>>Sounds like an interesting theme for a LARP: Have some kind of big
event in Pavis, with half the players being high level cult members, and
the other half "their" Allied Spirits...
Just doing the casting and matching up the pairs would be great fun.
Any takers?<<
Sounds a bit like what one does when playing White Wolf's Wraith game. Each player plays another person's "Shadow". The "Shadow" of each character is constantly trying to gain control of the character. During game play the "shadows" will whisper advice, taunts, or struggle to take over the character. In play it works really well -- one of the few things I really liked about Wraith.
Koans from the RW are often used as a parallel to the riddles of Nysalor. Koan's lock the subject into a logical dead in, which the subject hopes to gain the insight to leap beyond. This enlightenment can be quite an ecstatic experience following such intense bursts of concentration. This transcendence could not occur if one were to merely recite memorized answers. I would assume it would be the same for the riddling of the cult of Nysalor.
An interesting idea for a story-line would be to have a very manipulative "behind-the-scenes" riddler decide to illuminate one of the characters through an elaborate, acted out riddle. Constantly trying to manipulate the player into situations where the character realizes her god's shortcomings and is forced to betray her friends, family, culture, church, and beliefs. Maybe, a la Angelheart, the character is sent on a quest to find herself, but under a different name or title. Definitely not something I would do to a player that couldn't handle this much grief.
While doing a little bit of related reading I happened to stumble accross these three verses of the Bhagavad-Gita and thought that they were suited to the world of Glorantha:
In one who knows activity and rest,
acts of right and wrong,
bravery and fear, bondage and freedom,
understanding is lucid.
When one fails to discern
sacred duty from chaos,
right acts from wrong,
understanding is passionate.
When it thinks in perverse ways,
is covered in darkness,
imagining chaos to be sacred duty,
understanding is darkly inert.
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