Re: AA vs KL

From: nichughes2001 <nick.hughes_at_...>
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 12:44:50 -0000

A particularly good take on the rule that all myths can be viewed differently from somebody else's perspective.

>
> herkabg <russ_cole_at_l...> wrote:
> >
> > KL is the Uz and without her they cease to be Uz so any attack
on her
> > is an attack on all Uz including AA. I would assume that even AA
> > ruled tribes would have worshippers of Korastang as this aspect
of KL
> > is crucial for reproduction of the race.
>
> But remember, Argan Argar *is not Uz*. We tend to think of him as
Uz,
> because he's largely worshipped by them and they depict him as an
Uzko. But
> he's a Darkness God, *not* descended from KL or even her close kin.
>
> I could imagine Argan Argar destroying KL and setting himself up
as the
> preeminent darkness god. (Mythically, this might amount to
abandoning
> Wonderhome and establishing the surface world as the Realm of
Darkness.)

Saying that AA would kill and replace KL in order to gain influence would then be akin to saying that AA could kill and replace Orlanth to gain influence within the Storm Pantheon. This is surely not why or how the Kitori tribes differ from other Heortlings!

Replacing the local matriarchal leadership with one sympathetic to AA interests and shifting some of the mythic focus of the Uz away from Wonderhome and towards the Hurtplace would be objectives that an Uz AA faction might want to pursue. Killing KL would be an insane objective for an Uz AA faction, and a pretty damn odd one even for a non-Uz AA group.

Luckily the objectives that the AA might want to pursue are also ones that bypass directly going against the great goddess of their pantheon - making the task at least remotely achievable. It may be more a case of wooing her.

I still think a recreation or return of the OOO makes a lot of sense as a central theme, you need someone to form the focus of the mundane and mythic shift in power. The idea that the questers are quite literally left holding the baby is one that appeals to me[1].

Another part of the plan might be to establish a myth in which KL hands some of her authority over the surface world to the god of surface darkness. Perhaps a re-worked version of the year-king myths could be adapted and used on a clan-by-clan basis to influence power across the Uz lands, I would assume that the Uz of Kathaela have some experience of this. Surely there must be some myths in which AA comes to the aid of KL as a protector when she ventures out of Wonderhome into a world where she is a stranger and he has all the experience, this could be the basis for the quest.

[1] I still think the LBQ is a perfectly viable alternative but the more I think about it the more I think the birth of a new OOO has far more opportunities for MGF. It might require more leg-work on the part of the narrator but the pay-back would be worth it.

--
Nic

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