I think it varies widely from one cult to the next. As near as I can tell, in Orlanth's case, the HQ disciples are very much like RQ "Rune Lords", though a bit less common.
In the case of Humakt, however, pretty much any Humakti who commands a warband is entitled to call himself a "Sword of Humakt", even if he's just an initiate (as I understand it).
In the case of Chalana Arroy, the "healers of Arroin" (who were, in RQ times, the "Rune Lords") are distinctly junior to most devotees--they're pretty much just "healers who haven't learned much magic yet", well below the level of a disciple.
And for that matter, I don't think we know that the "disciple" category is found outside the Storm Tribe. It might be that other pantheons have a similar rank, but we don't know how similar.
Powered by hypermail