From: peter metcalfe (metcalph@voyager.co.nz)
Date: Sat 06 Dec 1997 - 01:42:48 EET
IMO as always. I think that most 'priests' of Godunya are village
headpeople who carry out the weekly worship of the Emperor as part
of their duties (ie ensure the local poplace at least prostrates
themselves before the statue of Godunya). They are not full priests
in the GoG sense (many of them are illiterate for a start) and recieve
little benefit for their pains.
The worship goes through a complicated hierarchy which eventually
cumulates in the local exarch. Personally I think the basic
structure is that the worship goes to a local office of the Ministry
of Religious Affairs (This hierarchy is seperate from the Army,
Magistrates or Tax Collectors). There, specially trained bureacrats
- - called apportioners - siphon of some of the worship to local temples,
the army, the local magistrate, deserving folk and (unofficially)
personal expenses, bribes and people to whom they owe favours.
Now if a region falls persistantly behind in its duties - like the
people of a small town in Boshan smear their statue of Godunya with
excrement and throw it in a refuse heap, or a village has had its
statue of Godunya stolen and replaced by an imitation - then the
loss of worship will be noticed by the authorities. Their response
will be to dispatch a team of auditors into the region. They will
most likely order special (costly) sacrifices to re-establish the
link to the empire or double the amount of worship owed (ie they
have to worship Godunya twice a week). If the locals are hostile
or kill the auditors, then the region will be cursed with visitations
by demons or Huan To to compell the locals to worship Godunya with
renewed fanaticism.
As with most goverment functions, the nature and organization of
this hierarchy differs from exarchy to exarchy (for instance
in Boshan - all government officials are part of the Army). The
worship rate is largely set by the Exarch's officials and is
dependant on the latest census data (be they 5 or 500 years old).
At certain levels, other officials (like Governers and Exarchs)
have some influence or authority over how the worship is to be
dispensed.
It is very difficult to cut down on corruption within the Ministry
of Religious Affairs as they are the most adept in handling the
transferral of worship. A Governer or a Exarch who does not have
a background in Religious Affairs (but still extremely potent in
mystical terms) will have an attache to handle those affairs for
him. The attache handles all the hard stuff and makes the official
powerful. As well as a small stipend for his tasks, the attache
also plays a huge part in concealing the misdeeds of his associates.
- --Peter Metcalfe
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