"Ronald Green - Great Kings War" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Ronald)

underpriest was smart enough to keep his discovery a secret, contacted his boss and suddenly the
'Fireseed Mystery' was born. Styphon's House has used this knowledge to turn Styphon's House from a
minor cult to the dominant religious institution on a new branch of Fourth Level, Aryan-Transpacific,
fittingly named Styphon's House Subsector.

"By withholding fireseed, Styphon's House has been able to make and break nobles, princes and kings.
Since 'fireseed' is doled out, usually in small quantities, to favored allies, Styphon's own coffers have
swelled with hundreds of years of accumulation of precious metals. Styphon's House has used their
accumulation of wealth to dominate the primitive banking system, inter-kingdom trade and keep
technological innovation to a minimum. If they hear of any invention or discovery that threatens their
monopoly they buy it. If the inventor is uncooperative, they arrange to have him killed and continue on
with business as usual.

"Now, this is where it gets interesting," Dras said, with a knowing wink to his audience. Even Sirna felt
herself leaning forward in her seat. "One of the characteristics that almost all outtime religions share is that
the followers actually believeтАФdespite all contrary evidenceтАФthat their deity is real. As real as this
lectern!" Danthor said, pounding on it for emphasis. "Typically, in the majority of temples, churches and
ashrams, the priests are the most fervent believers in their supposed gods and goddesses. True, all
religions have doubters and lapsed believers among them, but the average priest believes his god or gods
are the true gods, or One GodтАФonly the competitions' deities are fakes!

"Yes, as hard as it is for us to believe, most of these outtimers really truly believe the drivel they're fed,
which is what makes them so damn dangerous, giving rise to religious persecutions and warsтАФthe
nastiest wars of all. There's nothing holier than killing your neighbor for the benefit of his soul, or to keep
him safe from heresy.

"In a large number of pre-industrial societies, the priests have a monopoly on centralized record keeping
and accumulation of wealth. In many cases, the result is a theocracy, even if not in name. With the power
of the state behind them, these 'theocracies,' having a monopoly on the 'truth' and a pipeline to the deity,
accumulate a lot of economic assets, be that property, precious metals or symbolic currency.

"However, there are very few religious organizations founded on a sham miracle, which theyknow to be
a natural event, such as Styphon's House. Not surprisingly, Styphon's priesthood has taken full advantage
of the economic opportunities their monopoly on fireseed allowsтАФall in the name of their deity, of
course."

Dras paused to wink at the camera recording the event. There was a smatter of nervous laughter.

"In this area,' Danthor continued, "Styphon's House is both refreshingly and appallingly dishonest! The
Temple Upperpriests and Archpriests of Styphon's House are out-and-out crooks and make no
apologies for it."

Just like us, thought Sirna with uncharacteristic cynicism, as we Home Timeliners rob uncountable
time-lines of their resources for our own use. Only we apologize for itтАФto ourselvesтАФall the time!

"Styphon's House's first temples were in Hos-Ktemnos and, ever since the Fireseed Mystery was
discovered, they have used their discovery to turn their formerly minor deity into the dominant god figure
within the southern kingdoms of Hos-Ktemnos and, to a lesser degree, Hos-Bletha."

Danthor Dras paused to whip out a concealed yellow robe, which he quickly donned before his