Humakt in DP

From: Martin Laurie <MLaurie_at_compuserve.com>
Date: Sun, 21 Sep 1997 16:48:13 -0400


Sergio asks:
>I need help on the issue of when did Humakt cult appear in Dragon Pass.=
 =3D
>I don't remember the source but it is writen somewhere that Arkat =3D
>introduced the cult of Humakt in Dragon Pass. That means that his cult =3D=

>would be unknown in DP before the end of the first era. Now, in Cults of=
 =3D
>Prax it is said that barbarians introduced the cult of Humakt in Prax in=
 =3D
>35 ST. There is a contradiction here. Any clues?

Death has always been worshipped in some form IMO in most =

cultures. However most Western folk see it as a demon of sorts. =

In Orlanthi society Death is part of the day to day running of their =

lives. They fight, they kill, they war. People die and so, unlike the =

Western peasant, they see death as part of their existance and =

thus personify it as they do all facets of life with a named deity. =

The personification of this form is what gives it, and therefore its =

worshippers, its (the gods) divine powers.

In the first age all death worship centered on Humath, the storm =

god of death, a subordinate deity to Orlanth. In practical terms it =

meant that the two cults were inextricably linked. The high priest =

of Orlanth could use his command powers on Humathi and they =

formed a dedicated force of warriors for those priests to wield that =

was outside of purely clan politics - being Orlanths Huscarl and =

therefore the priests huscarl. =

Remember that this was in the days before Alakoring and the =

tribes were huge, the kings were largely dominated by the =

priesthood and so although the Humathi warriors were technically =

in the kings household, they would obey the priests too. =

Into this equation comes Arkat. He saw the need to use the =

barbarians against Gbaji but was baulked by the control =

Lokamayadon exercised over the Humathi cult in Dragon Pass =

though his control over the Orlanth inititation rituals themselves. Seeing no way around this Arkat heroquested to prove that Death was _not_ linked to torm but was a power in its own right and that  the ties of kin to Storm could be severed yet allow a warrior to =

function within society. These new inititation rites circumvented =

Lokamayadons control and created a new cult - Humath-Arkat =

which eventually became Humakt. No Humath worship survives =

in DP because rkats victory was total there and his cult was =

accepted as the best form of Death worship.

So Arkat didn't institute Death worship in DP, he merely changed its =

mythic form as befits a great heroquest (this is one hell of a quest =

IMO but he had a lot of help) As for CoP, a Death cult was brought =

to Prax but was it like the Humakt of the present era? I don't think so.=   =

Martin Laurie


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