On Tue, 9 Dec 2003 Gaertk at aol.com wrote: > Matthew Hunter <matthew at infodancer.org> writes: > > > In my opinion the nature of divinity (in speculative > > fiction, anyway) is the submersion of identity in aspect. > > That is, in most fantasy worlds, you don't have "a god" who > > just happens to be a god. Gods are gods OF something, or > > sometimes of several things, and their powers are derived > > from their nature. Simply being a powerful sorceror is > > insufficient to make one a god. But an assassin could take > > on the role of a God of Death, or a patron god of > > assassins. > > True, and that's practically a definition of polytheism. > > As for Vladio being the God of Assassins, remember that the > only ability we *know* gods (and demons) have is being able > to manifest in more than one place at a time. So the rumor > that Mario is still around isn't evidence against the theory. > > > An excellent example of this would be Cotillion from > > Erikson's series of novels. Somebody needs to mention Lord of Light in this context.