SPOILER WARNING:
This article reflects back on things you have learned throughout all the quests related to this topic. If you do not wish certain storylines to be spoiled for you, I would advise you to bookmark this article and come back when you've completed the While Guthix Sleeps and Mysteries of the Mahjarrat storylines.
Not long ago we got ourselves reacquainted with our Mahjarrat ally Azzanadra. And after performing a few arduous and dubious tasks, we saw him communicate to Zaros himself, and as a reward, we were granted the use of a whole new set of prayers. Now this is where my confusion started.
I am one of those people for who things need to make sense, or at least, no matter how ridiculous, be believable. I was always under the impression that all the Gods in RuneScape were of the same pantheon, much like the old Roman or Egyptian Gods. There would be a God for almost everything: war, fertility, knowledge, you name it.
This would account for the interaction between the Gods themselves, but if we understand what happened at the start of the Godwars (around the time when Zamorak supposedly leeched God-like powers from Zaros), it does not make sense. So let’s put things in perspective.
First, let's try and understand how Prayer works. We know we gain experience by burying or offering bones on Altars, burning corpses or fuelling the Ectofuntus with it. Basically the Gods grant you higher divine (I'm steering clear of the word 'holy') powers if you properly dispose of the remains of slain creatures.
According to Zamorak in the 15th issue of the God Letters, Saradomin deals with Prayers, "so when you give dead creatures an honourable burial in his name it makes him pay closer attention to you, and help you out in little ways that Guthix won't notice."
This also tells us that it is Saradomin who provides the prayers we've all known, even though some clear non-Saradomnists are using it; Tormented Demons, the Elite Black Knight, Elite Dark warriors, rangers and mages, and from Legacy of Seergaze; Fistandantilus and Zaromark Sliver. The Kalphite Queen uses it too, but this has been explained as not being prayers, but exceptional defensive capabilities.
Apparently, Even if some of his following do use prayer, Zamorak does not provide prayer powers himself, even though he should "know" of both Saradomins and Zaros' set of prayers. We now know also that Zaros did not lose his God status. So is Zamorak, in fact, a fraud?
Maybe Zamorak did not quite achieve full Godhood himself, in which case, Lucien will not be able to achieve it either with what he has at this point. We can now conclude that, should Zaros return, he will have easy pickings taking out his betrayers.
Second, there seems to be a different pantheon within the world of Gielinor, but it somehow has interacted with the current and main one. To put it in other words, has Thor met with Ra?
Allow me to refresh your memory. The Menaphite pantheon consists of Tumeken, the father of them all, who together with Elidinis spawned Icthlarin and Amascut. Tumeken then literally dreamed up four more demigods known as Het, Apmeken, Crondis and Scabaras.
Icthlarin brought the Mahjarrat into Gielinor (which drove Amascut mad), but Zaros later gained leadership over them. As we know, Zamorak of the Mahjarrat later ascended to Godhood, and the Godwars began.
An examine of one of Zamorak's demon generals teaches us that the Godwars spread all the way to the southern ends of the desert, well into Tumeken's realm. The Guthixian Edicts later dictated that no god may influence events on Gielinor, except through their followers. Yet Itchlarin and Amascut still wander the world. Was this a misinterpretation? Do the Guthixian Edicts only apply to those Gods involved in the war? Zaros' cracking of Zamorak's statue without awakening Guthix would suggest so.
Third, there are many items and spells that have the name of certain gods attached to it. Hilts, Mage Arena spells, sets of armour, you name it. But only a handful of these are actually items made and/or used by those Gods themselves. Surely Saradomin would have no need for a Rune Kiteshield with some white edges?
Just think about it. We humans make tools to perform a specific task more efficient. So if a God creates an item made for a specific task, imagine how good that item must be at that task. I am speaking of course of the Staff of Armadyl. I suspect it is used as a power conduit, and it sapped enough power from Zaros to Zamorak to send him well on his way to being a God. Lucien will probably attempt a similar thing with the Stone of Jas, but as I said, it will not be enough to put him on equal footing with Saradomin, let alone Zaros. This is fortunate, because it will leave the storylines wide open.
Finally, when all these things are considered, I find myself dealing with a surprisingly low number of inconsistencies, and I give the writers of the storylines a big tip of my hat for that. The only one I cannot figure out is why switching to Ancient Magicks drains your prayer. Surely by now we are in the favour of Zaros?
Speaking of favour, I am not convinced that there are many Gods left that will have me. Juna has declared me an enemy of Guthix, because I murdered the Balance Elemental. In assisting Azzanadra to see Zaros return to the world, I'm pretty sure that has pissed off both Zamorak and Saradomin. I helped in stopping Bandos from taking over the Dorgeshuun Goblins. I can't help but feel that we're just along for the ride, but I hope that we get to make some choices for our character, or god forbid, actually choose to fail a quest altogether.
