I'm not sure I understand everything is said here, but I try :)
I see Chaos as a something external to Glorantha, trying to enter, a bit like the sea eroding cliffs. Societies are perpetually attacked by minor chaotic creatures and manifestations, but can fight and cure them most of the time because they have developed ways to fight it. These are the rituals, laws and magical protections invented and discovered during the Great Darkness. They still work if maintained properly, but may fail, under sufficient stress or terrible conditions. the rites and laws are, in part, acting like a 'socio-magical' immune system or a firewall if you prefer.
Now, some acts are so abhorrent they universally attract Chaos. Rape, secret murder and eating people in secret, etc. Sometime, they attract it in such a way or with such a force that it can slip trough the protections and corrupt the person or the society he lives in. Sometimes not. Wether the society condone this act or not has nothing to do with said act's tendency to _attract_ chaos, making chaos slap against the window, looking at you.
On the other hand, there are acts that are socially prohibited and cause the normal magical, ritual protections to disappear, but is has nothing to do with their tendency to attract chaos. If Chaos is also here, it can use this crack and come. Or not.
If an act _both_ attracts chaos and weakens the magical immune system that each society developped during Darkness, the probability for chaos to enter is even greater. (rape in Heortling society)
Kinstrife is not inherently chaotic, meaning the universe doesn't care about it.
But Orlanth do and takes his protection away when (if) kinstrife is done. Then
Chaos can come at its own time. Hey, if the way is open, why not enter and
spread ?
Some societies have no taboo about kinstrife (Valindi ?, Dara Happans ?). Their
normal anti-chaos protection is always 'on', you've no risk to become tainted
after having killed your brother. That is, no more than in participating in
other non-chaotic and socially tolerated acts : war or torture (in reasonnable
amounts).
Rape is inherently chaotic, cosmically chaotic even, and there will always be Thed and her putrid breath just 'outside', waiting, and being sustained by the act. Waiting for the metaphorical breach to penetrate (er,) in your body and soul. Some societies will protect rapists for a time (Char Un), because that's the heritage and the strength of the gods/spirits/myth of these people. The same way some people in RW are more or less immune against some disease (never a 100% protection, as for chaos). Even for them, doing it many times will give Thed enough strength so that she can overcome the socially-maintened protections. Then they are broos (spiritually even if not physically). Heortling myth give no protection for rape : you're directly exposed to Thed. Here she comes.
I'm totally on the wrong track ?
Philippe
(btw, I'm playing with the idea to oppose some Heroes with an ancient member of their clan/family, chased away after a rape. Now, some broos attack the clan, somehow knowing _quite well_ the tula... And, what a surprise, their leader looks a bit like Uncle Hrotgeir... Uncle Hrotgeir who teached some heroes to hunt, or something like that... They loved him...)
Philippe
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