I have a hunch that the transformation from a mortal to a god involves, at some point, being invested with the blood of a divine being. This meshes with both philosophies, both Eastern and Dragaeran: The Fenarians believe that gods are "not-mortals" and that they are beings to be worshipped and, well, deified. The Dragaerans consider godhood, with some conditions, I bet, to be just another step on the path of sorcery, coincidentally giving much insight into the nature of their psyches, and how central sorcery is to them. Perhaps, as a side note, sorcery is so freakishly important, because without it, the very thing that defines them (their melding with actual animal stock) may never have come to pass (it's true, it was Jenoine "sorcery" that did it---but really, when someone does something magical, to proto-humans [or even futuristic humans, who, with their advanced technology may be even MORE convinced that magic is magic and not technology] then they will probably not care too much and just say "Look! Magic!!"). Anyway, it would make sense that Sethra would then have been given the blood of a goddess, but then refused to take (probably wanting to avoid being bound by the rules of the gods, thus causing great offense to certain deities who dislike having the fact that there are rules binding them [causing them all to be, in some ways, demons, a seemingly racial-esque insult to them) and even more offense was caused, I imagine, in the cases where it was unavoidably true. It would also make sense that Morrolan is not yet a god because, while he has the blood of a god in him, he has not yet made the other steps to which I alluded in the above. So, to get to my point, when one says that a certain blade "removes the aspects of divinity" I would imagine that it removes most, if not all aspects of divinity, whereas a regular GW would only remove one in particular. I would put forward, as perhaps an over-simplification, godhood is a multi-stepped process that allows the individual to manifest on many different planes, and thus, in the way that a hand in the 3rd dimension would just magically appear and seem to affect great change on a specific 2nd dimensional plane (appearing to "pass through it") achieve an effect that is truly god-like in its ability to interfere with things :P In fact, each step may have a correlating plane to it, though this is more likely to be an even greater over-simplification: For instance, the ability to manifest freely in the Paths of the Dead, for which everyone seems to have a quota of one in their blood (for each time they manifest in the Dragaeran realm), would seem to be most connected to the presence of a certain blood type, ie, the blood of a divinity. Obviously, something in the blood itself, whether it is a weird chemical, or some mystical property (probably both) allows someone this privilege. Morrolan, I imagine, would have no problem going back to the Paths and coming back. We know that mastering the seven necromantic gates is not a pre-requisite, though maybe knowing one or two may. This we know from Verra's reaction to the Necromancer's "curriculum vitae" having included 5 or 6 of them. After a while, though, it may seem silly--a checklist to become a god? Give me a break! But when you consider that mastering a necromantic gate probably requires at LEAST a dragaeran lifetime, well then you see that there are really no "shortcuts" to be made, making this THE checklist to complete, THE scavenger hunt to play. So, next question: Am I mostly a Dragon or an Athyra? Or maybe even a Hawk? I mean, I have the ego of a Dragon, and certainly their ambition, the curiousity and insufferableness of a Hawk and the mystical academic bent that fits so many Athyra to a T. Jon ----Original Message Follows---- From: Steve Simmons <scs at di.org> To: Casey Rousseau <casey at the-bat.net> CC: Dragaera <dragaera at dragaera.info> Subject: Re: Morganti Weapons (a new and different question- ok it'sastretch) Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 10:50:26 -0500 On Tue, Nov 08, 2005 at 10:12:36AM -0500, Casey Rousseau wrote: > Steve Simmons writ: > > Actually, I'm not so sure of that. I think they make it impossible > > for the soul to reach the Halls and prevent it from being able to > > manifest in Dragaera . . . > Hmmm, this would make the revulsion Vlad feels for the "hungry" > semisentience of Morganti blades a result of religious superstition? Of course not, and I didn't in any way say that. Vlad (and presumably) most Dragaeans and Easterners) interpret it as hunger to consume the soul in its entirety. What they may actually be perceiving is hunger to consume some particular aspect of the soul - its ability to manifest in the Dragaeran plane and the plane containing the Halls of Judgement. > > I have no textev for this, just a conjecture based on what we know > > about reincarnation and the slippery way Serioli talk about things. > > Humans and Easterners say that Morganti weapons destroy souls. But > > we've never heard a Serioli say it. Well, not that I recall. > > Other than the Serioli's cryptic comments about 'remover of aspects of > divinity' and 'wand that creates death in sword form' do we have discussion > from Serioli on anything? Little, very little. What we do have is strong textual evidence that the Serioli created the Great Weapons to oppose the Gods. Denying them the ability to manifest in Dragaera certainly settles that issue quite thoroughly, and may be easier than actually killing them. In support of that thesis, note that a relatively ordinary Taltos horse is able to permanently prevent Verra from manifesting somewhere in 'Brokedown Palace.' And Godslayers correct name is 'Remover of Aspects of Divinity.' If memory serves, the Serioli attempts to correct Vlad and Morrolan on several similar items. IMHO this provides enough textev to say that humans and Easterners could well have misinterpreted what the Serioli say Morganti weapons do. I can well imagine that the Serioli said the weapons were "removers of souls from this plane." Easterners and Dragaerans, who probably knew little or nothing of any other planes, would immediately leap to a wrong interpretation. the other Steve -- Realize that life is a situation comedy that will never be canceled. A laugh track has been provided, and the reason why we are put in the material world is to get more material. From "Swami Beyondananda's Guidelines for Enlightenment"