It was. This answer, taken with Peter's, revealed what I expected... There is no answer because the question was ill considered! :) I was thinking that Arkati "societies" are all fairly similar in function if not form. This is clearly wrong, even from a quick read of the Ralios sections of the Genertela box set. There are as many answers to the "how do they accumulate power?" question as there are Arkat cults.
Further, I should have considered that the worshipers themselves might not be the only source of power. IMG, characters more powerful than normal game play would allow (ie Heroes) get their strength from the collective sub-conscious of large numbers of people. As villain or hero, the person who best represents the desires/fears of a large number of people tends to power. Heroquesting is the process that represents this (again, IMG). Thus, an Arkati might aquire more strength than one might otherwise expect.
> Peter Metcalfe:
> I'm not aware of any heroes that they produce.
My bad. I am including at least some of the returning "Arkats" as heroes, and assuming more (lesser) heroes unmentioned in the texts. This is a pretty easy assumption, though. The Hero Wars are heating up, and Ralios will be the center of a lot of conflict of the sort that should produce powerful characters. It depends on your definition of "hero", I guess. Anyway, I am not working from published accounts here, so my talk of heroes is all speculation and "In My Game" stuff. Apologies for the confusion.
> Arkatism is all sorts of philosophies.
Thanks for the reminder! I should have remembered that on my own... <sheepish grin>
> But its practitioners are not Illuminates and they do not behave
> as Illuminates do.
This seems to be a sensitive point of debate. Greg said that Arkati "Illumination" isn't Nysalorian Illumination, so I have to accept that. I have seen references to the opposite point of view (regarding Arkat's personal illumination) in several official sources, though. Granted, these are all bits written from in-game points of view. Weren't the Boristi supposed to be illuminated in the (unofficial) Trade Talk write-up? They aren't an Arkat cult, but they might have been affected by Arkat before he switched cults...
Anyway, IMG both are shadows cast by a higher mystical truth and are part of a "yin-yang" sort of idea. Thus, they are *not* the same, but closely related (like light is related to darkness). This is just my personal view, though. I stand ready to be Gregged without notice! ;)
> Being a member of a secret cult is not evidence of Illumination
Certainly. No argument here. Of course, it a cult *were* illuminated, they would tend to keep it a secret. Thus all secret cults aren't illuminated, but most illuminated cults are secret, if only about being illuminated. <whew!>
<O>:<O>:<O>:<O>:<O>:<O>:<O>
I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one:
"O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous."
And God granted it.
~Voltaire
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