: Is it just 1000 years per cycle, light and dark being
: split up in varying degrees, or 1000 years per cycle,
: 500 dark/500 light? I only ask this, because I forgot
: what our decision was.
It's definitely a thousand year cycle (sorry Silicon); see the epilogue, where it says that in the Second Era the Leveler was killed; a thousand years later he was killed; and so on. So the Leveler dies every thousand years, making the cycle a thousand years old. Likewise, Alric rose up and killed Balor a thousand years after Connacht defeated Moagim, suggesting the latter of your two possibilities.
: I think it's the former. I think the dark could kill
: every single civilized being in 500 years, if that's
: how long the dark are supposed to rule. So it really
: doesn't make sense for the dark to rule 500 years and
: not be able to destroy everything.
Now here I do agree with Silicon; it's not 500 years of complete dominance, it's 500 years of fated victories. So, in the beginning, there were the forces of the light, who were fated to conquer the wild lands and progress civilization. 500 years into that, the Leveler arose, and began to plot and scheme, to amass armies and win progressively larger battles, until, after 500 years of growing oppression over the Light, he was right about to wipe out all resistance, when a Great Hero rose up and, IIRC, whacked off his head and burnt his body. After 500 years of defeating the remaining forces of the dark, rebuilding their cities, civilization was almost at a peak... and the Leveler came back. Wash, rinse, repeat, for six thousand years, and then sixty years into the seventh cycle, Soulblighter goes and messes it all up.
: And about the Myrkridia... Are they really a part of the
: dark, or are they neutral, like the Trow? It seems to
: me like the Myrkridia allowed people to live, though
: under extreme fear/oppresion (see myth 1 manual
: intro). And I thought the motto of the dark is
: "seeking not to conquer but to destroy".
I don't think any living race is inherantly evil, but can be subborned to serve the light or the dark. Some races are more inclined to serve one of the other; Humans typically serve the Light, Ghols typically serve the Dark, etc. But there have been Dark Humans, like the Mayor of Otter Ferry and Baron Kildaer and the Myrmidons, and chances are there were some good 'Dark' guys too, traitorous Ghols and such.
