> I think it is a mistake to try to think in terms of modern states for how the Holy Country functions. It functions because it is united in the divine person of Belintar the Living God. How Belintar does this and what his goals are - those things are mysteries.
That's clearly a very good point, though the interesting question that Peter has brought up seems to be about trying to get a handle on how the *politics* work in the Holy Country, rather than Belintar himself. Including during Belintar's end of 3rd Age absence.
Direct political analogies between parts of Glorantha and parts of RW (including RW history) have always shown themselves to be false, you'll get no argument from me there (No !! the Lunar Empire *isn't* the Soviet Union :D ) -- but that doesn't mean that certain elements of the politics of this or that part of Glorantha can't resemble elements of this or that part of RW.
Peter's suggestions about the elemental Sixths both forming and reproducing (an aspect of) Belintar's material nature are interesting for example, as well as seemingly implicit in the source materials, and also quite clearly incompatible with any of the RW analogies that have been *tentatively* suggested. So the Holy Country is, unsurprisingly, defined on its own terms rather than those of any RW organisation or movement. I make pains to clarify this in I hope no uncertain terms, because I know that this is something which, if carried too far, can cause you personal vexation, and quite right too !! ;)
This doesn't mean that RW analogies can't be used to try and get a handle on the organisational _structures_ of the Holy Country, and why Belintar's politics appear to have worked so incongruously well as compared with those that you can find elsewhere in Glorantha.
> You know that there are multiple priesthoods of Belintar, each with different claims and rituals? Even the priests who offer sacrifices to Belintar do not agree as to his goals or origins! There are schools that study his words and actions in order to understand the Cosmos - naturally they disagree on matters of interpretation as well. There is even a school that holds that Belintar himself does not *know*!
Praise Belintar !!
We humble petitioners crave forgiveness for trying to set ourselves up as if above Belintar, we are merely acting in accordance with our own desires to serve the God-King's inheritance as we see it !!
<grovels and bangs head seven times on the floor, reciting the Seven Virtues of Six>
> These people have set up various administrative bodies to carry out Belintar's requests. Governors, deputies, counts, dukes, and teams of scribes, priestly orders, and so forth exist to carry out Belintar's commands. These officials compete with each other (as is only natural) but almost never challenge Belintar's authority (with a few notable and illustrative examples).
I think what we have been discussing is : how *these people* organise themselves ;)
Julian Lord
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