Divine Tyrants and Bastard Priests

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From: Guy_Robinson.sbd-e@rx.xerox.com
Date: Thu 07 Apr 1994 - 17:13:17 EEST

As I read the daily from one source but post electronic mail largely from another I can not quote from Joerg's reasoned response.

Whether the tyrant is the Invisible God, the Red Goddess or the Dragon Emperor it makes no odds to me. It is still a scam if the population is subdued to allow the rulers to profit from the tranquility and the worship of the populace.

With the Wizard caste possessing the magical power within a sorcerous society then in a society that is not too deeply entrenched in its ways I believe that they would tend to rise to the top.

I am a bit suspectfull of the non-sorcerous cultures being labeled as theistic. This akin to to acclaiming sorcerers as glorious scientists and cults as terrible pagans. While the sorcerers themselves might seek to claim this I do not think is a suitable description.

My complaints about the sorcerer-priests is that they do not appear to be offering the people they officiate over a far crack of the whip. At least the Rune Cults do offer magic to the common man at a reasonable cost.

The average farmer for example might be able to purchase a Battle Magic spell which is actually applicable to his daily life in a flexible manner. Prehaps a reason for the Sorcerer-Priests is partially to stop the spread of cheap Battle Magic which devalues sorcerous training.

In fact I feel the cost is too reasonable. There has to be a catch, a hidden rake-back that people do not talk about in public. This why I have no objections to accepting a darker side to the Rune Cults.

Joerg mentions the size of the Invisible God's cult but this does not guarantee that this cult is authentic. The history of Glorantha is full of cyclic expansion and contractions.

Prehaps the salvation of the Orlanthi will be the mobilization of the lands of the Invisible God once the insubstanciality and as well as the invisibility of the Invisible God is exposed. Where better to recuit help from against the might of the Lunar Empire?

Good point about people caring about the effect rather than the source of magic. Good point about how bastard priests could run a racket to contain any relevations that might occur from a Divination.

I think Glorantha has a sour under-belly which, prehaps unwittingly in some cases, has a human face applied to it. It's enough for a human to consider seeing if the Mostali need any help with the World Machine ... :-)

Regards

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