> --- In WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com, "jeffkyer" <jakyer@> wrote:
>
> > Trade is very, very much a matter of communication and cultural
> > exchange as any archaeologist or classicist studying Old World
> > Systems will tell you. Possibly at *excruciating* length.
>
> I'm now imagining how a world systems analysis of Glorantha would work, and I probably will be for a few days. Ya big jerk. ;-P
>
> Also, I suspect a Trader Prince Wizard has already done it.
Typical D&D answer: "A wizard did it" =)
> I agree that we're dealing with a monotheistic/sorcerous account of an event. The Middle Sea Empire says that Church of Ashara is a Recovery Church, one of many churches trying to identify The Latest Action and recover Malkionism from Godlearner excesses. According to tMSE the "cosmology and mythology of these Recovery Churches is exactly the same as the Abiding Book up to the moment of it's actual creation" (p. 36-37). That means that Ashara is in the Abiding Book. Even if Ashara is Issaries, it's still a depiction of him & his actions from within Malkionism.
>
True enough. However, the Ashara Church (such as it is) is extremely pragmatic and has a fairly simplistic theology compared to most other churches. And yes, I agree. It is a depiction of something that happened. I'm not going to go all pronounce-y and say what because that would take the fun out of it.
> IMG,this means that someone (Caselein or someone else?) wrote the foundational text of a Recovery Church by focusing on the lessons offered by a character described in The Abiding Book. Put all this together, and you (well... I) get a Church that has been explicitly founded as a rejection of Godlearnerism, and grounding itself on a theology of motion, exchange, and communication. In short, the Church of Ashara is Gloranthan discourse ethics: the good is an emergent property created through agreement and consent, and The Invisible God wishes this because through cooperation we are refined and redeemed. The Church of Ashara would therefore see the core sin of the Godlearners is arrogance.
>
Caselain was probably as surprised as anyone when he founded a Church. He just wanted to save his people and embarked on a great journey to do so.
But your point about rejecting Godlearner ways is quite apt - the Trader Princes tend to adopt and propitiate nearby spirits and gods as well as any surviving essences or saints into the local version of the catechism. The Trader Princes are big fans of "this works for us" and tend, I think, to let the big philosophical questions slide. I was tempted to consider them a HQ1 Common religion but that just didn't seem to fit right either.
It is both sad and ironic to note that over the centuries, as they accreted local power and authority, the Trader Princes have fallen prey to that very sin - arrogance.
> Also, from what I gather from BoG, Caselein's trip to the east was not an intentional attempt on his part to be Ashara going in the opposite direction. The Closing created problems for Caselein's people by cutting off their supply of Falangian daimonds (whatever they are) which they had to given as tribute to the Iron Stag (whoever that is/was). The Great Trek was Caselein using magic from Ashara to create an overland route to get the needed daimonds.
>
> Nick
Yes, very true. Caselain was too busy just trying to help his people survive in a post-apocalyptic world - just as Ashara intended when It chose him as Its agent. Founding a Church and what is tantamount to a new culture were side effects. Heck, I don't know if Falangian diamonds even exist anymore. The Iron Stag is probably the title of some Pralorian warlord. The Pralori make great inroads after the Closing and recovered much of their pre-Dawn strength.
The Trader Princes are a pragmatic lot. That's a strength and a very great weakness as they tend to lack a certain depth. At least, that's my take on them.
Jeff
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