huntar wrote:All the Kami arguements and suchlike, about protecting nature and fitting in to it... fall over in a heap and crash and burn when you consider that Atys itself is a created artifact, an engineered world. The Kami, with their blind obedience to a faulty first premise, attempts to fit homins into a pre-set category and plan, and limited ability to deal with changed circumstances ( the Goo ), are far more 'machine-like' than the technological Karavan - who even their enemies (in fact mostly their enemies
) say display human qualities such as ambition and greed.
The Kami seem like servants to an Artificial Intelligence, and like fire, they would be a good servant but a terrible master.
((OOC mode now))
Where does the lore talk about this bit? I can't say I've ever read it, though I confess that I could have missed it. If it's in the writings of either the Kami or tha Karavan, it is obviously suspect (IC). If it's something Nevrax/GF have written, then it can be taken at face value.
The other parts about Ma Duk appearing 60 years ago and the Kami/etc wanting homins to become "one with the planet" or so to speak, only serve to reinforce what I posted
Consider the relgious world-view that the planet is a form of god, that nature is to be worshipped, and that while a great capacity for self-recovery exists that it is possible to upset the balance and cause long-lasting harm. With the numbers of fauna that exist, the number of homins undoubtedly should be greater ... we just have low server populations because we have a smaller playerbase
Ma Duk and the Kami and their interaction with the planet and homins remind me a lot of how Obiwan Kenobi describes the Force: an energy field created by all living things that can be sensed and manipulated, and even abused (again, that's nothing new in terms of religious practices). The Kami take any form necessary to complete their intended goal as they manipulate that energy field for the betterment of the planet. Surely Ma Duk could do the same?
The planet continuing to grow and change, forcing homins to adapt, is only a part of nature -- you change with it, you grow, you adapt, or you die. That's another reason the Karavan stand out as just out-of-place with their machines. They are trying to force certain things upon the planet, upon a living entity. How many things today in the real world would be so much better if people didn't try to "force" nature into doing certain things (such as medicines that treat one thing yet have dozens of potential side effects, as opposed to reinforcing the body's own natural built-in healing mechanisms)?
If any of you have ever investigated setting up and maintaining a marine aquarium, you will understand what I mean about balance and interaction between all life in the ecosystem, and how it doesn't take much to upset that balance, even though there can be a great deal of buffer built-in.
Do I personally subscribe to the belief that nature is to be worshipped? Nah. But I do think it should be respected and not abused. In this game situation specifically, it seems the Kami are willing to give the homins just enough rope to hang themselves if they're not careful, but also enough to be able to adapt to the changes. (Note, that I don't see OP drills as fitting into the lore very well except, perhaps, for the Karavan). That seems to be the overall direction Nevrax/whoever intended for this game, which can lead to a lot of interesting content.
The Karavan are distrusted because they are outsiders with strange technology that does conflict with the natural energies on Atys. They make no appearances of even trying to integrate with this world. And since they actively fight the Kami and the spiritual essence of the world itself -- admittedly, perhaps out of ignorance -- it can only be assumed that they have selfish motives in mind, motives that are not directly intended to benefit life on this planet, and should be looked upon with suspicion.