John thusly:
>
> So was, say, Mostal's fate when he was killed different from
> Yelm's when he was killed? What determined which Gods
> returned to 'active duty' and which ones stayed dead?
Just at a guess--It seems to me like there are four broad categories for
what happens to a god (or great spirit, etc.) in the Darkness.
- He never dies. Pretty rare, though (e.g.) I don't think Kyger Litor
or Waha ever died.
- He dies and is devoured by chaos. Gone completely, possibly even
including his name and memory.
- He dies (perhaps even killed by chaos) but isn't entirely devoured.
He went to the underworld in the Great Darkness. He returns with the
Great Compromise, but in Time he spends part of his time dead. (e.g.
Yelm dies every night and is reborn at dawn, Ernalda dies in the winter
and is reborn in the Sacred Time.)
- He is dismembered, possibly including dying, but possibly not. The
Great Compromise alone is not enough to put a disassembled god back
together. Until the god is reassembled, he's not in business. When he
*is* reassembled, he may well be outside the Compromise, since he wasn't
in Hell when it was hammered out.
Examples of #4 include: Rufelza (re-assembled by the Seven Mothers, does
not consider herself bound by the Compromise) and Genert (not yet
reassembled, but they're working on it). Oh, and Thanatar, but chaos
gods are different anyway.
So Mostal may fall into that category. Being a machine, he was never
exactly "alive" in the first place--but in any event, he's busted.
Pieces are dented, some are missing (like the Spike), some were shoved
in backwards, some are being pushed *way* beyond manufacturer's
recommended tolerances. The Mostali are working on getting it
straightened out, but until they do, Mostal is down.