> Yep, Greg said that the Emperor is not worshipped on a large scale, he
also
> said his devotees are a tiny bunch, mostly close relative and special
agents
> of his power. All the Proxies are devotees though.
Way back in Tales #8, Greg wrote:
: The Emperor is worshipped as a separate divine entity, apart from his
mother,
: by the common populace of the Empire. It is very easy to become a lay
worshipper
: of his cult, and most cults will include it without notice to their
worshippers.
: His shrine can be found in any Lunar moon temple and most allied temples
as well.
But: are we *necessarily* being gregged again?
We all agree (Nick, Chris, Martin, Greg) that there aren't many "high-up" members of the imperial cult (i.e. our Tribunes, Moon Lords, Sultans and Senators). Given this, I don't see why we should necessarily lose the "mass membership" aspects of the imperial cult which sit at the bottom of the food chain.
If only in RQ terms, "lay membership" serves as a neat way of explaining that almost every subject of the Empire, by acknowledging that they are in the Empire, necessarily acknowledges the Living God of the Lunars. I see this as analogous to e.g. Uleria "lay membership" (you're a member each time you, well, "lay"). It's vague and meaningless, and gives no powers or benefits, and that's the way (uh-huh, uh-huh) I like it.
Citizenship, too: citizens possess duties and rights and knowledge and opportunities and an outlook that non-citizens don't, just like cultic initiates. And if every Lunar Citizen has sac'd 1 POW to Moonson, and regularly zaps him full of Magic Points every Holy Day, it helps explain how the Emperor has so much magical energy sloshing about (again, cf. Tales #8). Other than mundane stuff, the biggest magical "benefit" a Citizen receives is that appeals to Moonson are possible, but they cost *POW* as well as time and money.
Below Red Tribune (Moonson Soldier initiates), then, the cult does v. little for its "members". And there aren't *that* many Red Tribunes, IMO. Looking above that, in all there's probably less than a hundred Moon Lords, less than twenty Red Sultans (Moonson Imperator), and I'd guess only a few hundred Red Senators (Moonson the Elder priests): *not* such a huge cult at all, compared with the many millions of inhabitants of the Empire.
Food for thought, I hope.
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Nick
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