My British alter-ego, Nick Brooke, (or is that my shadow-self) writes:
NB>I leave this possibility open for those who prefer that *all* the Great Empires of Gloranthan History were run by Illuminates, a camp in which I myself do not stand.
Nor I. I certainly don't think the leaders of the EWF were Illuminates. Those highest within the pyramid scheme might have been draconicised to the point that they were no longer recognizable as "human" (for instance, Drang the Storm Dragon), but not illuminated. Besides, as we all know, the inner wisdom for the Orlanthi is divine inspiration - not illumination. :)
NB>Since, however, IMG the God Learner Secret is *not* Illumination, nor
were
the God Learners themselves routinely Illuminated (though some may have
been), I find myself concluding that one "Inner Secret of the Arkat Cult"
that
the God Learners did *not* wrest from them was the secret that Arkat
himself,and his followers in the cult that ran the Dark Empire, were Ill
uminates.
I fully agree - however, the awkwardness of the paragraph demonstrates to me the semantic weakness of terms like "Illumination" and "God Learner Secret". It seems that such words are bracket terms to encompass many similar but not synonomous Gloranthan concepts. On the other hand, since Illumination is a mystic experience which is best describe through circuitous riddles and the God Learners' Secret, is, well, a now unknowable Secret, perhaps this is for the best.
>I find it easy to interpret this as "Slontos" rather than "the
>whole region west from Kethaela, including those belligerent and hostile
>Entruli and Pralori who hadn't previously embraced the Lightbringers'
>message." But YGMV. Clearly the inhabitants of Slontos were not Light-
>bringer worshippers before 115 ST, whatever the passage means.
Once again, I fully agree with Nick and I look forward to his rumored write-up of the wacky Wenelians.
Jeff
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