[Mkguild] Regarding "Covenants"

[Christof M. Bradford]

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On 03/28/2013 05:50 AM, Hallan Mirayas wrote:
> I've given this story a lot of thought, and I'll be honest... I don't like
> what it introduces.
> 
> Setting aside the potential violation of established canon regarding
> Follower immunity to daedra magic, the sidelining of the Yehudim (the
> equivalents of the Jews), the implication that not even one Tened buckled
> under the weight of despair and extinction, and the questionable historical
> accuracy of an entire ancient world worshipping Eli before the aedra/daedra
> arrived, I have two big objections.
> 
The Tened people have been extinct for more than five thousand years.  All
that anyone(with two exceptions) knows of them in the current age are shards
of pottery, a few crumbling ruins, and an oddly well-preserved scrap from an
ancient elf's travel diary.  I have plans to write stories about the ancient
Tened and explore what their societies were like in their heyday, as well as
how they handled extinction.  It would not be much of a spoiler to say that
they didn't handle it very well.

> First and largest, since when does Eli say 'believe in me and follow me, and
> I will do absolutely nothing'?
> 
> /"I went before Eli and begged Him to set things right. He refused, saying
> that to restore health to my people would deprive their choice and faith of
> meaning. 'What good does it do them to make hard choices if they know that
> there is no real risk?' /
> 
> So choice means slow, painful extinction of an entire race down to the last
> man, woman and child?  That's not 'risk', that's _certainty_.  Why aren’t
> the Tened a byword for absolute stupidity?  The aedra and daedra have
> already shown they are quite good at propaganda.  “We /wanted/ to help them,
> but they’d rather follow their own death god.  Eli, if he even exists,
> wouldn’t lift a finger for them, even when they begged him.  What an
> asshole.”  Imagine if, in the Bible, the ten thousand prophets of Ba'al had
> called down fire from heaven at Mt. Carmel, and when Elijah asked God for
> fire, he'd said, 'Nope.  You chose to believe in me, but I'm not going to do
> anything to rescue you.  Even if you are the most godly person on the planet.'
> 
> Lastly, do you really want to go there?
> 
This is not directly from the mouth of Eli, or even an angel.  Troud is
basically the ghost of a living person.  The words that he says to Felsah
may not be entirely accurate.

> /"In memory of the Tened, who wouldst not be parted from the Truth, even to
> preserve their lives, I Who Am make this everlasting covenant with the
> Peoples of Scale and Feather. For so long as thou hast no dealings with
> those who wouldst name themselves gods in defiance of the Most High, I shall
> shield thee from their direct agency."/
> 
> Do you really want to make an entire race immune to the aedra/daedra, not
> because of faith, but just because of random chance of birth or curse?
> 
The immunity is not so broad as you might think.  It only covers magics
actively cast by an (d)aedra and directed at the shielded individual.  And
being a reptile or bird is only part of the requirement of the covenant; if
a shielded individual ever worships the Lightbringer pantheon, or enters
into any deal with them, the protection will be immediately and permanently
stripped away.



- -- 
I have an old tome.  A tome bound of flesh and scribed in blood.  It
holds many secrets, secrets for you to reveal.
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