> ObGloranthan content: I think that a lot of people with Open
>Seas may well have bought it from the Vadeli, who I'm sure would sell
>such knowledge for a suitable price. Of course, they didn't sell it
>until after their near monopoly became unexploitable (ie after they lost
>control of Fonrit).
I think the Vadeli are far more devious than that. When they first came to Jrustela and Pamaltela, they claimed they were messengers of the God Dormal sent to rule the land and to redeem them from the sins of their ancestors (RQ Companion).
IMO they based their empire upon the cult of Dormal and relied on the natives to do the dirty business of acting as sepoys, enforcers, taxcollectors and torturers. As well as relying on the Lie, the Vadeli had also altered the Open Seas spell (among other Dormali rites) such that repeated casting of it gradually warps the caster's mind causing to become more obediant to the Vadeli and even thinking like them.
It is fortunate for humanity that the power of the Vadeli was shattered as most of their dormali drowned at the battle of Oenriko Rock. Who knows what they would have become had they lived? Most Dormali in the Southern Seas are now of the Pasos rites which was brought south when the League of Pasos liberated the humans of Jrustela.
However the Dormali temples established by the Vadeli still exist with their twisted rites but much reduced in glory. The Dindankan Temple in Kareeshtu is the most grand with the sailors prostrating themselves before the Admiral. However by Law, the Vadeli are forbidden to enter there and it is unknown whether the schism is enough to prevent the Dindankons from falling into the Vadeli trap.
The Garanz Temple is merely one of many Dormali Temples in Umathela and the only one there that still follows the Vadeli rites. Its sailors crew the merchant marine of the Umathelan Vadeli and they are forbidden to sail warships by the Umathelan Cities who still remember the cruel tyranny. But fingers of suspicion are furtively pointed at the leading figures of Umathela such as the Patriach of Nikosdros, many of whom were devout satraps of the Vadeli. The leaders claim to have cleaned their own house after Oenriko Rock but have their souls been likewise cleasned? Rumours hint at another source for the Patriach's immortality.
Only the Vadeli know for certain and they still teach their Open Seas spell at a suitable price...
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