To really understand Gloranthan cosmology, keep two things in mind:
1. The world is created by the conflict/dance of the five elements – Air, Darkness, Earth, Fire, and Water. This interaction is constantly in motion – elements conjoin and conflict with each other, aided and opposed by the Powers. All have victories, all suffer defeats. None can be destroyed or have final victory as a result of the Cosmic Compromise, which mandates that this conflict/dance must continue without resolution so the world can survive.
Most Gloranthans get this, which is why conflict between the cults is primarily mundane and mortal. Orlanthi fight with Yelmites, Yelmalions fight with trolls, and so on. These do not affect the gods themselves who continue their endless dance. Only Chaos threatens the gods – and thereby only Chaos threatens the continued existence of the cosmos.
2. The Lunar Way claims to have introduced a sixth player into this dance – the Red Goddess. She has forced her way in with the aid of Chaos and the dance has become destabilized, leading to the Hero Wars. Within the Lunar Empire many hope that she will be able to have a final triumph in the Gods War, ending the Compromise and creating a new cosmic order. Many outside the Lunar Empire fears that the Red Goddess threatens the continued existence of the cosmos and Lunar triumphalism does nothing to assuage such fears.
Although the Lunar Empire works with many traditional cults in the mundane and mortal world, the Red Goddess is associated with few of the ancient deities (Yelm being among the few exceptions). She is however associated with Primal Chaos, which is hardly reassuring. Lunar apologists can say whatever they like but the heads of most of the pantheons of Glorantha are hostile or even enemies. Her very presence alone is enough to cause this response.
Is the dance really stable? Yes, but there are stories of the Sun Stop, and that just shows how dangerous it is to try to introduce New Gods.
If Lunar’s destabilized the cosmic dance, why not the Dragon Ring? There was no such great reaction against the dragons by the ancient gods. One might even conclude that the dragons are an accepted part of the cosmos. Whereas, the Red Goddess definitely did not harmonise things. At least not yet, not until her final victory. Balance is achieved but not in the way any of the combatants desire. In the end the Moon allows the participants in the dance to wax and wane endlessly. But it has been awful destructive getting there and is going to get a lot worse before it gets there.
The core tenets of EVERY cult point to something real and of importance to the initiate. Orlanth, Yelm, Kyger Litor, Humakt, and yes the Red Goddess are all correct about their core tenets.
But correct doesn’t mean exclusively correct. Orlanth reminds us that violent storms are part of life, and that they bring both destruction and fertility. Yelm reminds us that the Sun is the source of Life, and that it must die and be reborn each day. And so on. But these truths are not sole and exclusive. That’s the divine dance in action.
The Red Goddess exists as the Red Moon because she reminds us of something true ever since Arachne Solara devoured the Devil and gave birth to Time. Time is after all cyclical. But she is also an interloper, one who used Chaos to get where she is. And thus she is opposed by those who uphold the Compromise that creates Time. She’s a paradox, a self-contradiction which is no deal for the Illuminated.
Her presence destabilises the dance and the Hero Wars are the ultimate result. Which is fine – after all without the Hero Wars, there is no RuneQuest, no Chaosium.
The Red Goddess is associated with few of the ancient deities? The Red Goddess has largely friendly relations with the deities of Fire and Sky. Ourania, Yelorna, and Yelmalio are the main exceptions. Without that association, I do not think the Red Goddess could have entered the realm of the gods.
Now a Western view would be that twice the Solar cults have let Chaos into the world, an interesting contrast with Darkness, which is closest to Chaos but the most in fighting it, and unlike Yelm did not need the Great Compromise in order to survive. Which says something interesting about all three.
Alternatively, a Yelmalion take is that Yelm is blissfully ignorant of the threat of Chaos, having died before it entered the cosmos.
Why there are nine metals if a five-element system (not six, not four) is an established universal fact? Because of the octamony of course! Seven primordial metals, and then mostali created an eight.
- Lead – the underworld
- Copper – the earth
- Aluminum/Quicksilver – water
- Tin – Upper Sky
- Silver – Lower Sky
- Gold – the Sun
- Bronze – each and sky together, forming air
- Iron – made by the mostali
The interesting thing to me is that the upper worlds get four metals, the lower only three.
When Argrath destroys all the Gods, why is there no apocalyptic disaster? Does he? One of the funny things is that people takes this bit from the Annotated Argrath Saga, and use it as a vehicle for something altogether other:
But, as was his way, Argrath did not do what everyone expected him to do. He did not wish to hazard the lives of all the best beings of body and spirit against the gods of entropy, as if this was another Battle of Doom .
Instead, Argrath called upon all the powers of his left hand, which he had used only once. With whoever would help him from each direction he did the Dragon Move, and in that way called into his presence Sh’harkazeel, which was promised freedom in return for its honest and true assistance.
Sh’harkazeel then shared with all beings which were present the secret of the ceremonial utuma , and there came into being from the ends of the universe the Seven Dragons. Then Argrath gave them their instructions.
Those which would do such a thing remained in this world, as they were asked. Those which would do such a thing then lurched into the sky. Those which would do such a thing brushed aside the burning light of the Red Moon which could destroy even them. The Storm Dragon then clutched the great bulk of the crimson orb with all four of its taloned feet, and wrapped itself around the Moon with its tail, wings, and long neck. With tooth and claw it plowed valleys into the surface of the Red Moon and cast screaming chunks of burning rock tumbling in an avalanche from the sky.
Then the Mover of Heaven rose upon beautiful wings and attacked. It seized the other side of the wounded orb, and the two dragons pushed and pulled until the entire body was wrenched from where the gods had placed it. In three great chunks, and a million lesser ones, it dropped from the sky and was gone, forever.
The shape of the world was changed. The way that nature works was changed. The way that men and women relate to the world was different. The way that the gods and mortals communicated was altered. This is the thing that Argrath did, to serve his people, to shape his god, and to make the world a better place for us.
What about:
“And then Argrath told them what to do. The gods were as one, and they wrapped the evil invader with the great net, and each of them held it strong and pulled upon it.
“Argrath was never bound to the old ways, but was still subject to them. This was when his Trickster betrayed him. For in that moment that the great council all pulled upon the net, then they were all caught up by it, wrapped together like a bag of squirrels in a string sack.
“Wakboth reached for it, and with terrifying bites and gnashings, consumed them all…”
I know the snippet. You know that actually conflates at least two stories – Greg suggested that it dates to later than the Argrath Saga.
But within this story the ritual of the net fails and the gods are devoured by Chaos, which constitutes a Red Goddess victory. After all that certainly ends the old broken world.
The point remains. If Argrath and the Devil is accurate then this result likely reflects a synthesis of both the Orlanthi and Lunar myth-goals. And constitutes a result desired by the Red Goddess.
Then again, this could also be something in the original story as well. Wakboth devoured the gods and Arachne Solara devoured the Devil. She gave birth to Time which reset the cosmos and trapped the gods and Chaos in her web.
Which I rather suspect might be the case. Argrath experienced the event and told others of it, and gets his name attached. And perhaps this is why he goes very draconic in the the last stage of the conflict.