I'm not sure if the Humakti are strong because of numbers, though. There could be twice as many Helerings as Humakti, and the Humakti would still get more press because they are scarier. All those abilities to kill people makes them take notice of you....
>Parhaps 1% of the fighting people
>would follow Humakt. About 1/4 of the population serves in the fyrd when
>all are called (feel free to challenge my numbers).
I had figured 1% of adults, so about twice your numbers. Maybe a little less, on the grounds that women don't seem called to Humakt as much. Maybe women called to Death are more likely to go to Babeester Gor. There's also the question of whether 1% of the population worship a god or are "called to the god." I imagine that a lot of Humakti initiates don't live all that long, although if you survive a few years, you're probably good for the long haul (in any case, you're good for the "Last Hall," ie the grave...). Anyway, however you slice it, 1000 Humakti are not that many, especially if half or more are sheathed to some clan or other. Even if there are 1000 Humakti and 40% are "loose," that only makes 400 Humakti in regiments and war bands, which doesn't seem like that many.
>That would mean there would be about 500 humakti in Sartar (say 1600
>ST), and only 2 in an average 800 person clan.
>
>Doesn't seem like much. Then again some clans have a strong humakti
>tradition (parhaps even 20 to 50 humakti), and many have none at all.
I've always assumed there was a two-way realtionship between worshipers and god -- the god strongly blesses a member of a clan for some reason, that member builds a shrine or does some spectacular sacrifice that draws the god's attention to the clan, more initiating adults are called to the god, the cult grows stronger, etc. The process works in reverse, too, I imagine.
So a clan that stays a war clan for a long time or needs Humakt's blessings a great deal (it's near the Marsh, for example) is going to end up with more worshipers. I suppose it's a self-regulating system; if you get too caught up in Death (or Plowing or Pottery), the clan falls apart, starves, gets conquered, etc.
>Before the coming of Sartar the Changer it is said that the Quivini were
>worshippers of the sword. So the above figure is propably too small for
>those days. Also, during Salinargs reign, the Household of Death
>propably inspired many people to join Humakt.
The sword is the weapon of Air (even if most of the fyrd makes do with spears and big knives), so the Quivini could be "worshippers of the sword" wheather Humakt was a big deal or not. After all, Humakti is the God of Death, but he's not the only Heortling war god by a long shot. Heck, Orlanth is several "gods of battle" just by Himself....
Peter Larsen
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