> How much influence did the Jrusteli have in Caladraland? Did they make any
inroads into the Shadowlands?
A fair amount, though this has to be clarified and, again, depends on the
paradigm we're looking at. :o)
'Jrusteli influence' is mainly 'Moray & Telerio's influence', as they were
the primary theomancers active there. And whilst both terms were originally
synonymous, they soon diverged strongly in character.
Glorantha: Intro, p.135:
"In the Imperial Age twin God Learner priests from Slontos seized control of
Caladraland. Despite strenuous opposition from Ezkankekko and the
[indigenous volcano cult], these God Learners somehow managed to tame
Caladra."
Tradetalk#5, p.8:
"... our traitorous Caladralanders at once opened their arms to the brothers
of their brothers... the Jrusteli. By 725 S.T. Caladraland had become an
outpost of the Middle Sea Empire."
In 842 S.T. it was used as base for the invasion of the remainder of Kethaela. Ultimately the efforts of Argan Argar reunited the people of Kethaela, and elements of the Caladrans, led by M&T, rose against Zistor and the God Learners. The Caladraland write-up in the same issue naturally corroborates this.
So what may originally have been general Jrusteli influence was altered in myth and history, as Moray and Telerio changed the nature of their past actions. Basically, one could say that originally Caladraland was a GL Jrusteli colony, Caladra and Aurelion were a GL cult, Moray and Telerio were GL rulers and everything was part of the MSE. Then, as Moray and Telerio got wise to the problems of their situation, and became enamoured of their creation, things started to change.
Everything was transformed to become more resolutley part of an indigenous myth, as M&T broke from the God Learners and changed sides. Caladraland rose in rebellion to fight alongside other Kethaelans, and the old Twins priesthood, influenced by the 'degenerate ways of the God Learners', was reformed or destroyed, and remade in it's supposed original image. Right...
> It all depends on how much the Volcano Twins mythology was
changed/invented...
> It is always easier to start with a core of myth and add on to it rather
than create everything from scratch.
I agree, and this is a little open...
TotRM#7, p.30:
"[Moray and Telerio]... discovered two obscure cults, Aurelion, a minor
Earth God of Jrustela, and Caladra, a subcult of Lodril located in Kethaela.
They sought to see if they could create a stronger religion by fusing two
weak ones. Out of conceit, they chose to make it a cult of Twins in their
own honour"
implies more pugnacious nurture than pre-existing nature, and that in the initial paradigm there was little link. This is one of the few passages to deal with the pre-GL paradigm. Although an excellent and highly influential write-up, which defined the cult for twenty years (in its earlier incarnations), I'm not sure how far you can go as to saying this is canon for the present authors?
As the general position prior to Glorantha: Intro was that the Volcano Twins were the only main GL experiment to survive the Closing (and then only really in Caladraland), other myths detailing the 'original' situation have to be read with half an eye on the influence of Moray and Telerio's HQs.
Nowadays, the position is that the pair got their comeuppence. Glorantha:
Intro, p. 135:
"... the God Learners reunited [Caladra] with Aurelion, Caladra's twin
[brother] who was far overseas... They showed people how to find... their
own spiritual twin. The Closing isolated the Twin Priest cult and the
Caladrans reverted to their older worship of Caladra without his twin."
Whilst that could indicate that there was a primal Twins myth prior to M&T, Peter commented recently that the Jrusteli had no knowledge of Caladra 'til they came to Kethaela.
So that agrees with Chuck's article in TotRM#7. Relict references to the Twins existing before M&T came to Kethaela (and made them up) could indicate bits of the twins' HQs that remained in certain myths, or facetious anti-GL propaganda that has remained in tales, as a mocking reference to the GL's idiocy.
> Perhaps the Jrusteli had some Aurelion myths regarding a volcanic sibling,
> then when they arrived in Caladraland they encountered the volcano gods
there
> and recognised the relationship between Caladra and Aurelion.
Mostly we look at reference between Caladra and Aurelion, specifically. Did the Jrusteli 'originally' have a volcano god or myth that was not nominally Caladra, but nevertheless useable in constructing the Twins myth? Possible, surely, but recent comments and the way the passage was written in TotRM seem to indicate a Caladran origin for the volcano part of the Twins.
Cheerio,
Stu.
--__--__--
End of Glorantha Digest
Powered by hypermail