>Reading the HQ rules and background stuff on Kralorela makes me think the
>Imperial Adorations, and what is currently called Godunya magic could
>either be
>modelled on Wizardly veneration or actually is actual honest to essense
>veneration. (I'm not too bothered whether it is one or the other, it just
>seems to
>fit with Mandarins being some sort of Liturgist relying on the written
>text of,
>amongst other things Mikadays laws).
>
>Having said that, I wondered if there were any opinions on how I might
>structure orders and schools. I have considered "churches" for each
>province (not
>called "churches", that sounds to westerm), or possibly orders for each
>Exarch
>(or Archexarch), treating them almost as living Saints.
For structure, I generally base Kralorela's government on the different Sagely Traditions with the Mandarins being a common order. I think each province has its own mix of sage duties: in some provinces, the Eunuchs might be dominant, in others, the army will have imposed martial law. But more fun is the Mandarins ruling and the Army and the Eunuchs plotting against it.
So what you really have is factions collaborating with their sister factions in other provinces to increase their own prestige. Not to mention factions within a Sagely tradition etc.
Magic - oooh this is tricky. I generally think that Kralorela's world view embraces all types of magic ranging from no magic, the standard three, the material world, disorderly magic (Eurmal etc) and Underworld magic. Some Sagely traditions are proficient in some types of magic and deficient in others (i.e. the Mandarin tradition might have worshipped gods, great sages but very few spirits while the opposite might be true for the War-Dragon Tradition).
Borrowing on the Lunar Way, I think that a Sage in any tradition can learn all the magics of a given tradition regardless of Draconic source but is unable to learn any magic outside the Sagely tradition.
Thus far the Sagely magics. Now for the worshipped Dragon of each Province. I suspect its nature depends on the spiritual temper of its people with divine worship to the dragon of a mostly theistic population being more effective than other types of worship and so forth.
Sagely Traditions: a Brief Suggestion.
As part of his duties to bless and protect Kralorela, each Emperor has bequeathed a Sagely tradition to perpetuate his teachings. Thus did Mikaday create the Mandarins, thus did Thalurzni create the Balancers, thus did Vayobi create the War Dragons. A Sagely Tradition is not a dogmatic institution but consists of sorcerous schools, divinities, helpful spirits and the like.
Dragomans: The oldest draconic tradition with a continuous history. Founded by the Emperor Daruda, this tradition emphasizes draconic transformation of the self. This is usually done through emulating accessible dragons, such as the August Dragon or the Red Dragon. The tradition is also the source of the secrets of becoming Xia Ko (Exarchs or Dragon Kings), thus unifying the diverse draconic organizations of Kralorela.
Balancers (Eunuchs): Thalurzni created this tradition to bring Balance
to Kralorela. Its practitioners were Kralorela's first officials and
bureaucrats
but have since been superseded by the Mandarins. They now only survive
as a few fighting orders, guardians and servitors of the Imperial Palace and
as practicing alchemists. The core of the Balancer tradition is the
transformation of ordinary substances into the draconic equivalent through
balancing the elements. Many Balancers achieve balance by sublimating
their sexual organs this transforms them into asexual androgynes, hence
their common name as Eunuchs. The Balancers have a bad reputation
of being corrupt and greedy this is because their greater transformations
are so expensive yet so rewarding.
Mandarins (Hsin Tu): Created by Mikaday after he observed the Balancers impoverishing others. Their practice emphasizes the understanding of draconic writing to transform the self and others. They are the most common Sage.
"War-Dragons": The armed forces of Kralorela. Created by Vayobi. Lowest enlightened rank is the Talon while the highest is a General. This tradition emphasizes becoming participation within a Dragon of War. Looked down upon by the Mandarins as hopelessly fallen.
"Wanderers": Sages created by Vashanti. Since the Cosmic Dragon
dismembered itself, they visit the various draconic nexi to gain
enlightenment.
Such visits also strengthens the world and the Emperor Vashanti created
these sages to reknit the world during the Great Darkness. The Sages have
a mystical map, "the web of righteous enlightenment" (an intentional parallel
with Arachne's web here), that shows the routes between the nexi whether on
this world or the otherworlds. Most of them simply travel within Kralorela
while
a few travel beyond. Perhaps a school within the "wanderers" knows how to
make Dragon Roads. Another school teaches how to send the psyche from
one nexi to another they are used by the Kralori for long-distance
communication and also for information retrieval.
The system becomes broken after this. Some of the following schools are incomplete, others are not-draconic and two are anti-draconic.
Faithful Dragon School: Described in the Glorantha: Intro. Perhaps the remnants of Yanoor's martial teachings cobbled together along with some other debris?
Immanent Masters: Followers of the Path of Immanent Mastery. Created by ShangHsa. Described in the Glorantha: Intro and Gods of Glorantha.
Huan To: Seekers of the Ultimate. Created by the Emperor Sekever. Described in the Glorantha: Intro and the Glorantha Bestiary.
Enlightened Ones: Followers of Metsyla's Path of Enlightenment through
the Seventeen Lessons to Perfection. Although clear-sighted in his
enlightenment,
Metsyla never learned how to be close to things, how to be wise or to search
his inner feelings for their truths. These flaws prevented him from
knowing the
Cosmic Dragon as his predecessors had and led to the drowning of his empire.
His followers among the gentry have similar flaws.
Legalists: Women's Order. I don't think other sagely traditions prevent women from joining, it's just that they are unusual.
Clothed Sages and Naked Sages: Followers of NiangMao (Ye Book of Tentacles).
I once had the thought of making the Hua Lochow lineage (Glorantha: Intro
p184)
martial artists within the NiangMao Sagely tradition. I think Clothed
Sages can
also act as rulers (and the greatest of them was Shavaya) but they've been
superseded by draconic traditions.
I don't know whether there's any existing Sagely Tradition connected with the
first two Draconic Emperors. I imagine there's bits and pieces scattered
throughout
the other traditions.
>Next question* is: If the whole religion revolves around venerating the
>Emperor what happened when Shang Hsa took over. Would the veneration have
>gone up
>as far as the exile Exarchs in the Kingdoms of New Wisdom, would it have been
>directlyusurped by the New Dragon Ring, or would the Immanent Masters
>created a
>new religion to replace Imperial Adoration.
Since the FDR are spoken as having True Magic until the Dragon's Awakening
Shudder, I think they largely usurped control over the existing Circle of
Infinite
Power rather than created anything new.
--Peter Metcalfe
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