I was under the impression that the effects of the styx were a *little* more dramatic.
In keeping with the MO of posts on this list (i.e. of interest to non-illuminati)
The Greek Underworld Rivers:
Acheron was the river of lamentation.
Cocytus was the river of woe.
Lethe was the river of forgetfulness.
Phlegethon was the river of fire.
Styx was the river of unbreakable oath, by which the gods swore. It was
also the river of hate.
Gloranthan Styx:
The styx story I know is that it flows through the underworld, the least
amount of it's waters make a person dead instantly (whether they be
undead or alive) and to swear an oath on it was to keep that oath or die
horribly.
http://www.glorantha.com/library/prosopaedia/s.html#styx
I suggest that an HeroQuest method for removing illuminacy would be for the narrator to write a myth for a river something akin to the Lethe.
Here are some ideas:
1. Lethe
The river Lethe was also considered important because, since many cultures believed in the transmigration of souls and reincarnation, the souls going back had to drink from Lethe to forget all their former lives and the Underworld.
2. Lethe
"Forgetfulness" the Water of Oblivion in the Greek underworld, a spring
giving rise to the River Lethe. According to the Orphics and other
mystery-cultists, the spring of Lethe under a white cypress was the
first thing seen in the underworld by the soul of the dead, which was
very thirsty and would be tempted to drink from it. Part of the training
of the mystery-cultists was the endurance of thirst, because one drink
from the spring of Lethe caused complete oblivion of memories of past
incarnations and leave them no wiser that the rest of humanity, always
born without remembering previous lives. It was taught that the
Enlightened Ones should always seek the spring of Memory (Mnemosyne).
"Thou shalt find to the left of the house of Hades , and by the side
thereof a white cypress. To this spring approach not near. But thou
shalt find another, from the Lake of Memory cold water flowing forth,
and there are guardians before it."
Maybe a distiction between 'learned illuminates' and 'surprised illuminates' could be that the 'learned' ones train themselves in 'the endurance of thirst'. Of course, you'd have to deal with the reincarnation part.
Hope that helps.
Matthew
-----Original Message-----
From: Nick Brooke [mailto:Nick_at_...]
Sent: 23 January 2004 18:57
To: HeroQuest-RPG_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Styx
Matt Cole asked:
> Isn't there a river in the underworld that causes one
> to forget? Or was that a greek myth? Still it's YG.
The River Styx has this property in Glorantha, too: http://lokarnos.com/article.pl?sid=03/06/27/145256
Or ask players of "Young Thrax" for the horrible details...
Cheers, Nick
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