>there's ample precedent on our own earth for rebirth-type myths and
>ceremonies at _both_ midwinter and the start of spring. One might
>argue that the winter ones (Consumermas, feast of I. Sol, Hanukkah,
>Yule...) are largely of a Solar type
I suggest that this in fact the case, and that the solar cultures see the rebirth as happening when the days start getting longer (or, mythically, when Yelm "decided" to return from Hell), while storm cultures see the rebirth as occurring when the Dawn happened, which presumably they believe to be the first day of Sea Season.
>What's a "nandi beast"?
Hmm I thought I'd posted the answer to this. Clearly I'm wrong. The Nandi Beast is a Kralori being, originally from the Kingdom of Ignorance. When first birthed, a nandi is just another insensate monster. Unfortunately, its most salient feature is its alarming ability to absorb the knowledge of anyone it eats. If it manages to devour beings that are wiser than itself, it becomes wiser. The great danger is that a nandi may manage to pull down and devour an intelligent being, which makes the nandi sentient in its own right. It can even gain spells (or how to get a fetch!) by this means. And it learns all its victim's skills, though it may not be able to use many skills at full capacity -- its clumsy claws, for instance, are not adept at needlepoint.
Clearly, the nandis would have long ago conquered the world were it not for their one great weakness, which stems directly from its unnatural power. Obviously, the most dire enemy of a Nandi is another Nandi, since by devouring such an individual, the Nandi can gain all the knowledge which its comrade had consumed! And if the devoured Nandi had, in its turn, devoured another Nandi, well ... Naturally enough, Nandis prefer a solitary existence.
A Nandi's mouth is not made for speaking, but of course any Nandi who has eaten a human can understand all the languages its prey was familiar with.
What does a nandi look like? A bit like an Andrewsarchus.
Andrew Joelson:
> if Yanafal Tarnils priests have to spend 90% of their time on 'cult
>duties', how can they be the officers of the Red Army?
Easy. The officer's duties are the same as the priest's.
>A priest spends 90% of his time taking care of _cult_ business.
The cult = the army, by and large.
>This includes; leading/performing cult rituals, care & maintenance
>of the temple/shrine (both physical & spiritual), delving deeper
>into the mysteries of the cult, instructing other cult members in
>said mysteries, teaching cult spirit magic, teaching non-cult spirit
>magic (if time & cult principles allow), re-newing expended rune
>magics, teaching cult approved skills, providing healing to cult
>members & performing divinations, (have I left anything out?).
This is only true for a small minority of cults. A military cult such as Yanafal Ta'arnils or Humakt has an utterly different structure. For that matter, a nomadic cult such as Issaries or Dormal doesn't operate in this manner. Or a ruler's cult such as Waha or Orlanth Rex. An Orlanth Rex runemaster doesn't waste his time "providing healing to cult members" or "delving deeper into mysteries" and neither does a Yanafal Ta'arnils Scimitar.
>The duties of an officer are as many and varied as those of a
>priest. A Lieutenant must ...
NOT in an ancient army. The "duties of an officer" are far from a universal truism known even in the earliest days. The "babysitter" or "business management" style of officership is largely a product of the modern age and, however efficient nowadays, has naught to do with ancient needs.
There is almost certainly no equivalent to a "Lieutenant" in the Lunar army. Or if there is, he's probably more like a Soviet Commissar than a shavetail. I.e., he provides spiritual support to his men as well as discipline. I.e., he's a lot like a priest, or at least an acolyte.
>A priest of Yanafal Tar'nils would be much better suited to the role
>of chaplain/healer (any memebr of a war cult without gobs of healing
>magic is a fool)
Nonsense. Most of the soldiers do their own healing, or else the "monitor" does it for them (most Lunar units include this office, which is a person equipped with more magic than the norm, and who is expected to boost his own file of troops in combat).
Besides, a Yanafal Ta'arnils healer is pretty stinky compared to a Deezola one. Why not assign a Deezola healer to the regiment instead, and let the YT Scimitars deal out death?
>"Yanafal Tar'nils is an officer's cult." This statement struck me as
>ludicrous
I gotta admit, despite all I've said, I agree with you here, though perhaps "ludicrous" is a bit strong. I think that the Lunar army has many officers who are NOT Scimitars. And I also think that a large number of the rank and file infantry of the Red Army are YT initiates. I also think that there are many non-YT regiments in which the officers are YT, while the reverse is rarely the case.
>How can you deny membership in a cult of one of the Seven Mothers to
>98% of the population of the Empire?
Easy. Danfive Xaron, Jakaleel the Witch, She Who Waits, and Irrippi Ontor are all worshiped probably by less than 2% of the population. Only Deezola and Teelo Norri are what you'd call "common", and Teelo Norri doesn't really count. The Seven Mothers are individually really quite sophisticated and specialized cults, unsuited for the vast majority of human experience.
On the other hand, the Seven Mothers pseudo-cult makes a fine religion. It goes down smooth and gives good magic.
Alex F thinks
> Mastakos has two main aspects (or subcults, Blank Cult fans);
>Charioteer and Runner
I, on the other hand, suspect Mastakos is hardly worshiped at all, at least among most Theyalans. Those cultures with a need for a teleportation network can do it with Orlanthi, after all. I personally believe that the vast bulk of Orlanthi are unaware that a separate cult for Mastakos exists, and think of him primarily as a subcult, in the strictest sense, of Orlanth -- just another subsidiary spirit, like Lightning Boy.
Confronted with the existence of someone actually worshiping Mastakos, a typical Orlanthi would be puzzled and bemused. "Why not worship Orlanth's Darkness Cloak," he might ask himself? Note that in no way do I criticize specialized uses of Mastakos, such as Dave Dunham's charioteers. I just think that his worship is very spotty.
L. Jardine:
>does CA tolerate suicide?
Hmm. Good question. Probably should be asked of other faiths as well. What do the Orlanthi in general think of suicide? How about the Pelorians?
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