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Jun. 8th, 2022 03:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iniquiticityexu calamity meta about zerxus and asmodeus
thinking about a meta post i saw last week about how gods do not function like mortals. mortals are free to consider the scope, effect, and ethical understanding of a decision they make (pending stuff like propoganda, does free will exist? etc).
gods do not have this ability. gods must ALWAYS act in the way their domain demands.
read a great book, “kingdom of gods,” by nk jemisin (she won 3 hugos, by the way), in which the main character is the god of children and mischief. a key point of the story is just how IMPORTANT the dynamic of “god must always act in the service of their domains” functions in the world.
to a mortal, “being a good mortal,” entails making decisions that are “morally/ethically good.”
but, to a god, “being a good god,” entails making decisions that are “aligned with the god’s domain.”
for example, should you, a mortal, find a being tells you: i did the best i could. i brought color and contrast and negative space to a world because all the good stuff was already taken but i still wanted to help. i was hated for it for reasons i do not understand. i had a promise to the residents of a place where i lived and wished to fulfill it. and for all those things i was called “betrayer” and then punished for a squillion years.
should you, a mortal, attempt the “morally good” choice in the face of meeting this being, the decision is of course to patch that being up and say ‘Wow, that’s fucked up. Who did that to you? Fuck them! I’m going to protect you if those guys show up again.“
but the problem is that this being is a god. to this god, the god of lies, "being a good god,” entails telling you this story in this form. this god is CONCEPTUALLY BOUND to lie to you. this god, to be the very ASPECT that they are, MUST attempt to manipulate you. they MUST attempt to conquer you, to suss out your weakness and use them to dominate you. they MUST see the things that have brought you pain and suffering, and twist them.
obviously we can really get into the hubris of wizards (patia, especially, but also lorraeym, nydus, and loquatious), but the great and wonderful part about brennan creating this interaction between a god and a mortal clearly tells us: THE HUBRIS IS NOT WIZARDS. I mean, yes, wizards have A LOT of hubris! But wizardry is only one LENS of hubris. Zerxus, who hates the city of wizards, who does not access arcane energy, who finds the wizards to kind of be just terrible and annoying - he has SO much hubris of his own! he has so much hubris that 1) he believes HE is not being lied to/manipulated by the god of lies, who TELLS HIM he is the father of lies, and 2) he believes HIS behavior can force the god of lies to not act in the service of his domains. zerxus tells us “it is not only wizards. all mortals, in their ascension to power, have become blind to the fundamental difference between mortal and divine.”
and of course, purvan suul attempts to explain this difference to us. he says, in so many words, “there is a fundamental difference between gods and mortals and it is not about power. my queen understands it now. it’s a big deal.” of course the wizards think is hysterical and stupid. but! but! the wizards that are close to vespin’s work SEE this warning for the threat that it is. dean willow SPECIFICALLY does not like that purvan could find SOMEONE that this revelation hits. She knows better than to think the city of hubris she lives in will be affected by it, but she doesn’t want it going to anyone else. She only doesn’t kill purvan BECAUSE zerxus can see the forest of evil gods (if you will), but not the trees of evil gods (being personally manipulated by asmodeus). of course the betrayer gods did terrible things, but HE is righteous and powerful enough to not fall under their sway.
it’s a GREAT angle on a story that we come into with a lot of preconceived notions about wizard hubris and how much of the fault it is of WIZARDS. and yes, wizards have done a lot of terrible stuff! they will do more terrible stuff! but it is really NOT about wizards, if you zoom out more. it is about PEOPLE. it is about OBTAINING POWER. if you obtain power without the WISDOM associated with gods and with, mechanically speaking, clerical (and druidic!) classes, you gain hubris.
…. and then you, a wizard, thinking you know better, release the betrayer gods. And then you, a paladin, are just totally suckered by the god of lies. And then you, a prophet, believe there is no way a prophecy about your city falling can be true. And then you, a changeling, are having trouble understanding what the trouble is at all?
(i have a whole 'nother post about cerrit. but that’s for another day.)
thinking about a meta post i saw last week about how gods do not function like mortals. mortals are free to consider the scope, effect, and ethical understanding of a decision they make (pending stuff like propoganda, does free will exist? etc).
gods do not have this ability. gods must ALWAYS act in the way their domain demands.
read a great book, “kingdom of gods,” by nk jemisin (she won 3 hugos, by the way), in which the main character is the god of children and mischief. a key point of the story is just how IMPORTANT the dynamic of “god must always act in the service of their domains” functions in the world.
to a mortal, “being a good mortal,” entails making decisions that are “morally/ethically good.”
but, to a god, “being a good god,” entails making decisions that are “aligned with the god’s domain.”
for example, should you, a mortal, find a being tells you: i did the best i could. i brought color and contrast and negative space to a world because all the good stuff was already taken but i still wanted to help. i was hated for it for reasons i do not understand. i had a promise to the residents of a place where i lived and wished to fulfill it. and for all those things i was called “betrayer” and then punished for a squillion years.
should you, a mortal, attempt the “morally good” choice in the face of meeting this being, the decision is of course to patch that being up and say ‘Wow, that’s fucked up. Who did that to you? Fuck them! I’m going to protect you if those guys show up again.“
but the problem is that this being is a god. to this god, the god of lies, "being a good god,” entails telling you this story in this form. this god is CONCEPTUALLY BOUND to lie to you. this god, to be the very ASPECT that they are, MUST attempt to manipulate you. they MUST attempt to conquer you, to suss out your weakness and use them to dominate you. they MUST see the things that have brought you pain and suffering, and twist them.
obviously we can really get into the hubris of wizards (patia, especially, but also lorraeym, nydus, and loquatious), but the great and wonderful part about brennan creating this interaction between a god and a mortal clearly tells us: THE HUBRIS IS NOT WIZARDS. I mean, yes, wizards have A LOT of hubris! But wizardry is only one LENS of hubris. Zerxus, who hates the city of wizards, who does not access arcane energy, who finds the wizards to kind of be just terrible and annoying - he has SO much hubris of his own! he has so much hubris that 1) he believes HE is not being lied to/manipulated by the god of lies, who TELLS HIM he is the father of lies, and 2) he believes HIS behavior can force the god of lies to not act in the service of his domains. zerxus tells us “it is not only wizards. all mortals, in their ascension to power, have become blind to the fundamental difference between mortal and divine.”
and of course, purvan suul attempts to explain this difference to us. he says, in so many words, “there is a fundamental difference between gods and mortals and it is not about power. my queen understands it now. it’s a big deal.” of course the wizards think is hysterical and stupid. but! but! the wizards that are close to vespin’s work SEE this warning for the threat that it is. dean willow SPECIFICALLY does not like that purvan could find SOMEONE that this revelation hits. She knows better than to think the city of hubris she lives in will be affected by it, but she doesn’t want it going to anyone else. She only doesn’t kill purvan BECAUSE zerxus can see the forest of evil gods (if you will), but not the trees of evil gods (being personally manipulated by asmodeus). of course the betrayer gods did terrible things, but HE is righteous and powerful enough to not fall under their sway.
it’s a GREAT angle on a story that we come into with a lot of preconceived notions about wizard hubris and how much of the fault it is of WIZARDS. and yes, wizards have done a lot of terrible stuff! they will do more terrible stuff! but it is really NOT about wizards, if you zoom out more. it is about PEOPLE. it is about OBTAINING POWER. if you obtain power without the WISDOM associated with gods and with, mechanically speaking, clerical (and druidic!) classes, you gain hubris.
…. and then you, a wizard, thinking you know better, release the betrayer gods. And then you, a paladin, are just totally suckered by the god of lies. And then you, a prophet, believe there is no way a prophecy about your city falling can be true. And then you, a changeling, are having trouble understanding what the trouble is at all?
(i have a whole 'nother post about cerrit. but that’s for another day.)