But when heroquesters run into Orlanth on the godplane they rarely see the monstrous figure of Orlanth Prime, and this is a good thing. It is much more likely they will run into the more humanistic Orlanth Humanis. Orlanth Humanis usually dresses like a hill chieftan, in clothing fashionable in the good old days when your grandparents were children. He carries a sword, and has men, women, and shadowcat companions, and wears a crown or some other symbol of chieftanship, that most likely looks a little like the Mastery rune. When he hunts or goes to war he often circles his opponent, gradually approaching them. He carries a sheaf of thunderbolts tied on his back, and they look like sparkling javelins. And in certain circumstances, when heroquesters see Orlanth, he might be taller than the usual man, or stronger, or run faster, or have sky-blue skin, or have eyes that crackle with lightning, or an impossibly loud voice, or be constantly covered by ominous thunderheads, or have great wings with blue feathers, or ride an enormous flying chariot pulled by sky-bulls, or be covered in ashes and wearing sack-cloth as he mourns for the tyrant he has slain.
There is a continuum of figures of Orlanth that may be met on the godplane, after all, and some of them are more human, some are more monstrous and incomprehensible, and many are somewhere in between. Just as there are many figures of Orlanth that may be found, so are there many stories of Orlanth, and some of the stories came from the actions of Orlanth Prime, some from Orlanth Humanis in various guises, and some came about through unknown ways. All we know is that Orlanth Prime is NOT responsible for all the myths that bear its name and carry heroquesters on a path to its power, and that is the real meaning when people say that the gods have lost their free will. Their stories are no longer their own, but the stories of mortal men.
Cheers,
Loren
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