Posted by Imbrogno(VIP) on October 25, 2000 at 09:07:24:
In Reply to: My two cents posted by Borimor the Great on October 25, 2000 at 07:54:56:
From the tablet: This is where the village gets into trouble. Some leaders just go out of their way to take a big poo on what battleragers have been in the past. Thror "pooed" on parity commandment somewhat, Minalcar "pooed" on commandment 5 somewhat(I won't begin to go into the irony there), and I'm sure other leaders have "pooed" on other commandments in the past and will continue to in the future. Also, people(Cathoir) are bitching about immortal intervention, well I got news for you pal, here's the legitimization of that intervention rightchere. Needs no further explanation. 3. Priests are to be tolerated, for they are empowered by the gods, but they are not gods themselves. Their powers should not be embraced anywhere other than the shrine of your deity. Doesn't need a whole lot of explanation, but here's a question. What happens when a healer of Boltthrower offers his abilities to the battleragers? BT doesn't have a shrine...sooooo, I'd assume maybe that any decent effort at finding a decent place would do? There's an Altar of Earth in holy grove isn't there? Sounds like a fine place for battleragers to receive sanctuary and whatever else they can get yes? *snicker* Maybe this commandment just needs to be altered to make it so ragers can never get aid from a healer(and turn the damn healer in the village into a defender rather than a priest). 4. It is forbidden to beseech or manipulate any form of magic other than that expressly mentioned above. To do so is to mock the gods and a blasphemy of your combat prowess. Well duh. 5. Avoid all that have succumbed to the charms of magic. It is your duty to put any under such a charm out of their misery. Here's where ragers take their "I'll kill any warrior with a return potion in his sack" mentality from. I think it's just an excuse really, but it's obviously integral to the battlerager philosophy, I just see it abused too often. 6. Those who repeatedly display a lack of courage when engaged in personal combat, including outnumbering your opponents, are not fit to be a Battlerager. In times of war or great danger to the cabal, however, parity is less important. Now here's the doozy. The one that Thror took a big ole dookie on. This negates your every argument Borimor. Ragers aren't about honor, yes, but they ARE about courage and there's nothing courageous about gang-spanking anyone. Your barbarian hordes of the past weren't about courage, they were about raping and pillaging and generally beating the "f'in" snot out of people. Think about it, was Genghis Kahn known for his vast courage?...or was he known for being a ruthless bastard who really beat the hell out of a lot of people in China and other surrounding countries? Now, this commandment does allow for lesser parity in raid situations. I, however, as a rager leader, would demand greater clarification on that. Thror really spread that part out a lot, I'd make it more narrow. I wouldn't extend "raid situation" to dwarf forest, eastern road, Osendrelle Fields, holy grove, Camelot, Tabershaw's, elemental canyon, Galadon, Tar Valon..*chuckle*..you get my point. It might go to Thalos, but that's it. Master's Tower and the River...that's it. The Palace and the Imperial City, that's it. The cabal itself and the immediately surrounding area, I mean IMMEDIATELY. There are other reasons to be in dwarf forest then to be raiding the damned village, that's something ragers don't seem to understand. "In times of war" is way too vague as well. What does that mean? Ragers are at war with masters, does that mean that ragers can gang masters at all times? Does it mean that if the ragers take the Book that they're now entitled to gang arbiters indiscriminately? I, as a leader, would say "no", others in an effort to up their pk ratio or just generally be a prick have said "yes". I think Nepenthe's comments really take into account this commandment, and he, as a non-rager who isn't looking to up his pk ratio and kill anything with a heartbeat that may at one time have quaffed a potion accidentally or otherwise or whose parents might have brandished a staff or who might be under suspect for having grouped with a mage from ranks 1-5 in the Academy is willing to look at the commandment in the way it was meant to be looked at. He's willing to look at the spirit of the commandment and embrace it, rather than looking at the semantics and flexing them and stretching them and bending them until something totally different appears like a pile of clay into a vase.
1. The gods of Thera and your mortal leader deserve your utmost respect and shall be obeyed at all times.
2. Necromancers, Invokers, Transmuters, Anti-Paladins, Conjurers and Masters of the Five Magics pervert and subvert the powers of the gods. They are therefore our enemies, and shall be destroyed.