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MITRA Persian Mythos (Patriarch of Law and Good) |
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| To those of you who have not played Paul
Jaquays' fantastic adventure Dark Tower, the names Mitra and Set
might mean little more than two of many curses used by Robert E Howard's
Conan. The latter deity, Set, a god of evil and the night, was an actual
god worshipped by the Egyptians, and although Jaquays probably followed
Howard's earlier use of Mitra as an accessible foe to Set, neither
author dreamed him out of the blue. Mitra is an adaptation of the
Persian god Mithras, who was identified with the sun, light and truth.
In Dark Tower, Mitra is a Patriarch of Law and Good, and Set's oldest
adversary, and while it states nothing of this in the old legends (Mithras
was certainly benign but to an unknown extent), Jaquays' interpretation
of the god is both interesting and original. Mitra, therefore,
represents a new deity.
Mitra appears as a well proportioned man in his early thirties. There is enormous rivalry between him and the evil god Set, and clerics of opposing religions will immediately seek battle with each other. Because Mitra's followers are few, any creature dying in the service of Mitra has a (10% x (level/5)) chance of being resurrected by the god in person. IMAGINE magazine July 1984 |
Though his religion thrived some three
centuries ago, it is now almost extinct because of the power of Set,
whose mortal form was destroyed by Mitra when he walked the earth as a
human. As a result of this encounter, Mitra also died, to be reborn as
the God of Law and Good.
In combat, Mitra emits a protection from evil 50' radius about his person. He uses a huge, Lawful Good aligned mace, three feet in length and made of magically enchanted gold. It has the head of a lion and topaz inset eyes and mouth. The weapon strikes for 6-60 points of damage. If the god is not in melee, he can cast two disintegrate spells from the eyes each round. If touched by an evil character, they must make a saving throw versus magic or die. Even if the save is made, the character takes 3-30 points of damage. Neutral characters take 2-20 points (no save). A good character touching the mace is blessed (as the spell). The mace allows Mitra to raise dead 10/day with its touch, and acts as a +5 weapon. In battle, Mitra wears gold chain mail and a lion helm which acts as a ring of protection +5. Other artifacts named in Dark Tower include a lion ring, belt and amulet.
Graeme Drysdale |
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