In an otherwise good piece...
>In Glorantha, gossip and gentle hints (your barn is burnt down as the
>entire village watches) will usually alert a person that they are
>suspected of witchcraft. If they hang around (and survive) a variety of
>formal measures might be taken against them, from trials by ordeal to
>ritual torture and lynching. *Owing to the somewhat circular logic
>involved in Divination, the use of such spells may well confirm the
>accusations (The worshippers believe it, the god responds according to
>what the worshippers believe)*.
Disagree Strongly! I do not think the Gods viewpoint would be THAT subjective!
I assume the following situation: A barn belonging to the plantiff A is burnt down. The plantiff accuses a known Lunar Symp who like the plantiff is a Orlanthi initiate in good standing (be quiet!). In fact, the Symp is not the Arsonist. The plantif asks the question for divination: 'What SOB that torched down my barn!' Either Orlanth would have a gods eye view of the action, ie of the Arsonist burning down the barn or if the Arsonist was an Orlanthi in good standing, Orlanth would rely on his conciousness of the actions (not intent!) of the Arsonist that burnt the barn to provide an answer to the plantiff. If the Arsonist was not an Orlanthi (or inactive?) and the Wind was Still at the time the barn was burnt, then Orlanth IMO would reply with flatous puffery which boils down to 'I don't know'. Divination is too specialized IMO to be used in rural societies.
I like the idea of Trial by Ordeal. I think this would be better suited to resolving 'social problems' (ie Who dunnit) then divination. Now the Trial by Ordeal would only uncover the tendency towards certain beliefs. For the Orlanthi, this would be Lokaymadism, Kinstrife, Chaos, the whole catalog of Orlanthi sins - even illumination although this is VERY DIFFICULT!. Since this is specific to the community as a whole (ie the clan), this cuts out a lot of potential nitpicking like who worships whom and with what.
As an example, a rapist in an Orlanthi society will have stained himself with Thed. One can catch him by performing a ritual to ascertain whether he has committed a crime associated with Thed but not (IMO) find out whether he has committed the crime he is accused of (somebody else may have done it).
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