Topic: MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3 /
Dreamstone 16 analysis [MAJOR SPOILERS]
I’ll add to what Yven wrote six months ago:
Family life's not for me, I thought. I can't just leave my responsibilities behind, I thought, as it's not in my nature.
Then, to see those responsibilities, I went an'... left my responsibilities behind.
Eh, they'll live 'til I'm back. They're survivors. I made sure a' that.
Enki mentions he has responsibilities, ones which he put before his responsibilities as a father; we’ll come back to these later. It is worth noting, however, that Enki’s surname, “Regis,” seems to be an indication of status. Gonoroth Fa-Regis was the king of Goznor. If the surname “Regis” translates to kingship, than Enki very well might be a king, which very well might be at least some of his other responsibilities.
I can but wonder what kind a' mess those yoon-eyed invaders have run up back home while I've idled, but I'll be damned if I'll let them corrupt us any more than they've done.
They mayn't a' rained fire and brimstone from the heavens, but they sure as Hell took over, with a smile in their eye and a chummy waggle a' the ol' grabber, aye, but an invasion it was, an invasion it was...
I take a slightly different view on this matter than Yven does. First of all, Enki’s been away from Nineveh for over 22 years. Why over 22 years? Mardek is 21 at the end of Chapter I, so that’s at least 21 years, and Enki must have been on Belfan to get Lilanea pregnant. Enki was around on Belfan for some time before that, though, since he had gathered a pretty big reputation before Lilanea met him. How long does it take to get a reputation on Belfan? I don’t know for sure, but I dare say it takes longer than three months.
So Enki’s been away from Nineveh for more than 22 years. So what? If the Violet Crystal showed up more than 22 years ago, and if it had a rapid affect on the GDM, then Rohoph would have shown up earlier than he did, and probably would have died. If the VC showed up more than 22 years ago, and it had a long, drawn-out affect on the GDM, than their corruption wouldn’t have had much of an affect on their interactions with Nineveh, unlike what Yven suggests.
So what exactly do these lines mean? Let me introduce you to a bit of Rohoph’s P-dialogue:
We feel that more primitive races can benefit from the order we keep, so we tend to educate any new races that we meet about our values, our morals, our ways, gradually accepting them into our own society.
So here’s what happens: The Annunaki visit as many planets as they can. If they encounter primitive people, then the Annunaki, in the guise of “angles,” give little nudges in what they believe is the “right” direction. When they deem the people of that planet to no-longer be “primitive,” they swoop in, and, with a big grin, congratulate the no-longer primitive peoples on being developed enough to join their society. At that point, the Anunaki, believing that what they do is right, alter the formerly-primitive people’s society to better match their own, likely displacing rulers, and doing away with many parts of the formerly-primitive people’s culture. It’s the same basic thing that Europeans did to other countries for hundreds of years here on Earth. The typical reaction to such forced change? Anger. Aggression. Etc. Especially if you’re one of those displaced rulers.
From the perspective of the people living on Nineveh, they were conquered. Some of them might have seen the conquest as beneficial, just like some people were genuinely pleased when the Romans came in and conquered their country. Others, however, were probably quite displeased. If Enki really was a king, he was likely removed from the throne by the Annunaki, and was probably pretty upset. He probably created or joined a resistance movement, acquired a ship, and went off to do battle, only to be caught in Belfan’s gravitational anomaly.
These were the “responsibilities” Enki mentioned, the ones which took precedence over those as a father and husband.
But where in SHAN's name am I?! It's might frigid out there: I must a' passed out 'n' been brought back here, this warm hut...
Let's hope it’s a benefactor and not the 'ma-le' kind. But if Lady Luck's stood up on me again this day, capricious trollop she is, I've still got fight in me, let 'em come.
It turns out, most of this thinking was done in near-unconsciousness. Here, we learn that somebody found Enki’s body, and took him inside a hut of some sort. Perhaps a shaman of Nole’Oth? Perhaps some sort of village of snowman-people, or something? Is this, perhaps, the rumored village of hunky men?!?! We may never know….
