What distinguishes a worshipper of a "false" god, who subscribes to the
Stygian heresy, from a person who worships the same god but does n't
venerate the Invisible God? Is it possible that Stygian temples provide
sorcery to initiates instead of spirit magic? For example, a Stygian
Chalana Arroy cultist might know Treat Wounds instead of Heal. The
alternatives a) people who subscribe to Malkionism yet know no sorcery or
b) people (such as the trader in "Hut of Darkness" TOTRM#9) who use all
three types of magic strike me as being a little daft. Apart from which,
according to "Troll Gods" this is exactly what the (Stygian) trollish cult of Arkat
does.
If Stygian temples did teach sorcery rune magic might they not also
have grounds for claiming that their rune magic bears more than a passing
resembelance to the blessings that western saints give out in return for
POW sacrafices (according to Sandy Petersens Sorcery rules)? They might
go even further and say that their god is infact a saint of the Invisible
God. Certainly in GoG reference is made to false prophets called Worlath
(Orlanth) and Humct (Humakt), and of course from the point of view of
the other sects these guys are n't saints. This would make it easier to
reconcile the Stygian heresy with other sects of Malkionism (it's no longer a matter of magic systems but
rather whether your guru was a genuine saint or not.) On the other hand
it would create some downright bizarre conflicts when Stygians meet
orthodox members of their cult who cherish rather different
preconceptions about their shared object of adoration.
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