So she grows life amidst death.
She
> became a corruption of Death itself, tainted and degraded from the
swift
> brightness which Humakt and Orlanth used, becoming a lingering and
festering
> dimness. As beings fell before her, she became fearful that her
food would
> completely fail, and as she changed the way she ate, from
lightning plagues
> which depopulated entire nations to the spread of slow death by
disease, so
> that the misery she caused would last forever, as befitted a
goddess.
So she realizes that the life she brings is cancelled out by the death associated with it. So she makes it less lethal. Now she's bringing in more life than she's dealing out death. That makes her morally better than Humakt in that he just kills. She brings life from death.
>
> During the Darkness she became mistress to Ragnaglar and friend to
Thed.
Why? Here is an important part. Friend to the wife of the man she's lovers with? There's a love triangle here and that's got to be the crux of their story.
The
> children of Ragnaglar, the broos, gave Mallia worship, and she in
turn aided
> them and provided special magics and spirit allies so that they
could
> further the spread of her diseased dominion.
>
> From love, respect and fear, other chaos creatures came to worship
her,
Love is not generally an emotion attributed to chaos creatures. Then again, she gave them immunity to disease. Madame Curie.
Men,
> elves, trolls and dwarves came to her also, rarely from love, but
all
> praying to Mallia not to infect their tribes. Many survived the
touch of
> disease in the Darkness from their association with her.
>
Again, a form of healing. Here, take your flu shot. Yeah, it's got
the flu in it, but you'll be safe now.
> So we see a journey of transformation: a fusion with the power of
Death,
> living off the dead and dying, a fading into the mythic
background, an
> adaptation from direct assault to subtle attrition - the aim:
eternal
> dominion. Then, to her further degradation, joining with those who
would
> destroy the world.
What proof do we have that they aimed to actually destroy the world? They had pretty much conquered the whole thing thus forcing the Gods to take the drastic action of accepting the Compromise, which they acquiesed to even though it meant the end of their creation Wakboth. They forced the Compromise and brought down the Age of the Storm Gods. One could say that was Thed and Malia's aim all along. Especially Thed, though not Ragnaglar, who died anyways.
> The last paragraph is interesting to me because it reveals that
love plays
> its part in Mallia's life. There is also mention of the propitiary
worship.
Yeah, that leaves some stones to turn.
> I don't think it would be practical to write a plethora of
mythology so that
> you have something to work from in creating your game. More
suitable would
> be a process of writing myths that serve functions in your ongoing
story.
True, but I need a skeleton of events. Those things "fated" by the gamemaster to push forward the story. The rest can be whipped up on an as needed basis.
> I think you should start with characters who are flawed and who
stray into
> evil and degradation, all the while giving them the opportunity to
make the
> right choices. So, start with Mallia's transformation as a basis
for a
> repeating cycle of moral dips towards the first actual act as her
> worshippers.
I was tending towards a more misguided approach. Like if the Malian felt that her cult wasn't really evil, just misunderstood. That she could end all disease if just everyone would worship Malia. She sees Malia not as a spreader of disease, but a spreader of the CURE for diseases. And the God Learner wants her to think that. But in the end, everything she creates brings more suffering, not less. All the while, keep dangling that carrot out there, make her hope that there is a way. If only the Gods would quit hampering her efforts she COULD do it. Curse them!
So the trick is to give her some success at first and then have interference cause a tragedy she can blame on the "good guys" ignorance.
In fact, that sounds a bit like a HQ right there. One that is a failure both historically for Malia and in the game for the Malian because Orlanthi, or Yelmalians or a Darkness cult interfered in some way.
> My strong feeling is that games should not lead players into
negative
> life-affecting places. As I said at the start of the thread, and in
> agreement with Greg on this matter, I think would be a good idea
to somehow
> distance players from the negative actions of their characters and
play by
> throwing the characters as much challenge as possible - in effect
trying to
> dissuade them from their path.
>
> What do you think?
Only the Theddite would have a real glimpse into what the God Learner was really planning. And him fueling her dark side seeking vengeance for injustice would motivate her actions. What Thed needs is something that breaks her obsession. At some point after the God Learner dies and Wakboth is free she must do like Raistlin and realize the futility of her actions and choose to redeem herself. Only then can time heal her wounds.
Because that, ultimately, is the theme here: Time heals all wounds.
Thed's "wound" is healed when the Gods are Slain in Arachne's net of time and the world is changed. Only then will the Theddite character find true peace for what she has done and what she has suffered. And only then does she feel a sense of justice and purpose with the universe. So in the end, her redemption is her enlightenment.
But letting the PC's play her? I'm going to have to think long and hard how to get that done. Especially since they already know how it all ends. It's one thing to think about what needs to be done, another to figure out how to make it happen just right with a bunch of guys roleplaying it.
The God Learner I'm not worried about. I already know which of them
will play him. We played Stormbringer before and he was an
excellent Melnibonean. He's fully up to that role.
>
> Right, got to go to my brother's for Christmas celebrations. Will
see what I
> can do with the Amprefesne quest and will think on fleshing out
the Mallia
> transformation myth. See what you can come up with too?
>
>
> Btw this email has not been re-read or edited - since I'm rushing!
>
> Merry Christmas!
>
> M
Merry Christmas to you too!
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