From: Carlson, Pam (carlsonp@wdni.com)
Date: Sun 14 Jul 1996 - 00:45:00 EEST
> Polaris is a _specialized_ cult and his war cult is really only useful
if who want to give battlefield commands and/or are turned
on by the thought of logistics.
As a diety, I don't think Polaris is particulary martial (as opposed to
Daxdarius, or Shargash). But a martial culture that looks to Sky
dieties will discover his gifts sooner or later. IMGlorantha, Polaris
provides the equivalent of spy sattelites. Polaris provides forward
observation for those Lunar magic barrages. Polaris provides the
logistics necessary to keep an army moving faster than it can forage.
If Gloranthans ever achieve blitzkrieg, Polaris will be there. How many
successful commanders can ignore recon and logistics?
_____________________________________________
Yelm worship-
I have always had the impression that Yelm worship is hereditary, and
restricted to the nobility. There are _rare_ instances where non-
Yelmies may join, but this no doubt involves the "discovery" of a Yelmic
ancestor. This isn't extraordinarily difficult, because I see Yelmic
families as prolific. (Both Yelm and Dendara are heavy fertility
deities.) After six generations of families full of 12 surviving kids,
there are going to be a lot of people wandering around eligible to join.
But they will all still be members of only a few castes.
But Lodrilli are just as prolific, (though with a lower survival rate)
All the Yelm offshoots- the Pentans, the Dara Happans, even the Grazers
>I said that most of the urbans of Dara Happa were members of Yelm the
I think _everybody_ in Yelmic cultures offers MP as "laymembers" on holy
>Read the Lunar Empire Writeup. It's explained the Dara Happans sneer
Not to me. The term "Dara Happans" in print is often short for "urban
> Look at Sun County - they've no problem with common farmers worshipping
But not Yelm. Yelmalio is a sky god for the common man - an
>Look at the Pentans, even the common rider is a initiate of Kargzant.
Again, not Yelm. I expect Kargzant is seen as a son of Yelm. Among the
If Yelm worship was truly restricted in the manner
The Yelm cult is small, but influential because of all its associations.
so there are going to be a lot _more_ people ineligible to join.
with Yu-kargzant - believe that to be initiated to the ruling cult, a
person has to be descended from Yelm/Yukargzant. That means s/he has to
be able to recite the lineage. This makes them believe they are
semi-divine beings, with special rights and special obligations.
Plentonius implies loads of this sort of thing.
days, but few are initiated into the mysteries of the ruling deity. I
see even "Yelm the Youth" as a cult for high caste boys and young men.
Because there are limited positions in the Yelm cult, (there will be
many more candidates for priests, Sunlords, and Imperaturs than any
culture can a culture support), many of these will go on to other cults.
They will become merchants, warriors, generals, landowners, or
beurocrats.
at anybody who is not from a city even _if_ he live in the valley and
can claim descent from the Sun God. This implies that even the peasants
can worship the Sun.
Dara Happan noble". All the above statement means to me is that "urban
nobles sneer at county nobles". And because I picture Dara Happan
nobles living in extended families with both urban and rural estates, I
doubt that statement, too.
intercessionary between humans and the Almightly, Awesome Yelm. Lodril
(a fallen sky god) fills this role in Dara Happa.
Grazers, men worship various Yu-Kargzant sons at different stages of
their lives, (Josad, Henrid, etc) but only the nobles worship Yu-K
himself.
that you suggest, then it would have been superseded long ago by another
solar cult with a more liberal social entrance qualification over the
10,000+ years of Dara Happan history.
The _strength_ of the Yelm cult its ability to RULE. (How many other
cults have "Human Lore" as a runelord requirement?) Lodril obeys Yelm.
Shargash obeys Yelm. Oria obeys Yelm. Oslira obeys Yelm. This is due
to millenia of mythic enforcement and interwoven fertility and societal
rituals, not because everybody expects to line up and get in on the
deal. When everybody obeys Yelm, society runs well, and everybody IS in
on the deal, by belonging to the associate cults of their appropriate
caste.
And don't forget - Lodril is the deity of Rebellion, too. That helps
balance society.
Pam
------------------------------
End of Glorantha Digest V3 #37
******************************
RuneQuest is a trademark of Avalon Hill, and Glorantha is a trademark
of Chaosium. With the exception of previously copyrighted material,
unless specified otherwise all text in this digest is copyright by the
author or authors, with rights granted to copy for personal use, to
excerpt in reviews and replies, and to archive unchanged for
electronic retrieval.
Send electronic mail to Majordomo@hops.wharton.upenn.edu with "help"
in the body of the message for subscription information on this and
other mailing lists.
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.7 : Fri 13 Jun 2003 - 16:51:30 EEST