>First off what would need to be done to bring about the suggested
>changes? How would an individual alter myths to create the connections
>that seem to have sprung up between (for example) the Red Woman and
>Ernalda in Tarsh.
All IMO:
The Deliberate method would, I suspect, be a case of studying the myth closely, perhaps enacting the Heroquest 'straight' several times, and looking for people or situations which reflected Lunar mythology and symbolism. Deciding that a 'Red Woman' is a Lunar being (rather than, say, Vinga) would be an example.
At that point, you have a couple of choices. 1) Run the HQ again, but when you reach your target waypoint, treat it as a Lunar heroquest - greet the Red Woman as a daughter of Sedenya, not of Orlanth, for example. It is likely to be really difficult to succeed at this the first time (high resistance), but if you do, then the next time anyone does the HQ, the reistance will be a little lower. Similarly, the resistance if you greet the Red Woman as Vinga will be a little higher.
Do this enough times (perhaps with the aid of an entire Lunar College of Magic repeating the HQ every semester), and the balance will swing completely. The Lunar way will become the "correct", easier way of doing the HQ.
2) Crash into somebody else's heroquest, taking on the role of the possibly-Lunar figure, and make it real. This seems to be one of Jar-eel's specialities, which suggests you may need to be a superhero(ine) to do it properly, or lastingly. A good way to ambush your enemies.
There would also be the Accidental or Inspired method, where a heroquestor suddenly realises, without pre-planning, that the waypoint they have reached in their quest has a Lunar explanation, and acts on it. This could have unpredictable results, and they may only be true for that hero and his/her associates, not for others doing the quest elsewhere.
The first method is experimental heroquesting, a Lunar (or Godlearner) speciality, while the second is more like traditional Arkat or Harmast questing.
>Secondly, if he succeeds in pulling off these changes, what sort of
>effect would it have on the people who were (unknowingly) helping to
>support this ritual? Would they realize that the changes were actually
>changes or would they think that it was how it always had been?
I'd go for "that's how it's always been", but with the magical equivalent of subconscious doubts. There'd be an air of wrongness about the myth which wasn't there before; for example, the Red Woman mght change from an open, friendly contact to a slightly sinister and mysterious giver of assistance. (The level of wrongness might depend on the success of the experimental heroquestors, or how 'new' the change is)
Plus, there'd always be the chance that somebody doing the HQ later would have the same Inspiration Moment in reverse - "That's not the Red Goddess, it's Vinga!" and things would spring back to normal, rather quicker than they were pushed out of shape. I suspect something like this may have happened during Lokamayadon's time.
>Also how much support would be needed to change the entire cultures
>view of the presence (or lack) of a Moon Goddes?
An entire Empire of 8 million people's worth of support? Actually, I suspect it would depend on how closely that culture's myths already reflect those of the Lunars. For the Solars, saying "Sedenya is Yelm's daughter..." was easy, "...and heir" only slightly harder. It's more of an uphill struggle with Heortlings.
Stephen
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