Re: lunar heroquests

From: dzo01 <dzo_at_...>
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2004 20:41:17 -0000

wrote:
> > The biggest point of "We are All Us", is, is it really? I mean,
do the
> groups really keep
> > their individual identities as cultures, or is it lost under the
Lunar
> influence? What
> > does it mean when the Lunar view of Ernalda replaces that of the
Orlanthi
> view of
> > Ernalda? What does it mean when a Lunar citizen can "study the
mysteries"
> of Ernalda
> > for a month in some Lunar approved cult and is "granted" the
same status
> as an
> > initiate, or even devottee who's spent their entire life at
Ernalda's
> breast?
>
> Well, if this is the Storm Tribe's Ernalda we're talking about,
then any
> Lunarised version is not *really* Ernalda as the Heortlings know
her, but
> merely some Lunarised local Earth cult, like Hon Eel. Much of
what Ernalda
> is depends on her interactions with her husband, Orlanth, in the
context of
> Heortling society. When you take away Ernalda's husbandprotectors
and
> replace then with Yelm/The Red Emperor/whatever, Ernalda's entire
social
> position and function are changed.

That means that Ernalda in Esrolia is "dead"!

Ernalda is a great goddess and is certainly not defined by "her interactions with her husband, Orlanth." This is a very Orlanthi (Heortland) view and ignores the fact that Ernalda has an extremely widespread cult, even outside of Sartar. Ernalda is no longer "killed" by separating her role from that of Orlanth than Orlath is killed by being merely one of the husband-protectors (and not a terribly important one at that) in Esrolia or being "little brother" to Storm Bull in Prax.

> That Lunar citizen is truly incapable of studying Ernalda's
mysteries -
> because the real Ernalda is dead by that point. Instead you have a
> localised face of one of the Red Goddess' Earth aspects.

I think that there are numerous Ernalda the Queen devotees all over Glorantha that would disagree most strenuously. If we look at it in Game mechanical terms then the possibility of learning the secret of Great Ernalda (ie becomming one with the goddess) is certainly open to that Lunar citizen if he chooses to go that route. One might equally argue that, released from the confining shackles of Orlanth, Ernalda is able to reassert her rightful place in society. Thus the lunars, far from "killing" Ernalda, are saving her.

Just because the Heortling perspective is the one most represented in published works so far does not mean that their views are the be all and end all of Gloranthan "reality".

I'd argue the same
> for most of the gods worshipped in the Empire, except for the ones
who
> reject all authority but their own. Where divine worship is
magical,
> economic and politica power, any religious dissent must be
immediately
> crushed.

But the very strenght of the Lunar empire is their diversity. "We are all us" is not simply a convenient way of hoodwinking the locals into accepting lunar philosophy but an integral part of the existance of the goddess. It defines Sedenya in a similar way to "No one can make you do anything" defines Orlanth. Yes, these are very simplified slogans, but they touch on something fundamental.

Just as chaining Orlanth is equivalent to killing him by removing a fundamental part of his makeup, removing the goddess's inclusivenes is destroying a fundamental part of her being.

I am all for playing out themes of cultural imperialism and exploring real world themes through the medium of Glorantha. But, if we start from a caricature of the Lunars viewed through Heortling eyes then we lose a huge amount of the richness and diversity and mythic potential of the empire. Yes, play with ideas of Cultural Imperialism, but also with the themes of civilisation vs anarchy, stability vs change, evolution vs revolution, corruption vs idealism... The possibilities are endless but are lost if we just typecast the lunar empire as the "evil empire" bent on cultural anihilation.

As always, YGWV.

Yak