Issaries, the Great God? from Carl Fink on 2001-10-11 (Glorantha Digest Vol 08)

From: Carl Fink <carlf_at_panix.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 21:49:56 -0400

Relating to this would be the Fronelan Syndics' Ban. As this event has been explained, a conspiracy including shamans and priests conducted a ritual that involved the appearance of the God of the Silver Feet, another name for Issaries, and killed him.

Obviously this didn't destroy Issaries in the universal sense, because Issaries worship continued to work everywhere else in Glorantha. (On the other hand, didn't the Cults of Silence arise around this time?) However, the dramatic, not to say horrifying and tremendously destructive, effects of this act might hint at what it would take to replace, and what would be the possible result of trying to replace, a Great God.

It's also an indication that at some level gods "really are" tied to the natural phenomenon they represent. "Killing" Issaries didn't just interrupt communication for theists -- most Fronelans weren't theists, after all.

Furthermore: if it weren't for the fact that Issaries returned from Hell as part of his Godtime activities, would it have been possible to end the Ban? Did a notable Westfaring happen at the time of the end of the Ban? (For instance, was Dormal a Lightbringer?)
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Carl Fink carlf_at_panix.com
Manager, Dueling Modems Computer Forum
<http://dm.net>