Arkatism in the 3rd age

[Soccercalle]

There is a lot of sources about Arkat and his war against Nysalor/Gbaji that ended the 1st age. But I wonder if there is any good or comprehensive source about Arkatism in the late 3rd age (the official timeline). I know that it is mostly a "western" thing but I am especially interested in its followers in the wider Dragon Pass region.

[Brian Duguid]

There's some useful information on the Arkati in Safelster in the Guide to Glorantha, although it's not clear to me whether any of that is relevant to Dragon Pass.

Spoiler below for a recently published scenario from Chaosium: 

Spoiler

The scenario Urvantan's Tower (in The Smoking Ruin & Other Stories) describes a group of Black Arkati cultists who hail from Arkat's Hold in Northern Esrolia. It gives some short but helpful details of The House of Black Arkat, as well as specific examples of members of that cult.

 

[Ali the Helering]

There was a cult write-up in Troll Gods.

[JRE]

I really like arkati and they have been one of my key interests in Glorantha. Humanist (in some cases trollist) secret societies that try to decrease abuse of the Godtime and in general humans attempting to become gods. The fragmentation and secrecy means that whatever you decide may not fit with published material, but it would be true for a different bunch, up to including chaos, illumination, pursuing illuminates, or whatever.

They are the Gloranthan analogues to Girl Genius Othar Tryggvassen, who wants to kill all sparks even though he is also a spark, and has no qualms in using his powers to achieve his ends. His endearing and ridiculous antics have inspired many of my arkati, though he does not do secrecy.

As for how they can appear in Dragon Pass, the black arkati, as shown in the Smoking Ruin, are a good fit with the strong troll presence and long human troll inteeaction through the Only Old One, specially with Belintar gone. I would expect you will have some arkati vibes as well from the Manirian Trader Princes, and that can offer an opportunity to see other faces of Arkat, including former mercenaries that may have joined such a secret society.

And all secret societies may have a foothold in Nochet, so that is another excuse to add some arkati conspiracy. Knowing more about the Lunar Empire and its supposed links with Gbaji/Nysalor), or following strange claims that one of the faces of Arkat is Samastina's lover...

[Brian Duguid]

In The Children of Hykim, I define the Black Arkati / Arkati Shadow Warriors as:

Quote

Followers of the First Age hero Arkat, who guard the places in the Hero Plane where Heroquest paths cross, according to ARCANE LORE, page 78. (In my mind they are snooty, self-appointed Gloranthan lore-hounds who want to keep n00bs away from the world's most interesting secrets).

[Shiningbrow]

57 minutes ago, JRE said:

And all secret societies may have a foothold in Nochet, so that is another excuse to add some arkati conspiracy.

Given there's a place called Arkat's Rest, w9ith a huge Arkat rune on it, in the west side of Nochet, it's not really all that secret ...

[Ali the Helering]

22 minutes ago, Shiningbrow said:

Given there's a place called Arkat's Rest, w9ith a huge Arkat rune on it, in the west side of Nochet, it's not really all that secret ...

Ahh, but the genius of the Arkati is that they meet in the unwindowed house directly across the street!

[Brian Duguid]

47 minutes ago, Ali the Helering said:

Ahh, but the genius of the Arkati is that they meet in the unwindowed house directly across the street!

I reckon there is one group of Arkati meeting across the street. And another group meeting upstairs in the Kafl Leaf Inn next door. And yet another in the house on the other side. Each keeping an eye out on Arkat's Rest for any visiting foes, and completely unaware of each other.

[Ali the Helering]

1 hour ago, Brian Duguid said:

I reckon there is one group of Arkati meeting across the street. And another group meeting upstairs in the Kafl Leaf Inn next door. And yet another in the house on the other side. Each keeping an eye out on Arkat's Rest for any visiting foes, and completely unaware of each other.

and each honouring a different Arkat...

[Joerg]

3 hours ago, JRE said:

I really like arkati and they have been one of my key interests in Glorantha. Humanist (in some cases trollist) secret societies that try to decrease abuse of the Godtime and in general humans attempting to become gods. The fragmentation and secrecy means that whatever you decide may not fit with published material, but it would be true for a different bunch, up to including chaos, illumination, pursuing illuminates, or whatever.

They are the Gloranthan analogues to Girl Genius Othar Tryggvassen, who wants to kill all sparks even though he is also a spark, and has no qualms in using his powers to achieve his ends. His endearing and ridiculous antics have inspired many of my arkati, though he does not do secrecy.

I find this definition too narrow. Yes, Arkat had that all-consuming mission to defeat Gbaji, which ended up in joint dismemberment of Chaos Troll Arkat and Chaos something Nysalor on the highest tower of the City of Miracles, with a re-constituted all-human appearing Arkat emerging. (He might have employed the Kitori Night Cult secret that may have allowed him to alternate between human, troll and dehori shape - at the very least, in the wake of the victory over the Bright Empire the Shadow Tribute collecting Kitori were referred to as Arkati by the Heortlings under their supervision, according to a few interesting passages in History of the Heortling Peoples.

 

Still, a lot of the "hatred" for Arkat announcing Arkat's Command (expanding the Shadow Tribute to northern Heortlings who had long been unaffected by that, funneling the gains to Dagori Inkarth) may have resulted from the Heortling failure to keep collecting tribute from their conquest of Dara Happa.

Arkat was not too disappointed about the Heortlings' choice to attack Dara Happa while he, his closest followers and his troll allies pushed into the heart of Chaos that Dorastor had become. Without the Heortling conquest, the defenses of Dorastor would have held out a lot longer. His troll allies had little chance to collect any plunder halfway equivalent to the gains of the Heortling conquest while pulling off the harder task, and in recognition Arkat arranged for a fair portion of the Dara Happan tribute to be diverted to his allies in Dagori Inkarth. And while the Heortling occupation of Dara Happa lasted, everything was fine. It was the failure to keep the Dara Happans occupied that turned a fair share of war booty into an onerous extra tax. And it was haughty nastiness that led the Heortlings to rebel against the Shadowlords, who were conflated with the Arkati at the time.

 

Even though Arkat spent 75 years of his life fighting a war against impossible odds, he spent his last fifty years establishing the Autarchy of Safelster, uniting the Enerali (even the sun worshippers), the people descended from the Serpent Brotherhood and the trolls into a prospering realm, with Malkioni philosophy and Lightbringer Unity combining into a better society, far surpassing any other Malkioni society (other than ancient Danmalastan) to that date. That twit son of Gerlant whose main achievement was to avoid dying of old age had the nerve to demand tribute from the autarchy, and confessed an outrage when that outrageous demand was politely ignored.

The Seshnegi looked at the Autarchy with quite some envy, and when the prospective heirs of Nralar found that they were likely to succumb to old age long before their father would, many took the "Froalar solution" to carve out new principalities on the newly colonized continent of Jrustela, a piece of Danmalastan formerly belonging to the Vadeli (or their ancestors) that was found to be devoid of humanity. There they began to discuss the Malkioni philosophy, egged on by the Autarchy's example, yet hanging on to their airs of superiority by lineage.

They somehow compromised on a doctrine that manifested itself as the Abiding Book, in a (most likely sorcerous) miracle "enabling the Invisible God to manifest the Right Way for the Malkioni" (cynical readers confess to smell some whiffs of Vadeli duplicity emanating from these lands), disavowing quite a bit of Arkat's symncretism with Lightbringer Theism and the secrets of Darkness (as much as conserving what remained of the original pure strains of all of these).

And somehow they managed to pull off a Double Belligerent Assault against the Autarchy, dismembering that superior yet too honorable way, and demonizing the ascended Master/deity.

 

The Autarchy was a period of respectful unity in diversity, quite comparable to the Unity Council, solidified both through heroquesting and through regulating access to the Other Side, guarding what preserved both the diversity and the unity. Having devoted much of their elites to those tasks, the mundane terror of the Righness Crusade caught them under-prepared, and caring more about preserving the Other Side and preventing the Jrusteli from learning their ways than keeping them out of their lands.

The Arkati of the former Autarchy preserved some aspects of unity along with their aspects of diversity even under the yoke of the Jrusteli, and that may have been what baffled Halwal, the great God Learner who resisted the other God Learners. Unable to provide a single heir to Arkat's teachings (something he succeeded with with the Irensavalists in Loskalm), he went forth with three of these, each with their own followers and philosophies. It was enough to face the God Learner "orthodoxy" on an even field of battle and magic, but led to mutual annihilation of those forces.

 

3 hours ago, JRE said:

As for how they can appear in Dragon Pass, the black arkati, as shown in the Smoking Ruin, are a good fit with the strong troll presence and long human troll inteeaction through the Only Old One, specially with Belintar gone. I would expect you will have some arkati vibes as well from the Manirian Trader Princes, and that can offer an opportunity to see other faces of Arkat, including former mercenaries that may have joined such a secret society.

Another option is to have genuine Safelstran Arkati active in Sartar. Minaryth's collection of Arkat and troll research in RQ3 Troll Gods mentions an aide of the Purple Sage, Jalques de Galin. Would this gentleman have been the only Safelstran active in the region? I don't think so.

 

3 hours ago, JRE said:

And all secret societies may have a foothold in Nochet, so that is another excuse to add some arkati conspiracy. Knowing more about the Lunar Empire and its supposed links with Gbaji/Nysalor), or following strange claims that one of the faces of Arkat is Samastina's lover...

Everything may have a foothold in Nochet. That city has been sadly under-used...

[metcalph]

Apart from the already mentioned Black Arkati of Arkat's Last Hold. there is Mularik Ironeye who is described as a descendent of Arkat Chaosbane.  This could be a misunderstanding of the chain of teachers between him and Arkat.  Mularik was in Seshnela in the past few years but has recently returned.  

Dragon Pass (and Redstone) would be very important to the Arkati as many important events about him took place there.  They would have been turning up as soon as Dragon Pass was open to human resettlement.  Their numbers would have taken a bit of a leap after the Oceans were opened but fallen as a result of the Lunar Conquest.

[JRE]

In my view Ralios is flooded by Arkati / Empire of Peace / Autarchy remnants in ways that outsiders cannot understand, distracted by all the petty conflicts between the factions, when actually the Safelstrans, the Orlanthi and the Trolls were all modeled and crafted as a weapon by Arkat. Something the Seshnelan / Tanisor kingdom will painfully discover. There is probably as much influence of Arkat in Lustria or Otkorion than in Safelster, and also, despite the efforts of many troll matriarchs, in Halikiv and specially Guhan. It is just less evident.

So for visiting arkati, it is not only Henotheist sorcerers or troll friendly suspicious characters. That slightly weird Sword from the other side of the mountains and his Wind Lord friend with a personal cloud, may really be devotees of Arkat Humaktsson, and know the secret that sometimes you have to betray someone to save them.

We have recently seen the troll swarms from the West, and I am sure they have brought plenty of Arkat Kingtroll cultists. They will not feel welcome in Dagori Inkarth, once their mission is fulfilled, but there are many other troll strongholds. And with Belintar gone, there are may options in Kethaela. 

I am sure they have been facing Lunars in the Hero planes, but now they can do so in the physical  as well. Considering populations, even a small help from Ralios is huge for Sartar, and I am sure there are many Arkati, open like Mularik but also secret, in Argrath's new army. Though how the Ralios Orlanthi react to the Rex version that they do not follow may be interesting.

[Darius West]

On 10/20/2022 at 12:36 AM, Shiningbrow said:

Given there's a place called Arkat's Rest, with a huge Arkat rune on it, in the west side of Nochet, it's not really all that secret ...

Arkat's Rest is where Mularik Ironeye comes from.  He identified Argrath Whitebull as the true incarnation of Arkat in the 3rd Age, now come as the shadow of the Red Goddess to shut down the catastrophe of another illuminism outbreak.  Mularik becomes a long term supporter of Argrath, but ultimately over-reaches himself and grossly abuses Argrath's trust, causing a rebellion due to his misrule in Dragon Pass while Argrath is campaigning in the Lunar Empire proper.  After the God Learner purges of the Dark Empire of Arkat, one of the few places where any Arkati could be found was in the Hero Plane, where they had gone to stop the abuses of the God Learners upon the Mythic landscape of Glorantha.  They are likely still there, and any God Learnerist abuses of the myths are likely to awaken their interest, as they now police the myths.  Sadly, as the Red Moon Goddess was not alive during time, the Arkati didn't know of her existence in order to police her myths and avoid abuses.  The major tenet of the Arkati is that Illuminism is an abuse of the natural order, in much the same way that the Rune Quest Sight (Godlearner special power) is an abuse of the natural order.  You must be an illuminate to become a full Arkati, and all other illuminates are deeply suspect and likely need to be killed, but once you are illuminated you must adhere to strict rules of conduct or your fellow Arkati will understand that you are a Gbaji and will need to destroy you.    

[davecake]

On 10/21/2022 at 5:12 PM, Darius West said:

The major tenet of the Arkati is that Illuminism is an abuse of the natural order,

The Arkati believe that Illuminism allows abuses of the natural order, but not that it is, in itself, an abuse. 
Illuminism takes moral authority away from the gods and back in the hands of man. It is a thus a test, that many fail. But not all. 

[Darius West]

6 hours ago, davecake said:

The Arkati believe that Illuminism allows abuses of the natural order, but not that it is, in itself, an abuse. 
Illuminism takes moral authority away from the gods and back in the hands of man. It is a thus a test, that many fail. But not all. 

Thanks for neatly summarizing what I was trying and failing to say davecake.  Obviously Arkati would be in an invidious position, given their illumination, if they thought illumination was intrinsically a chaotic abuse of the natural order.

[EricW]

There is a real world example to draw on which made me think of Arkat societies when I learned about it, the battles fought in the Bethlehem church of the nativity, between different Christian societies.

They all mostly have the same goal, but have big disagreements over who gets to do what, and who the apostate is. 

The Muslim authorities mostly leave them alone, and have respected the rights of Christians to practice their religion in Bethlehem since the Second Caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattāb conquered the region in AD 637.

Even Saladin allowed some Christians to continue to use the church, after he retook the city from the crusaders. 

 

[mfbrandi]

7 hours ago, davecake said:

Illuminism takes moral authority away from the gods and back in the hands of man. It is a thus a test, that many fail. But not all.

The mainstream Gloranthan opinion seems to be that illumination is a test many fail. (Pretty much everything in Glorantha seems to be a moral test widely failed.)

But reclaiming moral authority?

• Moral Authority: trustworthiness to make decisions that are right and good
• Authority: the moral or legal right or ability to control

So in taking away the threat of spirits of reprisal, illumination reduces the authority (ability to control) of the gods, but does it reduce their moral authority? Surely, Glorantha has many many gods with no moral authority. One doesn’t need a sudden blow to the back of the head — or a basketful of riddles answered — to see that. Or does my saying so mean that Nysalor has gotten to me, already?

Wittgenstein spoke of two conceptions of religious ethics — it went something like this:

1. Because it is right, God (being omniscient) tells us that it is right
2. God tells us that it is right, and that is why it is right

Although he was not religious himself, he said that the second was the deeper conception — after all, on the first, with enough wit and research we could find right conduct for ourselves, and God would drop out of the picture. Also, God would have to argue her case, show her working. As to whether the second amounts to any more than “I am God; do as you are told!”, well …