Grief, on Aug 14 2009, 04:31 PM, said:
Yes, Paran says "don't fuck with mortals". On the other ahdn, he throws ottataral at a Goddess who is out of her realm. We know this makes them vulnerable. Also, that's not a matter of him being more powerful, it's a matter of her being vulnerable, and him not fighting fair. The fact that mortals are cruel is emphasised.
It's certainly not stated old powers are weaker.
As for Karsa, I dislike the character. However, the seguleh fight is kinda predictable, considering the sheer size and strength advantage he has. It's not a matter of skill at all. Also, he hasn't been up against close to the most powerful. The deragoth are strong, but as pointed out, Pust can handle them. Rake kills two hounds of shadow in about 2 seconds flat. Karsa is strong compared to mortals, but not against Elder Gods etc.
It isn't a terrible generalisation anywhere. It is a prevelant thread throughout the series.
It isn't 'stated', but over and over we see the old horrors of legend taken out by normal or exemplary (but still not ascended) current powers.
I didn't bring up the Poliel vs Paran thing because there were extraneous circumstances.
Think back in all the fights with creatures/gods/people with legends around them regarding their prowess, with nothing new that we have seen from them. They, one and all, get defeated by people/things that are 'normal' of the age, where they would be terrible ruling gods from their original age.
Think about the 5(7?) TTT that get out of the Azath House in Lether. Iron Bars is dancing, keeping them distracted and damaging them. Imagine what would happen if there were 5 Avowed there?
Whiskeyjack, who was a sparring partner of Dassem, but never his equal, had Kallor, a nightmare of your common terrors, dead to rights with a lunge when his leg gave out.
Seriously, can you not see this overarching thread? Gods/Ascendants are strong, but seem to be in general pridefull and possibly stupid because of it in this age. Mark my words, the gods/ascendants that are going to survive are the ones pushing other people to work for them, like Shadowthrone. Cot will die because he wants to help his followers/servants.