By Heortling I'm referring to the Orlanthi of Heortland, from which tribes most of the Sartarite Orlanthi are descended. Sorry for any confusion.
V.S. Greene:
> Why isn't everybody in Sartar followers of Humakt and Babeester
>Gor? Simple, they're extremely tied to specific roles that interfer with
>being normal, balanced people
Yet, according to others, their role includes doing what normal people do?
So, would it be the case that if you want to be normal you choose Orlanth and Ernalda, though that limits you to only being normal. Whereas if you choose Humakt or Babs Gor you can be normal or unbalanced at your own choice, depending on the situation? Hmm...
>Humakti and Babsis might still be fertile but they can't handle
parenthood.
Ahh! So that's the difference! They can screw as much as they want as long as they don't have kids! Do you by any chance have a Humakti or Babs Gor player character?
Peter Metcalfe makes a good point:
>You needn't assume magical infertility for a worshipper. Look at
>the cult of Maran Gor at the similar culture of KeroFin. Their
>worshippers are fertile. They are OTOH hampered by cult
>restrictions on not being able to till or farm.
Though Maran Gor priestesses must be celebate, and acolytes divorce their husbands.
I do like this bit of Maran Gor's myth:
"In the sunshine of Myth, when all was still peaceful, the goddess Asrelia
gave birth to two daughters. One was named Ernalda and the other was called
Maran. Both were generous and kind, and both had many friends in God-time.
They were widely courted by many gods, but Maran took no husband or lover,
preferring a chaste path. When the troubles of the Godwar came upon her
family, she used mighty oaths and promises and took the geas of trading her
mating for more terrible abilities. The title of Gor was added to her name
after that."
It suggests to me that the rules don't quite match with the myth. The rules wimp out - perhaps it was felt that players would not be able to role-play it?
However, Maran Gor is an Earth goddess, and with Humakt we are talking about Death. The case for Humakti not being allowed to till fields and farm, and having to be celebate, looks increasingly strong to me. A similar case can be made for Babeester Gor, who IMO is more of a death goddess than Maran Gor.
Now, whether you just demand celebacy of the priestesses and Swords, or you demand it of initiates too, is a moot point. But surely all Humakti and Babeester Gor characters should aspire to this to better emulate their deity?
Or do too many of us have existing Humakti and Babs Gor PC's for it to be acceptable?
All Hail the Infertile Moon
David Hall
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