Many moons agio, when I was first playing RQ2, one of the reasons I
really dug the Orlanth
Adventurous cult was because it was described as a cult for wanderers,
for those who wanted
to move outside of their strict tribal and cultural heirarchies while
still being part of their people.
I had a romantic vision of the young person from any number of cultures
across Glorantha,
telling their parents that they wouldn't be worshipping
Yelm/Ernalda/Lordil/Waha/Whoever, but
would for a time follow the path of Orlanth, and would either leave
forever or return home a hero (or at least a rich adventurer.) In
Orlanthi lands, like Sartatr, I always imagined that the mainstream
men's cult was Orlanth Thunderous, bringer of good winds and rain, while
Orlanth
Adventurous, while honored, was looked upon as one of the God's more
scandalous aspects, and while a parent couldn't stop a youngster from
initating into Adventurous upon reaching majority, would do everything
to discourage it ("Rolf, I need you here at the farm, just until next
sea season. Then you can go to Pavis!"), but would look upon
Adevnturous initation as being better than becoming, for example,
Humakti. Orlanth Adventurous Initiates would be known as wanderers,
troublemakers, poets, lovers and ne'er do well's (Kind of like the Big O
in his youth), and while could be counted to always keep their word and
Do the Right Thing, would be seen in calm times as a general pain in the
ass. However, during trouble, worshippers of Orlanth Adventurous would
be the insane nuts who would line up to perform heroic, reckless,
insanely brave deed. Most importantly, Orlanth Adventurous Initiates
would be the most visible manifestation of their God's Hero aspect,
constantly emulating the LBQ and Orlanth's other brave, compassionate,
dangerous deeds.
I also see the Adventurous subcult as being a passing phase for some Orlanthi, the majority settling down for Orlanth Rex or Thunderous when they hit marraigeable age and want to settle down and raise a family. Basically, I see Adventurous as a young person's cult, good for restless young men and women (who join the identical Vinga subcult of Orlanth) between the ages of 16 to 25. Persons who stay in Adventurous would either be on the path to become great heroes (like Argrath), or mystics, who study the lessons taught by the LBQ, which would be the primary domain of the Adventurous subsect. The best Chaos Fighters and HeroQuesters would, IMO, come from the Orlanth Adventurous subcult.
In non-Orlanthi cultures, the Orlanth Adventurous cult (perhaps the only aspect of Orlanth worshipped in an area, if the ruler or primary storm god positions are already taken, such as in Prax or parts of Esrolia) would seem to me to provide a pressure valve for spurned lovers, poets, freethinkers and restless 2nd or 3rd sons., and others on the social fringe who want freedom but don't want to become outcasts. This makes the Orlanth Adventurous cult terrific as a cross cultural cult, where adventurers from all sorts of differing cultures can share and be brothers/sisters. In CoP, I seem to remember a line in the Initiation Requirements section to the effect that 'any non-chaotic creature who breathed air' could join the Orlanth religion,meaning that the occasional Aldryami or Uz could find their way into the Adventurous subsect, while Ducks are somewhat more common, at least in the Dragon Pass area. Dragon Pass, an area in the heartland of modern Orlanth worship, is also home to a wide variety of non-humans. Is this the origin of the elusive clues that I've found about the Silver Council, which eventuall became the Council of World Friends, during the first age? I always really dug this tolerant aspect of Orlanth worship, althjough this may only be the case in Dragon Pass and Sartar.
In Glorantha, are there other gods that are specifically gods of adventurers, in the same way that Orlanth is? By this I don't mean warrior gods, of which Glorantha has aplenty, or even traveller gods, like Jimije of Pamaltela or Issaries. Can anyone lend a clue?
Tell me what you think... :)
Chris Bell
remster_at_interport.net
End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #234
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