>I will first
>mention that in rules terms, the exact opposite is true. Worshipping
>Yanafal via the Seven Mothers cult description is at best one rune spell
>different to being a member of the Seven Mothers in general, while those
>who follow Yanafals in the Red Army are presumably following something like
>Nicks unpublished YT writeup, which is rather more Humakt like.
I, for one, am a great fan of George Orwell's third rule (of writing) which urged people to break the first two rules rather than commit a barbarism. IMO the Rune Lords of the Seven Mothers cult are actually Priests of Yanafal of the Seven Mothers and that the one-rune spell is all that the cultists who do not specialize in yanafal get.
>For
>example, the Yanafals cult is the one with the geases, which Seven Mothers
>cultists can not take (or at least, they are nowhere mentioned in the cult
>description and I wouldn't let them take one).
Ah, but the Austerites and Penances of Yanafal come from the resplendant Pelorian tradition whereas the primitive geases of the Humakt cult derive from some primitive barbarian folklore. Thus the Yanafal of the Seven Mothers Cult does not have geases to emphasize the freedom of the Lunar Way over the stagnant religion of Orlanth. Humakt, where is thy sting? Subere, where is thy victory? A YotSM could take a Yanafali Austerity but he would have to travel to Peloria to learn how to do it. He could OTOH take a humakti geas but he will be widely seen as having 'gone native'.
> Personally, I think that the Humakti who convert to the worship of
>YT do NOT join 'the Seven Mothers', but instead are typically professional
>soldiers of the Humakt cult who convert to the professional soldier cult of
>the Empire - which is the Red Armies YT cult, NOT the Seven Mothers YT
>adherents.
But would they be joining the Red Army? I do not see Red Army opening its temples to admit rustic 'civilians' into the prayer services. Nor do I think the Lunar Empire have enough resources to maintain various temples of YT for those 'professional soldiers' who do not join the Red Army.
>The YT adherents within the Seven Mothers are still primarily
>religious functionaries, probably mostly army chaplains.
I disagree on this. In ye olde Cultes of Praxe (reprinted in the GoG cult book), the cult writeup goeth:
'The Seven Mothers is the guardian cult of the borderlands,
and is an official state cult responsible for keeping the
foes of the Empire out and admitting friends of the Empire.
In the former mode, the cult has a _warrior_subcult_, terrible
in its fury. In the mode is a teacher subcult whose mission
is to educate those wanting to meet the greater Red Goddess.'
CoP p40.
Secondly some Temples of the Seven Mothers can be dedicated to a particular Mother. The CoP writeup mentions on the same page:
'For instance, after the fall of Alda-Chur, there was a
temple built there called the Temple of Yanafal of the
Seven Mothers.'
This does not auger well for Yanafal of the Seven Mothers as being an army chaplains cult. I think that most of his devotees within the Seven Mothers cult are the temple guards and private armies of the bigwigs of the Provincial Church. The Red Army is not the only armed force within the Lunar Empire...
Lastly I'd think any 'chaplains' come from within the Red Army cult of Yanafal Tarnils. The Seven Mothers cult is a provincial cult and only found there.
There is the possibility that the humakti 'professional soldiers' have joined the Provincial Army. In which case, I'd think they'ld worship the Seven Mothers cult and be noted by their particular devotion to Yanafal. Some might be headhunted by the Seven Mothers Cult to serve in the temple regiments instead which would be a snazzy career leap - you'll receive red cloaks that don't run in the rain.
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