> So here's the question: Given that everyone in Glorantha "earned"
> their place to be there, even the broos, even the Malians, what
> where some of the things that the Malians and Theddites did to earn
> their places in the world?
I'll respect your quotation marks around "earned" and answer what I think is the spirit of your question.
First, any entity that survived to the dawn got its place in the compromise. That's what makes it a compromise.
But that's really unsatisfying if you want the internal view, from a Malian or Theddite's viewpoint. It sounds too much like pity or something. They would want a story that responds to the values that Malians or Theddites would have.
>From a Malian's viewpoint, I would think that Malia's story is the story fo the outsider. She is someone who was turned away, found others who were turned away, and nurtured them, along with her grudges. She's a kidnapper who turns a child against its parent -- because they deserve everything they get. So, her story is about how she found the ones who the great ones despised. She united them and brought the great ones low. Among Praxians, Malia is credited with weakening the sun, so that it disintegrated. (You can't find that on the hero plane, though, so it's bunk. But it is consistent with the story the Malians tell.)
Thed's viewpoint is that of a rape victim that has become deeply emotionally disfigured by the experience. Others have cited the story published somewhere about her. I think that is full of enough leads that I don't need to go into it. I think it is consistent with Malia's focus on being an outsider, and in seeking revenge or an overturning of the estalbished ways. It differs in really significant details, of course, especially from a psychological viewpoint.
If you think back to some movies about vigilante justice and twisted revenge, you may find some role models. The whole horrific series of Saw movies comes to mind.
There's a link with Nysalor and the Red Moon goddess, of course. They also preached overturning the existing order, thoough in different ways.
Chris Lemens
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