>But if the IMs are so hostile to the mainstream Kralorelan
>way, why do they hire themselves out as bodyguards to
>the emperor (without trying to kill him) and why are
>they tolerated at all?
They are not Bodyguards of the Emperor IMO. There are two picture legends in Gods of Glorantha. One says the man in the picture is Godunya and adds 'Godunya's guards are not dragonewts, but mortal men whose devotion and dedication allows them to assume the form of Dragons'.
The other (in the calender booklet) calls the man in the picture is a priest and says 'His draconic guards are not dragonewts but humans who advanced along the Path of Immanent Mastery and have now assumed the forms of Dragons.'
Since it is stated in the Genertela Book that Godunya's bodyguards are the Five Dragon Warriors and a distinction is drawn in Elder Secrets between the Cult of Immanent Mastery and the 'hundreds of students training to become Dragons', I believe that the priest whose bodyguards are PoIM cultists is not Godunya but some lesser ranking Priest. The humans guarding Godunya are probably from the elite of the Daruda cult. And a brickbat is in order for the person who decided to recycle the pictures in Gods of Glorantha.
In addition, and I thought I posted this a week or so back, the PoIM cultists guarding the priests are not hired mercenaries but convicted criminals who have been forcibly retrained in special monastories. They are now totally fanatical but humourless and unimaginative.
The PoIM are tolerated in Kralorela because the rebellion of the PoIM (apart from the War in Heaven re-enactments) is primarily spiritual. They offer a release to many from the corrupt social system and the joys of conversing in the Spiritualistic Dialetics that is Charismatic Wisdom. Those who preach active rebellion are few and end up either dead or in the re-educating monastories.
Furthermore the authority of the Mandarins is not absolute but relies on the co-operation of the gentry and peasants. Now there are a large number of cults and organisations in Kralorela whose activities are viewed by the Mandarins as worse than the Cult of Immanent Mastery. Examples of these are the Cannibal Cult, Atyar, the Tongs and Ikadz to name a few. But they are not suppressed on the grounds that the Mandarin generally has too much work to do (like survey the land, organize tax-gathering, decide on public works) and that they confine their depradations upon other lowlifes.
The Mandarins will act to suppress these cults if they cross the line and are seen to threaten the Social Order. The last major example was probably the suppression of the Atyar Cult in the Second Age after numerous students were found permanently cosmatose. Kralori Justice tends to confine itself to those who offend against gentry and peasants of good standing. The death of a scholar who died suspiciously in his sleep will be investigated whereas the disappearance of a foreign sailor and the subsequent discovery of several partly consumed cooked bodyparts in the river will be put in the too-hard basket.
>> ObTopic: I just remembered that the Cult of Immanent Mastery
>> is also worshipped in Bliss in Ignorance. How did it get
>> there?
>The ignorants are ignorants after all, so they could
>just have preferred the PoIM because they perceived
>it as an easy shortcut to draconic powrs.
That presumes they actually want draconic powers. The Ignorants are so ignorant (in Kralori eyes) that they fail to see the merit in anything that would improve their current lot and prefer to stay true to horrible and barbarous customs. IMO the Ignorants were tricked or bewitched into joining the PoIM.
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