There are some big conflicts hard-wired into the Glorantha setting, including (but not limited to):
- Lightbringers (including Storm Bull) v. Chaos
- Light Gods v. Troll Gods
- Elder Races v. Elder Races
These conflicts are macro and microcosmic. Political conflict often echo these cosmic conflicts – for example, Sartar and Prax (associated with Lightbringers) are locked in conflict with the Lunar Empire (associated with Chaos), the Sun Dome Temples and the trolls are in conflict, and so on. But mortals may decide for reasons of expediency to downplay a conflict, or to elevate some largely political conflict over the cosmic conflict.
So for example, the EWF included Lightbringers, Light Gods, and Elder Races, but its opposition also included the same. The Lunar Empire and the Talastari are able to cooperate against the Chaos of Dorastor. And so on.
Although the cosmic patterns are woven throughout the fabric of the cosmos, mortals are perfectly capable of opposing the pattern. Especially when they have something new or powerful aiding them like draconic magic or the Red Goddess (at least until she is locked into being identified with Chaos or Light).
What about Arkat v. Nysalor / Gbaji? and those Pelorians that think he was Gbaji? Well of course Arkat was not behind things like the plague that struck Ralios and Seshnela, or the broo that fought in Slontos, or the vampire rulers of Tanisor. No matter how later Pelorians want to twist it, Gbaji got assigned as a title for Nysalor by those who had dealt with the Chaos that the Nysalor cult brought with them.
Arkat gets the title of Deceiver after that already was given to Nysalor. Many of his allies were horrified by Arkat’s willingness to devote himself to enemy deities – most notably Humakt and Zorak Zoran, and his decision to become a krjalk himself to fight against Chaos. And of course there are those who believe he even became a Chaos monster to fight Gbaji.
Now in Peloria, few ever saw this and Nysalor remained revered as a teacher. As the Great Teacher said, “At the edges of the world, there are always shadows.”
Note that Illumination is not generally associated with Arkat. Here’s a case where people assume an in-game secret is far more commonly known than it is.
Note too that Yelm is “no friend of Chaos” but that’s about it. Chaos is not a special foe for Yelm – he hates it if threatens the divine order, but he hates Zorak Zoran as much as Primal Chaos. And he is associated with Nyasalor and the Red Goddess.
The decision by Chaosium creative staff to declare the Arkat and Nysalor material determined for all time to be “Arkat good, Nysalor Gbaji” and thus out of bounds for play is one that confuses me. At times I really wonder if you quite get that many of these stories predate Chaosium and have deeply personal origins. Argat-Gbaji is from about 1971 or so. Now both Arkat and Argrath have been given twists and added complexity since the original Argat-Gbaji story was written, but that story is still foundational to pretty much all of Glorantha. Heck, that story was established long before Sartar and the Red Moon, before Orlanth and the EWF, before Nysalor and Kyger Litor. And given what it was and what it was about, in the end Gbaji is the bad guy, and Argat is key to the struggle against Gbaji. Although at times we are going to wonder if Argat is any better than the Gbaji he struggles against, in the end he’s better than dealing with Gbaji, because in the end Gbaji always is going to fuck you up.
Here’s another twist. We can imagine the Moon Rune as something that combines Light AND Darkness, but not simultaneously.