Re: Trader Princes question

From: Greg Stafford <Greg_at__ouFgzBJD9PmX_pmKV9mySiaeDR9hNNqQULsRYcY1W9NCaAmP4MsAd7r4A9fPrJq05jDD_i>
Date: Thu, 06 Sep 2007 19:25:51 -0700


Jeff Richard wrote:

> > > I think people tend to overstate and overthink how folk reacted
> > > against the God Learners.

For my two obols, the general, there was widespread, violent reaction against the God Learners and all they stood for. Multiple cataclysms descended upon people everywhere, and gods and spirits across the world urged their worshippers to destroy the blasphemers. GL influences were purged from the cultures (sometimes successfully, often with many errors about what was or was not really GL).

> > > For example, the greatest achievement of
> > > the God Learners was the Abiding Book --

No, the Abiding Book preceded the God Learners, and there was a stream of protest from traditional Abiders against the atrocities and mutant interpretations that the GL applied to the AB.

> > > which is IIRC the core holy
> > > book of the Ashura Church. Same thing with Tradetalk - I think many
> > > communities kept knowledge of Tradetalk simply because it made it
> > > easier to speak with other communities that also knew Tradetalk.

This is one of those things that was accepted as GL in some places, rejected in others. Naturally the Orlanthi knew its actual origin, and kept it. Many other folk thought of it as GL in origin, while yet others thought of it as original with their own people!
> > The
> > > God Learners encouraged this, but I don't necessarily see it as
> > > something most people would identify with the God Learners.
In general, if the GL were the intermediaries who brought something, then it was considered to be of GL origin.
> > The Abiding Book predates the God Learners by several centuries. Many
> > churches still use it but have their own versions - the Rokari use
> > the Sharp Abiding Book - which are expurgated and annotated to suit.
Several sects have "purged" versions of the AB, of course, to rid it of the GL taint. And note how the Rokari actually rejected the Hrestoli parts of the original AB because it suited their needs! VERY typical of the reactions.
> See, you are overthinking. The Jrusteli - synonomous with the God
> Learners - brought forth the Book. Now the actual God Learners
> collective was formed several centuries later, but most people in the
> Third Age don't make such precise distinctions.
I think that many theologians do make such a distinction. As I said, there was a constant sream of traditionalists trying to staunch the GL efforts, though generally unsuccessfully.

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