A few things regarding my Minlister cult write up:
In a private message, David Cake reminded me of a spell mentioned (in a Babeester Gor cult write up) in Andrew Bell's old RQ Daily. The spell was Safe Drunk, and so long as the caster was roaring drunk he or she was immune to attack (all attack rolls would fail.) I think this sort of ability is closer to Trickster than Minlister, and IMG there is a well known Second Age Eurmali named Pungey who had the Heroic Power of never being harmed in any way while completely intoxicated. It is said that he alone wandered unharmed through the Dragon's Feast at the end of the Dragon Kill War, and he was careful to never again be sober after that. Unfortunately, he drowned a few years later in the Nochet Lhankor Mhy temple. It seems the scholars left him alone with a full barrel of wine.
I had a chuckle over Dave Pearton's proposed spirits of reprisal. Thanks.
Loren Miller feels it is unrealistic for Brewers to take the geas "never harm a bee," since it would make it difficult for Brewers to gather honey.
Leaving aside the question of geases not making life difficult, I question the assumption that full-time devoted Brewers have the time to also be full-time devoted beekeepers. Since I don't think Brewers actually do the honey gathering, I see no problem with a Brewer taking a vow to never harm a bee. (Obviously, as Sandy so aptly points out, a beekeeper _cannot_ take such a vow.)
I think that either other members of the Brewer's clan
keep an eye out for wild hives ("Gee, Uncle Merten will be
_so_ happy we found this hive! He hasn't had the chance
to brew a proper batch of mead since the year Cousin
Krista got married!"), or someone else in the clan is a
full time beekeeper. The former is probably the case in
places like Brolia and the East Wilds, while the latter is
probably the case in places like Sartar and Heortland
(especially along the Goodale Path, where many Brewers
own and run inns.)
Rob Stoll suggests that Brewers may make the following trade with trolls: the finished product (mead) for the raw material (honey). While this seems reasonable at first glance, it doesn't make sense when you consider that trolls can drink gallons of human beer and mead and not get drunk. But that doesn't mean that Brewers (or, more likely, his clan) don't trade other things for trollish honey.
When I first accepted the idea of Brewers having a geas
relating to bees (from a friend who suggested it), it was
because of mythic reasons. The idea was that Minlister
did not harm bees because of their importance to his
sisters, the Grain Goddesses, who provide him with the
raw materials he needs to perform his special magic.
Because of this he was later able to learn the secret of
turning the bees gift (honey) into yet another drink
(mead).
Unfortunately, I have since learned the dangers of making assumptions (like the importance of bees to grain plants), as well as the fact that wheat is selfpollinating. I have not yet confirmed whether or not barley is also self-pollinating, but I suspect it is.
For those who want to keep bees important to Minlister, and keep the "never harm a bee" geas, honey can be used in brewing beer in place of corn sugar, malt, or extract. I imagine apple honey is used in such a way around Apple Lane. (In fact, the honey of bees who pollinate certain special Aldryami plants may be part of what is needed for one or more of the magic beers. Perhaps the beer which does not subtract from combat skills requires the magic royal jelly of the giant bees.) As an extra bonus for those of you (such as Joerg) who argue for Sartar beer containing hops, bees _do_ pollinate hops!
For those of you who want to remove the "never harm a bee" geas, maybe the geas is "really" something else, such as "never defend yourself from a bee." Or maybe the geas doesn't have anything to do with bees. (But I'm not thrilled with Loren's proposed vow of "serve no brew that discredits the name of the cult, nor... reveal brewing secrets to outsiders." For a geas, it's just too... practical. It's like having Issaries Merchants vow that they will sell no item at a price that discredits the name of the cult, nor reveal bargaining secrets to others.) Or maybe the geas is different for every brewer. Or maybe brewers don't have geases. After all, as a comment from RQDU which Greg agreed with goes: "The cult write up is only a guideline."
(Actually, the comment was a question, to which Greg
responded "Yes.")
Peace,
Peter
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