: A couple of additions to the soon-to-be-classic
: "Wellington's Historie of Ye Mandrake": I
: think a single mandrake application is all that is
: needed to produce immortality. It was part of the
: Heron Guards' initiation rite, and not (as far as the
: text goes) an ongoing ritual repeated throughout their
: lives.
An interesting idea but one we'll never be able to prove or disprove (like most of what I wrote). Since every Jman and Heron Guard in the game gets healed every time their health drops below half (well, the way I play them, anyway) it could go either way, as far as I can tell. Just on a common sense level, though, I feel it would take more than one application--it seems a little easy to have one basic ritual that makes you live FOREVER. You've got more actual evidence than I do, however, so as usual I concede. Oh, and a little factoid I've picked up from my roaming through the world of science: even if you never aged or got sick, the average lifespan would still only be roughly a thousand years. After that the statistical chance of you getting hit by a bus (or kicked by a trow, whatever) are astronomically high (well, okay, it doesn't happen on your thousandth birthday, it's the chance of having a fatal accident sometime in that millenium). Also, the human brain, in terms of storage space rendered in number of bits, can only hold something like ten to the thirteenth k, which is huge, but would only allow for about a thousand years worth of memories. Nobody knows what happens then but it's likely some really unpleasant form of Alzheimer's as your brain stops storing new information. Interesting synchronicity, no? A thousand years as human max, a thousand years between comets... hmm. Okay, so there's nothing there, I just wanted to show off my brilliance. ;)
: While it's possible that Alric's immortality stems from
: the mandrake (you certainly healed him enough in TFL
: to accomplish it), I think it's more likely just a
: "natural" consequence of his sorcerous
: abilities. Many people in Myth--Fallen Lords,
: Warlocks, Avatara, even (perhaps) Mauriac--are
: immortal or at least unnaturally long-lived, and I
: don't think it's all because of the mandrake. If it
: was, you'd see vast fields of the stuff being grown to
: benefit the wealthy and the powerful (and I suspect
: they wouldn't balk at human sacrifice, if the plant
: really does have to grow from blood-soaked ground.) I
: think the mandrake just kickstarts the self-repair
: systems of the folks like the Heron Guards and other
: great warriors, who are almost but not quite tough
: enough to be immortal on their own.
Excellent points, as usual. My argument against: the other avatara don't seem to live all that long--Cu Roi, Murgen, Maeldun and Rabican all bit it (agreed, from unnatural causes) pretty early and show no signs of coming back. Those avatara that do live for a while become shades, which doesn't seem like real immortality to me--they're undead, aren't they? (aren't they? This is a point that's been bugging me for some time). The fallen lords don't live forever, they just keep coming back--imho, "ancient evil" means something that was alive once, bugged some people, died, and, oh, crap, here it is again. Do you know something about warlocks I don't? It wouldn't surprise me. As cool as they look I've never really bothered to study them closely. As far as I can tell the only long-lived people in the game who didn't at least "disappear" for a while are Alric and the Jmen, with the possible addition of Myrdred, Damas, and Connacht (though they all did "disappear"), all of whom have very close ties to the Cath Bruig Empire. There's no indication that Alric was especially healthy BEFORE he hooked up with Jmen, either--I'm guessing they had a pretty good idea who was going to go to Muirthemne. Maybe they even advised him to do so--it was the easiest way for them to get their honor back, after all. All of the above, of course, is circumstantial, but what about this: if any great warrior is that close to immortality that all they need is to get within five feet of a root, what about the various heroes and champions? Any one of them could kick heron guard ass all over the map, and I, personally, have healed ninety per cent of them. Are they immortal now? Again, common sense would suggest no.
: From in-game evidence, the mandrake seems to grow
: exclusively by the banks of streams and rivers in
: grassy and forested areas. How much of the
: environmental damage in Myth--the creation of the
: Barrier, the pollution of various bodies of water--was
: intentionally done by the Dark to ensure that this
: powerful weapon would not be available to the Light?
: It seems that the roots are now able to grow in only
: the areas most sheltered from the attacks of the Dark.
Except... I hate to do it, but I'm pretty clear on this one--in Myth II you find mandrake plants in the Ermine and in Forest Heart. They clearly belong in the old-growth forest ecosystem. Now, the Ermine was worked over pretty hard by Balor before the great war, I'm guessing (which lead to the Fir'Bolg signing up with the Nine--correct me here, please, if I'm wrong, but I'm imagining that everybody's favorite sore-throated archers* needed some provocation to give up their enmity with the men of the West), and the part of Forest Heart where you find the plants was most definitely NOT spared the attacks of the dark--that's where two of the Nine bit it, where Soulblighter first attacked the Legion... hell, it's where the Trow and the Forest Giants got it on. In fact, it is the SAME EXACT SPOT, since it's where the shard of the tain was dropped.
: --SiliconDream
* My favorite bit of weirdness from Myth: TFL: the one Fir'Bolg with laryngitis (though sometimes I think he's just whispering, why I don't know since his buddies are yelling loud enough to wake the thrall):
"Step aside! "
"Why, Sal'mon, you sound terrible!"
"It's this blasted pollen. Happens every year. Don't know how much longer I can live in the Ermine, don'tchaknow."
"Hey, I've got allergies, too. Why don't you try 'Mandrake Brand' Medicated Lozenges?"
"Why... I feel incredible. Hey, you! Stand clear or I'll bust a cap in your fat dwarven ass! Yeah, I'm talkin' to you, little man!"
And the mythworld's first pitchman dies in a fiery explosion.
"My fault. I told him to make a hole."
--Dave
