Arkat the trickster ?

From: hcarteau_at_iY1z4Mbg7qaxOQs7vvG6byZELoK4bVBoLtqN25sTm_Ib6dYQ-IRa8UfHNA3yJmjQgUQ
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:42:49 +0200

> Was Arkat considered a "Son of Humakt" before Harmast fetched him on his
> Lightbringers Quest?

/// Good question. I'd say no way, he died near Kartolin as a hrestoli knight, a good (?) malkioni.

> This raises a couple of issues. Humakti can't be resurrected - so presunably
> couldn't be bought back via a Lightbringers Quest either (It's just that we
> don't have sufficent tests to prove this empirically!)
/// You're right about that...

> A resurrected person may suffer from "relife sickness" and many sufferers
> join the cult of Humakt - could this also affect some people bought back via
> the LBQ (again, we are short of test cases).
/// Excellent point !

Whether this is true of Arkat or not, could someone brought back from the underworld (death) who becomes a Humakti be regarded as a "Son of Humakt"? /// Bravo. I'm pretty sure this is what happened, Arkat did get a bout of relife sickness and did go humakti because of that.

> Humakt severs his connection to his family - something Arkat makes a habit
> of, severing one set of connections to build up a new set, only to sever them
> in turn.

/// Yes, that's a deeper connection. You do offer both possibilities : Arkat just turning humakti because of circumstances, or having been an avatar of Humakt all along ! I love it.

> Simon Phipp mentions Arkat's Unbreakable sword. - Again we might ask whether
> Arkat wielded this sword because he was the(/a?) "Son of Humakt", or whether
> he was a (/the?) "Son of Humakt" because he wielded the sword.
/// "The weapon makes the man", in other words.

> (Deeply heretical thought. Arkat is an agent who brings about great changes,
> not all of which are desirable. He cheats death, changes form and betrays
> those who follow him. If he is the son of any God in the Orlanthi Pantheon,
> he sounds more like a Trickster than anything.
/// Hmmm... Possibly.

As Todd points out, for Humakt to father a child would be to act against his "Death" nature.
/// Yes; that alone voids the notion of Arkat being a true (biological) son of Humakt. I mean the real Humakt, who sacrificied his male spark of life-giver ablity long ago.

But for Eurmal to father a child, and to have given a false name to the abandoned mother seems to be perfectly "in character"...) /// Eurmal posing as Humakt ? That's a new twist.            

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