[Simon works out about 120-250 CA priestess in Old Sartar]
> I can't see the average CA priestess performing as many as one
> resurrection a year - more like one every 5 years. That would mean about
> 24 resurrections in Old Sartar per year.
OK. This is where we differ. I think that resurrection is pretty much as hard (easy?) as RQ has it. What makes it difficult to get is the politics and personalities of those bestowing it! However, IMHO and IMG those priestess would use their resurrections at least once a season, sometimes and someplaces more often - near chaos nests or disease areas. Of course, not all of them have the ability (spell) yet, and other are "beyond it" either through choice, or frailty (CA's tend to live a longer time than most of the population). Even so, I'll argue for multiple castings per year per priestess (for reasons given in the previous post from moi).
What you have also not considered is acolytes (if they are in your Glorantha). Many initiates of CA (IMG & IMHO) will never make priestess, or want to, but there will be quite a few acolytes around. (Or, the 120-250 may be made up of 40-50 priestesses, with the rest being acolytes) The older/more experienced cult members, and the ones who will get more kudos, are those with a resurrection and, preferably, more than one copy of the spell! After all, when the local King/prince/warlord is going to give a hefty donation and pay for food and lodging for you, they may expect to be able to have themselves and their favourite concubine brought back should the need arise.
> Resurrection is a dangerous business. The people you most want to be
> able to ressurect are going to be the most difficult to beat in the
> spirit combat - priests, runelords and so on. Many of them may have
> spirit combat enhancing magic and allied spirits. Unassisted, the CA
> healer may well have much less than a 50% chance of success. Even
> resurrecting an innitiate with a point of Spirit Block or a few points
> of Spirit Shield is non-trivial, and the healers may not have any clear
> idea what they're up against. Do your characters routinely teel all
> their friends exactly what spirit spells and remaining rune magic
> they've got?
Even with some *great* extension, the priestess can simply wait for the spell to wear off! And if the allied spirit is *really* trying to stop the priestess, if I were a priestess I'd either get another member of the cult to calm it down, or leave the bugger dead!
Sorry Simon, You've not convinced me...
Cheers
Robert McArthur
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