Issaries cult origins from Simon D. Hibbs on 1997-03-13 (Glorantha Digest Vol 04)

From: Simon D. Hibbs <S.Hibbs_at_fcrd.gov.uk>
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 15:46:55 +0000 (GMT)

>Issaries, and that Issaries is the most widely worshipped god in
>Glorantha (according to the description in RoC), is it just possible that
>the Jrusteli took the final step in their exploitation of the universe
>and became a god themselves? Perhaps they transformed their entire
>culture into the cult of Issaries.

IMHO The Issaries cult was an amalgamation of numerous trade and communication cults across southern Genertela. The Garzeen and Goldentongue cults were probably the largest of these. It seems certain that The cult of Issaries and/or it's original components definitely predated the founding of the Middle Sea Empire.

The Jrusteli adopted Issaries as their premier trade cult, but what remains are just the regional branches in the Middle Sea Empire's client states The heart of the cult went down with them.

The God Learners only 'created' a few cults from whole cloth - In most cases they re-engineered existing cults to better suit their purposes.

>It's an easy theory to shoot holes in, of course. But does anyone (an
>individual or culture) have first hand knowledge of the destruction of
>the Jrusteli by the Gift Carriers of the Sending Gods?

The Gift Carriers only killed those God Learners that knew a particular secret. It is not clear that they were responsible for the wholesale slaughter of Jrusteli. It is also far from certain that the 'secret' the Gift Carriers destroyed was the same as the 'Secret of the God Learners' - whatever that was.

Simon Hibbs