From: Alex Ferguson (abf@interzone.ucc.ie)
Date: Sun 02 Mar 1997 - 05:25:56 EET
Christoph Luehr had a little question for us:
> How is a asociated cult represented in the temple of the major cult ?
> Is there a small romm with a small statue in it ? Are there small
> pictures of the god ?
> Any sugestions ?
I'd agree with most of the comments I've read on this subject: yes, quite
likely, possibly, variously, differently, sometimes not at all: diversity,
diversity, and thrice diversity. New Glorantha, _New_ Diversity. Sorry,
seemed to be Channelling Tony Blair for a moment there.
In fact, in some cases one might turn up to a Great Temple of Your Friendly
Neighbourhood Major Religion, and find _no_ recognisable, or indeed,
magically useful "shrine" there. Or contrariwise, find such a shrine of an
"associate" in the "wrong" religion, or in an insufficiently large temple,
in Strict Rules Terms. Why? Because Association is an artificial game
construct (or maybe a GL one, but those are getting to be unhip),
representing an inherently vague, but basically simple game-world truth:
these two religions (at least in these parts, partner) conduct some
significant form of worship together.
The most important manifestation of this is that when you arrive at a
suitable worship ceremony for a god with lots of associates, there is a
<name of Associate> Guy there, too, who'll take that god's role in the
ritual. This could literally be as varied as the Chief Priest of Danfive
Xaron at the Furthest Seven Mothers' temple, or yer fellow Borni there who
will embody Mastakos today, seeing as he has 2 points of Mobility. But for
a "real" associate, in a temple large enough to warrant them, in a region
which recognises that association and considers it important enough, the
Associate Guy will be an initiate of both gods, and if the shrine to that
god does Serious Magical Business, a priest or acolyte in at least one.
If this _isn't_ the case, then either the temple really only pays lip
service to the association: you'll be able to pray there, if you're an
Associate Guy yourself, but you won't be getting any Quick Fix magical
benefits from doing so; or they simply neglected to read GoG, and don't
considered them "associates" at all. And conversely, if you go to a clan
and find that in their hill fort temple, all the shrines and sites are
inside the Orlanth temple, and the whole clan prays there, regardless of
their formal initiatory status, then all those dieties are effectively
"associates" of the Big O. for local purposes, regardless of what Head
Office in Boldhome, the God Learners, or the fools that wrote GoG -- oops,
sorry guys ;-) -- think _ought_ to be how things are.
Statistician-General's Warning: Your variance may vary.
Slainte,
Alex.
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