Dennis Hoover asks me:
>The Sun County supplement seems to imply (page 6) that about 4% of
>Sun Countians are Yelmies. Perhaps MOB could shed some light on
>why so high.
Here's my response to this question, which I had *just finished* before reading today's Digest!
> 1) I estimate there are about 350 Yelm worshipers in Sun County, what
> sortof heirarchy would exist for them since they would obviously not be
> imbuedwith temporal power?
Yelm cultists are a tiny minority in Sun County - about 4%; (see Cult Membership table in SC, p.6).
To quote SC, "Sun Dome County is an attempt by a devout, cohesive theocratic Yelmalian culture to achieve some portion of the grace and glory of the exalted Mansions of Yelm and its Halls of Eternal Light in the mortal world. This experiment in seeking the divine on earth in the Zola Fel Valley has been a notable success for more than eight centuries..."
The Yelmies are recent Lunar emigres, coming to a society whose religion "provides them with all the answers to their spiritual needs". Thus, the Yelmies do not fit comfortably into such a structure. Think of a British peer in America - they might claim certain perogatives, m'lud, but how relevant are they to they way the country is now run? And I suspect that, being exiles and emigres, they are most likely impoverished or disgraced, and have little more than exalted lineages and grand, but empty titles, eg:
The Scene: Market day, Chomoro, Sun County:
Old Dorian Lightbody and his stout goodwife Ermanda are doing their weekly shopping. They stop at a stall - a battered old handcart actually - to admire the plump tomatoes on display. A portly old peasant, whose fine, aquiline nose is off-set by his filthy yellowish beard and threadbare clothes, sits in the dust beside it.
"And where be these tomatoes from then?," asks Dorian as his veiled wife begin
s
to examine and squeeze the produce with practised eye of a seasoned goodwife.
"We are the Golden Duke Kestinelm, 93rd of the Exalted Lineage of Mathiman, Lord of Darjin and Heridtary Warlord of the Southern Marches, currently domiciled at Plot #23, South Fork, and grower of the finest tomatoes this side of Dry Creek", replies the seedy yokel, only stirring from the shade beside his cart to scratch a flea bite on his buttock.
"Well then, *m'lud*," says Dorian winking to his wife, "Gimme a pound of your
love-apples, and be quick about it."
> 2) Would there be any Sun Lords? Or would the cult be populated mostly
> by Dayzatar-like Yelm the Elder transfero-priests from Yelmalio?
Maybe one or two of the exiles might be Sun Lords, but to get anywhere in Sun Dome society, they would have to prove their merits like anyone else (of course, being a Sun Lord might help).
> 3) How many fingers would I loose for mentioning I wanted to become a
> SunLord to Solanthas Ironpike?
It'd be like telling Bill Clinton you're planning on becoming a Marquis: irrelevant to Sun Dome society. Of course, if you became a threat to public order or decency, you'd probably find yourself sent off to the Count's newly-reopened salt mine at Pentridge...
> 4) Where does this Yelmalio guy get off saying he's the Son of the Sun?
Start questioning the divine order, pal, you'll be at the salt mines for certain, maybe minus an eye!
> 5) Would the 'Ride Griffon' skill be available at all to cult
> members? (Ifigure that it is unfortunately no since in Prax you have to
> ask the Griffons first.)
Not in Sun County. If you somehow managed to get into the Library at the Sun Dome Temple, I'm sure Hector the Wise could dredge up some old scroll such as "Taming and Riding Griffons, a Beginners' Guide".
> 6) How would most Dara Happans view spirit cults (other than ancestor
> worship)?
With patronising amusement, much in the way the Brits in the Colonial Days would look upon the quaint but irredeemably backward customs of fuzzy-wuzzies, savages and pretty much anyone not C of E. Naturally, it would be *unthinkable* for a decent, civilised man to want to participate (though be wary of your womenfolk, for they may be tempted to give in to such passionate and ridiculous urges unless restrained...)
> 7) About how many of the Yelmites in Sun County are Pelorian or Dara
> Happan?
About all of them.
Hope this helps,
Cheers
MOB
End of Glorantha Digest V1 #141
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