I didn't mean that the hero returns with the *Bat*, as such. But the hero (or on a 7M quest, the Goddess, as found by the hero) returns with Big Powerful Chaotic Aberrent Mind-Damaging Magic, surely. The more powerful the hero, the more high-powered the quest, the nastier the magic brought back. When Jar-Eel returned from her quest (she must have done this, right?) she probably brought back something (or someone?) not much less powerful than the Bat. (Or so I speculate.)
>> ...or am I on completely the wrong track here? (BTW, I assume Lunar
>> heroquesting somehow enters into *historical* events, since most of
>> its mythos takes place in History, not in Godtime. Am I wrong about
>> this?)
>
> Lunars heroquest into the age of mythology like other people as
> their goddess existed in the past eras (although nobody then knew
> that she was the Goddess).
...but there must be *some* way of re-enacting the (Re-)Creation of the Goddess by the Seven Mothers, and her Godquest, yes? Those are (as I understood it) the two central myths of the Lunars, and both take place partly in history. Do the quests only enact those parts of the myths that took place in the Godworld? (Of course, since those myths are themselves heroquests, that complicates things...)
>> 1. The First Battle of Chaos would be a natural quest for anyone
>> seeking to learn the Secret of his (lunar) cult. The FBoC was when
>> everyone (including the Goddess) found out what the Lunar Way was
>> all about.
>
> The Lunar Way is not about the Bat. The Bat is only the Steed of
> the Goddess, not the Mystery itself.
I phrased it badly. I meant that the God-quest as a whole is what revealed the Lunar Way, so re-enacting the God-quest would be a way to be enlightened in any particular aspect of the Lunar way (e.g. learning your cult's Secret). The Bat figures into it (part of the Lunar way is understanding and accommodating monstrosities), but I didn't mean that it was the whole way on its own.
>> 2. Let's assume that the ideal solution, when a quester goes crazy,
>> is to get him out of town.
>
> Why? This is somebody touched by the Goddess. Getting him out
> of town makes it sound like something bad has happened to him.
Well, the Lunars are a practical people. On the one hand, someone driven mad by the Godquest is holy and precious and touched by the goddess. On the other hand, he's killing people and setting fire to the governor's mansion. Why not appoint him Missionary Plenipotentiary to Pamaltela and get him the heck out of here?
This could be another manifestation of that old tension between Lunars-as-enlightened-mystics and Lunars-as-ruthless-and-cynical-empire. Only in this case, it's the enlightened mystics who are throwing rose petals in the path of the murdering maniac, and the cynical bureaucrats who are trying to keep any more people from getting hurt...
--AMS, who'll stop making up BS once he can get his hands on the ILH, honestly!
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