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Whither the Pholtans
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Grandmaster Greytalker

Joined: Nov 07, 2004
Posts: 1846
From: Mt. Smolderac

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Tue Oct 08, 2013 7:47 pm  
Whither the Pholtans

What do people make of the seeming inconsistency of the purging of the Pholtan Church in the GK in the the mid-3rd century we find in the LGG and the subversion of the authority of the priesthood of that god by Ivid I beginning in the mid-5th century, leading up to the arrest of Patriarch Emasstus Carcosa in 578? and the subsequent purging of the priesthood, destruction of temples and seizure of church lands. I take it to mean that in the stripping of the Holy Censoriate from the Pholtans in 254 CY there resulted a schism among the faithful of Pholtus, with the stricter, lawful neutral branch choosing exodus from the GK, and a more moderate lawful good branch choosing to retain their reduced, but still influential position in the GK and the courts, led by the Patriarch of Rauxes. If, like me, you don't see an inconsistency, do you see temples of Pholtus in other nations beside the Pale having had a close relationship with the church within the GK before it was purged in the late 570's and early 80's or having existed independent of it?
Adept Greytalker

Joined: Apr 11, 2009
Posts: 386
From: New York City

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Thu Oct 10, 2013 2:39 am  

I see the original Holy Censors of the Great Kingdom holding a position of first among equals, in part due to his temporal power in the Great kingdom, which was the hegemon of most of the Flanaess in the 3rd century. By the mid third-century, the LN creed was in schism with the dominant LG creed, and split, perhaps violently, and immigrated to the Pale, while the LG stayed in the GK. However, while this schism would be most dramatic in the GK, with its large state church, it would have had ripple effects with other Pholtan churches across the Flanaess, as churches lined up behind one side or the other. I think the eclipse of the Pholtan faith in the Great Kingdom with the first Ivid would have seen the slow loosening of ties between that church and others of its LG creed beyond the Great Kingdom.
Grandmaster Greytalker

Joined: Nov 07, 2004
Posts: 1846
From: Mt. Smolderac

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Thu Oct 10, 2013 7:21 pm  

That's pretty much how it's shaping up in my mind also. I hadn't looked at how widespread Pholtanism is and where it is concentrated before. It looks mainly like Dimre, the Pale, Gran March, Shield Lands, Nyrond, and the County of Urnst; I left out Tenh because it's popularity there is relatively recent. As far as alignment, I'm visualizing Gran March's Pholtan church(es) being in line with the Palish sect, and Nyrond, the Shield Lands, and County of Urnst being adherents of the lawful good variety that had been centered on the Great Kingdom until Ivid V pretty much wiped it out and drove it into exile. I'm imagining most of the church leadership in that purge went into exile in Nyrond, led by whoever succeeded Emasstus Carcosa. Dimre is its own animal, although descended from the Palish version. I'll stop now before I give away the entirety of the article I started working on, and hope to have finished sometime soon. Smile
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