Ingo Tschinke
>I think they believe in castes
I do not. I think that they _once_ believed in castes, way back when they were able to openly worship, but that after centuries of secrecy, they have discarded such frippery.
I _do_ believe that there are certain sub-organizations within the Borist sect -- not castes exactly, but more like societies. One of these societies are the Pure -- who claim to have the Illumination of Light. Another are the Knights of Boris, who prepare for the final battle against Gbaji. But they're not Knights in the classic Malkioni sense, and they're not born into their job.
>In my description of the Borist church they have founded a
knightly order in >the time of the Gbaji wars.
Exactly my point. That was over a thousand years ago. How many Germanic social structures and conventions survive from circa 850 A.D.? The Yule log? And Germany has suffered less cultural upheaval and destruction than Ralios (yes, I know Germany's suffered a lot -- Ralios is even worse).
>I think the Boristi will have only some people which will live as
Rokari and >Galvosti in the "real world". Most peasant will not have
more than one faith >they believe in.
You underestimate the wit of peasants. They're just as smart as the ruling caste, and throughout history there have been cases of peasants keeping secret religions alive. The best-known case might be the Japanese secret Christians, who went underground in the late 17th century when the sect was banned, to resurface to everyone's surprise (even Western observers) after the Meiji Restoration. There are other such groups too.
Remember, out in the countryside, normally an entire village is Borist, but will pretend otherwise when visitors or officials come by. In urban areas, the Borists are more thinly spread, but they are at every stratum of society.
>the boristi will mobilize their whole power because the prophecies
say the >devil (Arkat) will return in time
The Borist prophecies, IMO, speak of the return of "Gbaji", not Arkat. When the various Arkats come for the Hero Wars, I predict they'll recognize one of them as the "true" Arkat, and call the others Gbaji. Or they'll see all of them as Gbaji.
>They got the secret of illumination from Arkat
They know _about_ illumination, but I don't think very many of them are illuminated at all. In particular, their celebration of the Illumination of Light, and their Pure Ones, who have been through their Illumination ritual, would not be considered truly illuminated by a Lunar citizen. This is not to say that they don't have a few "true" illuminants within their sect, but they are rare and probably not particularly convert-oriented.
End of Glorantha Digest V2 #356
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