3 – The Underworld
The Initiation of Orlanth, continued
Vadrus stirred the Well so rapidly that the gods there streamed into one swirling pool of water, and Vadrus escaped through the seams in the well lid.
Urox confronted the carnivores of the wild, and did not run from them, but stamped them beneath his bloody hooves. Then he broke down the corral and released all the creatures.
The other brother failed, and was driven mad by the demons.
Humakt already knew everyone in the Fighting Pit, and they could not stand before him. They were all disarmed, or surrendered, and Humakt climbed from the pit on their weapons.
Orlanth quarreled at first with the Strange Gods, but some of them were friendly. With them Orlanth prepared a plan, and they escaped from the Prison of the Strange gods.
The successful brothers met, and Orlanth urged them all to help their failed kinsman. They formed the Brothers’ Ring, and they moved into position around the Sex Pit. They made their chants and prayers there, and after a struggle he came out before them, and together they did their best to heal him.
Then they went to the great hall, where their uncles had prepared a great feast. Their hosts were surprised to see them, but realized that they must honor their nephews now as gods with powers. So they held a great feast, and since then all the storm gods and the people of the storm tribes have held victory feasts after initiation.
The Underworld
The Underworld is the irrational ancestress of known Glorantha. It precedes all that can be known, and thus cannot be truly known. It houses mystery, spawns mystery and is a mystery itself. Many Gloranthans think that all the worlds of Glorantha spawned from the Underworld.
Most people of the Middle World believe that the Underworld is the source of their worst enemies – Death, Darkness and Chaos – though not all of these beliefs and connections are correct. The Underworld is also the source of Fertility.
The Underworld is not any one of the Other Worlds, but encompasses them all. For some cultures, most notably the Uz and the Aldryami, the Underworld is their Otherworld. For the Uz, the Underworld is Wonderhome, a place of total darkness until dead Yelm was cast down, accompanied by his weeping and mourning minions. For the Aldryami, the Underworld is the home of Flamal the Father of Seeds and source of the Primal Plasma that animates all Life.
There are many deities of death or of the dead in the Underworld. It was the place where Death was born, and when the God Time was regressing back into Chaos all dead things gathered in the Darkness. Since that mythical act, all things which have died go to the Underworld first, into ignorance and fear and facelessness. Their fate after that depends upon themselves, upon their actions while living, and upon their friends among the deities or spirits. Among the better known places in the Underworld is the Court of Silence, where the Judge of the Dead assigns the dead to their fate.
Hidden deep underneath the center of the bottom of the lowest Underworld is the Chaosium, the Fount of Chaos, which spews forth both monstrosities and raw unformed “stuff” into the world. What no sane Gloranthan really understands is that, without this Chaos entering the world, everything would be locked into Stasis.
…okay, you’ve stumped me: who are these Strange Gods? I’m guessing the red/black masked woman is The Goddess Who Dies And Gets Completely Forgotten And Then Is Rebuilt As Sedenya, so by definition you wouldn’t be giving her a name, but… seriously, who the heck are they?
It appears to me that the goddess he is arguing with, holding the knife and the bell, half red and half black is a form of Natha, who is indeed revealed to be one of the masks of Sedenya.
http://glorantha.wikia.com/wiki/Natha
This happened as a formative step in Orlanth’s childhood, ending it. (The only other myths of Orlanth’s childhood are his adventures with Yinkin atop Kero Fin.) This places these events shortly after Umath was destroyed by Jagrekriand (aka Shargash or Tolat) at the behest of the Emperor of the Universe (aka Yelm).
This makes it fairly clear who ran the prison of the Strange Gods – it was run for Yelm’s court, probably by some Dara Happan underworld deity like Deshkorgos (who might match the three-eyed mask in part 2, which also fits for Zorak Zoran and other Underworld nasties). The prisoners must have been all those deities who did something to displease the Emperor (such as demanding or undergoing changes) and who got caught.
Yes, that includes Verithurus(a), a planetary “son” of Yelm who went on a journey of discovery, changed its color and visited the Underworld.
There also was an entire class of deities of mixed (elemental, and possibly also mixed power rune) origins, the so-called Burtae, whose very existence displeased the Emperor. Off to the prison with them.
The strange gods may have included a few of the Lightbringers, possibly also fallen stars that lost their purity, non-subservient goddesses (Verithurusa, possibly Maran?), possibly failed diplomats from other domains of the Gods Age (emissaries from Genert, Pamalt, Malkion, Vith?), supporters of the former Earth rulers (named as Molandro in one obscure myth in the Jonstown Compendium, and as a ruling queen in Entekosiad).
Who wasn’t there? No troll gods (except possibly as guardians outside or failed guardians inside the prison), no great beast spirits or deities (those were penned with Urox), no sea deities (failed invaders where Sshorg(a) had semi-success, imprisoned in the well where Vadrus was stirring up things), no aldryami/nymphs (those were in the Sex Pit).
It can be safely assumed that more than half of the inmates had better stayed inside that prison, even from an Orlanthi POV. But then the sons of Umath all were hard cases the Sons of Anarchy bikers would have been glad to take in.
For another guess, I suppose a number of Orlanth’s fellow inmates later joined the Vadrudi, raiding the outskirts of Yelm’s Empire in the early Storm Age.
I don’t know about any deities introducing themselves to Orlanth’s camp (or later his hall) as fellow inmates. If Verithurusa had done so (or if Sedenya’s next form will do so), the Third Age would have been different. Still, this might be an odd way to make a strange cult somewhat acceptable to an Orlanthi clan or culture, and might be worth questing for.
Actually, I think Argrath/Orlanth is quarrelling with Natha. And his organizing the escape is the echoing of the inherently lawful nature of the Storm Tribe, as opposed to the false, selfish Lunar unity, the blinding selfishness of illumination which only Arkat was able to resist. Argrath/Orlanth shows his skills at building Unity, which saves the world during the Lightbringer’s Quest, the I Fought We Won, and the Great Compromise.
If I were a God Learner, I’d grab a draconic mystic from the EWF, head immediately into this myth, and have Arangorf teach Natha Right Action, so she can achieve her Nysaloran liberation but with Draconic orobourous wisdom, and save Glorantha.
Additional tidbit – Orlanth can’t fight back directly against the Red Goddess because she’s *kin*. More to come.
The choice of “strange gods” to show him (and us) in this particular initiation is really super-nice. In general the depiction of ritual reality has been gorgeous here — I love the way you draw the real uncles so loosely — but this one kicks things into a fresh gear. Orange hair, orange eyes!
Oh, if I were guessing I’d say we have the horrific red bull of the old shahs here and the sun dragon of Pavis. Shapes of peloria past / shapes of nightmares to come.
The Arkat was from the very beginning the allie of treacherous dragons and chaotic gods. May he suffer in the darkest hell, where pain is like a cloth. You must always remember : the Arkat must die.
Do you have a planned update schedule?
Yes, we do. A new page will be released every Sunday.
You know that the Arkat is the Liberator, and like Malkion, he must die, and deep down, you know he is right. You dream that you are Gbaji and can transcend and become selfishness and Chaos. You must be Arkat and undergo Utuma! You must undertake Right Action, and spin Ourobous! Chaos resists this, but Chaos must devolve! As Gerra experiences, as Sorana Tor commands, as Orlanth performed unto Bijiif Yelm to release his Antirius nature – the only Arkat answer to Gabiji is Utuma! Argrath taught Sedenya Right Action, responsibility, the 5 actions! Ourobourous, Utuma! This is the only answer to Gbaji Yelm! As Orlanth wielded Sorana Tor and teach Yelm Right Action, so too will Sedenya learn Utuma! Chaos undergoes Utuma, devolves, and becomes Creations! Praise Malkion Arkat! Praise the Liberator, Makan, Utuma! – From a prophet of the late 3rd Age, provenance unknown.
Hey, the ‘next’ button on this page doesn’t seem to work. It leads back to the start of the chapter. The next page isn’t accessible via the archives either; had to skip it and go to the next one along.