Re: The Watchful House of Saint Gaspodi

From: jeffrichard68 <richj_at_...>
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 17:04:48 -0000


> I see no reason why this order couldn't exist as Oliver wrote
it
> up. Religious minorities have existed in the past until or unless
> surpressed and we might be justified in thinking that the Orlanthi
> didn't think them worth surpressing. (I think the Hospitaliers
still
> have an outpost in Jureusalem?).

Personally, I am inclined to think that the presence of St. Caspodi's Exacting Censer is post-fall of Whitewall (read pg. 174 of HQ very carefully and remember that HQ is set after the siege of WW). I no longer believe that the reliquary was present during the siege of Whitewall. Furthermore, I am inclined to believe that the "Vaulted Hall of Saint Gerlant" had another name prior to 1622 - probably the Hall of the High King.

For what it is worth, the Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (the Hospitallers) were kicked out of Jerusalem in 1187 and were confined to the County of Tripoli. When Acre was captured in 1291 the order sought refuge in the Kingdom of Cyprus. They then organised a fleet, and in 1309 they took the island of Rhodes as their new base of operations. They lost Rhodes in 1522 and were reestablished in Malta in 1530. They remain as the Sovereign Miltary Order of Malta. In 1831 a revived English Order was founded by French Knights and became known as the Most Venerable Order of St. John of Jersualem of the British Realm. In 1882 the British Grand Priory founded a Hospice and Ophthalmic Dispensary in Jerusalem.

> In my Glorantha I attribute the difference between Humakti and
Uroxi
> to the fact that the Humakti are drawn from the upper class
Heortling
> society the way that Odin worshippers were drawn from Norse
aristocrats
> while the Uroxi get their recruits from young and ambitious
> stickpickers who'd prefer a short life to spending another day as a
> stickpicker. But there's no shortage of stickpickers in Heortling
> society so there's no reason that other military units such as the
> Watchful House of Saint Gaspodi couldn't recruit from there as
well.

I agree with you that Humakti tend to be drawn from those Heortling families wealthy enough to own swords, and Uroxi tend be drawn from psychotic thugs. However, I strongly doubt that rural stickpickers are inclined to join foreign meldek cults.

Jeff

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