I've been trying to work out a starting point for Humakt ideas and ideals; so far, I've been stuck in comparing the tenets of Humakti worship with Bushido (which has some problems, esp. WRT serving one's lord) and with some other chivalric-type codes. Here's some of the discussion that my GM and I have had about it (GM's comments marked by >):
>He severed his ties with the orlanth because he might have to kill one or all
>of them someday. Humakt has never married, is a loner. Humakti like to party,
>but do not fear death, and are uncomfortable around those that do. Truth is
>valued. When the truth would hurt, don't get asked questions. (See the
>'conceal' story I gave you).
>*shrug*
>Death is vital to the world. Chaos seems to be a part of it, but causes
>problems. If its causing you problems, kill it. Chaos cannot be trusted to
>express 'truth'... but may contain the truth within it. (There was lots of
>discussion whether or not Humakt was illuminated... Greg's run the whole
>gambit... I use him as non-illuminated, but he treats ALL things equally.
>When its time for it to die, it dies.)
That last is kind of what I have been forming for my "Humakti philosophy." I'm kind of using the more heavily Zen-influenced Bushido as my basis for this, but there are some points where it doesn't quite map out (like the Bushido precept of service to one's daimyo, which doesn't work too well here, as the concept of daimyo and the concept of cult don't mesh too well). But I think it's a start.
>[The unholy trio gave birth to the devil through a ritual designed to bring
> about the end of the world. If everything has a time to die, then so does
> the world. If it must die, it will. If it shouldn't, then Humakt will
> struggle to kill those that try. The ritual is done, though... and its
> effects are out of Humakt's hands.]
But it's not Humakt's place to bring about the end of the world, is it? Humakt is the Reaper, and not the Slaughterer (that's ZZ's job)--or so I thought. And the attempt to bring about the end of the world was certainly not made through honourable means.
>The true reason why Humakti use the sword is because it is shaped like
>the death rune. Some see this as simply symbolic, others believe that
>swords are imbued with more killing power simply because of their form
>and their association with Humakt. The former are the more down to
>earth fighters, and the latter are the more spiritual and spooky members
>of the cult [see caine's teachers from Kung-Fu].
>Either way, they are the most skilled swordsmen, and because of this,
>they can give more death through using the sword.
Hmmm. I don't know where I'll fall... probably in the middle now. I'll have to play with this idea a bit more. Hmmm...
I guess the big question here is about the nature of Humakt and his worship. Humakt is Death... but is he the god of sowing death? I don't think so, given what I've read about Zorak Zoran. Certainly, the cult doesn't exist just to train people to go out and kill as many other people as possible. It makes more sense (to me, right now) to think of Humakt as the Warrior God, god of Battle and holder of the power of Death. Hmmm... I'll have to think more about this, too. Thanks for the info.
>Hope this gives you a little more information. The world *IS* what you
>make of it. Find a concept of what you feel a humakti should be, and go
>with it. If your character is close, he will be closer to humakt and
>more powerful than those who follow the wrong path.
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