Fonrit from peter metcalfe on 1997-12-15 (Glorantha Digest Vol 05)

From: peter metcalfe <metcalph_at_voyager.co.nz>
Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 11:20:48 +1300 (NZDT)

Stephen Martin:

me>>... the Blues [...] were undoubtedly (in the view
>>of the God Learners) degenerate Blue Vadeli whose wretched condition
>>was the Just Punishment of the Invisible God.

>Surely the God Learners knew enough about various Gloranthan lands and
>history to know that there were other Blue People besides the Vadeli? For
>example, Troll Gods states that the blue Loper People were defeated in
>Seshnela in the year 805, with an implication that they were known before
>then for at least awhile. Do you think the God Learners viewed the Loper
>People as Blue Vadeli? Surely not.

The issue is their origin, not who they are. The God Learners seek to explain all origins in terms of their own mythology because they know that is true and not the half-baked folk lore of rank barbarians and the ignorant supersition of fuzzie-wuzzies.

Thus whatever mythology the natives have for their origins, they are simply wrong and the God Learner scriptures are right. As proof, I shall cite the relevant passages from the Anilla cult writeup which is a God Learner compliation.

'The [...] Blues of Fonrit _believe_ only that Mother Annilla was their ancestress...'

'The free Veldang [...] _claim_ to be descandants of the Artmali Empire...'

'...the Zaranistangi [...] _claim_ to come from Coborandra...'

Note the weasel words. Not 'the Zaranistangi come from the lost land of Coboranda' or 'the Blues of Fonrit are descended from Mother Annilla' etc. Even if Thorloss did believe that the Artmali had a seperate origin from the Blue Vadeli, I do not believe that such was the majority view of his peers.

Simon Bray:

Simon wondered about the Orlanth of Sarro. I said it could be an Umathelan import and pointed to Worlath (which came from Umathela) in the city of Tondiji as proof.

> I always thought that Worlath was one of the God Learner False Gods. He is
>not the Umathelan "Orlanth", that is Tyloque (according to Sandy/Greg). I
>thought that Worlath was an artificial construct that was forced upon the
>people. The God Learners were described as surprised when Worlath
manifested >REAL powers at Yoranday.

Ehilm, another of the False Gods, is worshipped by the Galinini. Only Jogrampur is described as being invented from scratch. Instead of the False Gods being 'artificial constructs' made up by the God Learners, IMO the God Learners promulgulated artificial cults that were structured to give power to a) the Monomyth and b) the God Learners who could summon and command the gods of those cults, leaving sweet f-a for the myriads of priests and worshippers.

> I think that the antipathy between Umathela and Fonrit would hamper the
>existence of imported religions. I know that Umathela has ruled parts of
>Fonrit in the past and vice-versa, but I don't think that a nation always
>adopts the religion and culture of it conquerers. If this were the case
then >the God Learners would have dominated Fonrit easily.

Taking the faith of the conquerers is not the only way a religion may be imported. The following ways could also have happened:

Given that the God Learners made the Theyalans worship Worlath and their descendants worship Tyloque, the question arises what happened to the Priests of Worlath in the False Gods Revolt? They could have fled aboard after the revolt had been crushed into the Land of Fonrit. There the local potentates gave them the land that later became the City of Sarro.
The 'Jann' of Afadjann is friendly towards the God Learners. He has a bodyguard of stalwart Worlathi bought on the Umathelan slavemarket which is largely insulated from the harem politics. To reinforce this insularity, he settles them and their families in the City of Sarro. After the dynasty of the 'Jann' falls, the Sarroi fall on hard times and become a city of bandits.
Tyloquean refugees of the latest God Learner repression (because they wouldn't worship Worlath) migrate into Fonrit and begin a life of banditry before seizing the city of Sarro.

> I was thinking about isolation from Genertela and other Orlanth cults as
>being cause of the differences in Sarro's Orlanth. It has been seperated
from >Genertelan contact since 955 ST due to the closing.

Nevertheless Orlanthi culture is quite conservative. The last major interaction between the Ralian and the Dragon Pass Orlanth was in Alakorings day. Despite this the two are still recognizably Orlanthi. Thus I don't think that any differences between Sarro's Orlanth and the Genertelan Orlanth would be any greater than the differences between the various forms of Orlanth in Genertela. Of course there is always the example of Tyloque in Umathela...

>Sarro itself has become a ghoul ridden ruin, perhaps the souls of EWF members
>that became undead after the massacre of 1042 ST. The local leader in Sarro
>(C.1617) is known as the Jann of Thieves, I wonder if it was Orlanth
Aventurous >that was imported? In fact Sarro sounds much like Pavis and the Big Rubble in >nature.

I think we should avoid importing the Big Rubble into Pamaltela. Secondly Sarro was instrumental in the war against the evil Stifflers. That would be difficult to do if it had been haunted by ghouls ever since 1042 ST.

--Peter Metcalfe