> Take the example of the clan with the putrid oasis. If they don't know
> about a myth to help sort it out, how can they find out?
This is a clan with no knowledge god, no water god, no intrepid adventurous god who likes solving problems, no culture-hero who helps them out when they're in trouble? Then they're stuffed (until the PCs arrive). Any of the other deities would be delighted to chip in, and the only HQ you need to get their advice is a Divination (or, more lavishly, a HQ visit to their home).
> How do priests find out what the myths relating to their gods are?
What kind of priest does not know what myths relate to his god? (Possibly there are "Develyn Theory" priests who don't know the name of their deities, have never seen their manifestations, etc. I don't have any of these IMG, and so won't comment further).
> What about the lone priest up on a mountanside, far from any theatrical
> re-enacments / HQs to show him the way, how does he find out what it's
> all about?
In what sense is some loner on a mountainside who has never attended a temple worship service, read holy scriptures, talked to anybody who has ever heard anything about the worship of a deity, and indeed has no notion of "what it's all about", a "priest"?
Almost by definition, a proper priest can perform Divinations and summon Cult Spirits, and these would be a great source of research info. But you would need somebody to talk *to*. That is to say, a Storm Voice from some backward clan who left his people to become a hermit up in the mountains would still be communicating with Orlanth and able to experience and develop his understanding of Orlanthi myth in some strange personal way.
A random hermit with innate magical power might have a chance encounter with a powerful spiritual entity -- cf. my Spirit Cult rules -- and begin to develop an understanding of that spirit's mythology through personal contact.
But until you have some spiritual entity to deal *with*, you'll have problems finding out about them.
Nick
:::: web: <http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Nick_Brooke>
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