[VedalkenBear]

Wrana: Between the Horrors and the Therans, I consider the Therans the worse evil. From an in-game lore standpoint, 'we don't know much about the Horrors'. For all 'we' know, the Horrors are acting in full accordance with their natures. I.e., we do not know if free will is a part of Horror make-up.

However, in the case of Thera, we can say that they are, indeed, endowed with free will (exemplified for the Earthdawn term for 'race', 'Name-giver'). As such, a society that, at least at one time or another, freely chose to institutionalize practices condemned _by its own society_ as wrong (cf. the making of the Sphinx that sits on Thera), shows its choice.

You can view Throal as having, in the past, collaborated with Theran rule. You can also view the same period as Throal preserving what freedom Barsaive still had while ensuring it had access to the Rites required to defeat the Scourge.

Basically, before the Scourge, Thera had the whip hand on _everyone_ for only they had the means to protect against the Scourge; i.e., the Rites. Anyone who chose another path (*coughcough* the Elven Court) suffered the penalty for their hubris. Thera systematically abused this advantage to create an Empire out of an opportunity. Throal wisely did not try to counteract fate, but rode it.

After the Scourge, Thera did not have the trump card that it did beforehand, and yet was so self-absorbed and convinced of its own superiority that it continued to act as it did.