>I was reading thru Troll Gods last and ended up looking at Black Arkat and
>the temple of Black Arkat. It says that in the Heortland the temple of black
>Arkat is the same as the cult except it is for humans. So what does anybody
>think, do you have to be a darkness worshipper, a Malkion worshipper or
>what ? does anyone have any ideas?
The following is recorded from the Lore Auction in the Proceedings in Malkionism book on the subject of Black Arkat.
GS: In many ways the division between socery and divine magic
is absolutely artificial. Black Arkat is a God. He's
worshipped as a god in a divine manner, and they recieve
spell points much in the divine manner. The point is, the
effects of the spells look to an outsider more like sorcery
than the standard divine spells. It's as if they had a new
spell list that was derived from the sorcery one instead of
the divine one. That's a totally artifical and game mechanical
way to explain it. I think that answers it.
IMO Black Arkat is a seperate cult from Arkat the Troll. He's depicted as a human and, much as it pains me to say this, the Dobyski picture of him is more accurate than the Dan Barker piccie in ToTRM#7 (which is how the Redstone Temple knows him).
I don't think the people who join him have to join a darkness cult first. Nor do I believe that they are considered to be Malkioni. Rather Black Arkat was once a cult in which Heortlings could enter the service of the Only Old One and form a trusted corp of quislings, spies and pinko fag commie subversives. Now they exist as a cult which opposes whatever Malkioni church is ruling in the region. I think they were supressed when the Pharaoh ruled but since he was dismembered, they've become more open with the location of their temple known but protected by the Shadow Plateau. The Malkioni are too busy fighting amongst themselves to give a shit about exterminating a two-bit arkat cult.
Going from the transcription above, it seems that the Godunya Cult mechanics in GoG would be a rough and ready model to adapt. However since there are Aeolians and Rokari nearby, this begs the question of why people join Black Arkat if not for the sorcery.
Hence I would handle the mechanics in a slightly different manner. One sacrifices for a spell like smother normally which functions as a Divine Spell for purposes of casting success and memory. When one casts the spell, one can manipulate it (increase intensity, range and duration) by expending magic points. The limit of the expended magic points would be equal to the amount of spells you have sacrificed for (ie if you have 5 points worth of spell, you can expend 5 magic points for manipulation purposes). That way you can be powerful without having to waste time learning intensity and other arts.
Of course asking around about the whereabouts of the Temple of Black Arkat was a perennial favourite to starting a lengthy debate some time ago. The sad thing is, I've completely forgotten...
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