The cult of Lynkha, goddess of philosophy

Lynkha is the goddess of philosophy, mathematics and logic. She is the daughter of Lhankor Mhy and she is worshipped mainly in Esrolia.

Place in the society

Lynkha's worshippers are mathematicians, surveyors, logicians, philosophers, politicians, wise men knowing the human nature. Lynkha, contrary to her father Lhankor Mhy, does not welcome easy truths. She lets people think by themselves, does not ask them to learn by heart what was said in the past, but guides them on the path of thought where they are able to rediscover and understand it with their own logic.  She likes novelty, initiatives and bold ideas. She urges people to speak to each other, exchange ideas and understand strangers. She teaches how to learn wisdom from the differences between all the different peoples of Glorantha. 

The goddess' worshippers are often good judges of personality or circumstances. Some of them sometimes give counsels to their friends, their neighbours or those who ask for it. For example, when one does not want to carry a case before the tribal ring, it may be simpler to turn towards someone known for her impartiality and good judgement.

A few worshippers pass on their knowledge in meeting places. Their speeches are crafted to wake the passer-by's curiosity, to encourage him to ponder for a few moments what he has always hold for true. They ask questions where there is certainty. They try and have people think about their lives, their beliefs and help them in their everyday problems. The goddess' worshippers are often travellers. They have seen the outside world and are thus sometimes mistrusted as dangerous agitators. The Esrolians queens have mixed feelings concerning Lynkha's worshippers. They appreciate some of them as their private councillors but, could they have their way, they would not allow initiates or devotees to wander freely throughout Esrolia, telling nonsense.

Part of Lynkha's worshippers, councillors and private instructors at the service of the mighty, train the children of their masters in the art of speech and the rhetoric. It is said that some cult members are able to argue as brilliantly for one thing as for its contrary. But this does not contradict the goddess' teachings, for she says that there is not one unique truth and even that there exists things outside truth. Such positions at the queens' service or in influent merchants houses are an excellent source of income for the cult, even if the members choosing this way of life are not always well-considered by their fellow members. 

Other worshippers handle the secret language of the goddess: the mathematical equations. With this pure language, ridden of human interpretation, they can see the world through logic only. Once they are written, the equations speak for themselves, the outside world and the preconceptions disappear, and reasoning only lead to the answer.

Others, at last, are ceaseless travellers. They go from land to land, listening to the beliefs and customs of strangers, trying to better understand the world by looking at it through different eyes. Behind each world pattern, hides the face of the goddess, for each idea deserve to be studied, each logical reasoning is sound and no one, outside Lhankor Mhy, holds the Truth.

Rumours.
It is said that there is in Nochet a renegade sect, run by a devotee called Freudia. This sect would be very successful in the overexcited and stressed climate of the big city, but few people are willing to tell of the mysterious meetings of the sect.

Mathematics and philosophy in Glorantha.
The world of Glorantha (peoples, cultures, legends, magic) is multiple and philosophy offers the possibility of understanding its different aspects. Each region, each people has his own way of thinking and his own logic. Lynkha's philosophy brings the tools allowing the understanding of these different kinds of logic and these different reasonings, but it requires a knowledge of the culture and the foundation of the society which one is studying. The Gloranthan mathematics are not one and whole either. They form as many different systems as there are different cultures and peoples. They bring another way of understanding the thinking of other.

Mathematical writing.
In Glorantha, there is no mathematical writing with equations like what exists in our world. Those terms cover an art more like what Babylonians or Greeks did in their baths. Moreover, the mathematical writing of Lynkha is a secret of the cult and few people knows what it consists in. Most of the time, people see those writings as a kind of pretty drawings, changing and modifying to reveal a picture as the `equation' is solved. It is simply magic.

As paper or parchment is rare and costly, Lynkha's initiates were thought to form the logical runes in their mind, the only place were this writing exists in all its splendour: writing it down only serve to corrupt its purity. Thus, devotees are used to construct long logical reasonings in their mind. Some queens have a Lynkha's devotee by their side to cipher and decipher messages, give counsel on the better logical choice, or make a clear and precise summary of a complex event. This councillor role reinforces the political power of Lynkha.

For the teaching of mathematics, it is sometimes necessary to draw the secret runes of Lynkha. Sand is often used to write and then erase the mathematical writings. Soon, the young initiate learn to follow complicated reasoning with only a few drawn runes.

Myth

The daughters of Lhankor Mhy:

Lhankor Mhy had many daughters who each developped a particular art or science. They inspire mortals and helped the development of the great Esrolian civilisation. The most well-known are: Lea the Measurer, Jesaena the Architect, Lynkha the Logician, Rime the Poetess, Naliana the Historian, Dina the Astronomer and Balis the Playwright.

The birth myth of Lynkha:

Lynkha was born an afternoon in the middle of Fire Season. Lhankor Mhy had worked quite a lot since the early morning and the weather was hot. He left his wax tablets and stretched out for a nap under the shadow of a huge oak, standing not far from Ernalda's palace. As he was deep asleep, an acorn of the size of a pumpkin fell from the tree on his head. Waken in a start, the wise man looked for the reason of his discomfort. Seeing first the acorn and then the oak, he wondered why the fruit happened to fell on his head. He first thought was that he had displeased Orlanth, but it was not the case. There had to be another explanation. He bend over his grimoires and his tablets, looking for the answer to his question, but after having read all of them, he had to realise that the answer was not written there. Then, a small voice whispered in his head: ``Since the answer does not exists, it has to be invented.'' Of course, he rebelled against this batty idea, but the voice would not leave him. Torn between the desire to know the answer and the fact that inventing was unconceivable, he concluded that the idea could not be part of him. He drew it out of his head and the strange idea took the shape of a young ten years old girl. She smiled at him and said: ``Since you are looking for an answer that does not yet exist, I will create it from the existing ones.''

Glorious achievements:

How Lynkha proved her father he was wrong.
There are lots of different versions of this myth, depending on the temples and the foundering discoveries of their priestesses. These discoveries are always edifying and entertaining. Of course, Lhankor Mhy's worshippers have their own version of the tale.

Here is a first example of this foundering myth. Lynkha used the principle that we now call Huygensia's principle (From Lynkha's great priestess who founded the Temple of Wisdom in Nochet. She died a few centuries ago) and spectacularly showed how the shadow cast by a disk could have in its centre a luminous point. Lhankor Mhy knew this was impossible by the experience set by his daughter proved him wrong. Nowadays, pro and anti Lunars try to use this experience to show the Moon's great powers or her weakness, depending on the beliefs of the experimenter.

Another example is when Lhankor Mhy thought that everything in the world was either true of false. He claimed that with the absolute knowledge one could always determine whether a fact was true or not. This was only a knowledge problem, therefore everyone should seek knowledge. But Lynkha did not agree with him. She claimed that some things were neither true nor false, things outside the Truth of Lhankor Mhy, things that became false when they were true and true when they were false. ``Fiddlesticks! '', said Lhankor Mhy. Then Lynkha told him: ``Since you know everything, tell me just whether what I say is true of false when I claim I'm lying.'' Lhankor Mhy thought about it for a few moments, but finally had to bow before Lynkha's wisdom: it is not always possible to tell whether something is true or false and claiming one could well prove the other. So it is that in Glorantha some things are both true and false.

Gödelia, famous great priestess claimed this was the most important teaching of the goddess.

How Lynkha invented the mathematical writings.

Lynkha observed the signs that Lhankor Mhy drew on his tablets, but she was not satisfied. His writing copied the words, but the words are inaccurate. They have many meanings, they can say one thing and its contrary, and that is not a good thing. Lynkha needed signs which allowed her to reason and understand, to compute and to deduce. She took a blank wax tablet and began to draw her thoughts and reasonings. Thus, she created the logical writing, which contains its own truth, independent from that of the world.

How Lynkha travelled around the world.
After a time, the young Lynkha had observed all the world around her: her father Lhankor Mhy, Ernalda and her palace, the borders of the Garden. However, she was still unsatisfied for she just did not understand the world. She filled a bag with food, stylet and tablets and went in search of other peoples, to learn from their wisdom. Thus she met the sea people, the people of ice and mountains, the people of fire, the sky people and even the mysterious people of darkness. From each she learned a part of the world knowledge and wisdom.

The Gods War
During the Gods War, logic was defeated. Lynkha first tried to understand chaos and reason with it, but such a thing was not possible. Logic cannot accept chaos for chaos destroy everything and is intrinsically unpredictable. It was the first time that Lynkha logic's could not help her. Gradually, world forgot logic and gave in to fear. When the Gods reassembled to recreate the world, Lynkha was at their side to bring them logic and reason. For if they had only had the knowledge of Lhankor Mhy, the world would have been fixed and dusty, full of the old ideas of the past. But thanks to the working of logic, they were able to create a living, evolving world, full of unending diversity.

Lynkha's manifestations in everyday life
Lynkha appears in the mathematical writings and philosophical or logical reasonings, but also in thinking, in questioning accepted ideas, in accepting difference, in understanding novelty or stranger.

Ankhyl, the corrupted knowledge

During her travels, Lynkha met a man wielding a magic close to her own, but instead of using to raise people's minds, he used it to enslave them, for selfish or evil needs. His name was Ankhyl the Black, sometimes also called Ankhyl the Sweet Talker. When he learned that Lhankor Mhy held the truth, he tried to use his logic to break into his mind. The battle was terrible and Lynkha and her sisters went and helped their father. Ankhyl was repelled and fled far away, but never did he relinquish his lust for Lhankor Mhy's mind. He bids his time in the shadows. Another time, Ankhyl tried to enter chaos' mind. But chaos is the negation of logic and he failed. From that time on, Ankhyl is fascinated by chaos and sometimes he even deals with it, but he plays a dangerous game for too much contact with chaos would destroy him.

Devotees of Ankhyl the Black are people who turned from Lynkha's teachings. Instead of enlightening people's mind, they enslave them to their will. They accost people in the street or on the road, winning their trust with sweet words. They give them the false impression they care about them and their worries. They pretend to help and relieve them. Gradually, during the discussions between the devotee of this dark cult and his victim, the enslavement settled in. Soon the victim is no more than a puppet under the orders of the devotee.

The organisation of the cult

The cult accepts men and women but it is well-known that women are naturally more gifted than men at mathematics and philosophy. Men tend to act rashly and without thinking, as mindless bullies.

The cult is not centralised at all. It encourages travels and self learning rather than books and studying with many old masters. There are small shrines and tiny groups of worshippers of Lynkha throughout Esrolia, and also outside, in other Holy Country sixths. Lynkha's cult is originally urban. It was born in Nochet and developed in the big Esrolian cities.

In Nochet, in addition to the Great Library, there are several amphitheatres and meeting places, used for debates (the debates are long and animated discussions between the goddess' worshippers). Those meeting places are sometimes called forum when one is specifically referring to the debates.

Outside the big cities, there are country shrines where communities of thoughts, different from those of the towns, gather. Indeed, the interpretation of the goddess' reasoning can lead to different conclusions. Strictly speaking, there is no `rebellious' thought in the cult, but of course, when reasonings become too different, the diverging goddess' worshippers tend to go and have a look a little further, in order to think in peace.

In fact, the moment when the young apprentice begins to doubt her mistress words proves that she truly has understood Lynkha's teaching. When they stop following the reasonings of their mistress and construct their own, they have found their own path. From time to time, the headstronger will consider the opportunity of teaching their own way a little further, to people who are not yet graced with the wisdom of the goddess. They will go and found a new temple in the countryside, and offer to their followers new thoughts and new reasonings. Each temple is open to the outside world and the initiates travel quite a lot. They should not be closed to external ideas. The great priestesses do not often meet but their students are encouraged to meet and discuss their lessons.

When two groups of initiates of different temples meet by chance in a tavern, the customers have the unique privilege to witness passionate scientific discussions, sometimes even somewhat animated with beer mugs flying, and they privately reflect that maths are good. Thus, it is not uncommon to see in an Esrolian inn two initiates debating across a table, drawing their neighbours into the discussion, for a good Lynkha's initiate never let pass a good occasion of teaching wisdom to the inn customers as he puts back on the right track the other initiate, clearly misled.

Note. See also the parallel with the Lunar missionaries and the devotees of Nysalor, the Illuminated God who opened people's minds by asking them questions. This god came in Esrolia, before being driven out by Arkat.

The Temple of Wisdom, the great Lynkha's temple in Nochet, birth city of Lhankor Mhy, is not located in the same district as the huge Terminal Library. Thus, the priestesses symbolise the divergence of world conception between the daughter and the father. Some worshippers of Lynkha regard the worshippers of Lhankor Mhy as dusty old fogeys, anchored at the bottom of their library as if the world could be found there (even as it is well known that the world is outside and that one must go and meet it). Vice versa, Lhankor Mhy's worshippers see Lynkha's worshippers as filthy wanderers, wasting their time with idle speeches, talking about nonsense rather than collecting precise and important facts. Between the worshippers of the two cults, there is often a slight contempt, tinged with snigger, from both part, but the cults of Lhankor Mhy and Lynkha stay quite close.

Usually, a master have one or two students who accompany him in his travels. The master use the surrounding events, the circumstances, the passing encounters, to train his disciple's mind to Lynkha's reasonings. Of course, the student also need to study and master Lynkha's tools: the mathematical writings and logic. Before becoming a devotee, each worshipper has to set about a great travel which will lead him to encounter other peoples and other cultures, reenacting the great travel of the goddess around the world.

In game terms, many great priestesses have at least a mastery in "critical mind". The candidates for the job think twice before challenging the head of their temple. Many have come to regret it dearly and had to leave for a long trip, still covered in shame after a verbal joust with a great priestess. Often, the candidates first listen attentively to their mistress and try to show suitable interest in their work. They are then welcomed with a tolerant and kindly attitude. The wisest understand they need to work twice more, developing both their own critical mind and their knowledge of their mistress' reasonings.

Distinctive signs.
Each initiate possess a shawl, braid by her own hands according to Lynkha's ritual of knot theory. Each shawl is different and reflect the thoughts of the one who braided it. The initiate may come, during the course of his life and following the development of his own reflection, to complete or even braid anew his shawl. For example, an initiate discovering something new (a geometry theorem), will try to inscribe this important fact in the knots of her shawl. The other initiates will then understand his new achievements and respect him for his discoveries (as people who tattoo on their skin their battle feats). Some devotees of the cult can, it appears, recognise the one who braided it by looking at the knots. It is also possible to determine the identity of the master of a student by studying the shawl of the young one, and even to know the master's master, for the most well-known devotees. The shawls of ancient great masters are sometimes hanged of the walls of the temples, for the teaching of the next generations.

Worshippers of Lynkha also often have long braided hair. The great priestesses have the longest hair which they braid like a shawl. Each evening they undo the braiding and each morning they do it again with a different pattern. It is said there is a special feat known only by the cult's priestesses: to do one's hair in a very sophisticated hairstyle as quickly as a eyelash's fluttering.

Great devotees of Lynkha

•	Osmiene: She is a councillor to the Red Queen, Hendira, called the Moon Lover. She lives with her in Nochet and follows her queen anywhere she goes. They have been good friends for years and some claim Osmiene is partly responsible for the open-minded attitude Hendira has toward the Lunars that come to visit her and discuss the moon's knowledge. Many even inside the cult think she is in the pay of the Seven Mothers Church. Osmiene just says that Lunar beliefs are not worse than many others and that they have an inner wisdom which she finds appealing.
•	Ontos of Rhigos: One of the rare male devotees of Lynkha, his awful reputation will not change the cult attitude towards men. He is a shameless seducer, a raucous singer and even in the lewd city of the Demi-Vierge, he is seen as a danger for the youth. Many heads of families have demanded that the city rulers outlaw him, but to no avail. In his defence, it must be said that he is always loyal to his home city and defends it during the yearly cult meetings. His famous discourse on the necessity of pleasure earned him many friends in Rhigos.
•	Algeroba: She lived during the Imperial Age, during the strife between the Middle Sea Empire, the Kingdom of Night and the Empire of the Wyrms Friends. Questing for a new way to see the world, she came back with the secret magic that is now called after her. She could calculate unlike any other and founded single-handedly a whole school of thought inside the cult. Many devotees see her as an example to follow, for even during dark times, she found a way to bring new knowledge to the wise ones.

The Other Side

Lynkha has a small cottage in a vast plain under the stars but she only rarely dwells there. She is always visiting friends or studying some strange natural phenomenon. Lynkha's house has several doors: some huge, some small, squared or round ones, other with still stranger forms. Some are made of wood, others are made of stone, a few are a simple cloth veil or only a dark opening. Some are seen from far away and other are well hidden. Strangely enough, the interior of the house changed according to the door chosen to enter it. Each door corresponds to one of the mathematical symbol of Lynkha. When exploring this labyrinth of doors and houses and learning to follow the logical chain of doors, the young initiate will become a seasoned devotee. One day, he will found the Door of Logic and will look upon the Empty Plains of Reason. He will try to discover the secret of Lynkha. A few are successful, but most fall back on the flat ideas of her father Lhankor Mhy. Alas for them, but Lynkha's way is difficult and solitary and only one who fully understand the goddess' teaching can find the Door.

A note on the geometrical forms.
Esrolians have discovered that there exist only five perfect forms, intrinsically related to the five elements of Glorantha.

•	The 4 faces pyramid (d4): Fire (the purest of the elements).
•	The 6 faces cube (d6): Earth (the most stable of the elements).
•	The 8 faces octahedron (d8): Air (in the middle, between the others, as air is between all things, it has pointed ends as fire and a square base as earth: it is truly the son of fire and earth).
•	The 12 faces dodecahedron (d12): Darkness (the only form with five-edged faces: he contains all the others, as darkness do. It is also a strange and secret element, as darkness are).
•	The 20 faces icosahedron (d20): Water (with many edges, as water: the most adaptable of the elements).

Life after death.
After their death, Lynkha's worshippers live in the world they created during their life. Most of the devotees spend their afterlife solving equations in a small house full of doors, at the foot of Lhnakor Mhy's ivory tower. At least one heroquester is known to have followed Lynkha's teaching quite literarily and created her own experimental world, based on new postulates, where she went after her death. It is said that those who ventured into her world can walk in a straight line and still come back to their starting point. She was a Champion of the Master of Luck and Death Tournament who learned many secrets from the Pharaoh's own mouth and discovered the source of his power in the City of Wonders. Soon after Pharaoh's disappearance, the experimental world (which was not very big but still quite cute) became unreachable, even from the Internal Temple of Lynkha's house. People wonder if it completely disappeared or if there is still a way to reach it. Maybe it will be back the day the Pharaoh also will.

Playing a devotee of Lynkha (Magic keyword)

Physical Abilities: Make her Voice Carry, Speak for Hours, Speech

Mental Abilities: Philosophy, Know Other, Logic, Geometry, Counsel, Sooth Someone, Convince, Mythology of Lynkha 

Virtues: Wisdom, Curiosity, Tolerance, Critical Mind.

Affinities:

Philosophy [Prove Lhankor Mhy he's Wrong, Free Thought, Ask the Good Question, Logical Thought, Protect the Mind]

Knowledge [Understand the Difference, Study Event, Learn from Other, Find Answer, Perfect Memory, Reconstitute Document]

Logic and Mathematics [Understand Space, Understand Signs, Mathematical Writings, Square the Circle; Logical Deduction]

(Note: Lynkha's rune looks like her father's, with an horizontal bar across the 'beard'. In fact, we use the HQ Man rune turned upside down)

Sacred Days:

Sea Season: Day of Thoughts (Gods/Truth)
Fire Season: Day of Understanding (Gods/Truth)
Earth Season: Day of Logic (Gods/Truth)
Dark Season: Day of the Outside World (Gods/Truth)
Storm Season: Day of Wisdom (Gods/Truth)
Sacred Time: Day of Life (Gods/Destiny)