On Rhysol

[Xii]

I didn't know if I should make a new topic or not (since I already posted some questions before in a different thread), or even if this is the right forum for this sort of thing. But I decided I would post and maybe someone can point me in the right direction if I shouldn't be here. What I'm asking isn't really a question with a small, exact answer. It's more conceptual, I guess. Maybe speculative?

I've been reading up on Ravok, Rhysol, and the like, and I'm having a bit of a difficulty wrapping my head around it all. I'm hoping Xii will be given a Chaon gnosis for her starting package, so I really want to understand what exactly Rhysol is all about.

The biggest thing I can't understand about Rhysol is how he operates in the long picture. I think I read somewhere that he wants to be elevated to the status of god of the gods, and that makes it seem like he wants to gather power in the long term. So him being the patron of Ravok sort of confuses me.

Ravok is orderly, for the most part, and all about talking Rhysol up. The citizens of Ravok love Rhysol. I read (I think it was in one of Gillar's scrapbook posts) that the city has order so that the people will be complacent and more easy to influence. But wouldn't Ravok gain more power by creating a place like Sunberth, where everything is in shambles and chaos reigns?

The strange thing is that Rhysol has his agents (the Black Sun, the Ebonstryfe) who go around and infiltrate other cities and try to spread chaos there in the existing infrastructures (presumably to tear those infrastructures down and build Rhysol up and seed his influence, as in Ravok). But say he succeeds in this. Then he has a bunch of cities devoted to him, but all of them are neat and tidy, and being neat and tidy doesn't benefit him really at all, does it? Having a lot of followers would probably help him, but he's the god of evil and chaos. Having a bunch of adoring fans content to peacefully live their lives amongst each other won't get him anything.

Or, say he completely destroys the other cities. Maybe the people there change their tunes and decide to migrate to Ravok itself, to get out of Rhysol's 'bad graces', as it were. You still have a bunch of people living together in peace and harmony. They don't dislike each other; from what I heard, they all get along for the most part. Even the slaves are generally well-treated. The only chaos they take part in is their dislike of outsiders; but eventually, if Rhysol got his way (assuming domination is what he wants), nobody would be an outsider.

The only thing I can think of to make this all make sense is that he's breeding these people to love him and worship him like a 'good' god in order to betray them later, and so badly that the ensuing chaos will give him a HUGE power bump. And then with that power he'll work towards his other goals, whatever those may be.

Another thing I'm confused about: the function of the Rising Dawn. All they're doing (killing people, burning down buildings) is inadvertently helping Rhysol by creating a panic and chaos. I'm not quite certain how they think they're helping themselves. Anything they do of a rebellious nature is just going to hurt them in the end, or so it seems. Wouldn't it make the most sense for them to create a bastion of order, like Syliras? It seems Syliras and the Knights are the biggest threat to Rhysol, not because they attack him (I'm sure they do), but simply because of the way they live.

Can anyone offer insight? I know Rhysol is also supposed to be unpredictable, but I'd like to be able to understand a bit, especially considering that I might want to roleplay one of his (chaotic) followers.

[Gillar]

The biggest thing I can't understand about Rhysol is how he operates in the long picture. I think I read somewhere that he wants to be elevated to the status of god of the gods, and that makes it seem like he wants to gather power in the long term. So him being the patron of Ravok sort of confuses me. Rhysol indeed wishes to become a Rank 1 god which would put him on par with Lhex and basically spell the complete end of civilization on Mizahar. Chaos would reign across the land with no structure and no control. It would become Rhysol's playground. How does Ravok figure into this? The gods only have power because sentient beings grant them power through prayer and worship and through performing deeds that fall within a particular deity's realm of influence. Ravok is controlled completely by Rhysol without question. He gains a steady, unwavering, plentiful supply of prayer and worship from the citizens. Even if they pray to other gods, Rhysol hears those prayers and can gain power from them. This provides him with a steady base from which to be able to spread his influence elsewhere. Ravok is orderly, for the most part, and all about talking Rhysol up. The citizens of Ravok love Rhysol. I read (I think it was in one of Gillar's scrapbook posts) that the city has order so that the people will be complacent and more easy to influence. But wouldn't Ravok gain more power by creating a place like Sunberth, where everything is in shambles and chaos reigns? You make a good point however, due to the nature of evil, betrayal, chaos and all the things Rhysol seeks to spread, it will inevitably consume itself. For Rhysol, it has happened many times before. Whenever he thinks he has found a way to establish a steady source of divine power, the whole system collapses under its own chaotic tendencies. It wasn't until he named the last Voice that things changed. She was a megalomaniac who thirsted for power and control. It was her obsession with this that actually convinced Rhysol to allow the establishment of a society based on ordered chaos. The Ebonstryfe and Black Sun sew the seeds of dissent, rebellion and anarchy in very subtle ways among the citizens only to crush it before it gets out of control. They in turn attribute the victory over anarchy to Rhysol's loving embrace. Through this ironic balance of order and chaos, Rhysol is able to maintain an entire city of souls from which to draw worship from and maintain his status as one of the most powerful deities on Mizahar. Another way of looking at Ravok too is that by creating the illusion of a beautiful, ordered, safe and secure city, Rhysol is creating the ultimate lie which in turn also fuels his power. With a place like Sunberth, there is no deceit; everyone knows the place is a mess. There is no mystery or illusion that the city is anything other than what it presents itself to be. The strange thing is that Rhysol has his agents (the Black Sun, the Ebonstryfe) who go around and infiltrate other cities and try to spread chaos there in the existing infrastructures (presumably to tear those infrastructures down and build Rhysol up and seed his influence, as in Ravok). But say he succeeds in this. Then he has a bunch of cities devoted to him, but all of them are neat and tidy, and being neat and tidy doesn't benefit him really at all, does it? Having a lot of followers would probably help him, but he's the god of evil and chaos. Having a bunch of adoring fans content to peacefully live their lives amongst each other won't get him anything. Again, this is the big lie. By making everyone on the planet love you, by making them think you are the answer to ALL of their questions, the solution to ALL of their problems, by having a bunch of adoring fans content to peacefully live their lives amongst each other as you put it, Rhysol is presented the opportunity to drop the hammer as it were. When the world loves Rhysol, he unveils his true motives and brings about an eternity of chaos for all who once thought him to be a savior. In this, he would have committed the ultimate betrayal thus granting him the power needed to usurp even Lhex. Or, say he completely destroys the other cities. Maybe the people there change their tunes and decide to migrate to Ravok itself, to get out of Rhysol's 'bad graces', as it were. You still have a bunch of people living together in peace and harmony. They don't dislike each other; from what I heard, they all get along for the most part. Even the slaves are generally well-treated. The only chaos they take part in is their dislike of outsiders; but eventually, if Rhysol got his way (assuming domination is what he wants), nobody would be an outsider. Again, I point back to the idea of maintaining ordered chaos. There will always be the seeds of chaos, deceit and betrayal and the more people you have to sew these seeds among, the more potential there is for acquiring divine power. The only thing I can think of to make this all make sense is that he's breeding these people to love him and worship him like a 'good' god in order to betray them later, and so badly that the ensuing chaos will give him a HUGE power bump. And then with that power he'll work towards his other goals, whatever those may be. You hit the nail on the head here. By creating a society that is devoted in all ways to Rhysol, he is able to crush them little by little while creating the illusion that he is also saving them from the crushing that he himself is responsible for; an engine that creates power for him. The endgame is that one day he will betray not only the city but the entire world and thus gain the power he needs to ascend to the next level. Another thing I'm confused about: the function of the Rising Dawn. All they're doing (killing people, burning down buildings) is inadvertently helping Rhysol by creating a panic and chaos. I'm not quite certain how they think they're helping themselves. Anything they do of a rebellious nature is just going to hurt them in the end, or so it seems. Wouldn't it make the most sense for them to create a bastion of order, like Syliras? It seems Syliras and the Knights are the biggest threat to Rhysol, not because they attack him (I'm sure they do), but simply because of the way they live. I am not as in on the Rising Dawn as it was conceived by someone else after I established Ravok. That said, the way you are perceiving them is much like how I always saw them. There very methods only serve to fuel Rhysol's power especially when he already knows everything they are doing in Ravok. As I've tried to convey many times in many different posts and articles, NOTHING happens in Ravok that Rhysol doesn't know about. Unfortunately for those in Ravok, none know this to be the case as Rhysol sometimes lets things happen that may seem contrary to his perceived wishes. That is the nature of unpredictability and the nature of Rhysol. He may support and reward those who blatantly challenge him one minute only to cause hardship and failure to those who support him the next. In the end, it's not about being the God of Evil because what is that exactly? Is it performing or supporting mindless violence? Is it breaking down good just because? Is it because wearing black is cooler than wearing white? I tried to approach Rhysol as a completely different form of evil. His evil is only evil because it can't be described, identified or pinned down. He can do immense amounts of good, or at least things that may be perceived as being good yet there is always an ulterior motive. He may do things that could be seen as immeasurably evil but he doesn't do them because they are evil. What he does is done because it is what he feels is right. He truly feels that he is the best thing for Mizahar. He thinks that order, peace and all the things tied to a "structured" civilization is too limiting. He truly feels that through chaos, betrayal, lies and deception, the mortals of Mizahar can discover the real meaning to their lives and attain that which they are destined for. If all a person knows is safety, security and predictability, they can never reach their full potential. Of course this is Rhysol's greatest flaw. All the things he holds dear inevitably bring about disaster. That is why The Voice is needed to help temper and direct Rhysol's whim. Followers of Rhysol do not seek to bring down society for the sake of spreading anarchy. They seek to sew the seeds of deceit and chaos as a means of bettering society by revealing the true nature of life to those around them. To them, life is not a structured, ordered, routine, normal concept. They seek to break that all down and reveal the true nature of life as being as unpredictable as the exact location of where exactly a drop of rain may fall. Even if their actions bring about the death of others, those who have died will carry on their experience through future lives, even if they don't consciously know it. Those who knew the people who have perished thanks to Rhysol's followers will also carry that on in some fashion. They will have been touched by it and forever changed. Rhysol's followers, while often doing things that are horrifically dark and evil, do so because they feel they are breaking the illusion of civilization for the betterment of the world. They aren't evil because they seriously want to hurt others. They are evil because they think they are doing what is right. Everyone else is living a lie in their eyes. The world is a dark, chaotic, horrible place and that only through Rhysol can a person see this and only through Rhysol can a person learn to navigate and even grow in such a place. A Chaon sees themselves as the ultimate good; one that cannot be understood by lessers. The Chaon is enlightened and is on a mission to spread that enlightenment to others. This is what it is to serve Rhysol.

[Xii]

Thank you very much for your in-depth response! This has given me a lot to think about and take in! Rhysol and his followers are certainly an intriguing lot.