>>Perhaps Digesters would like to put forward some views on what
life is really like in such a meritocracy?<<
>Yes, the Hrestoli way of life does seem very odd. I have scanned
... but failed to find any articles that really sheds life on the Western
lands. Maybe it's because I'm still in my heart prejudiced against
Knights, Wizards and Lords - they just don't *feel* Gloranthan to me.
I remember from the intro to RQ 2:
"Glorantha is an ancient period and early Dark Ages world. It has far more to do with Mesopotamia, ancient China, Hyboria and Lankhmar than it does with medieval Europe, Le Mort D'Arthur or the Carolingian Cycle. Its heroes are Conans, Grey Mousers and Rustums, not Lancelots, Percivals and Rolands".<
If you are looking for Ancient and early Dark Ages parallels to a meritocracy, you might look to pre-Manzikert(sp?) Byzantium and to the ancient China of that intro I wrote so many years ago. Not a direct parallel, I grant you, but there are germs of the ideas of the Hrestoli there.
Soren also stated about some religious differences:
> I imagined the Hrestoli and Rokari to be somewhat like catholics
and protestants: believing in the same God, but very much
disagreeing on how to worship Him. I could well imagine an typical
Rokari preferring to hire a pagan lowlife rather than a Hrestoli heretic.<
Ages ago, in my comparitive religions anthropology class, the instructor recounted a time he was on an Italian tour boat going thru the Aegean and stopping at a Greek port. The party was greeted by a Greek Orthodox clergyman who inquired of everyone their religious background. He was very cordial to the Jews, Moslems, agnostics, and even Protestants. He gave very short shrift to the Catholics.
Sometimes the closest variations in religious doctrines are the most antagonistic.
Steve Perrin
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