>> For some reason, a voice in the back of my head keeps saying: "Think Burma/
>> Thailand". I think it's the elephants that do it.
>
>Listen to this voice, and nurture it. Feed it buns, if it seems to
>crave them. Throw in bits from elsewhere in Indochina and the trans-
>Himalayan region, though, if it seems to suit...
Yep. Just got to have those shadow-puppets retelling myths in darkened rooms, with the odd bit of political propaganda thrown in...
> [Zitro Argon (in re: Dayzatar)]
>I think Zitro Argon's cult resembles Tibetan Buddhism in some of its
>wackier aspects. Lots of sitting around chanting in mountaintop temples,
>and searching the land for Infant Holy Reincarnations. Steal freely
>from the Dayzatar material (key similarities: extreme holiness and
>practical uselessness, and certainly with lots of rituals which are
>awesomely arduous and elaborate, but relatively magically ineffectual),
>but don't be unduly beholden to it. I think the Zitroni are less
>Materialist than the Dayzatar monks for one thing, though about as
>Mystical.
Yes, and how about some Tantric mysticism thrown in for good measure. The Solar gods further West (I'm primarily thinking of Yelm and Yelmalio here, so someone will no doubt jump up and say "yes, but...") seem to have hangups about sex. I quite like the idea that in the East, where the Sun is the main area of worship, and not necessarily the Earth, that they don't have that kind of suppression. the widespread worship of Calyz would seem to indicate this.
> Calyz is the most popular, although I'm unsure what the cross-over is
> between Solf (Lodril), with Calyz being the god of smelting - I would
> have thought that this was a Solf type of thing...
>I tend to think of Calyz and Solf as being (to be shamelessly GLer for
>a moment) a sort of Good Lodril/Bad Lodril thing, or if you prefer,
>Calyz fills a sort of Mahome/Gustbran function, having "usurped" the
>role of "Lodril" has in those areas elsewhere. Note that Calyz's other
>functions both have more debauched equivalents in Solf's domain...
Right, I was kind of thinking of taking (loaning?) some of Solf's powers to Calyz. It seemed to me that the priests of Calyz are trying to make a cult that appeals across caste boundaries (I think it was Nils W, in one of the Digests Past, who talkied about the Morning, Noon, Evening and Night castes?). It seemed likely to me that Calyz maybe borrowed from each of the Zitroni, Solfi, Somashi and Furalori cults. The cooking, smelting and sex aspect: maybe smelting from Solf, sex (Tantra?) from Zitro Argon, and cooking from - urk, well I don't know about that one. Anyway, it also occurred to me that there may be an undercurrent in the Calyz cult of attempting to change Teshnan society (rumours that Harstar is trying to get the support of the Night caste/peasants in return for a more equal society). In this case, cooking, smelting and sex all seem to have strong transformational/alchemical aspects. So, a fanatic subcult of Calyz that produces extremist mystic suicide groups...
>> and does a sub-sect of Calyz which is gaining support among
>> the peasants really teach a self-immolation spell?
>
>What a sick, wicked, and unworthy thought. I like it! But I suspect
>this is a Solf thing, actually. (Reasoning by the "Monster Man"
>connection; equally, could be an autonomous cult without "official"
>standing.)
I thought that Solf was really the "lazy brother". Maybe he wouldn't have the energy to stir his fires, but would prefer to keep the status quo, because that requires less effort.
Furalor:
>TKT is certainly the most obvious analogue, though given the cremation
>connection, stealing stuff from Shargash (or any other stiff-sizzlers
>that come to hand) isn't to be sniffed at... The Asrelia connection
>may be less trong, though; do her priests Hoard stuff? Seems most
>likely they Burn It All, so the wealth connection seems more implicit.
Well, my first thoughts were of some kind of Kali analogue. I think you are right, the hoarding aspect doesn't seem to fit. More a kind of 'wiping the slate clean' type of goddess...so would she also cover atonement?
>Tolat seems to get mentioned around here mainly with "Shargash/" prepended
>to his name. For Teshnan purposes, I presume he's abjured/propitiated
>rather than actively worshipped. Ritual crossing of the legs when his
>name is mentioned would be a must.
Hm, yes. The Amazon stuff in the back of the Players Book: Geneterla says that Tolat is a kind of cross between Humakt and Uleria (I would have thought some kind of Bab Gor connection too?). There are some very dodgy thoughts about exactly *what* kind of sword-cult the Amazons worship coming into my head. There was a nice idea (by MOB, I think) about the Amazons capturing men, who are then drugged up to represent Tolat on the HHD, and mysteriously disappear afterwards. Miss Brunner, anyone?
Thanks for the comments!
cheers,
Mark.
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