Re: The Paps

From: Jeff <richaje_at_wa_DPPlm7XyaaWu_WmJ4g1NbK6ps38rYX6RqfV5-Qv9Z2ocHUn8_yoX_FV5pBa4L_oT4>
Date: Mon, 09 May 2011 17:26:11 -0000

> I prefer that the Axe Sisters have a specific Praxian origin -- they are not
> just a first age Heortling import. I doubt that it would fit well within the
> canon, since we have all "known" for a long time that Axe Daughter is "really"
> Babester Gor, but we don't actually have to change that. The Axe Daughter might
> be misapplied worship to Babester Gor. Since the Axe Sisters are such a small
> group, I've never really thought about what their magic would be like beyond the
> guardian-level magic that the Axe Daughter provides them.

The Axe Sisters have a specific Praxian origin (no doubt related to the demise of Genert) BUT they are also Babeester Gor AND guard the corpse of Eiritha's mothers. These stories are all contradictory in details and yet are all true.

Divine origin stories are often contradictory and rarely consistent. We all know the story that Orlanth is Umath's son, born on Kero Fin, and lives there now. But do you know the story that Orlanth is Umath's surviving free fragment, born in the heavens, and now lives atop Top of the World? That story is true too! And that Orlanth is the same Orlanth we know in Dragon Pass.

Consistency and rigid definitions concerning the gods are for wizards and philosophers, not initiates into the divine secrets. Babeester Gor lives atop the Shadow Plateau AND in Nochet AND amongst the barbarians of the Paps.

Divine geneaologies work the same way. In some stories Odayla is Orlanth's son. In others he is Orlanth's brother. In still others he is another name for Orlanth. All are contradictory, all are true. That's part of what it means to be divine. You want exactitude? Study wizardry.

Jeff