Kerghans last thoughts

Ah, good point!

And credit where it's due, he's since repented of his more horrific actions by the time you've reached him. How much he actually regrets is debatable, but he certainly isn't proud of his actions any more. I think, also, his ire was for outright non-elves, thanks to his own father teaching him that elves were wiser and superior and blahdi blahdi frickin' blah... Certainly he was too young for the Council, his mind filled with all this glorious pro-elf propaganda without the restraint and perspective that a longer life would have given him.

If I may be so bold, I'd say Nasrudin was the direct cause of everything Arronax did. He taught Arronax elves were superior, he gave Arronax a place on the council when everyone else said that he was too young and inexperienced, and then when everyone backfired he was the one who condemned his child and banished him to the Void.

Not exactly the great hero the Panarii make him out to be, is he?

 

I'd place Nasrudin as the number one responsible for most of the stuff actually. But I'd have to say Arronax was either directly or indirectly responsible for Khergan. It was Arronax's influence that condemned Khergan to the void, a bit overkill really. But then again, it can be argued that Arronax made his decision based on the idealogical racial superiority complex instilled in him by Nasrudin, so it'd actually be Nasrudin's fault entirely.

Poor wording on my part. I never meant to imply he did, just that the three of them, to me at least, share a similar idea that their way is the best way, and damn anyone who gets in their way. I think that's a bit expected to come with unbridled magical power tho'.

 

Actually, I thought the entire council voted for him to be condemned to the Void because of the whole 'Black Necromancy/murdering people/unethical experiments' thing he was doing back in the day. Arronax just brought all this to the council's attention and demanded that he be punished.

In other words, Kerghan earnt being banished.

 

Nasrudin and the Elven Council were an institution of structural violence wielded against opponents when they (the council) weren't creative enough to come up with other solutions. Nasrudin admits that he banished the nomad leader in a fit of rage, and that Kraka-tur was begging to be spared when he was banished. The council was suffering from self-righteous victory addiction, and Arronax as well was infected by that most insidious aspect of cultural violence.

How much Arronax regrets the destruction of Vendigroth may be revealed when we takes Vendigroth's restoration upon himself. However, he was also partly and directly responsible for Kerghan's banishment, as the other council members advocated expulsion from the council until they allowed themselves to be swayed by Arronax.

Was that convoluted?

 

Nasrudin highly influented Arronax's view of life, but he alone bares responsibility for his own actions. It's not like he was retarded or unable to think for himself.
You say it like banishing Arronax was another of Nasrudin's offences. He did what he had to do. Arronax was to powerful and dangerous to be kept alive, and yet to magickal to be killed, with his regenerative shell. Banishment was the only solution. It was propably the most justified banishment of all. And the sole fact that Nasrudin took part in it proves how great of a leader he was, being able to deal with the pain of banishing his own blood.
Nasrudin isn't perfect, but he doesn't claim to be so. He wasn't the best father, he put his own ideas into an unprepared mind of a child which was Arronax, and we all know the results. He was too focused his son, but it's a single failure compared to a 1000 years of making Arcanum as good as possible.

Kerghan earned banishment? Oh come on. He was a mage. He was playing with nature, it's what mages do. Ethics aren't that important for them, at least they aren't the priority. Look at the fire master and dark necromancy master in Tulla. They are both most propably evil sick fucks. Yet it it understandable for the Tulla mages, that achieving successes in magic justifies doubtful ways of gaining that power.

What did Kerghan do? He talked with the dead, raised a few corpses, killed them back (but they were dead to begin with), he didn't murder anybody who wasn't already dead before his magick experiments. In real life he would be a scientist who doesn't stop progressing only because not everyone think it's ethical.
As for punishment. I don't think he deserves any, but is people aren't happy with his experiments, exiling him from the council would do. Killing him would be too much. But sending him into a completely unknown world? Compare the slaughters and deaths brought to houndreds by Krata-tur, Gorgoth, the Bane of Kree and Arronax to a few conjure spirit and create undead spells cast by Kerghan.

Kraka-tur was a fiend. He was mentally unstable, he brought death and suffering all over Arcanum, and was very happy about it. How does his begging for mercy after being defeated change anything about his situation? It doesn't make him deserve banishment any less, not one bit.[/quote]

Lets not exaggerate. They weren't a bunch of tyrants, banishing anyone who wouldn't do what they wanted. They tried to hold a good rule over Arcanum, banishment was used against obviously evil beings causing havoc and destruction, it was their form of a final solution to those unable to stay in the society.

 

I never said Arronax wasn't responsible for his actions, only that his motivations and beliefs that he was doing the 'right' thing can be directly traced back to Nasrudin. If nothing else, Arronax should at the very least have been forced to wait until he was older before joining the Council, like the majority of the Council actually wanted. I'm fairly certain Nasrudin used his influence as leader of the Council to force them to let Arronax in. It's highly likely that he would never have felt compelled to do anything about Vendigroth's refusal to abandon technology or bow to the Council (assuming they were even all that well known outside the Council), and the situation would never have gotten as far as it did.

Honestly, if the Council had any genuine influence over its members, Arronax would have been called off and forced to pay for his crimes after making the factory explode, or even for threatening the Vendigrothan governor. After all, just because they chose not to bow before the council, that doesn't justify the council ignoring the fact that one of their number attacked and killed innocents.

Yeah, I'm pretty much done with my Anti-Nasrudin Anti-Council stuff now. Any other points I could make have been made elsewhere and likely better. Just remember, kiddies, come November (or maybe December, depending on how long whatever I wind up doing for this year's NaNo takes me), I'm going to be finishing up my pen and paper Arcanum stuff, and the Age of Legends will be the first worldbook I write...

 

Yeah, that is true. Nasrudin just was to eager and hasty about Arronax being in the council. That is an obvious mistake of his.

I always imagined, that before the council knew for sure what Arronax did in the factory, matters quickly got worse and before they could say "Grilled cheese sandwich", Vendigroth was no more. The flow of information isn't always that fast, especially in case of Vendigroth, which propably always was secluded as a society keeping to itself.