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Message no. 1
From: Damon Harper <nomad74@*******.COM>
Subject: Ysthgrathe [was Re: Devil Inside]
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 04:14:36 PST
>Yrsthgrathe -- In the novel Worlds Without End he dies... in a
>particularly spectacular fashion (evil thought, he created a Horror
Heart
>and is out creating manaspikes : ). However, that doesn't mean he was
the
>only Horror in Aztlan.

Nor does it mean he is dead...

Yrsthgrathe was
>simply the ring leader.

From my understanding(what I know from WWoE, Horrors, and the
elusive Ms. Spector), Y wasn't that much of an influential Horror.
During the 4th world, he was constantly searching for that "one like
her", meaning Aina. He loved to torment and torture individuals by
harming those around them. I'm willing to bet he did this to Aina for
centuries, if not longer(can't wait till Scars comes out). Aina was the
closest thing he's had to love, and so he is obsessed by her.

>His death may have won a battle,

I believe his battle was more personal than they'd have you
believe.

>but the war is
>far from over. Yrsthgrathe also reawakened many ideas, such as blood
>magic.

I'm willing to bet more sinister agents(maybe even Horrors) are
behind Blood Magic.

He was likely behind the Blood Mage Gestalt, and the Warrior
>Orders. These ideas will survive him on their own. It's very hard >to
kill an idea.

Personally, I think you give Y far too much credit. He was too
immersed in what he wanted to start any cults or orders. If he had,
they'd all be too devoted to find him a new "Aina".
Where does his facination with Aina stem from? I've been trying
to solve that mystery for years now. My theory, and the one I will
kling on to until "Scars" or "Little Treasures" come out, is that Y,
like most Horrors, fed on emotion. Aina gave him an emotion- one that
he liked very well- Love. And he's been "with" her ever since. At first
I believed that this is how Aina got her immortality(see the pic in the
ED book), but Spector denies this, and just keeps telling me to wait
until her ED novels come out to see. So maybe it will be cleared up
then.



-Vagabond <nomad74@*******.com><ICQ 4297972>
___________________________________________________________
¹vag·a·bond \va-ge-bänd\ adj. 1: wandering, homeless
2: of, characteristic of, or leading the life of a vagrant
or tramp 3: leading an unsettled or irresponsible life

²vagabond n: one leading a vagabond life; esp : tramp


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Message no. 2
From: Ereskanti <Ereskanti@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Ysthgrathe [was Re: Devil Inside]
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 23:12:50 EST
In a message dated 98-01-28 07:15:18 EST, nomad74@*******.COM writes:

> >Yrsthgrathe -- In the novel Worlds Without End he dies... in a
> >particularly spectacular fashion (evil thought, he created a Horror
> Heart
> >and is out creating manaspikes : ). However, that doesn't mean he was
> the
> >only Horror in Aztlan.
>
> Nor does it mean he is dead...

Death can only to those that ever lived to begin with...a far stronger, more
relative question would be ... did he have the time to move enough of his
"essential energies" to the SR universe to survive after...well, those are
stories for a later time...

> Yrsthgrathe was
> >simply the ring leader.
>
> From my understanding(what I know from WWoE, Horrors, and the
> elusive Ms. Spector), Y wasn't that much of an influential Horror.
> During the 4th world, he was constantly searching for that "one like
> her", meaning Aina. He loved to torment and torture individuals by
> harming those around them. I'm willing to bet he did this to Aina for
> centuries, if not longer(can't wait till Scars comes out). Aina was the
> closest thing he's had to love, and so he is obsessed by her.

Love, the far most powerful obsession known within and beyond the graspings of
the universe....yes, Yr was a very special, even unique being. But it would
take a vast imagination and a lot of compassion to really play him correctly.
I would have to honestly compare his potential, or that of a -few- of the
other "Named Horrors" to the power and depth of the -original- Strahd of
AD&D
fame...before they went into the depth of marketing in TSR...

> >His death may have won a battle,
>
> I believe his battle was more personal than they'd have you
> believe.

But that didn't mean he couldn't have won it...

> >but the war is
> >far from over. Yrsthgrathe also reawakened many ideas, such as blood
> >magic.
>
> I'm willing to bet more sinister agents(maybe even Horrors) are
> behind Blood Magic.

I'm willing to play along with that bet, there is a reason...Horrors are not
capable of "Blood Magic" in the normal sense, or, maybe a better thing to see,
is they are not capable of "Life Magic." It takes a Soul to perform such,
from that POV I can see where perhaps the Horrors "invented" the magic.
Taint's force and understanding of raw etheric nature combined with other's
(Contraption King Thingy comes to mind) desire to see the torture of something
that can relinquish such understanding...yes, Horrors and Blood Magic are
tied, but that too is a "Passionate" thing....

> He was likely behind the Blood Mage Gestalt, and the Warrior
> >Orders. These ideas will survive him on their own. It's very hard >to
> kill an idea.
>
> Personally, I think you give Y far too much credit. He was too
> immersed in what he wanted to start any cults or orders. If he had,
> they'd all be too devoted to find him a new "Aina".

Very true, I do however see "Bone Crown" or "Taint" behind some of the
more
interesting ones. "Tempter" would be a fun one to send across as an
"emissary" actually...perhaps working for one of the others...

> Where does his facination with Aina stem from? I've been trying
> to solve that mystery for years now. My theory, and the one I will
> kling on to until "Scars" or "Little Treasures" come out, is
that Y,
> like most Horrors, fed on emotion. Aina gave him an emotion- one that
> he liked very well- Love. And he's been "with" her ever since. At first
> I believed that this is how Aina got her immortality(see the pic in the
> ED book), but Spector denies this, and just keeps telling me to wait
> until her ED novels come out to see. So maybe it will be cleared up
> then.

Her immortality could come from many sources, in truth. But Immortality is
nothing without the Will to survive it and the Passion to encompass it...

> -Vagabond <nomad74@*******.com><ICQ 4297972>

Lovely post, and combined with my new copy of Adrenalize (CD), this ,makes the
list -really - fun again...typing speed has no exceeded 120 again...I feel
good...

-K

Further Reading

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Thwap!