> True enough. Certainly the Heortlings would interpret the evil atheist
>Zistorians who were corrupting the islands to the south as an embodiment of
>the Evil Emperor, as might the Kerofinelan Heortlings during the decay of
>the EWF view the EWF in the same mythic tradition. Does this mean that up
>until the fifteenth century and extensive contact with the Lunar Army, the
>Heortlings of Sartar and Heortland would be more likely to envision an
>atheist sorceror as the Evil Emperor than a Dara Happan Emperor?
Not Quite. Zistor is a parody of Mostal (how such a cult could be parodied keeps me awake at nights.) Rather than viewing the Evil Emperor as a Western Sorcerer, They would see a harsh god made of metal (Golden? Brazen?) who works his servants to death by demanding they work day and night with clockwork precision...
> However, this still doesn't quite answer my original question: what
>sort of influence did the God Learners have on the mythic beliefs of the
>illiterate clansmen of the hills in lands not under their occupation (eg.
>Heortland)? For that matter, what sort of influence did they have on the
>mythic beliefs of the MAJORITY of the POPULACE (not scholastic, not
>urban-dwelling folk) in the theistic lands that they did occupy (eg.
>Esrolia)?
I think you are overstating the division between the City and the Rural Folk. They do exchange some information and ideas. The Cityfolk need the agricultural surplus of the farmers and herders. To purchase this, they have to deal with the Clan chiefs and the Godis. And when they deal with the City Folk, they are going to become _exposed_ to the new ideas. And once they pick up these ideas, they then transmit them to the other rural folk. As an historical example, look at the experience of the Kingdom of Judea under King Herod and others. Despite the explicit rejection of Yahweh=Zeus and High Priests named Jason (ie Antiochus's 'Abomination of Desolation'), you can still pick out in otherwise orthodox writers (like Josephus and Philo) some elements of Greek Philosophy. The influence on the rural folk may be mostly _reactionary_ ('Orlanth fought their war god Horal in past ages at the battle of Bi.. Bir... Brink..... Brithithingywhatsit. He defeated Horal with one hand tied behind his back and liberated the trickster Eurmal so he could continue the Lightbringers Quest. So them Emptied SOB's are not _completely_ invincible') but it is still there.
Sandy Petersen:
> Wowf. I hereby move that Peter Metcalfe be put in charge of
>the Broo Experimental Breeding Division of the Glorantha Digest's
>College of Sciences. Let us know what you find out, Peter. And be
>sure to wear sterile gloves.
Sadly this advice is too late. I've already gotten the Brain Fever which accounts for all those insane insights...
But then again I liked the Mok Siang story so it can't be too bad...
David Cake:
> Why do I seem to end up in such adversarial debate this last week or
>two? Obviously my biorythms or horoscope or something else I don't believe
>in.
Alex and Joerg aren't as prominent as they used to be. The arrows of frenzied disputation seem to have saught you out instead.
Simon Hibbs:
>This makes me think. Are there Cetoi Hsunchen? I would be surprised if
>there was not an analogus culture somewhere. I realy like Hsunchen, you
>can learn a lot about Glorantha from them, they're like a living
>cultural fossil from waaaaaaaay back.
There is the Cult of Orca (Killer Whale) worshipped in Kralorela which is the source of their Orcish Marines }B-) which they send against the Zabdamar. I think this is derived from a Hsunchen Cult (although the Kralori would all deny such a baseless base rumour). Presumably a Orca (amongst other Cetoi) Hsunchen cult can be found within the Sea of Fog. They would have tough competition from the Rakuti (Shark Hsunchen) of the East Isles.
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