performed for different reasons?
Cannibalism is also something which damages social structures unless it is tightly constrained. All real world and Gloranthan societies which practice it do so in particular approved ways. Cacodemon is unrestrained cannibalism and anyone who practices cannibalism outside their particular social rules will turn into an ogre.
>I think the whole area is fraught with difficulties and is not as clear cut as
>"rape/cannibalism/kinstrife = chaos".
Nothing in Glorantha ever is clear cut, but I would describe chaos as acts which damage the social fabric of a particular society. So although there is widespread agreement on many things there may be acts which one society regards as chaotic which another regards as irrelevant or even approves of. Who's right?....that will be determined by the Hero Wars.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/ --__--__--
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