Another remarkable Gloranthan deity is the Knowing God, Lhankor Mhy. Also found around the world, he’s generally given credit for creating writing so that mortals might store knowledge.
Lhankor Mhy is the Scribe God. Where you find him, you find scribes. He’s revered by the Orlanthi and the Pelorians, and was embraced by the God Learners in the Second Age (although his reputation managed to survive largely unscathed). He’s another god who stays scrupulously neutral and manages to be associated with both Orlanth and Yelm.
Lhankor Mhy’s magic is incredibly useful. Analyze Magic lets you discover what that weird wand you stole from Raus’s house in New Pavis does. Clairvoyance lets you see what is going on up to 5 km away. Knowledge lets you know that iron crown you found near Griffin Mountain once belonged to Alakoring Dragonbreaker or that broken sword was once wielded by Arkat. Mind Read lets you pull off Mr. Spock’s techniques, Reconstruction lets you make Hercule Poirot look like a fool, Translate lets you read ANYTHING, and Truespeak makes you the ultimate interrogator. In short if you want to find out something, the Knowing God is your god.
A legacy of the friendship with the God Learners is that Lhankor Mhy’s cult has preserved some sorcery – mainly to facilitate the acquisition of information and knowledge.
Like Issaries, Lhankor Mhy is among my favorite cults. His presence in Sartar is underrated by the enemies of that kingdom – Sartar knew exactly what he was doing when he patronized the Knowing God! There are temple-libraries in each of Sartar’s cities and even New Pavis.
Think through the implications to Sartar have a couple thousand of initiates of the Knowing God. Sure about 1/5th are in the city of Boldhome, but every tribe have a few score of them.
Despite this, only about a third of the population in Sartar, Tarsh, or Esrolia possess any skill at Read/Write and even fewer are truly literate (25% or more). These numbers are probably more or less the same in the Lunar Heartlands and the Holy Country, lower in the Grazelands and the Exiles, and almost nonexistent in Prax outside of Civilized Prax.
Like their patron, the Sages try to stay out of the political power game with outside groups. They advise all, maintaining a strict neutrality. A High Priest of the Sages is often a chief adviser to the ruling body of any region, but often not a part of that body.