> Don't forget the nifty heroquest "Mastakos' Trail West" -- whether or not
> Mastakos has a cult, he's still the expert on getting places quickly. I
> suspect there are other such trails, which let you travel long distances
> very quickly (assuming you know how it's done).
Yup, Greg keeps hinting at "Magic Roads", for example. (Anyone have a canonical list of the DP roads, and the myths associated with them?)
> (Despite the hilly terrain, the Ralian ponies are best suited to pulling
> chariots, not to riding.) My big question now is whether chariot driver
> leads to chariot warrior (like squire leads to knight), or if you get
> professional drivers (as Cuchulainn's seemed to be).
The latter generally, I should think. Practically and expense likely means that only a small portion of your forces will be ensconced in chariots (a smaller proportion than cavalry in Sartar, I'd think). The warriors will be high-status types, with the dosh and clout to retain their own Michael Schmacher type on a permanent basis. Driving a chariot over rough ground is likely to be so hideously difficult you wouldn't want some callow youth to be doing it with your neck at stake, in contrast to the duties of a squire, which are non-safety-critical, and pretty noddy (if laborious) stuff.
> Mastakos is also involved in the construction of extra fast chariots (which
> don't slow down the horses), and the legendary flying chariots.
And Sandy in the latter:
> I, on the other hand, suspect Mastakos is hardly worshiped at
> all, at least among most Theyalans.
I'm not sure exactly what Sandy has in mind when he says "hardly worshiped at all", but I think I made it clear that I was not suggesting the cult was numerically large, anywhere. But an independent charioteer cult seems a dead cert in places like Volsaxiland, for example.
> 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
One could get deeply emeshed in the semantics of "separate cult" and "subcult" here. I don't think, for one thing, that you find Mastakos worship, beyond the odd roadside site, anywhere in Sartar outside of Orlanth temples. But I do think there are Mastakos _worshippers_ in Sartar. Where the temple hierarchy is sophisticated and large enough to support it, and their exists a need for the (sub)cult function, the Mastakos shrine in an Orlanth temple would ideally be tended by a Priest of Mastakos/Acolyte of Orlanth, with a coterie of initiates with velocity-related day jobs, as well of course associated worship(ers), accounting for the majority of the mp thoughput.
One could also haggle endlessly whether a Theyalan with a hatful of mobility magic, revering both Mastakos and Orlanth is an initiate, as opposed to an associate dude, of one, the other, or both, but this is really a somewhat false game mechanistic distinction. Diehard quibblers are referred to the Great Initiation Debate.
> 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?
Clearly there's a spectrum here; while a less separable a function than say Goodvoice/Issaries, it's also moreso than either of the above luminaries.
Alex.
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