Peter Metcalf:
>The West: I agree with Michael for the most part about literacy being
>'confined' to the Nobility. However I don't think this means that of
>the four castes, only Nobles and Wizards know how to read and write.
>Some of the wealthy commoners, especially those in the mercantile regions
>(ie Safelster and Nolos) would know how to do so.
I was asked to add some MGF elements to Dave and Nick's fab Rokari Sect write-up in TotRM #13, and apart from forcing pious bishops to eat mince, one I came up with was that those in the farmers caste are forbidden to read or write. However, with the rise of the urban merchant class in the cities, this restriction is conveniently ignored - except on Godsday, when the prosperous burghers must feign illiteracy in church.
Mark Smylie:
> It seems to me that as long as an illuminant continues to perform their
> cult functions with dilligence, they are in effect acting exactly like all
> of the god's other worshippers, and are indistinguishable from them until
> some _act_ spills the beans.
However, it might be very difficult for an illuminate to continue to act in the same way after this mind-altering experience, and even if they still come out with a clean bill of health as far as their diety is concerned, this doesn't mean the rest of the temple heirarchy has to go along with it with cheerful eagerness: "Ok, so Leonidas has been seen hanging around with Lunars, won't eat his eggs any more and uses an umbrella when it rains; still, he ain't got acne, so what the heck, let's promote him to Wind Voice..."
Consider the case of Belvani in SUN COUNTY, the illuminated Lieutenant of the Light Captain. Often the opinions he gives would be considered heretical if someone further down the pecking order expressed it. But in the eyes of the god, the sun still shines out of his arse (hey, good Yelmie metaphor!). Nevertheless, because of his unorthodox approach, his chances of further progression in the cult are very limited: the others just don't consider him a "sound chap" any more.
Cheers
MOB
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