Indeed, that initiation is basically what back in the bad old days of RQ we'd have quite happily described as a cultic initiation. (Orlanthi?) all women presumably undergo the Ernaldan equivalent
Where this leaves Vingans (or Barntarists, or Nandamites??) I'm not so sure. Perhaps they begin their initiation on the Ernaldan path, but by the time it's completed, have been Called elsewhere. Or perhaps "Vingan initiation" is a later, separate thing. At Convulsion Robin was pretty off-hand about becoming a devotee of a particular god, which I found kinda unconvincing (try telling your local Humakti that his vows are "just a social thing"), and stated that fixed cultic ranks were goners (which makes sense to me). In HW terms, I suppose that what this comes down to is how many different keywords each cult ends up with, and how malleable each of them is...
> Jeff Richard says:
> > As you well know, the full Orlanthi initiation requires several years -
> > I believe at least 3 - to finish.
> This is news to me! The only evidence of timing I know of is
> Minaryth Blue's "events of my life". He starts initiation one year
> and finishes "early" the next (1611-1612), but the impression I got
> was of a season or two. Not a year or three.
I agree with the general impression that it takes an extended period of the time, but I haven't any specific information on how long it takes. Is Jeff being coy about one of those pieces of Secret Information?
This could well be something that varies considerably from the Good Old Days to the modern, more formalised initiation. And hence, given that we're not all thoroughly modern now, also something that is likely to vary quite a bit from place to place, even in Sartar.
Slainte,
Alex.
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