From: Jonas Schiott (jonas.schiott@vinga.hum.gu.se)
Date: Fri 15 Apr 1994 - 02:04:44 EEST
In the daily for Wed, April 12, Alex Ferguson brings up the problem of
Trickster aspects:
>> Bolongo: the local trickster sect. He only provides a very few
>> spells, and his worshipers are pitied, but not necessarily tolerated.
>Does this follow the same pattern as `generic' (GoG) pattern of Trickster
>worship? Anyone have good guesses as to which aspects are associated with
>Bolongo? (Or come to that, with Eurmal, or with Rakenveg. I hereby bet
>my house Firebringer is (most usually) a Eurmal aspect, and Borotory should
>be compulsory for all Tricksters. <g>)
I'm not sure, off the top of my head, what source Alex is quoting from, but both it and he seem to be mixing up pragmatic and mythical issues.
GoG states unequivocally that any Trickster worshipper can get spells from any shrine. This is the pragmatic side of things, and to me, it looks like strong evidence that Trickster is One. Of course, there is also the confusing statement about different "Trickster-type deities" combining different aspects. I interpret this as a comment on the differing mythologies of various pantheons, e.g. Bolongo is normally associated with certain acts in the Pamaltelan myths and so will be seen as personifying a limited range of aspects. But a Bolongo worshipper visiting a Eurmal shrine can still learn the spell. I don't know what justification they have for this - perhaps worshippers of the Trickster have fewer illusions about His (Its?) limitations than the 'squares' do. It will certainly never be a problem for a Eurmalite; the Eurmal myths seem to encompass just about every aspect (except maybe Murderer), and an orlanthi trickster travelling abroad would probably just think "Hmm, they seem to have a different name for Eurmal around here".
Of course, there is one practical effect of the aspect thing: it would seem to affect the geographic distribution of shrines, i.e. in an orlanthi-dominated region there would probably not be any shrines dedicated to non-Eurmal aspects (though it's unclear which they would be - in this respect Alex' question is very relevant).
Please excuse me for rambling on so - I have a soft spot for Tricksters. But enough trickery for now.
Jonas
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