I do not understand why having the gods being aware entities with agendas is such a problem. I personally have no problems with other viewpoints in explaining observed phenomena, such as the dwarvish actions that led to the rising of the Red Moon. Coincidences/parallel actions like this are interesting. But they don't contradict, they reinforce. Yes, myths change over time due to subtle changes over time and interactions with other cultures. I am not saying that this should not occur. However, I believe that this would be minimized because of the influence of an active intelligence. I believe that Divinations are one of the means of this occurring. I do not believe that these divinations are on the level of cutting open the sacred chicken but are rather a small heroquest or visionary journey along the lines of "Gaumata's Vision".
I believe that this view is compatible with the animist and mystic philosophies. The animists pay homage to a spectrum of entities, some of whom a theist would either ignore or capture. The mystic does not dispute the reality of the deities, but maintains that true wisdom should be sought at the source of the gods, not the gods themselves.
Cults can be born and grow through the actions of heroes. Their actions inspire and others emulate or praise them. Over time and continued attention praise turns to worship and they become a demi-god. Over time they too can become a god. But I feel that it is a fallacy to say that since mortals can grow to become true gods that gods are really overgrown mortals. Those deities whose myths are from a pre-darkness era I feel are unquestionably divine in origin.
For me, structure gives meaning. As I have stated before, writing a collection of societies whose myths have no structure is little more than exercise for one's wrist and fingers. It does not impress me, it does not excite me, truly it BORES me. Its like abstract art. Being able to derive any capability from any deity ruins what I consider a mythic feel. From what Martin mentioned before, Arkat could have made Humath into the God of Poisonous Flatulence if it served his purposes. When things like that can happen, I feel like saying "what's the point?" If anything goes, if there are no restraints on how a mortal can twist a god, why even continue with the fiction of worship? If the deities *are* really just mirrors of public need, why did the God Learners fail?
Yes, these are personal preferences. Knowing the underlying structure of a world matters to ME. I'm sorry if this makes people's teeth hurt, but deal with it. When *I* decide what the ground rules are I want to make sure that they conflict the least they can with the published material as I purchase this material to save me from the effort of writing everything. But when the published material doesn't mesh together well, I change things so that they do. What I have read since King of Sartar is interesting, but it doesn't totally fit my gaming style or desires.
Erich Schmidt
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