[Glorantha] King Moirades' Empire

[Peter Metcalfe]

Paul Andrew King:

>I'll start by repeating that I have no problem with choosing an idea
>that makes a juicy plot-point.  My objection is limited to the claim
>that support for this idea is to be found in KoS

I never made such a claim and I've pointed out the examples of
Fimbulwinter and the Battle of Iceland to demonstrate why I
do not need explicit support in King of Sartar.

>Lets go over what Argrath's Saga DOES say about the Good Empire

I'm not interested in following closely to what Argrath's Saga
says since I do not believe it to be an accurate version of
events of the Hero Wars in Dragon Pass.  Many of the
statements that it makes are false (such as Argrath summoning
Gryphons at Corflu) so it is best used as a source of
ideas for what happens rather than a strict guide.

>As to your suggestion that the conquests of Tarsh at the end of Part
>3 and part 4 are the same event, both are to be found in CHDP.

No, they are not.  There is no conquest of Tarsh after the
battle of Dwernapple in the CHDP.  The CHDP finishes
with Argrath's victory at Dwernapple but leaves out any
description of his domains after the event.  Thus it
conveys an impression that Argrath has recovered Tarsh
but it does not actually say so.

>Nor do we have two formations of the Good Empire.  All
>Part 5 says is that the name was in use in Tarsh at the
>time - it does not say when the name was first applied.

Why does the information have to be repeated in Part 5
when it has already been described in Part 3?  If the
Saga was composed based upon a known history, then
the repetition simply wouldn't occur.  That it does
shows that the ur-Saga compiler was taking known
anecdotes (Argrath and the Giants, Argrath and the
Good Empire etc) and weaving them into a coherent
narrative.  In doing so, he fails to recognize that some
anecdotes refer to the same event and so his saga
creates a false impression.

--Peter Metcalfe