Don't Worship Me and other things...

From: Peter Metcalfe, CAPE Canty <CHEN190_at_cantva.canterbury.ac.nz>
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 1994 13:43:31 +1300


Colin Watson:

>Are there really any Gods who have not been (and will not be) acknowledged by
>anyone? How do we know about them?

There are several gods who actively disdain worshippers (in the sense of offering MP). Dayzatar is one that comes to mind (I have a feeling that he offers divination but the response is invariably 'Shut Up! You don't exist! Go Away!'. Arachne Solara is another and the Wizards of the Invisible God would be surprised to learn that his health depends on their worship. A God know as Darnab, Garnab or Barnab is known to be living still (primarily through the evidence of his crystals) but nobody knows who worships him if at all.

Nick Eden:


>I find in it lots of references to Yelmalio. Balazar, the founder, at
>least of the Citaedel culture, is said to have introduced the religion in
>about 1050, before dying as a member of the Golden Horde.

>Except that we now know that this can't be true.

Precisely. I blame the sloppy Lhankhor Mhy Sages of Sartar who knew of Elmal/Yelmalio and described every lesser sun god of Dara Happa as such.

>Balazar came from the North West to the land that now bears his name.
>That suggests Dara Happa or Imther. We know that he can't have introduced
>Yelm to the country, cos you just don't introduce Yelm to a culture.

Actually because of Balazar's connection with Avilry (One Citadel has Big Flying Birds) I venture to suggest that he comes from Rinliddi where the Bird Rebels (ie Eagle Hsunchen in GL speak) of Jarasan still live. Because of this, I think they engage or used to engage in various rites related to birds. An example would be that the high priest (Taklong Woodheart?) every sacred time jumps on (or turns into) a bird and flies up to heaven or to the Far East where the Talking Birds Are. Given the decline of Avilry for unknown reasons (I personally blame Sheng Seleris and his nomads), it seems that the Sky Cultists of Balazar have turned to emphasizing the Solar aspect.

>What do you reckon? Who do the citaedel Balazarings worship? A debased
>Pole Star might be an option. In any case it won't greatly resemble the
>cult from a civilised area like DH, or even Sartar.

I personally would make him a Sun God of the Rinliddi. He would have such blessings relating to birds (bless bird analogous to bless herd animal?) and given his relative closeness to Yelm, I would make Sunspears a bit easier to get for his high initiates. Of course, the cult in Balazar is going to borrow heavily from Yelmalio/Khelmal and so forth.

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