Something I hadn't considered very critically before is that it only takes two cults for a small minority to become embedded as the rulers of a large society. 1 - You need a cult that can build a large and prosperous society that is tolerant to assimilation but intolerant of using violence to dictate who holds power. 2 - You need a cult that exploits every weakness of the first cult to place your people as the figures of worship. So if guilt is a strong theme, you would manufacture an event of which the first cult would eternally be guilty. If charity is a strong theme, you will set up businesses that loan the needy charity at the cost of interest needing to be paid back. You could make an entire population emotionally and financially your slaves and they would never know due to their faith in the first cult and its promise of salvation in the afterlife.
How plausible is all this, brocels?
How plausible is all this, brocels?
