>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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