>In Sartar she is Ernalda, mother of humans, beasts, grain, etc. She
>must be propitiated, or she will leave. She is not always generous.
>Sometimes she is spiteful, and people starve. (THis aspect is missing
>from Eritha, and I haven't seen it in Oria yet).
The spiteful aspect of Oria is Gorgorma. However this does not feature largely in peasant lore as the more prominent cause of agricultural disaster is the floods. This destroys the irrigation ditches and reduces the amount of arable land which causes food shortages for many years to come. (It's the major cause of the current famine in North Korea).
>Old Wendaria: an ersoon- - completely unimportant deity. Only
>worshipped occasionally.
>Pelanda: the ersoon linked to a male oppressor deity/figure.
Actually it's the other way around. The Sun is not unimportant in Old Wendaria, it was associated with the 'wicked' Brightface who upsurped the rule of the women and created the first monarchy.
However when the Blue People invaded, the Solar Brightface Cult was destroyed. An example of this can be seen in the Kendescos, the City of Torture who had worshipped a God called 'Radiant Origin'. The people of Kendescos fell into evil ways after their god was defeated in battle.
So after the Blue People were expelled, the cult of 'Brightface' did not return and the gap was filled by the belief of the Sun as a powerful but impersonal force. In palces which the Blue People did not conquer (such as the Oslira River Valley), the Solar Cults continued to prosper.
The Ersoon that Pam talks about is the glowing tip of the firestick. It's important in ancient wendarian magical paint ceremonies. By calling the Sun an Ersoon, the Pelandans believe that the Sun is the tip of the Creator's Firestick in which he sets the world to right. Thus they do not worship the Sun but acknowlege its power.
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