RuneScape Forum Archive | Zealotry/Insanity = Power?

Swolllliosis

Posts: 161 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I've noticed a recurring theme around Mahjarrat. The most zealot of Mahjarrat also tend to be the most powerful. Why do you think that is? Bilrach, Azzanadra, Temekel (or as I like to call the B.A.T—crazy team) are all freakishly overpowered above all their race, and each one of them were head-over-heels about their gods.

What's up with that?

Azzanadra says he constantly heard Zaros's voice in his head, even while he was dead. Azzanadra's memory (book) heavily implies his insanity. He even pleaded to sacrifice his body for Zaros to use as his new host body.

Temekel was also another overpowered Mahjarrat. He stayed loyal to Tumeken, even though everyone left him to Zaros, who seemed to have all the answers to the Mahjarrat's aging problems. Temekel even devoutly killed himself to save Tumeken.

Bilrach dug a 4000 mile hole into Gielinor out of a weak premise he could find a way to rescue "Master" Zamorak. He also heard voices and constantly talked about Master Overdaddy Zamorak in his journals.

Now, in CoM, Bilrach says something eerily that just stood out to me: "I have dabbled with the power that can be found in madness, and I see its power in him [Azzanadra]."

What do you guys think he is talking about? Is Bilrach speaking literally or metaphorically? Did Azzanadra find some way to amp up his powers, but became insane in the process? Or is unhealthy devotion the key to strength in a mahjarrat? Perhaps it is not any of that. Maybe Azzanadra and Temekel were just born uber-powerful, and it's a plot theme Jagex is trying to teach us about how power corrupts. Those who are born into it are more susceptible to "corruption."

Idk. Maybe I'm looking into this too deeply. I'll lay off the hemp guys.

Owner of the first 6th age church of Tumeken

| Twitter: @RSTemekel

17-Sep-2017 08:06:48

Maiden China

Posts: 5,142 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I imagine tem and azz were born... a tad more powerful than other mahjarrat, but everything after that is earned through skill, intelligence and... being good at the rituals

in fantasy there's generally a link between insanity and power.. Like, they do things and go to places others wouldnt and so
In real life, ofcourse, there's more often a link between insanity and getting dead, but many powerful people are also... less than the sanest

With that thing bilrach says, it's just jagex adding to the 'azzy is insane' thing, like step by step they want to smash the 'azzy the good mahjarrat' thing they built up in the fifth age, maybe to make the other mahjarrat more likeable, or to give azzy some bad stuff to... balance his character a bit (maybe dont go the wingripping route again though)

azzy definitely isnt powerful because of zaros, he was that long before he ever met zaros Carn

17-Sep-2017 10:11:56

Swolllliosis

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Perhaps Temekel and Azzanadra were one of the first generations of Mahjarrat create by Mah. Being one of the first created by her, they were more powerful, but also have early-staged, less well-developed minds.

Or...perhaps the early Mahjarrat take after Seren's clingy nature or were given a special aura that made them inclined towards Mah and/or other divine beings. As time progressed, Mah created weaker Mahjarrat, as she grew weaker, but these newer Mahjarrat became more... lucent and free not bound to her as much?

Owner of the first 6th age church of Tumeken

| Twitter: @RSTemekel

17-Sep-2017 10:38:42

Nov

2012

Summerleaf

Posts: 3,313 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Idk. Bilrach went and absorbed a ton of Portal Power. Azzy has all the power from killing the Mahkorat with Sliske (also accounts for Sliske's power). Temekel probably has a reason too.

Zemouregal is pretty strong too, and he's kind of like "*sigh* Whatever" about all of it, so I think it's just coincidence.

17-Sep-2017 14:51:52

Hguoh

Posts: 7,581 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Normally, your brain naturally limits the force your muscles can output. This is done to keep your muscles from literally pulling themselves apart. In times of panic, however, your muscles can be made to exert forces greater than they normally would.

I'd reckon that there is a similar factor Mahjarrat. As beings largely composed of magic and shapeshifters, the impact their mental states have on their powers is likely far greater than it is for biological organisms. As such, an insane Mahjarrat could just be circumventing their minds normal safety restraints on their power. Of course if such an assumption were true, we'd expect there to be some detrimental effect on the physical condition of an insane Mahjarrat over time. It's entirely possible that the restorative effects of the Rituals and Daemoheim portal energy might reverse or inhibit these effects, though.

On the other hand, maybe excess power just makes a Mahjarrat more mentally unstable (like overcharging old batteries can cause them to deform and explode.

17-Sep-2017 15:28:39

Dec

2023

Cthris

Posts: 5,206 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

What does insanity even mean these days?

17-Sep-2017 17:31:27

Maiden China

Posts: 5,142 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Swolllliosis said :
Perhaps Temekel and Azzanadra were one of the first generations of Mahjarrat create by Mah. Being one of the first created by her, they were more powerful, but also have early-staged, less well-developed minds azzanadra doesn't remember the muspah, and I'm fairly sure at least one of the other mahjarrat do... so despite what mod jack said once in a forum post he's probably not one of the oldest mahjarrat Carn

19-Sep-2017 06:26:58

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I always thought the power/insanity stuff had less to do with how much power they actually have/had and more to do with their circumstances tbh.

I mean, Azzananadra survived Freneskae, being in Zaros' presence multiple times without (to my knowledge) any way to counter the aura it had, the rise and fall of the Zarosian Empire and the purges of anything associated with it, being trapped in a pyramid for who knows how long until we got involved, and now potentially has the one human he thought highly of as an enemy if we end up not agreeing a lot with his side of things during the Sixth Age. The pyramid thing and Zaros' aura apparently having side effects when away from it would be enough to drive most people mad imo, but piling all of the other stuff on top of it can break a lot of people if they don't know how to cope with it.

Now look at Temekel and Bilrach. I'm not 100% clear on the timeline here, but Temekel survived his god essentially nuking a land he was trying to protect and fight off betrayal from his own kind for a while before his death. Bilrach spent his time digging down into the freaking earth and all of the setbacks that came with it (the Gorajo, at least 2 of his own ranks attempting betrayal, getting the behemoths and other weird stuff under control, ect) for quite a while too. Both of those situations sound pretty stressful too, though at least in Bilrach's case he eventually succeeded.

So I think the whole power through madness thing might be a bit of both reality and metaphor. Realistically speaking, the situations that potentially caused their madness could've easily forced them to get stronger and/or pull out all the big guns to survive. But I doubt hearing voices and all that stuff alone would make them stronger by any metric.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

20-Sep-2017 02:50:33 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2017 02:52:31 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2023

Cthris

Posts: 5,206 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Maiden China said :
Swolllliosis said :
Perhaps Temekel and Azzanadra were one of the first generations of Mahjarrat create by Mah. Being one of the first created by her, they were more powerful, but also have early-staged, less well-developed minds azzanadra doesn't remember the muspah, and I'm fairly sure at least one of the other mahjarrat do... so despite what mod jack said once in a forum post he's probably not one of the oldest mahjarrat
Using memory as your measure for the probability of Azzanddra being a prime Mahjarrat is a pretty poor choice. Mahjarrat literally leak memories... Not to mention that they also have the ability to wipe their own and each other's minds.

Also, I swear it was actually Mod Osborne who said suggested that in a campfire, though maybe I'm leaking memories as well

22-Sep-2017 01:28:17

Nov

2023

Lego Miester

Posts: 35,339 Sapphire Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I have a theory you'll probably dismiss as crazy. I like to call it "Wile E. Coyote's Theory of Magic."

From the "wandering ga'al", we learn he could easily do magic without runes simply because he didn't know magic needed runes. Kennith, a child, breaks every known "law" of magic simply by not caring about them.

Magic is, fundamentally, what we call things we don't understand about reality. So basically the more rigidly you "understand" magic as a part of reality the worse you get at it, and only someone either stupid or crazy could ever master it. Headcanon Haven, where everything is made up and the points don't matter.
OSRS Lore: Xeric
Slepe Tight - Slepe Lore

24-Sep-2017 03:10:19 - Last edited on 24-Sep-2017 03:12:14 by Lego Miester

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Zealotry/Insanity = Power?