Human sacrifice

[Eff]

2 minutes ago, Eff said:

In the interim, you have these societies, who seem pretty reactionary, in the sense of being a reaction to some external disrupting presence. I think Spolite religion fit this category too. Possibly fits, still. 

Thinking about this some more, the Hero Wars-era interpretation of the Great Winter with the Ana Gor cult serves well as a kind of origin point for how something like this emerges. Do you reject the forthcoming Moon Cosmos (or Lunisolar Cosmos, if the Tatius theories are true) and turn towards this kind of rejectionist religion? In the event, Broyan and then Kallyr and then Argrath managed to change the question.

It does make me wonder about those Sacred Twins in the Shaker Temple, or possibly up in Wintertop...

[scott-martin]

7 minutes ago, Eff said:

Bloody Tusk or the Blood Sun?

Oh good, I had a long comment here and the draft didn't save, which is just how it goes.

I wonder what other fringe rites we could point to as "half troll." To identify as an eater requires an eaten and for Arkat to farm requires a harvest. Within the Carmanian system Spol would have represented the devil and all his works, a beacon to all second age "night side sorcerers" or witches and a wellspring of texts now circulating on the black market.

A little far afield but it's interesting that we mostly encounter this material at the far archaic end, close to the origin, and when societies in terminal decline reach all the way back, having exhausted everything else in the repertoire. Presumably every third age society will hit that limit in the near future so it's worth keeping your primordial origins in sight at all times where you can monitor their movements. For the earth people that's cannibal mother.

It's worth wondering who exactly built the Shaker complex the pauper found. I guess they died out in the Kill and then in his desperation he reactivated it.

Oh! Here's what I was going to say when the draft evaporated. We know Krarsht covets meat.

[jajagappa]

3 hours ago, scott-martin said:

But in her absence, the seeds just didn't sprout no matter how they were watered. There was no reversion to pre-ernaldite agriculture. It just broke no matter how desperate they got. They broke the law anyway and nothing happened. And now that she's back (for the time being?) the people who ran those rites are unspeakable and probably accursed. It's an interesting story that someone could tell. It tells us an awful lot about deep Ernalda.

Hmm, sounds more like our favorite Red Earth Alliance...

We don't really know how Samastina overthrew Hendira, but Samastina had to bring back Ernalda, and an Ernalda angry at Hendira for her alliance's actions and willing to cast her down as Queen.

[scott-martin]

2 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

We don't really know how Samastina overthrew Hendira, but Samastina had to bring back Ernalda, and an Ernalda angry at Hendira for her alliance's actions and willing to cast her down as Queen.

Love it. The kind of scenario where people get changed into cats or snakes or pigs to reflect on their presumption.

"Let the vermin be flung into a pit," said Peter. "But the Dwarf we will give to his people to be buried in their own fashion."

[Joerg]

3 hours ago, scott-martin said:

It's worth wondering who exactly built the Shaker complex the pauper found. I guess they died out in the Kill and then in his desperation he reactivated it.

I would expect to find the Shaker's Temple in the Vingkotling Age, possibly already ancient then.

There is one event that happened around here that pretty certainly shook both the earth and the heavens - the slaying of Sh'harkar'zeel (place those glottal stops wherever you think they fit). The formation of the Dragonspine Ridge, or perhaps making that the permanent location of that spine, would be a moment to attract the goddess of the Earth Shakers. The brood of the dragons is nearby, and even accepted the temple into their magical road network.

Then there is the view that Ernalda kept all the positive goddesses near Ezel, and put the more problematic ones a good distance away. The dark sister Maran settled down at quite a distance.

So, if I had to name a builder, I might settle on Tada. We know that he allowed Vingkot to marry his twin daughters. Twins have a bit of a history here.

[Eff]

3 hours ago, scott-martin said:

For the earth people that's cannibal mother.

Over Ignorance and Splendor way they have Earth Eater and pals- Shadow Cancer, Secret Waters, Star Permutator, and Solar Storm. At least some of these may be equal "failure states"/primordial origin points. Dark growing without limit, water concealed away without flowing, stars changing irregularly, and... Solar Storm. I wonder what that means. 🤔

Moon, multiple as she is, seems to have the Blue Moon and White Moon as separate failure/primordial modes: both dead, both in opposition to her radiant light spilling forth with secret knowledge. The Black Moon does seem to be integrated, so perhaps it's possible/necessary to reintegrate these unsavory modes of elemental existence, rehabilitate them, bring them in from the cold. 

[Sir_Godspeed]

5 hours ago, Eff said:

Solar Storm. I wonder what that means. 🤔

Umath shook the heavens and destroyed or altered several planets/lesser suns. And even if they eventually managed to protect the skies, his fall caused the firmament to rock back and forth. Then his son straight up murdered the sun, causing ages of confusion and anarchy. 

I'm going to guess that the Solar Storm is a "failure state" where Storm never stops messing up the Heavens, pathologically.

[Nick Brooke]

12 hours ago, scott-martin said:

It's worth wondering who exactly built the Shaker complex the pauper found. I guess they died out in the Kill and then in his desperation he reactivated it.

My old theory was that the Esrolites, not being dumb, propitiated the Darkest Aspects of their Earth Goddesses away from their own land, in case of mishaps. (A bit like the Soviets building their Gate under Starcourt Mall, if you follow my train of thought).

Hence the construction of the Shaker Temple (to Maran) in Dragon Pass, the Axe Hall (of Babeester) up on the Shadow Plateau, and possibly also the Ghost Fields (TKT?) in Wenelia.

(Yes they’re still worshipped in Esrolia, I’m not an idiot, this is about putting their Holy of Holies outside the pomerium)

Edited August 19, 2021 by Nick Brooke

[Sir_Godspeed]

Might be mythical precedent as well. Esrolia is where Gata gave birth to Asrelia, or whatever. Shaker Temple is where Maran killed her enemies and/or killed Grandfather Mortal and/or accepted human sacrifice for the first time or whatever. Point is, it might precede mortal decisions on the matter. 

Then again, the matter of mythical landscape and human decisions might be blurred to the point of the distinction being irrelevant, of course. 

That being said, if the Esrolians wanted to keep their core lands "clean", they sure messed up with the Necropolis.

[Jeff]

8 hours ago, Nick Brooke said:

My old theory was that the Esrolites, not being dumb, propitiated the Darkest Aspects of their Earth Goddesses away from their own land, in case of mishaps. (A bit like the Soviets building their Gate under Starcourt Mall, if you follow my train of thought).

Hence the construction of the Shaker Temple (to Maran) in Dragon Pass, the Axe Hall (of Babeester) up on the Shadow Plateau, and possibly also the Ghost Fields (TKT?) in Wenelia.

(Yes they’re still worshipped in Esrolia, I’m not an idiot, this is about putting their Holy of Holies outside the pomerium)

I think there is an element to this, but not because of the Esrolians. Ernalda was given the lands of Ernaldela in the God Time. Now that was basically from the Spike (Magasta's Pool) to Kero Fin, and included what is now Sartar, Kethaela, and Maniria. And maybe even Jrustela. Asrelia and Ty Kora Tek resided in Ernaldela, but Maran Gor set up right on the border of Ernaldela, at Shaker's Temple. And Babeester Gor, born in the Darkness after her mother had gone to sleep, made her home atop the Shadow Plateau. These places were established in the God Time and were all active at the Dawn.