Overall, I have to say that Exquaestio is stronger than it's ever been and getting stronger. (Expansion:) Exquaestio has a membership of 20 thousand, in, excluding Sedonia and Torphan, a population of 17 million. It's greatest pentration is in Junder, where membership is still less than 1 in 500. Though still poor, missionary work is a priority, and it is nowhere close to reaching its limit of potential followers. Competition varies a great deal. They have no real competition for those looking for something different, but are not really capable of going head to head against the established religions. However, they also have good relations with many religions. (Conversion:) Exquaestio has a number of things going for it. First, there's its record of steady growth over the past decade and a half (1445: +6 success). It has made some mis-steps in terms of the services it offers (1448: -4 to organize independent Junder being the most obvious), but most of its accomplishments have been successful (1448: Aid to Cormenaera, 1451: Mage Licenses). In some areas it's teachings have generated annoyance in the powers that be, but it has yet to go beyond the law in its services. It has been particularly successful in doing things to make its magic known (1446: Chairs in Exquaestio Magic, 1447: spectacular magical summoning). Most recently it's proved its willingness to risk its priests in the battles against the Ice Demons. (Suppression:) Exquaestio is not formally suppressed anywhere, and the established religions have been ineffective in working against Exquaestio's spread. The above comments leave out Sedonia and Torphan. In both cases I feel the positive and negative factors of those areas balance out. Their high populations (a positive) are balanced by the negatives of an extremely different culture (Torphan), or an effective and generally hostile religion (Sedonia). Membership in those areas are new and minimal and growth can be expected to be limited (in terms of the parent societies) for the current phase of growth. In the case of Torphan I also expect to split off a "Western Exquaestio Church" once membership in Torphan grows past the 1,000 mark. Juuso, at one point I believe you placed Exquaestio's growth modifier at +3. With the developments of the past growth period I feel it wouldn't be unreasonable to increase it to +4. Jefferson (Exquaestio) http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
Jefferson wrote: >(Suppression:) Exquaestio is not formally suppressed anywhere, and the >established religions have been ineffective in working against >Exquaestio's spread. > > I suspect that if the Exquaestio ever became active in Kaeir, formal suppression would follow, given the political elements of Exquaestio. The temptation for the Senate would be too strong (and the benefits of opposing such a move too small for the non-Millati senators), and the suspicion the Information Secretariat would have towards the Exquaestio would make suppression unavoidable. Ibrahim ================================ Confidentiality Statement and Disclaimer ================================ This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and contains information that is privileged and confidential. If you, the reader of this message, are not the intended recipient, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this communication. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by return email and delete the original message. Thank you. ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
Ibrahim wrote: > Jefferson wrote: > >>(Suppression:) Exquaestio is not formally suppressed anywhere, and the >>established religions have been ineffective in working against >>Exquaestio's spread. > > I suspect that if the Exquaestio ever became active in Kaeir, formal > suppression would follow, given the political elements of Exquaestio. > The temptation for the Senate would be too strong (and the benefits of > opposing such a move too small for the non-Millati senators), and the > suspicion the Information Secretariat would have towards the Exquaestio > would make suppression unavoidable. We'll see. A lot could happen before 1467, when Exquaestio is scheduled to expand into Kaeir, and suppression might be difficult considering Kaeir's Religious Tolerance (+2). Frankly, though, the possibility is one reason why Exquaestio hasn't expanded into Kaeir yet. They're neither strong enough nor welcome enough to make it worthwhile. Sedonia is another matter however. With their Religious Tolerance (+0) suppression wouldn't be difficult if they decided to do so. (Exquaestio was active in Vizinia when it reunited with Sedonia, and thus became active in Sedonia sort of by accident.) Of course, by the end of 1453 they'll still have less than 25 members throughout Sedonia. Andrew, anything you'ld like for me to do concerning reporting the number of members Exqaestio has in Sedonia? Jefferson (Exquaestio) http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
Jefferson wrote: > Ibrahim wrote: > >>Jefferson wrote: >> >> >>>(Suppression:) Exquaestio is not formally suppressed anywhere, and the >>>established religions have been ineffective in working against >>>Exquaestio's spread. >> >>I suspect that if the Exquaestio ever became active in Kaeir, formal >>suppression would follow, given the political elements of Exquaestio. >>The temptation for the Senate would be too strong (and the benefits of >>opposing such a move too small for the non-Millati senators), and the >>suspicion the Information Secretariat would have towards the Exquaestio >>would make suppression unavoidable. > > > We'll see. A lot could happen before 1467, when Exquaestio is scheduled to > expand into Kaeir, and suppression might be difficult considering Kaeir's > Religious Tolerance (+2). Frankly, though, the possibility is one reason why > Exquaestio hasn't expanded into Kaeir yet. They're neither strong enough nor > welcome enough to make it worthwhile. > > Sedonia is another matter however. With their Religious Tolerance (+0) > suppression wouldn't be difficult if they decided to do so. (Exquaestio was > active in Vizinia when it reunited with Sedonia, and thus became active in > Sedonia sort of by accident.) Of course, by the end of 1453 they'll still > have less than 25 members throughout Sedonia. Andrew, anything you'ld like > for me to do concerning reporting the number of members Exqaestio has in Sedonia? Well, any Exquaestio members are likely to be in Vizinia. From the Sedonian perspective, 25 people out of 21,000,000 is nothing to get worked up about. At that size, any suppression is likely to be haphazard and local, if it occurs at all, because there are too few Quaestae to attract much attention. Once there are about a thousand or so, then the hammer will start to fall. Penetrating Sedonia is going to be very difficult, for any religion. Sedonians tolerate the practice of some other religions, because they recognize the general futility of forcing conversions on those who *really* don't want to convert. However, adherents of faiths other than the Sedonian Church often find themselves persecuted, sometimes subtly, sometimes blatantly. There are restrictions on their ability to hold public office or government employment; on the times and locations they can hold services; and in the current Sedonian state, non-Church members are denied the right to vote. The most important restriction is the ban on prosletizing, street preaching, and missionizing. As a result of the ban, non-Church faiths are generally restricted to minority ethnic communities. First-offense punishment for violating the ban is a ten-imperial fine or ten days in jail. After that, the punishments become progressively more severe--the first offense is 'free', after that, things get very nasty, very fast. Generally, Sedonians prefer to deport foreign missionaries rather than execute or imprison them; however, persistent reoffenders(4 or 5 prior convictions) have been executed. Native Sedonians who promote foreign religions are usually executed on the third offense. Certain religions are subject to a zero-tolerance policy: this category includes all of the dark pantheon. Sedonians found worshipping those gods are subject to summary execution within 24 hours of arrest. Andrew > Jefferson (Exquaestio) > http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net. > ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
Andrew Janssen wrote: > Penetrating Sedonia is going to be very difficult, for any religion. > Sedonians tolerate the practice of some other religions, because they > recognize the general futility of forcing conversions on those who > *really* don't want to convert. However, adherents of faiths other than > the Sedonian Church often find themselves persecuted, sometimes subtly, > sometimes blatantly. There are restrictions on their ability to hold > public office or government employment; on the times and locations they > can hold services; and in the current Sedonian state, non-Church members > are denied the right to vote. The most important restriction is the ban > on prosletizing, street preaching, and missionizing. As a result of the > ban, non-Church faiths are generally restricted to minority ethnic > communities. > > First-offense punishment for violating the ban is a ten-imperial fine or > ten days in jail. After that, the punishments become progressively more > severe--the first offense is 'free', after that, things get very nasty, > very fast. Generally, Sedonians prefer to deport foreign missionaries > rather than execute or imprison them; however, persistent reoffenders(4 > or 5 prior convictions) have been executed. Native Sedonians who promote > foreign religions are usually executed on the third offense. > > Certain religions are subject to a zero-tolerance policy: this category > includes all of the dark pantheon. Sedonians found worshipping those > gods are subject to summary execution within 24 hours of arrest. After a great deal of thought I have to say that this sounds more like a Religious Tolerance of Mediocre (-1) than Fair (0). Fair would be appropriate if most of the restrictions were matters of custom instead of law, or if the laws aren't generally enforced. If there are special organizations dedicated to enforcing the religious laws, Tolerance could be even less than Mediocre. Jefferson (Exquaestio) http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/ ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
Since I didn't get a reply then, this is mainly a repost from Exquaestio's last Festival year. While Exquaestio has had its ups and down, I have to see that it's not even close to reaching the limits of its penetration. (Expansion:) Exquaestio has a membership of 34 thousand, in, excluding Sedonia and Torphan, a population of 18 million. It's greatest penetration is in Junder, where membership is Miserable (-4) at 1 in 150. Though still poor, missionary work is a priority, and it is nowhere close to reaching its limit of potential followers. Competition varies a great deal. They have no real competition for those looking for something different, but are not really capable of going head to head against the established religions. However, they also have good relations with many religions. (Conversion:) Exquaestio has a number of things going for it. First, there's its record of steady growth over the past two decades (1445: +6 success). It has made some mis-steps in terms of the services it offers (1448: -4 to organize independent Junder being the most obvious), but most of its accomplishments have been successful (1448: Aid to Cormenaera, 1451: Mage Licenses). In some areas it's teachings have generated annoyance in the powers that be, but it has yet to go beyond the law in its services. It has been particularly successful in doing things to make its magic known (1446: Chairs in Exquaestio Magic, 1447: spectacular magical summoning). Most recently it's proved its willingness to risk its priests in the battles against the Ice Demons and risks the lives of its members for others. (Suppression:) Exquaestio is formally suppressed only in the religiously intolerant minor Free City of Damaris, and the established religions have generally been ineffective in working against Exquaestio's spread. The above comments leave out Sedonia and Torphan. In both cases I feel the positive and negative factors of those areas balance out. Their high populations (a positive) are balanced by the negatives of an extremely different culture (Torphan), or an effective and generally hostile religion (Sedonia). Membership in those areas are new and minimal and growth can be expected to be limited (in terms of the parent societies) for the current phase of growth. In the case of Torphan I also expect to split off a "Western Exquaestio Church" once membership in Torphan grows past the 1,000 mark. Juuso placed the growth modifier at +2 in 1453. Considering the above factors I feel that is too little, and think a +3 modifier is appropriate for 1457. -- Jefferson http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
Jefferson wrote: > Since I didn't get a reply then, this is mainly a repost from Exquaestio's > last Festival year. > > While Exquaestio has had its ups and down, I have to see that it's not even > close to reaching the limits of its penetration. >A few comments: 1. I suspect that of the two new religions, Millatism will be more appealing to Sedonians than Exquaestio. Sedonians have always been more comfortable with mundane methods than magic, although they will use magic when magic is more effective than mundane methods. 2. As far as suppression goes . . . publicly, the Sedonian government supports the extermination of the Tanimbari goblins. Privately, however, they would prefer that Tanimbar not succeed too quickly--a long drawn-out conflict would be ideal from the Sedonian viewpoint, something that keeps Tanimbar distracted and inward directed. To that end, they'll refrain from suppressing Exquaestio activity in Vizinia, as long as the quaestae are discreet about their activities. Indiscretion on the part of the quaestae will, of course, end in an appointment with the public hangman. Andrew ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
Andrew Janssen wrote: > > 2. As far as suppression goes . . . > . . . Indiscretion on the part > of the quaestae will, of course, end in an appointment with the public > hangman. At the beginning of 1457 there are 163 quaestae in Vizinia and 129 in central Sedonia, both served by a single Traveler. The conclave thinks growth in Sedonia is about to take off, and created the Sedonian Oversee this year and appointed an Overpriest to lead it, but that Overpriest has yet to travel to Thalsedon, and it's unlikely he'll be able to settle down for a number of years. In this situation it's difficult _not_ to be discreet. -- Jefferson http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
