>Deezola was a Queen of Rinliddi lands along the Arcos River in Dara
>Happa. She was an Initiate of Chalana Arroy and a Rune Level Cultist
>of Dendara.
Chalana Arroy was not worshipped in Rinliddi. The nearest equivalent was Erissa and I don't believe that Deezola worshipped that either. Likewise Dendara is not an Earth Goddess (cf Entekosiad and Enclosure's #1 "Gods and Goddesses of the Lunar Empire") for details. Rather Deezola worshipped an autochthonous earth goddess with strong healing powers and a connection to Arachne Solara (albeit under a different name). The name of her Goddess may be Basekora.
>Leader of a more prosperous State, during Deezola's early rule the
>people flourished, their wide grainfields made them strong, and their
>cavalry kept them so.
I doubt this. Any cavalry the Rinliddi had would have been cut to pieces by the Pentans. As for the prosperity, I think times were pretty bad before the coming of the Goddess.
>Deezola's people tired to become part of a reconciliation treaty with the
>Carmanians, and all seemed to go well. Deezola prized herself as a
negotiator. >At first all seemed to go well and some legitimate trade began.
But it was
>just another ruse by the deceitful Carmanians, they secretly brought in
>commando units under the cover of merchant caravans and cultural
>exchange parties
This seems too modern and artificial to me. The Carmanians at the time were omnipotent brutal thugs. Since the fall of Dara Happa, they had little need for sly dealings and bad-faith negotiations and would have simply marched in and raped, pillaged and plundered Rinliddi.
>This was walking the
>Path of the Spider, lore secreted as part of the obscure Chalana Arroy
>sub-cult of Arachne Solara. Some say she was involved in the Terminal
>Debate to contact Arachne Solara, but this was not so, there had been
>no organised worship of the spider goddess since the fall of the
>Empire of the Wyrms' Friends.
What connection has Chalana Arroy with Arachne Solara? The Terminal Debate was not set up until Emperor Celestinus's time (1558 to 1574) and was used to sort out who _challenged_ Arachne Solara. And there is no organized worship of Arachne Solara (who is _not_ the spider goddess Aranea) anywhere in the world.
>Somehow, as well as learning potent magic and
>secrets, [...] apparently through confronting Vivamort.
Vivamort is not important in Pelorian mythology.
>And most importantly she had learned of the Red Goddess. From this point
>on she titled herself as a Priestess of Arachne Solara. During the
>following months she became part of the Conspiracy that evolved into the
>Seven Mothers Quest.
I think instead of Deezola undergoing a quest, gaining powers and discovering the Red Goddess _before_ participating in her rebirth, it would be better to have her being changed as a _result_ of the birth of the Goddess. For example, look at the mythology of Danfive Xaron. He fails before the Goddess, flees to the underworld and eventually is redeemed. In bringing something New into Glorantha, each and everyone of the Seven Mothers were changed in some unexpected and unanticipated way.
>Amongst other things, the group that became
>known as the Seven Mothers did evoke the powers of the Blue Moon, but
>SWW was non other than a deliberately corrupted avatar of Arachne
>Solara.
I would prefer to keep SWW completely mysterious rather than have her parially attached to Deezola or any other Mother.
>Irripi Ontor uncovered other pieces of the knowledge from the Arachne
>Solara sub-cult of Lhankor Mhy
Arachne Solara subcult of Lhankor Mhy? Arachne Solara is not associated with the Lightbringers. Ginna Jar is a Lightbringer but she does not have the attributes of Arachne Solara. In addition, the Lightbringers do not have subcults of Gina Jar but manifest it when they form a ring (and Ginna Jar is the wyter of the Ring).
>Both Deezola and Irripi Ontor knew that only Arachne Solara could remember
>the details of the Red Goddess from before the Dawn.
Actually the myth of the Moon was well known in Dara Happa and many starseers had been prophesying the return of the Moon before she was born.
>II. Cult Ecology
Rather than provide details on the myriad lunar cults, it would be better to concentrate on the pure cult of Deezola. That is the focus of the writeup (one can leave the Seven Mothers worship of Deezola to the Seven Mothers writeup).
>The Cult of Deezola alone
>spans the middle ground, with a small but powerful leadership
>(Principally High Priestess Luada Solon), and a few notable heroes and
>champions that make up for the numerical lack of cult membership. [...]
>The cult retains a power base because it traditionally controls much of
>the Emperor's agricultural trade.
Mere responsibility alone for this does not create a powerful cult. The corn dole was important in Rome but the office responsible wasn't very powerful politically (a mere aedile and even then he had some other things to look after).
>Misguidedly, she hoped that the Red Goddess would stand as a
>leader for peace and fair arbitration, but the motivations of the
>other Mothers brought a lust for power into the equation. Since the
>birth of the Goddess, the Cult of Deezola has been the single focus
>for negotiation and reconciliation of the main cults within the
>Empire.
There is nothing wrong with the Status Quo in the Lunar Empire. It changes for the better but it is never wrong. People who hint that some mothers were powerseekers are but sad dissidents who know not what they talk about.
>III. The Cult in the World
>In principal and in action, Deezola cultists of the Seven Mothers and
>of the pure cult, all tend to fill the roles of diplomats,
>arbitrators, interpreters, messengers between antagonistic parties,
>and battlefield medics rather than healers by profession.
This focuses far too much on her healing magics at the expense of virtually ignoring her earth magics and popularity among the nobility or poets for that matter.
>The cult members are taught proficiency in only shield and one weapon,
>although some disdain this in favour of defensive training only.
Why are the cultists given weapons training at all?
>IV. Initiates
>One must be eligible in background (if not in skill level) to join the
>Lunar Army, in order to be admitted to the cult of Deezola.
Why do the cultists need to join the Lunar Army? Only a few members of Danfive Xaron is in the army and his is a far more militant cult than Deezola.
>V. Rune Lords
What need does the cult have for Runelords?
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