Your Dumbest Theory

[Akhôrahil]

5 hours ago, Godweyn said:

But I say that his old name was very well known, at a certain period he was known as Hyalor The First Rider. Once a mortal man and ancestor of the Hyalorings.

Change Ulanin to Beren and it’s basically what we have?

[Groovetronic]

Argrath and Jar-Eel are the same person in different costumes.

[FungusColombicus]

5 minutes ago, Groovetronic said:

Argrath and Jar-Eel are the same person in different costumes.

And are 3 ducks one on top of the other 

[scott-martin]

14 minutes ago, FungusColombicus said:

And are 3 ducks one on top of the other 

 

[Nevermet]

Newtlings are fallen Dragonewts... who can be redeemed and return to Newt status.

[Nevermet]

Addendum to the above: it involves Newtlings spiritually unifying with a wyvern, cuz why not

[UnlikelyLass]

HeroQuesting is an awful lot like playing an RPG (or a LARP), if you think about it…

[metcalph]

He Who Moves had a brother known as He Who Remains. 

[Ian Absentia]

19 hours ago, UnlikelyLass said:

HeroQuesting is an awful lot like playing an RPG (or a LARP), if you think about it…

HeroQuesting and LARP are flipsides of a reiterative Ouroboric cycle that can only be broken through Illumination.  That's why "real" people are so utterly terrified of it.

!i!

[AlHazred]

I've only read parts of this collection of genius, but I can contribute what I believe to be an original dumb theory of my own: Ginna Jar, of Lightbringers fame, is the same entity as "She Who Waits" of the Seven Mothers -- an entity whose function in the Universe is similar to the Horned Man, that of cathartic change. She is not a "spirit of enterprise" or a wyter, but more of a figure who guides the collective subject through the painful catharsis to a new form, "same as the old, but different." She/they may also be the same as the entity Arachne Solara, who performed this function with the whole cosmos, during the Ritual of the Net.

[Leingod]

The Stormwalkers of Old Wind Temple and the Larnstings are both different aspects of Orlanth approached through a mystical lens: The Stormwalkers represent a mystical version of Orlanth Thunderous, the Larnstings are the mystical path of Orlanth Adventurous. Or, to be a God Learner about it, Orlanth-as-Air-Rune and Orlanth-as-Motion-Rune.

Argrath, despite being born and raised as an Orlanthi and steeped in various forms of mysticism, never becomes a part of either tradition or has any strong connection to them. The reasons for this are likely many, but ultimately most of them come down to him not being in the right state of mind for either; he's too much of an Illuminate in the mold of Arkat or Nysalor, too enamored with what he can do and get away with thanks to his mystical powers and not thinking enough about whether he should (both the Stormwalkers and the Larnstings share more in common with the Draconic Path than that of Illumination, in that they would rather commit No Action at all than risk performing the Wrong Action).

It isn't until he comes back from his years-long disappearance (you know, that interregnum where Harrek ended up in charge), finally humbled by his failures and the consequences of his rash actions, that Argrath gets his act together and succeeds where Arkat had failed by overcoming (rather than becoming and then mutually destroying) Gbaji. In doing so, he perhaps finds his own mystical take on some other aspect of Orlanth entirely, likely Orlanth Lightbringer, who after all is essentially Orlanth-Who-Fixes-What-He-Broke.

And to double up on insane theories, this touches on the most critical distinction between Draconic and Illuminate mysticism: The latter is often used as a way to duck the consequences of one's actions and to avoid having to fulfill obligations, the former actually doubles down on the importance of them (see: Dragonewts having to fulfill any obligation they incur, even if it holds up their spiritual development and affects their ability to perform their sacred duties for decades on end). This is also why Illumination is generally more appealing and widespread than other forms of mysticism (outside of Kralorela, of course, which is a special case).

Edited July 25, 2021 by Leingod

[Leingod]

A conspiracy theory entered my head after reading a post by @Nick Brooke arguing that the Seven Mothers (who are "willing to form illegal criminal conspiracies, defying unrighteous imperial authority, and make alliances with strange new forces in order to tear down an Evil Empire and replace it with something better") are "Argrath's natural allies," but many people refuse to see that.

See, that's the point. That's the reason the Seven Mothers cult was made the missionary branch sent into the provinces and future-provinces of the Lunar Empire, staffed by zealous believers in the Empire as the right and true end-result of the Lunar Way. Because by doing that, not just in the minds of the rebels, but even in the minds of the converts, the cult of the Seven Mothers is the cult of those who have abandoned their native identity for that of the Lunar Empire. In this way, what could have become a hotbed of resistance to the Empire's expansion and excesses in the provinces has instead been made a safety valve for the natives to vent their hatred of the Empire onto a cult of quislings, turncoats, and sellouts, at least until (as in Tarsh) a tipping point is reached where they become the accepted majority and can push the traditionalists to the fringe.

So if the Sartarites waste time after the Dragonrise chasing out or rounding up and slaughtering all the red-turners in their midst? So much the better, as it gives the Empire time to regroup and a nice propaganda piece to paint them as vicious beasts in the Heartlands and drive up recruitment.

[Richard S.]

3 hours ago, Leingod said:

And to double up on insane theories, this touches on the most critical distinction between Draconic and Illuminate mysticism: The latter is often used as a way to duck the consequences of one's actions and to avoid having to fulfill obligations, the former actually doubles down on the importance of them (see: Dragonewts having to fulfill any obligation they incur, even if it holds up their spiritual development and affects their ability to perform their sacred duties for decades on end). This is also why Illumination is generally more appealing and widespread than other forms of mysticism (outside of Kralorela, of course, which is a special case).

Following up on this, perhaps it could be argued that Illumination is the "shortcut" version of Draconic Mysticism. Similar goals, but much more immediate temporal rewards for much less effort.

Something to think about.

Edited July 25, 2021 by Richard S.

[Leingod]

22 minutes ago, Richard S. said:

Following up on this, perhaps it could be argued that Illumination is the "shortcut" version of Draconic Mysticism. Similar goals, but much more immediate temporal rewards for much less effort.

Something to think about.

That's a bit like how I imagine other mystics might see the stereotypical cult-jumping Illuminate. To them, the Illuminate is someone who took the first step and declared he'd reached the peak; a willful, ignorantly cruel child without parents to discipline him (the "parents" here would be one's cult and other societal bonds, whose hold the Illuminate is newly-released from) who found a dangerous new toy and is abusing it with wanton abandon, perhaps using it to torture insects or even small animals.

The easy comparison that could be made to Eurmal discovering Death are telling. Perhaps Nysalor was in many ways a child-god, enlightened at birth and woefully unprepared to handle it responsibly or maturely and innocently cruel in the way only a child can be.

EDIT: Meanwhile Arkat was almost worse, because he was an educated adult who should have known better.

Edited July 25, 2021 by Leingod

[Joerg]

6 hours ago, Leingod said:

Meanwhile Arkat was almost worse, because he was an educated adult who should have known better.

Arkat was a child-soldier, badly underage in the company of these fledgeling Horali sent across the Neliomi Sea. Brithini commenters point out that the entire subsequent fascination with the false gods of mayflies and krjalki is little more than a child's inability to hold on to a thought. 

[dumuzid]

The Third Eye Blue learned their smith-craft from a dwarven decamony that adopted a version of Hrestolism in the First Age, and was ruthlessly purged as heretics by the Nida dwarves, with Brithini assistance, for their caste-breaking and Openhandedness.  

Edited July 26, 2021 by dumuzid

[Eff]

The Life Rune is, beyond being an hourglass and two Laws coming together, also a symbolic representation of a light cone, containing all that is life. The Undeath/Hunger Rune turns on its side because the undead have been exiled from the light cone. 

[Qizilbashwoman]

you guys suck at making dumb theories

[Sir_Godspeed]

42 minutes ago, Qizilbashwoman said:

you guys suck at making dumb theories

The EWF rune was literally the Latin letters of the English phrase "Empire of Wyrm's Friends" because for some reason New Wyrmish IS English in-universe.

[Akhôrahil]

The Undeath rune is a stylized bow tie, to go with the tail coats the vampires like to wear.

[AlHazred]

1 hour ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

The EWF rune was literally the Latin letters of the English phrase "Empire of Wyrm's Friends" because for some reason New Wyrmish IS English in-universe.

I thought that was canonical?

[Qizilbashwoman]

1 hour ago, AlHazred said:

I thought that was canonical?

this is literally true, this rune is just E+W+F

[Leingod]

3 hours ago, AlHazred said:

I thought that was canonical?

That the EWF Rune is literally just the letters "EWF" smushed together is canon; that this is because New Wyrmish is literally just Modern English is not.

[Sir_Godspeed]

I know, I'm basically taking the piss because that always seemed like someone either made a massive worldbuilding oversight or decided to be very cheeky, and in either case making life difficult for future non-English writers.

Edited July 26, 2021 by Sir_Godspeed

[AlHazred]

Here's a trickier one: what is Heort's actual name, if his rune is kind of like a squashed EWF rune, without the middle hill? Future Faux-Vingkot?

Edited July 26, 2021 by AlHazred