From: jonas.schiott@vinga.hum.gu.se
Date: Thu 21 Apr 1994 - 01:38:58 EEST
OK, as promised (threatened?) very recently, I hereby bring you the musings
of one particular Riddler by the name of Stein. The following text is from
an appendix to a scenario, the main plot of which was Stein's attempts to
Illuminate the PCs. Credits: the "Stein philosophizes" section was written
by Dag Olausson and translated by yours truly, the "Notes for the GM" are
all my fault...
Stein philosophizes
"You have the right to kill me, but not the right to judge me. Who can say
what is right and what is wrong? Can you?"
"Will the gods tell you what is right or wrong? But the gods do not care
about human morality! All they want is your Power."
"Just look at the many different ways one god can be worshipped: are the
Orlanth cultists in Delela and Naskorion in agreement about what their
deity considers just?"
"There is no such thing as right or wrong. There is no objective good or
objective evil. What is evil? Tell me that!"
"Why is for instance Chaos evil?"
"Chaos stands for destruction and Law for construction. Both are needed in
the cosmos. In their inner being they are actually alike. What makes one
more good than the other?"
"Is death evil? Death is needed to let the living live. If nothing died
there would soon be no room for life."
"Destruction is necessary so that new things will have a place to grow.
Without destruction, the world would soon stagnate. Is this wrong?"
"Take light and darkness, same thing there. At heart, they are one and the
same. What do you see if you look into absolute Darkness? Nothing. What do
you see if you look into absolute Light? Nothing."
"You must be rid of your fright and your hatred. If you do not befriend
them, they become mighty enemies that will dominate your life. Why are you
afraid of Chaos?"
"To lose one's hatred is to become free. How can you be free when you let
hatred rule over you?"
"You kill for money or for your god or lord. Chaos kills because it is
forbidden. What is good or evil about any of these things?"
"If there is no good or evil, there is nothing that can be called sin
either. What is sin?"
"If there is no sin, then there is no guilt. They tell you that you should
not feel guilt unless you have sinned. So why should anyone feel guilt?"
"Chaos hates laws because it wants to feel free. But as no one can break
all laws at once, creatures of Chaos are constantly frustrated and feel an
abiding hatred of the laws they do not break. This hatred binds them as
much as those who follow Law. Therefore even they have to realize the
necessity of laws, or they can never be free of their all-consuming hatred.
Can anything be freer than a being with no hate, fear, guilt or prejudice?"
"Just as Law and Chaos must exist side by side, so must all other
'opposites'. If there were no grief, how could we distinguish joy? If there
were no pain, how would we notice pleasure?"
"Would you have anything worth saying as your last words?"
Notes for the GM: about Illumination
The more tangible effects of Illumination are immunity to all manner of Detect Chaos/Law spells or skills, as well as cult Spirits of Reprisal. The former is easily explained - since a Riddler in fact is not aligned with either side, there is no reason for him/her to register as chaotic or lawful - but the later is somewhat trickier. Stein provides the key in his argument about guilt: when normal (unenlightened) cultists break a rule, they are so deeply conditioned as to feel at least a subliminal twinge of guilt, no matter how unrepentant they claim to be. This feeling, this awareness of having done something _wrong_, is what the Spirits of Reprisal home in on and in some way 'feed' on, generally being more effective against those with low self-confidence (POW). As an Illuminate knows that nothing you can do is really wrong in any metaphysical sense, the Spirits are simply unable to find him/her.
It is often claimed that the 'cult' of Nysalor has a Dark Side and a Light Side. The Dark Illuminates are those who use their knowledge as an excuse to satisfy their base desires without regard for the consequences, while those who follow the Light realize that if the structure of the world doesn't provide a grounding for any ethics, then people will have to provide it for themselves - morality is still necessary for human (or other sentient) life, even if it can never be objectively 'true' or 'real'. This description is accurate as far as it goes, but it's not the whole picture. The widespread acceptance of these definitions is partly due to the efforts of the Arkat cult (who regard themselves as the only genuine Light Siders, any other Riddler must be Dark), partly the result of an inclination among Gloranthans to fall back on dualism whenever in doubt. But in fact, many Illuminates don't fit either mold: some seem to act entirely at random (being barely distinguishable from Tricksters), some refuse to involve themselves with the world at all, many choose a goal in life that can hardly be described as either Light or Dark (Stein is one of these), and a few are just insane - though whether insanity is a result or cause of Illumination is moot (as is the question if Stein belongs in this category as well). As any Riddler will tell you, there just aren't any simple answers.
Whew. Enough of that, now.
David:
>>Also, it says Tricksters are not subject to (or protected by) the law. How >>would the general populace of Prax and Sartar view a "discovered" Trickster?
>I suspect in most cultures it's more like "If you give me a Hotfoot, I'll >kill you." Tricksters are outlaws, but as long as they stay amusing they >could be tolerated. You just keep a careful eye on your chickens and your >daughters.
Dead on. Couldn't agree more.
Joerg:
>Joerg mot Sverige?
Vadd} "mot"? Jag trodde vi var |verrens?
Alex:
>>>> 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?
>> I'm not sure, off the top of my head, what source Alex is quoting from
> Neither am I. What quotation are you referring to?
Umm.. the first one, I think. About Bolongo. My ignorance is probably due
to my completely irrational and prejudiced attitude towards Pamaltela.
"I'm so bored I might as well be listening to Genesis."(Rick, The Young
Ones)
I have no justification for this view, except that any place where
tricksters get such a raw deal is too grim for my tastes.
>Actually, Murderer would fit perfectly well with Eurmal's relationship with >Death.
Only if you find me a quote where Eurmal actually _uses_ Death, instead of just giving away franchises. I will admit that I have no basis for the other aspects you mention, apart from my 'feel' for what a Eurmal trickster would get up to.
>in any given locality, any given >shrine will (almost) certainly be thought of as being dedicated to a >_particular_ Trickster deity, not as being a Generic Trickster Shrine,
Absolutely. Have I said something to contradict this?
Joerg again:
>If Illusion was his main Rune, Eurmal would have a great illusionary >cult hierarchy with lots of pompous offices.
OK, I've commented on this already, but I just thought of something else.
You seem to be equating Illusion with the normal, real-world word
"illusion", implying something unreal, a sham, a phantasm. But in
Glorantha, Illusion is a kind of reality - more specifically, it is the
power that creates something out of nothing. For Trickster, it is the
ability to pull whatever he likes out of his bag of tricks.
Jonas
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