Words in Collision

[davidbofinger]

And Tiamat spoke, and said that Belkar would soon no longer be living. And the word of Tiamat caused Belkar's life to be placed in great jeopardy.

And Odin spoke, and said Durkon would bring ruin to the Dwarf Lands when he returned there. And the word of Odin caused Durkon's life to be placed in great jeopardy.

And everything was going smoothly until the the two words collided. Malack was only going to kill one or the other so the prophecies had to fight to see which would be right in the short term and which would have to play a longer game. It turned out Odin's word was a little more firmly placed on its railway tracks than was Tiamat's word, and it was Tiamat's that got derailed.

Now Tiamat's prophecy is going to be chasing after the main plot line trying to steer it the way it needs to go.

I don't know if I believe this theory, but it would be fun to watch the flunkies of Tiamat trying to repair the damage "that one-eyed hairy fool" did to their timetables. Unfortunately I can't think who would explain it to the viewpoint characters.

[NerdyKris]

That's, uh, quite a leap there. Why do you assume Tiamat's prophecy was "damaged" by Belkar not dying here? He's been put in mortal danger at least twice before off the top of my head. I think this is just, you know, suspense. Not some plot of Tiamat to insure Belkar's demise. Belkar's fated death is simply going to come later. That's what makes it so suspenseful. Every time he's been in danger, the audience has thought "Is this it? Is this the end?"

Heck, there were people insisting there was no suspense during the thieves guild battle, because "Belkar is obviously going to die here". Same as this one.

[Kish]

"And the word of X caused..." seems to indicate an idea of what a prophecy is and how it works that I find incomprehensible.

[EmperorSarda]

The year since the prophesy hasn't come to a close yet. Anyways, the two prophesies are not in conflict. Belkar still has plenty of time to die.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Especially given that we have no idea which calendar the orange runt was referencing with that prediction.

[F.Harr]

And Tiamat spoke, and said that Belkar would soon no longer be living. And the word of Tiamat caused Belkar's life to be placed in great jeopardy.

And Odin spoke, and said Durkon would bring ruin to the Dwarf Lands when he returned there. And the word of Odin caused Durkon's life to be placed in great jeopardy.

And everything was going smoothly until the the two words collided. Malack was only going to kill one or the other so the prophecies had to fight to see which would be right in the short term and which would have to play a longer game. It turned out Odin's word was a little more firmly placed on its railway tracks than was Tiamat's word, and it was Tiamat's that got derailed.

Now Tiamat's prophecy is going to be chasing after the main plot line trying to steer it the way it needs to go.

I don't know if I believe this theory, but it would be fun to watch the flunkies of Tiamat trying to repair the damage "that one-eyed hairy fool" did to their timetables. Unfortunately I can't think who would explain it to the viewpoint characters.

That could be fun. But it doesn't seem to be the sort of world we've got here, but still a fun idea.


That's, uh, quite a leap there. Why do you assume Tiamat's prophecy was "damaged" by Belkar not dying here? He's been put in mortal danger at least twice before off the top of my head. I think this is just, you know, suspense. Not some plot of Tiamat to insure Belkar's demise. Belkar's fated death is simply going to come later. That's what makes it so suspenseful. Every time he's been in danger, the audience has thought "Is this it? Is this the end?"

Heck, there were people insisting there was no suspense during the thieves guild battle, because "Belkar is obviously going to die here". Same as this one.

We all know the end. The fun is seeing how we get there.


The year since the prophesy hasn't come to a close yet. Anyways, the two prophesies are not in conflict. Belkar still has plenty of time to die.

Oh, go ahead. Be reasonable.

[SadisticFishing]

Woah. I actually really like this idea. Not in reference to OotS, but as a DM/board game designer, I may totally take this up. Hope you don't mind.

[veti]

"And the word of X caused..." seems to indicate an idea of what a prophecy is and how it works that I find incomprehensible.

Surely we've all heard of 'self-fulfilling prophecies'. The idea of a prophecy that triggers a sequence of events that leads to its own fulfilment - is pretty much as old as the idea of prophecy itself.

But in this case, I don't really see the conflict. Belkar's prophecy has an explicit time limit - Durkon's didn't, so he could have dragged on for years to come. Also, Odin's prophecy didn't say anything about Durkon being dead - it was Tiamat who threw in that bit of information.

[davidbofinger]

I don't really see the conflict.

It's not an absolute conflict by any means. If the prophecies are friendly they can both come true. Instead, I'm imagining them as two people pushing to get through the same door, where each could wait but neither wants to.

I don't really think this is how the Giant's eye sees things, but for me it adds something to the scene.

Of course, Odin's prophecy can't really have its origin with Odin, since he wouldn't have written it that way if he had a choice.

[Kish]

Of course, Odin's prophecy can't really have its origin with Odin, since he wouldn't have written it that way if he had a choice.
Again, this seems to indicate a concept of what a prophecy is that makes no sense to me.

You mean, the events foretold by Odin's prophecy cannot be caused by Odin?

[Halaku]

I may be wrong, but I think the OP is making a reference to The Belgariad and the Malloreaon. (a series of books where two prophecies "fight" against each other). Or at least that's what it looks like to me.

[Ron Miel]

Especially given that we have no idea which calendar the orange runt was referencing with that prediction.

The Giant has told us, it the southern calendar, same as the Azurites.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8569129&postcount=19

[Rogar Demonblud]

And Roy was probably referencing the Northern calendar with that assessment, so Belkar's going to be around for a few more months.

[Auldrin]

And Roy was probably referencing the Northern calendar with that assessment, so Belkar's going to be around for a few more months.

The giant specifically said that it doesn't matter what calendar he was talking about, seven weeks is seven weeks.