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> Trotsky tells us that the Hrestoli allow female knights. Ummm.
> Do they? I got the impression that that particular bit of heresy
> hadn't even occurred to them (until the recent events of the Malki-
> oni Council related in How The West Was One). Ummm. Source please.
We had female Hrestoli Idealist (Loskalmi) knights and bishops and even a Cardinal in HtWwO. A minority, but present at the start of the game. They were part of the cross-sect feminist lobby we engineered into the Ecclesiastical Council.
I attach extracts from the "How the West was One" character sheet of:
Age: 55
Disposition: aggrieved, critical, passionate
Religious Affiliation: New Hrestoli Idealist Church Political Affiliation: Kingdom of Loskalm
Council Votes: one
SIEGLINDE'S BACKGROUND You are the Cardinal of Norans, head of the Hrestoli Idealist Church in the most prosperous and advanced of the eight Principalities of Loskalm, and the first woman ever to have attained such a rank. You are a crusading champion for the New Hrestoli Idealist sect of Malkionism, the most progressive and modern sect of the archaic Malkioni religion.
Born in 1580, the daughter of a wizard of Morain, you rejected the traditional Loskalmi woman's route to high status through a good marriage, and instead dedicated yourself to the fulfilling task of making your own upward progress through the classes of Hrestoli society. At every stage you faced opposition from bigoted, smallminded men, who sought only to oppose your advancement and straitjacketed you into "traditional" female roles. Worse than this was the well-meaning condescension of others, who by patronising your Idealist quest for fulfilment revealed the inequality that persists at the heart of Loskalmi society.
In your knightly training, you had to serve as a messenger while others fought. As a wizard, you were assigned to the hospitals as a healer-surgeon, and not permitted to study high theology as you would have wished. Fortunately, your resolute strength of purpose ensured that in every station you were able to study subjects far outside the restrictions of your appointed career. You achieved victories in all the contests and examinations required for upward progression, but these were awarded grudgingly. You faced abuse and belittling comments from fellow-competitors, but you endured their mockery and continued, not wavering from your course.
You proved yourself to be a true Knight by requesting a traditional year's Leave of Errantry from your commander. (He leered, and asked if you'd be marrying the child's father. The pig!). You quested through Loskalm and the strange lands beyond, concealing your sex within a finely-wrought suit of plate armour. Following the old traditions of knight-errantry, you bore a blank white shield and disguised your name, claiming to be "Sir Lindegaise". In far-off forests you fought with monsters, rescued maidens (who were very surprised to remain in that state: so much for Chivalry!), and upheld the fine and noble Hrestoli Ideals wherever you tarried, supporting Justice and laying low the proud.
In those years the Syndics Ban was slowly retreating from Fronela; you were one of the first explorers to penetrate into the mysterious realm of Zoria and its enchanted City of Love. This magical place was ruled by a mighty enchantress known as the Queen of the Kiss, who could enslave men through her mastery of feminine wiles. Many fine knights had come to grief and shame in the various chambers of her palace before your arrival. Not knowing the secret of your identity, the witch-queen attempted wantonly to seduce you from your virtuous questing: you indignantly rebuffed her, proclaiming that all True Knights of Loskalm would place their noble Ideals above their carnal Desires.
Your elevation to Cardinal came two years ago; this was well-deser- ved (and somewhat overdue) recognition of your incisive excellence. At times, you wonder how the other members of the High Council, mostly male, came to select you. It would be intolerable if you were chosen only to be a "token woman", though of course your appointment would nevertheless remain a great victory for your cause.
The Grand Tournament:
So as to demonstrate the unity of all Malkioni (not just the Wizard class in charge of promulgating church doctrine), at past Ecclesiastical Councils there have always been voting representatives from each of the other three classes: a Lord, a Knight and a Farmer. When people were shackled to their 'castes' by birth in the Bad Old Days, these positions were awarded on the discredited basis of heredity. (At the erroneous Sixth Ecclesiastical Council, the Rokari heretics won the right to appoint their own Symbolic Representatives on this basis). Now we are enlightened by Hrestol's Idealism, they can be earned by anyone who has progressed far enough through the class structure of the Loskalmi State.
One member of the Hrestoli delegation will be chosen by Gaiseron the Mystic to represent the Knightly class of Loskalm. And, you have discovered, as a de facto Knight they will be eligible to compete in the Grand Tournament! If you were to be awarded this honour, you could vindicate female knighthood everywhere by becoming the Knight Defender of Malkionism!
Womens' Committee:
Give it to them straight: no "special cases," no "separate structures," none of that antiquated sexist twaddle. Women are human, too. You must work hard before this sub-committee to make sure that you ensure a majority will support the notion that women do have souls, and do have a role in the Church. =
THEOLOGICAL OBJECTIVES
POLITICAL OBJECTIVES
WHO YOU KNOW Gaiseron the Mystic, Cardinal of Southpoint and Ecclesiarch of the Malkioni Faith: a sweet old man: you are sure he means well, but he probably cannot help but display the outdated attitudes of his generation - and most other members of that generation are a century or more dead.
You are also worried that he is not going to exercise his authority and insist that the various Hrestoli representatives on the sub-committees vote in accordance with the official Church views on each subject. Not to do so will cause rampant confusion across the whole of Loskalm. It appears that Gaiseron really has very little control over his own church and seems willing to allow also sorts of patent nonsense, lies, and (it has to be said) heresies to be promulgated in the name of "free speech". It must stop! =
Galleron, Cardinal of Pomona: a died-in-the-wool sexist, he displays chauvinistic and patriarchal attitudes that should have died out in the Ice Age. You despise this petty, manipulative little schemer. Unfortunately, he is also on the Womens' Committee, and he is sure to vote against the rights of women. Some way must be found to force him to vote for the Hrestoli position. This is a perfect example of the lack of co-ordination and non-use of authority by Gaiseron.
Guntram, Cardinal of Morain: this earnest fellow is likely to be sympathetic to your cause; you know him to be a broad-minded and innovative thinker.
Malgrin, Cardinal of Modrimouth: a Cardinal who has risen all of the way from the peasant class. He is a bit rustic for you, but you do share many common experiences of prejudice. =
Minadoras, Cardinal of Easval: the youngest member of the current College of Cardinals, Minadoras strikes you as something of a fanatic, even among the upper circles of Loskalm's Idealists.
Sulfraginis, Cardinal of Bregsburg: an elderly wizard only recently raised to the rank of Lord and the office of Cardinal. Sulfraginis is a taciturn and quietly-spoken man of few words. Some years ago now he became a missionary and traveled to Pamaltela. =
RELIGIOUS ATTITUDES Perfecti: although they are denounced (by men) as stinking heretics, this movement seems to share your belief that it is hard to achieve worthwhile changes by working within the institutions of society. There is another side to persons, events, and magic, one that cannot be fulfilled by public ritual and open displays but needs to be developed secretly, in private contemplation.
Castle Coast Chivalry: the "Chivalry" of this land places women on a pedestal, denying them the opportunity to be any more than prizes for muscle-bound males! Out on it!
Rokari: a twisted creed for self-torturing misogynists. The Rokari Church of Seshnela has no female bishops, and prefers to lock its women away in nunneries. How much better it would be if this unnatural confinement were overturned!
Syanorans: this Church has female bishops and priestesses, =
Arrolians: the Arrolian Lunar Church seems an admirable model: a predominantly female priestesshood, and a creed that emphasises the natural cycles of life and the importance of the feminine perspective. In fact, you have heard that their church can scarcely be called "pagan": they are said to worship the Invisible God just as your own Church does, taking the Moon as a symbol. It would be worth finding out more about this belief.
Zorians: the Zorian Church of Free Love is one of those things that brings womens' involvement in religion into disrepute. From personal experience, you know their ruler to be a seductress and a destroyer of good knights.
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Nick
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End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #501
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