>In the case of Lodril, what form does the actual worship tend to take?
I can't speak with authority since there's apparently been a reaction against the profusion of subcults in HQ2.0. Complicating this is that the Dara Happans do things differently than the Orlanthi (compare and contrast the cults in Thunder Rebels/Storm Tribe with that in ILH-2). The following cults of Pelorian Lodril are known:
Ghelotralas, also known as the Sky Pit.
The ten Mohenjaro
Deshlotralas
Lotralas
The Invisible Spear
Lodril Bijiif
In addition there are similar deities:
Turos
Gerendetho
In addition there is also:
"Blows From Within"
Deshkorgos
Derdromos
And these are the ones which we know about! Even if some cults were said to be the same, we are faced with the problem that Lodril has seemingly has more aspects and subcults than Orlanth.
So taking a page from the Orlanth Cult (in which Orlanth has an aspect for one of his runes), IMO Lodril really only has two aspects - one focused on heat/earthpower and the other focused on disorder - his bad shadow so to speak. Most Lodrili have the heat rune while a minority have the disorder rune. Unlike the Orlanthi, there's no cultic distinction between the two aspects, both types go to the same temples, the same festivals and the same sacrifices. The Lodrili themselves view the difference primarily as one of spiritual temper.
For magic, the Lodrili initiates must go to one of the above cults which are really little more than subcults. Most subcults are open to both Lodrili while a few require a specific temper (ie Deshlotralas is not open to disorderly Lodrili while Deshkorgos will not accept heat rune Lodrili).
The second major issue is that Turos and Gerendetho maintain their distinction from the larger cult of Lodril. I can only assume that at a God Learned level they are the same cult but that Turos maintains his distinction through his identity as a High God (of Jernotia) which Lodril cannot assimilate. Some subcults can cross the identity barrier while others are closely identified with their patron deity.
--Peter Metcalfe
Powered by hypermail