> As for Heler being a martial deity, I am getting tired of arguing this
> point.
Why do you suppose you have to argue it so often, eh? It couldn't be that the people you're arguing with are right, could it? :-)
> In the very first place he was ever mentioned (WF 13), Heler is said to
> be a martial deity (though not a very effective one, I will admit). And
> of course he carries weapons -- every male Orlanthi does.
From GoG Prosopaedia:
"Heler is usually pictured as a handsome blue-skinned man, accompanied by or calling clouds. He is *never* armed [my emphasis], to show that his blue skin is not woad (worn only by warriors)... Heler is occasionally considered a militant deity, but rarely an effective one."
Saying that this ineffectual non-warrior is more martial than Elmal, the Loyal Thane and Defender, seems rather silly. Saying that defense is "not martial" because humble farmers will defend their homes is also plain daft: *Orlanth* chose Elmal to lead and guard his housecarls and family in his absence, in the middle of the Great Darkness, and is most unlikely to have chosen a useless or ineffectual non-warrior for this role.
> By less martial, I meant that [Elmal] is not an aggressive deity -- he
> does not attack, he defends. And Barntar does this as well, to defend
> his farm.
Elmal commands the "dangerous side" of the attacking Orlanthi army at the battle of Castle Blue, fighting on Orlanth's right: a rather surprising place to find this purely defensive "ploughboy"... though in view of the outcome, perhaps some Heler cultist with his rattle and bucket would have done better after all?
I think the burden of proof passes to you, Steve. How many ineffectual, non-martial Elmal Thanes and fearsome, militant Rainmakers have appeared in your campaign?
I asked:
>> A straight question: just what is there about the Praxian Sun Dome >> Temple (as described in "Sun County") that makes you leap up and cry: >> "Aha! A clear sign of elvish influence!"? If we have to bin one of >> the few recent RQ supplements in order to entertain your theory, I >> suggest a rethink is in order.
> As I said at length in my Cold Sun article, written mostly as a
> reassurance to you MOB, KoS does NOT "bin" Sun County. It merely
> requires that we evaluate what certain parts of that book mean.
That is hardly an answer to my question (and BTW, I am not MOB). I'll rephrase it: can you think of *anything* about the Sun Dome Temple that looks like the result of Aldryami influence?
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