Re: Initiation - Contests and Failure

From: Benedict Adamson <yahoo_at_3jEDlhzirfMrKE4RZCUCGk7OIGxn1cM28emcpmMUhMiU6jCL2bksdD_X9r_XN9hYPNQ47_>
Date: Tue, 05 May 2009 22:03:58 +0100

donald_at_tHVYVQAQR036YgjGw5-0672Ik9LAnUnV66m7JlkThCRYJB8p9tdJEn3hagwdhZEGWsVxR_wG7XlnRzfQMH-X.yahoo.invalid wrote: ...
> Or do we just not hear about the failures? They are heroquests so
> there ought to be a significant chance of not returning in one
> piece mentally and/or physically.

The canonical failure is Harmast himself. "I just want to be a farmer", he said, but faed to initiate to Orlanthcarl/Barntar.

What if "initiation" means "initiating to Orlanth" for boys and "initiating to Ernalda" for girls. If so, about 1 in 7 initiations "fail"...

>
> I'd suggest the failures fall into the following catagories:
>
> People who aren't ready or try and initiate to the wrong god. They
> generally fail without significant damage but get an odd quirk...

Men initiating to Ernalda (Nandan); women initiating to Orlanth (Vinga)?

>
> People who fail badly enough that they die or end up lost on the
> hero plane.

Devotees of Humakt?

>
> People who fail and are physically or mentally disabled as a result.
> They can never become adults and remain children all their lives
> doing whatever tasks the clan can find for them.

Disciples of Eurmal?

>
> Whether it should be a contest or not really depends on the story.
> In most stories it is a distraction and a potentially derailing
> one.

And also, the event that makes your character an adult rather than a child, so arguably something to do as part of character generation.