Otkorion, Naskorion, Henotheists

From: Paolo Guccione <teigupa_at_tss.tei.ericsson.se>
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 1997 19:51:48 +0100


St.Orlanth in Otkorion

Nick Effingham posted an interesting cult write-up of St. Orlanth as worshipped by the Naskori. And then David Hall and Jose Ramos replied that this looked too much like Orlanth-plus-Sandy's-sorcery rather than a Henotheist Church. Although I find the write-up useful, I tend to agree with David and Jose. Replacing Spirit Magic with Sorcery is not enough to characterize a Stygian sect. Here I am trying to explain why.

  1. Giving access to limited sorcery to initiates, like standard cults give access to spirit magic, is inconsistent. Spirit magic is learned from one of the deity's disembodied servant in a ritualized spirit combat that resembles a form of worship. It comes from the god and his messenger, not from within you. OTOH, sorcery is a rather "scientific" approach to making magic. Everything stems from Logic: Logic tells you that there is an Invisible God, real but not incline to manifesting his presence but through Malkion' s teachings and the current Priesthoood; Logic allows you to learn how to partake of the invisible forces that the Creator manufactured for the most crafty to exploit. Magic comes from within the wizard's soul. It was DEVISED by the IG and DISCOVERED by Zzabur during decades of studying, not TAUGHT by the IG. So why teach only some magic? It is you who learn a spell, given it is appropriate to your caste, not St. Orlanth who teaches you. I admit that priests will undoubtedly tend to learn and teach Fly and Evoke Lightning rather than Create Fire, but this is just a tendency.
  2. There are two ways Malkioni and Orlanthi cultures may interact. Malkioni may become Orlanthized or Orlanthi may become Malkionized. In the former case an invading Malkioni army settles in an Orlanthi area and starts absorbing alien elements into its culture, nominally the permission to worship other entities than the IG and his saints. The Rokari rulers of some areas in Maniria are a good example. Think also of the many Christian armies which "spread the word" during the Middle Ages. In the latter case, instead, an Orlanthi population comes into contact with Malkioni missionaries, but retains its barbarian lifestyle and the worship of Orlanth. For a RW example, think of the Normans, who were christianized vikings, or Wallace's Scots in "Braveheart", who worshiped Jesus but used to paint their faces blue in battle. So what is the case in Otkorion? IMHO, as in many other mixed Malkioni-Orlanthi areas of Genertela, there is a big difference between the rulers and the farmers.

The rulers are malkioni noblemen who worship other gods to gain more power (case 1). I assume that Henotheist bishops are true malkioni bishops, totally devoted to sorcery. They just gain some rune magic from peculiar "saints" along with the blessings of more traditional ones. OTOH, nobles appreciate the services of sorcerers much more than they would with the spells of theistic priests. A Storm Voice cannot maintain a spell upon his Lord, while a sorcerer can. And here I disagree strongly with Nick about being a sorcery-using Rune Priest of Orlanth, even assuming the cult allows you. Sorcery requires dedication and a lot of time spent in lonely studies upon crumbling old books, while being a RP requires a lot of distracting services: teaching mundane skills to initiates, performing week-long heroquesting rituals, casting blessings for one's initiates, etc... A Storm Voice would be a very inefficient Sorcerer, even though Sandy's system somehow mitigates this. As for knights, I think that most are standard Malkioni Horali, but: if you were a brave knight of Ralios, would you not be tempted to join Humakt like Arkat did?

The farmers, instead, are the original Orlanthi populace who have been forced to accept the superiority of Malkion's god over Orlanth, but with little changes to their lyfestile (case 2). They still have barbarian-style temples where spirit magic is taught, because they are too illiterate to have access to effective sorcery. They have considerably much freedom than normal malkioni serfs - in fact I think they retain the Orlanthi status of "carl" (free man) although they belong to the farmer caste from a Malkioni POV. Priests which deal with the lower classes are much like "standard" Orlanthi priests who also believe in the Invisible God. They have less time for studying, so they tend to use cult spirit magic, which is easier to learn at useful levels, rather than the more flexible but harder to learn wizardry.

Henotheist Church


Here I add some more considerations of mine about Henotheist churches in general. Two Henotheist churches have been described so far: Azilos and Otkorion. Apart from strange theories about Orlanth and Arkat, they share one main characteristic: a strong-willed, expansionist ruler. While Foyalfine of Azilos tries to expand his domain by means of arms and diplomacy, Surantyr the Nonheretic uses missionaries rather than armies, but has been quite as efficient so far. So what is, IMO, the definition of a Henotheist Church? Simple: it is a powerful _political_ tool in the hands of a ruler. It fits everybody's beliefs in order to have more believers, i.e. power. Worship the Invisible God, Arkat, Malkion, Orlanth, Humakt, whoever you like and is socially acceptable. But above all, serve the Church (which is spelled S-u-r-a-n-t-y-r, or F-o-y-a-l-f-i-n-e, according to the local dialect). And this is very Arkati, IMHO!

At this point, one could object that the Hrestoli or Rokari Church have political power, too. True, but in a different way. First of all, Church and State are different entities in both Loskalm and Tanisor. And, moreover, the Ecclesiarch has in no way the same strict control over the traditionalist and privileged Rokari hyerarchy as the heads of the Henothist Churches have over their small and young sects. After all, _they_ are the church, while Theoblanc is just the last one of a long list of Rokari "popes" who have already showed an unforunate tendency to being found guilty of heresy or being assassinated. Guess who was killed at the Seventh Council of Malkionism (LARP): Foyalfine, Surantyr or Theoblanc?

Naskorion


Ingo Tschinke asked for useful comments about Naskorion. I think that what was stated for Otkorion can be true for Naskorion, too. Both lands are barbarian highlands centered upon a river which allows trade, opposed to the more fertile land around Lake Felster. David Dunham suggested that Otkorion is more fertile than the Orlanthi kingdoms of Delela or Lankst, but I believe it is stilll inferior to most Safelstran city-states. Being rather distant from Seshnela, Naskorion has also been relatively uninfluenced by Tanisor invasions in the past, and surely it has always been the first region to return free after the periodic Seshnelan invasions. So I tend to consider Naskorion, too, a land of malkionized Orlanthi farmers ruled by orlanthized Malkioni nobles, of both Aeolian and Stygian faith.

But what is the difference between the Church of Otkorion and the New Stygian Church of Naskorion? First of all, the Stygian church is younger, and less strictly controlled by the Throne. The Duke is not the Head of the Church, although the Bishop of Marost reports to him, I suppose. But the intent of reuniting all nobles and peasants under one Faith sounds like something Reynard planned to strengthen his land and eventually expand his domains with some help from Halikiv or Guhan, which he befriended by building Zorakarkat.

And then, there are the Trolls. Arkat founded a mighty empire in Ralios. But in this empire the trolls, being shaped as Arkat's last incarnation, were the rulers, and the Orlanthi were subject to them. That is why, I think, most true Orlanthi in Ralios hate Arkat: their ancestors did not like paying tribute to the Uz! Foyalfine claims that he is the rightful heir of Arkat, but he is, at least, historically inaccurate, because in his domain it is the Orlanthi culture that is prominent.

All these facts induce me to considering the New Stygian Church as a more "genuine" religious group than the two Henotheist Churches. I think Reynard saw a real political advantage in founding it, but one must also be a genuine believer to mess with the trolls. Imagine the priest mixing Powzie to holy wine for the godsday service!

All this IMHO, needless to say.

Names


Peter Metcalfe suggested interesting variations for the Lightbringer names as spelled in Otkorion. I like this idea, too. As one can see on my web page, and in the soon-available (I hope) issue #2 of Tradetalk, I have adopted the spelling Humath for Humakt, and a non-severed relationship to Orlanth, as suggested by David Dunham for his description of Delela, for the Sword God of the Henotheist Church in Tiskos. Ralia and Ernalda I have considered two separate deities, with Ernalda being the most important, but this may be a local variation which differs from both Delela and Otkorion. Where I definitely disagree with Peter is in any sort of mistaken identity between Chalana and Xemela: St. Xemela has a well-known historical backgrouns, which is rather hard, I would say impossible, to mistake for the Lightbringer Myth and Chalana. Or are you suggesting that Hrestol is Chalana's son? Yep, that would mean that in Otkorion he is in fact Arroin! Hard to believe, but intriguing...

And, Peter, the Rokari numbering Seshna or some Serpent King among their many saints is what I would definitely call MGF!

			http://www.geco.it/~guccione

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