>>Given that the Ralians were largely hsunchen in the Darkness, most
>>of these [initiation] rites are probably hsunchen in origin.
>Even making allowances for the anachronistic usage of Hsunchen
>(Hykimi would have been better to use), I have to disagree here.
>Ralios is simply too big to be a land just for beast-worshippers.
Are we talking at the Dawn? If I recall (and Greg can correct me), at the Dawn, pretty much all that was left of human cultures in Ralios were a bunch of beast-worshipping Hsunchen (or other beastworshippers like the Galanini) and probably a few other fairly pathetic survivors. When the Theyalan missionaries came to Ralios in 130, there was only one glimmer of civilization and that was about the Felster Lake. A religious organization known as the Dangan Confederacy had risen there, about the holy spot of Hrelar Amali, and it had helped the nearby people again see light after centuries of darkness.
>So to sum up, the lowlanders worship a God Learned version
>of Orlanth that they believe dates back to the Storm Age
>while the highlanders worship a "Heortling" version that
>they believe has a similar ancient pedigree.
I doubt it. Although the God Learners were familiar with Orlanth (as a result of interaction with the Ralian Orlanthi), I doubt they imposed a "God Learned version of Orlanth". I think the Ralians received Orlanth worship from the Theyalan missionaries, enthusiastically embraced the religion and have been one of the central areas of the Orlanth religion since the First Age.
>In any case, the modern cult of Humakt in Ralios is not
>going to be the same as the Heortling cult but somewhat
>different like the Carmanian cult.
As I understand it, the Ralian survivors adopted the Orlanth religion pretty much in its entirety - like the folk of Talastar. I suspect the cult of Humakt in Ralios would look extremely familiar to a Heortling.
Jeff
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