From: Joe Lannom (jclannom@mathlab.mtu.edu)
Date: Tue 24 May 1994 - 17:29:25 EEST
Joerg scribbled in the 5-14 daily:
> I "_need_" the following partly, not totally independent mechanisms about
> initiation:
>
> - pantheon initiation
> - religious initiation accompanying adulthood initiation
> - childhood pre-initiation
I've been thinking about orlanthi initiation lately (finally got and read most of KoS.. still working on it. I just got it saturday!).
The Orlanthi seem to be very impressed with the ability to get things done. Not just the ability but the action itself, and the importance that it has. Saving a sheep is just fine and dandy, but saving kin from some big drooling monster with big nasty teeth is even better!
So... thinking more about the way the tribes work, and how they interact with their world... there are two ways that the priests could get someone to prove themselves more worthy of their sponsorship.
One is to setup a scenario where the 'initiate' is forced to use skills worthy of a good orlanthi, or use knowledge of the pantheon to get out of a fix. This implies solid structure and predetermined fate and can be fixed by crooked priests or eurmal wanna-bes. The rigid structuring seems more inline with what a Yelm worshipper would do, not something from Orlanth, the original god of freedom!
So, the second way I like better, which is this. Since they live in usually strife ridden lands, clans raid each other, monsters wander out of the wilderness, oppressive governments squat upon their homelands... there are plenty of opportunities and situations that call for orlanthi skills to just stay alive!!
The first time a boy rescues a sheep using a stick or sword or javelin, hurray! The priests recognize him as a worthy member of the cult and simply perform the ritual which is a recitation of the myth where orlanth did much the same things as the child (rescued someone dear to him, or challenged an unfair situation). The child sees himself acting like orlanth and is filled with pride and strives to be even BETTER at it. He gains a greater status in the clan, more responsibility and, hopefully, more maturity.
Another scenario for childhood initiation would be contests such as the Gods do to prove themselves against each other. Dancing, music, weapons... the winner of each of these yearly contests is eligible to go through the initiation.
As for religious initiation accompanying adulthood, there are many more situations where someone could be personally wronged by the world. A loved one is stolen from within the camp, a father is killed, a mother slighted... Leading a group of people, solving an argument within the clan, these are the things that not only lead to initiation as an adult, but also to a specific facet of the many faces of Orlanth. Someone with a solid head that has kept peace within the tribe and gotten everyone to work together could be an Orlanth Rex initiate, or a lawspeaker. Someone who has travelled and brought back riches that increase the clans status, orlanth adventurous.
In each of the above cases, the person must perform an act proving them worthy of initiation. This shows initiative, ability, and what I feel would be the most important facet to ANY orlanthi, independence.
I for one would like to play/run an individual character that started as a child, with a child's skills and run (with large yearly gaps, each 3 years getting a skill roll perhaps) it until adulthood. Such background! Strong ties to the clan with which you've worked, without whom you wouldn't have lived, without whom you would have no identity, no ring.
Ok, I've got my summer project now... a series of childhood adventures for Orlanthi. And to think, I was actually wondering what I was going to do with all my free time....
joe lannom
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