>Priests are representatives of the gods [...] In a culture where the
>gods make their presence felt, you do not tell priests to get stuffed
>because i) they are powerful, ii) if you show disrespect to the god's
>representative it might make things awkward when asking the god for
>help next harvest time / during raids etc..
You can tell him to get stuffed if he makes unreasonable demands like 'Give me your wife to keep my bed warm for the night'. I do not even believe that Orlanth would be upset if an initiate even killed a Wind Voice on the other side of a clan feud.
The Priests are not the representatives of Orlanth but human agents between Orlanth and Man. Every worshipper is a representative of Orlanth. The Priests are more skilled in calling upon Orlanth for aid but they do this as a service for their fellow Orlanthi and not because they are special in Orlanth's eyes.
If one priest hates your guts and you need a divination from Orlanth, then the solution is simple. Find another priest who is more friendly.
>Thus I think the rules for the way divine magic
>works in general (and not just for individual cults) need rewriting.
It's been said before and I don't think anyone will disagree.
>I would imagine that the clan chief, who in a warlike society (or one in a
>dangerous position) would be the mightiest person in the clan. This would
>probably be a priest, who has the advantages of divine magic.
If you'll note from the RQIII Orlanthi cult writeup, the Wind Lord gets some quite nifty reusuable divine magic which is related to war. Whereas the Wind Voice gets buggerall. So most clan chiefs would try and be wind lords rather than priests. Some are merely initiates.
>Thanks also for the references to Mediaeval / Renaissance England etc.,
>but the term used for church goers who have taken no religious vows (i.e.
>every one who is not a priest, monk, etc.) is lay members or laity.
That's a church definition. From approaching it from the RQIII rules most laity are initiates. In the medieval church, there was even a sacrement to denote the change from 'lay member' to 'initiate': confirmation (tossed out by most protestant churches with the reformation).
[Weaker Blood Ties in the city]
>You rely on, have friendships and
>loyalties with, people who are not kin. For example, your boss at work is not
>your dad or mum anymore (if you insist on working for them, you will not
>have the range of opportunities as you would if you are willing to work for
>anyone - the whole point of banding together in a city)
I don't think this is true. The ties of blood will be still as strong but the output of the kinship group has merely become more specialized. Rather than be a Jack-of-all-trades and Master of none in the country, one can concentrate on a particular trade in the city. Most city business people will hire relatives since they are people they know and can trust in the big bad world of the city. This persists even in today's world. One interacts with more strangers in the city, undoubtedly but the ties of blood are not weaker...
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