Temple Cooperation

[Jonathan Picklesimer]

On Mon, 4 May 1998, The Olesen's wrote:

> Suppose the regent wanted to sponsor both temples, would they cooperate?
>
> I guess that two temples devoted to Haelyn wouldn't
> But what about the Impregnible Heart of Haelyn and Ruonil's Celestial
> Spell?

Going back to Mr. Ruhland's post, for the gold and for the prestige, yes I
am sure that they could and would gladly cooperate. Rournil's temple
holdings are typcially rather small, and his priests are often found as
advisors in courts where Rournil is not honored as the chief god of the
regent. I could see them agreeing to work together. I could also see a
fair philosophy/political science/history team shaping up. Both gods
would have an intrest in the past and in poli sci, who won wars, why,
strategy, tactics, the impact of wars and expansionism on nature; as well
as philosphy, why war, who has won, what impact does political reality
play on the land and her people, which is more important, the expansion of
the realm or the maintenance of the land. I really think that they could
come up with enough common ground of intrest to do OK.

I think that with Rournil's priesthood you can gain a wide variety and
balance as far as intrests are concern. I think that Andurias' priesthood
would be focused very tightly on history, poli sci, contemporary history,
diplomacy, military history, and a few technical fields - physics,
mechanics in particular, and chemistry for the development of better
weapons. I think that if I were a regent opening a university I would
definitely want to invite a priest of Avani, or someone from Ariya trained
in philosophy and mathematics. I may even go so far as to offer the
temple of Avani a holding 0 in partial exchange for their services. Then
again, it all depends on how politically yucky things were at the moment.

Being that part of his holdings extend into Medoere, you may have a
problem with cooperation. The Celestial Spell is a bit aggressive, and
from what I remember, a little xenophobic as well. Medoere is a
theocracy, which can easily produce any number of fanatics at any point in
time. If I were your regent, I would keep a sharp eye out for that
fanaticism. Cooperating with neighbors from Ilien may not be so bad, but
bringing in a Khinasi heretic who cannot speak a decent language like
Annurean in a way that the rest of us can understand may be unforgivable.

Try not to interpret things in your frame of reference. Think about how
you would react if you never met someone from another country in your
life. People are basically scared to death of change. Foreign view
points are good for a university. The people won't understand, and may
even feal threatened, but to have a good representation of ideas, you have
to have the foreign view points - whether foreign people or foreign
religions.

Sorry for rambling.

Jonathan

[The Olesen`s]

THis came to mind after reading someone's post about my university and
the involvement of temples. (Sorry, I forget who you were)

Obviously most temples would like to gain some influence this way, and
would try to gain the regent's favor whatevery way possible.

Suppose the regent wanted to sponsor both temples, would they cooperate?

I guess that two temples devoted to Haelyn wouldn't
But what about the Impregnible Heart of Haelyn and Ruonil's Celestial
Spell?

(These are of primary concern since the regent controls a domain
encompassing Ilien and Medeore with a sprinkling of guilds. And yes, he
is a thief.)

- ------------Ah here is the post that sparked the question-------------

From:
Jonathan Picklesimer
Reply-To:
birthright@MPGN.COM
To:
birthright@MPGN.COM


Another small point about your university that I had forgotten.

In the middle ages the universities had a very strong theological
component. This made sense in light of the fact taht many were studying
science and history in order to better understand God and the universe.
It also made sense in light of the fact that the church had access to
vast
bodies of knowledge and her clergy were, mostly, literate - i.e. they
could read Latin. So the clergy was a natural place to find literate
teachers with a desire to ask and answer questions.

So, one of the local churches may help sponsor the university. They may
have members of the clergy who are quite learned and interested in
helping
out. It is also a way for these clergymen to gain access to new
converts.
The church of Avani and of Rournil both should have some pretty serious
academic types. Avani's clergy would be interested in mathematics,
and philosophy (see the Cities of the Sun expansion and the Ariya
DSB). Rournil's clergy would be happy to discuss the mysteries of
meighval, as well as religion, philosophy, and geography. Clergy from
the
temples of Eric, the god of nature, would be good biology/chemistry type
folks. Cuiracen and Andurias clergy may be interested in political
science, contemporary histroy, ancient history, and physics. Eleole and
Sera may be interested in business, economics, early psychology
issues, government, and law. Nesirie's clergy may be
interested in mathematics, ancient history, astronomy, physics,
oceanography, and geography. Belenik and Kreishna? Hard to say. I
don't
see there being too many academic types in these harsh religions. If
there were, I could see the nature of magic, social policy and law,
meteorology, biology, and medicine/anatomy (all the more effective to
kill
you with).

Goodness knows there would be some lively debate going on between
Nesiere and Andurias on history -- the god of Lawful War and the goddess
of Mourning would probably see differently on several of the past
events.
You should have enough different views of the catastrophe at Desimaar to
fill a library by itself. I think that Ariya and possibly Khourane have
done quite a bit of work on mathematics.

Also, as a side view, many times the only place to study the sciences
and
engineering were at military schools. Evariste Galois, a brilliant
young
French mathematician, was never able to get his PhD in Mathematics
because
he could not get into the Military Academy - an attitude problem.

jsp

[James Ruhland]

>
> Suppose the regent wanted to sponsor both temples, would they cooperate?
>
Depends on what you mean by "cooperate", I suppose. Cooperate in accepting
the Regent's "sponsorship" (I.E. taking his gold and patronage)? Perhaps.
Cooperate to the extent of helping defend the realm in question (assuming
appropriately successful diplomacy occured)? Quite possibly.
Cooperate to the extent of not Contesting each other's Holdings in a given
area (I.E. trying to expand at the expense of other faiths, rather than
each other)? On a temporary basis (and here it is more likely that churches
of, say, Nesirie and Cuiraecen would cooperate in such a fashion, since it
is a question of "mother and son" or Haelyn and Nesirie, since it is
"husband and wife". . .but even this is no guarantee: high-stakes
antagonism and vendettas against each other are still. . .not uncommon [to
put it mildly].)
Anyhow, thouse are a few examples. If I had a better idea of the type of
cooperation you were considering, it would be easier to say whether it
would happen.

[The Olesen`s]

James Ruhland wrote:
>
> >
> > Suppose the regent wanted to sponsor both temples, would they cooperate?
> >
> Depends on what you mean by "cooperate", I suppose. Cooperate in accepting
> the Regent's "sponsorship" (I.E. taking his gold and patronage)? Perhaps.
> Cooperate to the extent of helping defend the realm in question (assuming
> appropriately successful diplomacy occured)? Quite possibly.
> Cooperate to the extent of not Contesting each other's Holdings in a given
> area (I.E. trying to expand at the expense of other faiths, rather than
> each other)? On a temporary basis (and here it is more likely that churches
> of, say, Nesirie and Cuiraecen would cooperate in such a fashion, since it
> is a question of "mother and son" or Haelyn and Nesirie, since it is
> "husband and wife". . .but even this is no guarantee: high-stakes
> antagonism and vendettas against each other are still. . .not uncommon [to
> put it mildly].)
> Anyhow, thouse are a few examples. If I had a better idea of the type of
> cooperation you were considering, it would be easier to say whether it
> would happen.

I was thinking about cooperating in the university thing. Both faiths
contributing "profesors" and knowlage to the "university"

Sort of.

[Gary V. Foss]

Jonathan Picklesimer wrote:

> Try not to interpret things in your frame of reference. Think about how
> you would react if you never met someone from another country in your
> life. People are basically scared to death of change. Foreign view
> points are good for a university. The people won't understand, and may
> even feal threatened, but to have a good representation of ideas, you have
> to have the foreign view points - whether foreign people or foreign
> religions.

One thought occurs to me on the subject of universities in BR.... It seems
like just about every week I flip on the TV and see a mob of unruly college
students in one country or another tossing rocks or Molotov cocktails at a
phalanx of helmeted riot police. They turn over cars and break store front
windows, all in protest against the establishment, baby! College students are
often an unruly lot. Whether they are protesting for political rights,
economic rights, or beer drinking on campus rights is pretty much academic to
the ruler, eh? From his/her point of view they are just a mob. Building a
university would be a good thing in the long term, but in the many short terms
that add up to a long term, it could be quite a pain in the diploma.

Think about the campus protesting should a country get embroiled in a war....
"Baator no! We won't go!" doesn't make much of a chant, but what the hell?

On the other hand, that makes for a really cool role-playing opportunity, huh?

- -Gary

[James Ruhland]

>
> I was thinking about cooperating in the university thing. Both faiths
> contributing "profesors" and knowlage to the "university"
>
> Sort of.
>
OH, that. Sure. I see no problem with cooperating in an academic setting.

Of course, it brings to mind an old uni joke:

"Why are campus politics so vicious?"

"because the stakes are so small."