Re: Ompalam, Malia and other possibly chaotic dieties

From: simon_hibbs2 <simon.hibbs_at_fuXJV-LVTZtJkaoZ63tKuAi1_zBt_bFsfsQm5-AUeemUBBiqi9I6SAgPH5sWD6Cf>
Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:46:58 -0000

> But rather than speculate blandly about chaos societies, I think it more
> helpful to describe a chaos society which uses the worship of Ompalam.
> For me, I'm really seeing Ompalam as the Cultural God of Fonrit (which
> may or may not be true) to imagine his worship being used by chaotics.

While I'm no expert on Ompalam, I tend to agree with Peter. In the old days Malia and Ompalam were in the category of Evil gods, not Chaotic gods. Arguably to the Fonritans Ompalam isn't even Evil, though it might seem to to many foreigners.

>
> > Canabalism is a chaotic act that can turn one into an ogre, but is a sacred act to the non-chaotic cannibal cult.
>
> How can a god turn a chaotic act into a non-chaotic act? Why not go the
> whole hog and say they can cure chaos altogether? Secondly there is no
> evidence that cannibalism turns people into Ogres.

I've succumbed to the arguments for this as well. Gods can't make things chaotic or non-chaotic. Chaos is a universal law that underlies the gods, perhaps even the runes themselves.

Cannibalism turning people into ogres is a theory. It has evidence. We are told that Ogres are believed to be descended from a human tribe that took the side of Chaos during the Great Darkness, and that they eat people, and that cannibalism can cause a chaos taint. It's a case of connecting these three dots to make a picture, but yes we don't have an explicit published source.

> > Human Sacrifice is generally unacceptable to Orlanthi, except where carried out by the Ana Gor priestess.
>
> Human Sacrifice apart from not being chaotic is generally unacceptable
> to the Orlanthi _even_ _when_ carried out by the Ana Gor priestesses.
> Look at the long list of people who tried to abolish human sacrifice in
> Storm Tribe - they tried to suppress the worship of Ana Gor.

I've become convinced that the Ana Gor and probably Cannibal Cult practices are beyond the pale for right thinking folk for a reason.

> > An Orlanthi who kills his brother, even if he deserves it, is causing Kinstrife and threatening Chaos, but a Humakti has ritually severed his ties and need have no qualms. On this basis I have no problem with an act that can be both chaotic and non chaotic depending on the state/status of the participants.
>
> I'm not certain that Kinstrife is a chaotic act in the sense that rape is.

I think cannibalism and rape are universal no-nos. The answer to mikko's Q&A question puts the adds of chaos taint for those at around 15%.

I think Kinstrife is universally risky, but it's more manageable. Maybe the risk of say fratricide is a couple of percent, all othet things being equal, so a low enough risk to be worth taking, or even to not be particularly noticeable at a cultural level. However I think that Orlanthi cultural and magical obligations make it a much bigger deal for them.

> > Chaos is a "strict liablilty" cult in that you do not need to be knowingly worshipping chaos in order to do so. However there are ways of ritually protecting yourself and separating an otherwise chaotic act from this source
>
> I don't think ritual protection can overcome chaos's strict liability.

Accepted, but some activities that are borderline can be pushed over into the 'chaotic act' category by stating them to be so culturally, identifying them as such mythically and binding oneself to abstain from them ritually (e.g. during initiation).

> I don't think Gbaji has powers of deception.

Gbaji The Deceiver doesn't have powers of deception?

Simon Hibbs            

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