ULERIA: Goddess of the Greatest Magic of All
Much good sense from Pam on Ulerian worship, after an initial query from Marc.
Remember that Uleria is goddess of love in all in aspects - sexuality, sensuality, sociality and fertility. Its worth tracking down the full write-up in Different Worlds - check Steve Martin's index for the issue number (sorry, I'm writing from work).
In my Far Point campaign, Uleria is indeed closely associated with Ernalda, as Pam suggested. We run a cultural setup where women run much of the tribe, either from behind the scenes or more directly (the men are too busy raiding cattle and cuk fighting). The Ulerian priestess has a very central part to play in this. Shrines to the Love Goddess* are very rare in our patch of the world, but given Uleria's power, reproductive abilities and veneration, she is an accepted (though fringe) part of worship in earth temples. After all, Ernalda venerates and respects te power of lust (as does Elmal - I often wonder about those two, and Uleria's 'Fertility' is very handy to have around the stead.
Remember too that Uleria is sometimes portrayed as a man.
I often draw inspiration from Babylonian and Sumerian sources to try and get
oround our own cultural and patriarchal hangups about prostitution. The
'prostitute' in Gilgamesh, for example, was a very important part of the social
fabric - and her sexual services had very little to do with it. When a visitor
came from another place, she would play the role of hostess and business
facilitator. She would not only
offer hospitality and all the comforts of home (including, on occasion, the
sacred act of sex) but more importantly introduce the visitor to all the
important notaries of the area, arranging appointments, providing briefings on
important local issues assisting trade contracts, finding hard-to-get people
etc. This is the role I usually assign priestesses of Uleria.
Slightly less glamourous, but given her power in the realm of sociality and good relations, you might also portray an Ulerian as a bronze age social worker :-)
Cheers
John
Questlines - nearly done! To the printer next week!!!! Questlines includes two Chaosium cults (Hunter, Trickster) original fiction from Greg Stafford and Penny Love ('mong others), Tribes and Population of Sartar by Dave Hall, a Far Point campaign base by Michael Raaterova and me, and lots and lots of other rully cool stuff. Stay Tuned!
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