From: Bernuetz, Oliver: WPG (Bernuetz.Oliver@cbsc.ic.gc.ca)
Date: Thu 10 Sep 1998 - 00:10:00 EEST
I was driven to pondering by Pam and others theorizing about the
connection between the nature of Chaos in a given area and the
nature of the culture in that area. I think the main points that have
to be remembered about Chaos are:
1) Most Chaotic creatures are carnivores. Many of these prey on
*(Of course like any "rule" (not that this is a rule) there are
sentient life by preference so they have to be somewhere where
intelligent life can be found.
2) Most Chaotic creatures are poorly organized and completely
lack subtlety. This makes it difficult for them to succeed against
organized resistance.
3) Chaos operates in an area much like bandits would. By this I
mean it's far more successful in those areas with a weak central
government and far less successful in areas with strong
organization and a large military presence. This means that
Chaos is especially weak in regions with long histories of
peace and "stable" government like Peloria, Esrolia, Dara Happa,
Kralorela, etc. These are the places where subtle chaos* works
best.
4) The worst chaos infestations/occurences occur in places
that were heavily tainted by Chaos. e.g. The Devil's Swamp
and Dorastor. Chaos is strong in these areas because even
the land reinforces Chaos in these areas and makes them
more or less unihabitable by the non-Chaotic.
exceptions. There are of course subtle chaotic creatures
and cults-Karsht and Thanatar and these can thrive pretty
much anywhere. (Interestingly in the case of Karsht we're
talking about a pretty un-Chaotic chaos cult here). One of my
pet theories is that Chaos was altered quite a bit by its
exposure to Glorantha. The exposure stabilized the formerly
extremely variable nature of Chaos and allowed for the
creation of relatively stable Chaotic species. My feeling
is that during the original Chaos Wars there were no
standardized Chaos species. (This may very well be a
duh statement as far as I know)).
The gist of my point is that I don't think we're talking a
cause and effect thing here exactly. Yes there is a
definite connection between the manner in which chaos
manifests itself in a region and the type of society present.
I don't think that the society or religious beliefs present in a
act to mold chaos though. In simpler terms you get the
chaos that "fits" your society. There are of course regional
variations in Chaos just like there are species variations
in the RW. You don't find all types of Chaos everywhere
for this reason (and the four points I made above).
Hope this is reasonably clear (as I type between web
page loads at work).
Oliver D. Bernuetz
www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/realm/5545
bernuetz.oliver@cbsc.ic.gc.ca
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