Are Hrestoli clergy celibate, or do they have sons too?
/// Readers are members of all classes (they don' use the word "caste"), so all non-zzaburi can and do have children. Zzaburi don't have children (and can't have sex) during their studies - flesh distracts the Mind.
Was it easier for the son of a minor lord to do their time as as someone's page rather than hewing wood and drawing water, for example?
/// Being a page is no easy job (think of all the horse shit you have to shovel, yes it's part of the job), particularly in Loskalm where the Man of All has to live by example and must show the world how fairly he treats his squire (work him hard, train him hard, etc). I don't think squires have an easy life. And they do cut wood and haul water pails around in the field too !
Likewise were acolythists like interns (who eventually expected to be wizards in their own right), or was it a skilled trade that someone might pursue throughout their working life?
/// Indeed some acolythists are "low-level magicians" all their lives. They know useful cantrips, and even spells, are useful to their community and have a place there. But they never demonstrate their Understanding of Hrestol's teachings, or they never can reach Joy during readings, and thus remain low-level. Not all acolythists go on to become Guardians, then Men of All, then Wizards.
Does this mean that there is no veneration or worship of any other kind (other than furtive paganism) amongst either the Hrestoli or Rokari? Also how can one have atheist 'liturgists'? (Unless the point is that there are no liturgists in the New West).
/// This is my main "block" about the New West. To solvei it, I see the higher castes (zzaburi and talari) as very intellectual and understanding the Universe is impersonal, with proper living based on respecting its Laws (Logic). But I see the dronari (and horali) masses being told easier-to-understand, more personified catechism, with an Invisible God that watches over all, during Readings. And the elites don't care a fig about that dross.
Do most Third Age Malkioni see themselves as atheists in the way that, say, Brithini do?
/// Some do, some don't. Being intellectual and Logical doesn't mean being a nihilist.
That said I can see what Herve means about even monotheists from the West seeming like atheists to people from the barbarian belt-- and about atheism being so incomprehensibly weird, and wrong, to Gloranthan theists.
/// No feelings, no love, no pride. Evil-looking bastards who mumble all the time, dress oddly and can make your cows go dry with their evil eye. Get the tar and feathers.
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