Re: heroquest with lunar gods

From: Chris Lemens <chrislemens_at_...>
Date: Thu, 20 May 2010 07:17:09 -0700 (PDT)

I would think that the Humakti would be trying to re-route the quest into a different mythic channel. Instead of it being a replay of the Battle of Seven Arrows of Light, the Humakti would try to push it into "Humakt schools the student" or something like that. That's why ritual preparation is so important. Your first encounter with opposition may push your quest into a different channel unless you sufficiently identify with your god to overcome th eopposition.

Alternately, maybe there's something we don't know about Humakt that makes it important for Humakt to "lose" this fight. Maybe the way the YT won the Battle is something that confirms Humakt's identity and power. Humakt can't return from the land of the dead (i.e. resurrect), which is pretty different from the other gods (who resurrected at the Dawn). Maybe Humakt "gave his place" in the Dawn resurrection to some sucker who just happened to be there. YT quests into that place and gets what he vainly calls "power over death." But what Humakt gets is puriity -- he's given up his connection to the world of the living in exchange for incontestable ownership of the death rune. That makes a strength into a fatal flaw (if you'll pardon the pun) and a fatal flaw into a strength. (In this case, the Humakti in the quest might both gain and lose something in the quest, just like Humakt did.)

Or maybe that's just what the Humakti claim to save face. Especially since it kinda sucked to be allied to the Humakti in the Battle of Seven Arrows of Light.

Chris Lemens