With my earlier post about initiation, these young adults would be left with a divine magic pool with which to cast rune spells, but with no rune spells, until they were worthy enough to learn the spells of their chosen diety/-ies (propably based on their chosen occupation) [NB: in this case 'chosen' means that the choice is made either by the persons themselves or their elders].
One solution to this is that they learn some or most of the 'common' rune
spells (which are attributed to the ruling god/-s of the pantheon). The
[dis-]advantage of this is that all initiates can cast Heal Wound. IMG it's
an advantage as spirit magic can only heal flesh wounds and stop the
bleeding of more serious wounds, making Heal Wound almost necessary for
survival in violent situations.
CULT SECRETS Some people possess knowledge that only the chosen may know. This can include specific myths, skills or spells. They _could_ be taught to outsiders (Sense Chaos frinstance), but that is ample ground for excommuncation or severe reprisal. The person taught the secret is either sworn in and geased up to his ears not to reveal the secret or summarily killed, cursed, or otherwise silenced.
The spells of Orlanth Rex are secrets known only to those initiated into the subcult.
The nasty spells of the Dark Earth Goddesses are secrets known only to those among the Ernalda worshippers who are deemed worthy and dedicated (usually the elders).
To learn a cult secret is first a question of finding out the secret exists, and then a question of worthiness, and that is tested rigorously by the masters.
Usually the elders require that the person have certain qualities or have undergone certain quests or have a certain knowledge, before he can learn the secret. A warrior propably won't get the chance to learn the 4 Weapons spells before he proven himself as a warrior with the right virtues and skills. A Storm Voice wanna-be can't learn Thunderbolt unless he knows Cloud Mastery.
The same goes for spirit magic: you won't learn Heal from the ernalda priestess if you're a callous warrior with no respect for life.
FORGETTING SPELLS If a person hasn't used a specific spell for a year there is a chance that he has lost that knowledge and has to re-quest for it, or at least spend some time 'remembering' the proper way to do it.
This is why some of the really powerful rituals that needs lots of participants doing specific tasks get lost. It also explains why the older gloranthans don't have oodles of spells, or why obviously worthy persons aren't spell-hoarders. They simply can't keep them all in their head.
In literate cults there are 'remembering scrolls' for those who have quested for a spell but have lost it due to neglect.
[IMG the same goes for skills: if you haven't used a skill for a long time,
you're skill decreases. It also explains why people aren't masters in lots
of skills - they don't have the time to practice them all, and so will
neglect some of them.]
SPELLS AS INNATE POWERS Initiates who have quested for a spell can do a deeper quest to gain the spell as an innate power, requiring only MPs and/or a small ceremony to cast. Such a quest is of course very difficult and highly restricted to those who are truly worthy. Imagine a humakti with Sever Spirit as an innate power. Hopefully there's not many around.
Likewise there are quests to make one-use spells reusable for the quester.
Basically i write this to sort it out in my own head, but i thought it might spark some new ideas for you all, even if you don't agree with me.
Powered by hypermail