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| Topic Started: Feb 4 2011, 08:40 PM (527 Views) | |
| Destron | Feb 4 2011, 08:40 PM Post #1 |
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I wrote a piece in the most recent section about a goblin priest. I wanted to explore how goblins might treat religion, especially since goblin priests are introduced in Cataclysm. Unfortunately, I don't think it really fit in very well with the general tone of Icecrown Glacier, so I got rid of it. However, I thought it interesting enough to include as a sort of deleted scene. Here it is: The sky’s perpetual darkness poses a serious morale problem to the Argent Crusade. That the Crusade stays in Icecrown for so long without rest is a confirms their determination, but even they have limits. To address the issue, a Steamwheedle priest helped set up a kind of “solar chamber” beneath the keep, in an area previously reserved for storage. Here, a powerful electric generator illuminates a yellow orb set in the ceiling. Scratchy audio recordings of chirping birds and running water are played, while screens display color photographs of a lush south seas island. I had actually encountered a very similar arrangement among the druids of Felwood, though the priest, one Mizgil Skobberskog, claimed to have never heard of it. Mizgil himself had a colorful background. Non-goblins rarely associate the mercantile race with any religious sentiment. I had heard of goblin priests before, but knew almost nothing about what they believed. I half-suspected that the entire phenomenon was a joke. Mizgil gave me the full story. Tall for a goblin, Mizgil’s face seemed etched in a permanent smile, and a wild burst of orange hair exploded from his green scalp. His fingers fluttered as he spoke, as if they held conversations of their own. “You see, it all goes back to making the customer feel at ease. After the Second War, we goblins were going all over the world to make new deals, and lots of people in other parts believed in the Holy Light. So at first we say a few prayers and all that—I was just a kid when this happened, mind you, this is what my mom did. “There’s an old goblin saying though: ‘You pitch a bad sale long enough, and you start to believe it.’ Not to say that religion is a bad sale, but the point is that when you do something so many times, it starts to come across as real natural to you and the customer. My mom, bless her heart, started thinking there was more to this Light thing.” “Was she a priest?” “No, she never took to it like me, but she respected the idea. I got interested though, so a couple of us goblins who’d heard stories about the Light all went up to attend the Faol Theological College in Stratholme. We didn’t last too long, but that was all for the best, since we found something that all those old human prelates were overlooking.” “Which was?” “The Light binds all thinking beings. Now, the way the humans told it, it meant we should all share and live in harmony. But not even humans do that! They get all riled up in their kingdoms, hating everyone outside it. Harmony won’t happen by everyone working together and living for each other. The good news is that it doesn’t need to, harmony’s already here. We call it the market!” “Interesting.” “You see, in the market, every thinking being is connected and interacting with each other to get the best deal. And in the best deals, all parties involved get something out of it. When a client walks away happy, it makes everyone else happy according to the Light. When a merchant gets a good deal and is happy, so too is everyone else. It’s a sacred obligation to make the best, the fairest deals possible.” “What about bad deals?” “Those happen, nothing’s perfect. When a goblin gets cheated, he just figures out how to turn it to his advantage and make a comeback. People who say goblins are about greed have it all wrong; we’re really about hope. Blind hope? Foolish hope? Maybe, but it keeps us going! “Let me tell you, all the books I read and prayers I said in the college couldn’t compare to when I returned to Kezan and saw its grand market for the first time in years. I stepped into that place, that enormous underground bazaar, so big you could fit the heavens inside and have room leftover, and saw the teeming thousands! Goblins, humans, high elves, gnolls, races I’d never seen before, all looking for the best deals! “At that moment I felt the agape that Cassian felt when he first experienced the Light. Like I was the world and the world was me and everyone else all at once, not boring and static but mad and crazy and tumbling, the way it ought to be!” Mizgil flung his arms wide, a look of ecstasy on his face. “See, when some institute wants people to work together, the leaders have to coerce everyone. But in the market, everyone goes because they want to! They’ve got that crazy hope of the best deal!” “In a sense they’re still made to go because they need to buy or sell something.” “Sure, but supply and demand are parts of nature. You might as well complain about storms and glaciers. Same with the Argent Crusade, they’re reacting to a real outside threat, which is just as impersonal as a natural disaster.” “What would you say about the draenei? They’ve achieved something akin to the unified harmony preached by the saints.” “Look, maybe it works for them. You tell me: Would you rather live in Kezan or the Exodar?” “I’ve never been to Kezan, though I have serious problems with some aspects of goblin society.” “Sure, every goblin does. And you can maybe fix those problems. Things change in Kezan. Hardly anything changes in the Exodar.” “What brought you to the Argent Crusade?” “They seem like a decent bunch, and the Steamwheedle Cartel is working closely with them. If the Lich King rules the world, there won’t be any trade. It’d be the utter death of the Light on this world. I’m not getting paid for this, but it’s worth it, since it’s in my long-term interest to help out. “That’s one thing me and some of the other priests, not all of them mind you, are trying to do. Goblins need to look more at the long-term; I think all the short-term thinking is hurting profits. Hell, look at the Venture Company. Looting the world looks good in the short term, at least until people stop doing business with you because of it!” “Is there any kind of organized goblin church?” “I should say not! Let each priest do their own thing; works better that way. Maybe. I’m doing my thing, and I’m happy.” Edited by Destron, Feb 4 2011, 08:41 PM.
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| Amaunator | Jun 11 2011, 12:41 PM Post #2 |
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I just stumbled on it now, but this is absolutely crazy :D. In a good sense, but still crazy :D. Comes at a good time too, I'm studying Economics. And then to think of the "market" as a divine imperative. You should have made an anagram of "Adam Smith" for this particular goblin :D. Edited by Amaunator, Jun 13 2011, 11:26 AM.
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| StormandOzone | Jun 13 2011, 08:40 AM Post #3 |
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Pfft I want to throw a goblin priest in a room with a Draenei anchorite. Light Fight! In seriousness, I did feel something like this with the goblin clerics. Similar to the Shamans, who are making deals with the elementals in a business arrangement, in fact, though I especially like the part about pitching the bad deal. 'Start believing it yourself,' indeed! |
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| Farsider | Jun 14 2011, 07:24 AM Post #4 |
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I'm glad he didn't, as Adam Smith was most certainly NOT a believer in any sort of divine, supernatural, or natural force that controls and balances markets. He was rather cynical about the efficacy and morality of what we know as free markets. It's an interesting view of how goblin priests can come to be, but I agree that it really doesn't fit well with the theme of the Icecrown sections. Thinking about it, I feel like goblin priests are being over-analyzed. It's not a matter of faith that the Light works, and almost anyone who is dedicated can make it work well. Surely some goblins realized that with some focus and hard work, plus their natural self-confidence, they could learn some blessings and healings and such, and then sell their services. The goblin priest trainer stands on top of a pile of gold, and iirc basically offers to trade her priestly talents for money. They're just doctors for hire, as I see it. |
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