Re: What lies beneath Alda Chur???

From: chrphrgrv <chrphrgrv_at_XTcBIBNhjOnhOf0RJZ4mMH6Vbe2LmzoMBg-skUjC3nU2cfxRe_9XOLQVb_aVLma_-8>
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2009 05:52:36 -0000

Regarding Yelmalio in Alda Chur:

How did the Yelmalio cult arise in the Far Place?

Surely, the Far Walkers had no Yelamlian cultists when they arrived in the area. The only people worshiping Yelmalio in 1357 ST when the Far Walkers crossed the Dwarf Run and entered The Far Place were the conservative land holders in Sun County far away along the Zola Fel. Nevertheless, some of the Far Walkers worshiped Yelm in some other way already. When they found the long abandoned temple to Yelm they consecrated it, not as a Yelmalian sun dome temple but as an alter for the worship of Yelm.

What form did this take?

John Hughes calls this Yelmalter. Quoting him directly he gives Yelmalter form in the fallowing way.

"Vantar (Vantar Tarosson- son of Taros Ridgeleaper)listens to the Powers of the temple, journeys to their places on the Other Side, is granted access to their gnosis, and over several decades, incorporates this knowledge into his own tribal traditions, He forges a distinctively Far Place cult of Yelmaltar, the Enduring Light. The new cult incorporated elements from various barbarian traditions including Somel SunSpear, Yavor Lightning, Old Somak, and the volcanic blue flame, light-against-darkness and agricultural powers of the Alda Chur temple and its reawakened deity."

So far as I know, the Yelmalter cultists did not begin worshiping Yelmalio until influenced by the Sun Dome Temple founded by Monrogh in the new Sartarite Sun County sanctioned by King Tarkalor which was in 1572 ST. By the time of the Hero Wars the worshipers of Yelmalter have switched to Yelmalio and are trending toward loyalty to Sarter.

How does this stack up for you as a characterization of how Yelmalio develops in The Far Place?

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> > > Remarkably, there are only about 1000 Yelmalio cultists in the Far Place - less than 10% of the adult male population. Their dominance in Alda Chur is a tribute to the ruthless leadership of Harvar Ironfist and the support he has gained from the Lunar Empire.
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> > That sounds about right to me. In Hugh's material only the men belong and by the beginning of the hero wars sun worship in Alda-Chur has become increasingly elitist becoming a cult of exclusivity for the powerful.
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> I'd switch that around. The Yelmalio cult in Alda-Chur (which only a few clans and bloodlines participate in) has been increasingly powerful. Few outsiders have joined the cult (or even can).
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> >I believe that Yelmalter still caters to the loyal yeoman farmers of slightly higher affluence who might also aspire to join Yelmalio if they could.
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> Within the handful of clans and bloodlines that worship Yelmalio, worshippers will include farmers as well as thanes. But keep in mind that clan and bloodline is the main organizing principle even for the Yelmalio cult.
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