> BTW I am going to start up a campaign where all the characters are
> Voria worshippers in Sartar. So by next year I hope everyone will
> agree that the defining cult for Sartar is Voria.
Well, half the population of Sartar have been initiates of Voria... :-)
BTW, there'll be *loads* of excellent material on Earth Cultists in Sartar in Tales #18, from Simon Bray, Martin Hawley and Duncan Rowlands. We should get the proofs back from the printers today, and then the presses can roll!
>Where does the Lead Cross quest appear?
The published reference is the Magic Item description from Wyrms Footnotes #11 ("Plunder", by Rudy Kraft), which I'll reproduce here in full:
LEAD CROSSES Description: a 25 centimetre long cross made of solid lead.
Cults: Associated - Humakt; few other Death Rune cults. Enemy - Vivamort; Zorak Zoran; few other Death Rune cults. Hostile - Chalana Arroy; few other Fertility cults. Knowledge: Automatic; Few. History: Lead crosses were originally obtained by Humakti HeroQuesters who followed paths aimed at the destructiion of those who perverted death. From the Humakti point of view, that included not only all types of undead but also those who would raise creatures from the dead. As time went by, this HeroQuesting path has lost popularity, mostly because it involved alienating many otherwise friendly cults (some HeroQuesters on this path were known to slaughter priestesses of Chalana Arroy to prove their devotion to death over life). Finally, it became Humakt cult policy to prohibit this path to all cult members. Never- theless, there might still be a few renegade members following the path from time to time. Procedure: As stated above, this item could only be made through Hero- Quest rituals. Powers: No undead (except ghosts) can exist within 20 metres of this item. The undead will usually try to flee but if they are not able to, they will become dead. In adition, no dead body may be brought back to life within 30 metres of a lead cross. The item may be used by anyone as it operated continuously. Value: 45,000 L.
There isn't a consensus on this, AFAIK. Something we've seen in the Greydog campaign is severance at Rune level -- this is when you sever clan ties, leave your stead and join the Temple full-time (mind you, they may just send you back to your clan as a new Sword for your Chieftain). Prior to that, Corwen was still "one of us"; now, he's a foreigner. We held a funeral service for him when he was made Sword, because that meant he was "dead" as far as his family and friends were concerned. Hardest on his wife and kids, I know.
Other people (on the Digest and in Glorantha) have different opinions: some could require severance for *all* initiates (or acolytes, or Temple residents, etc.), some might permit continued clan involvement for Swords (examples from the Malani clan, maybe?).
> How would Sartarite farmers view him, could he carry on helping around
> the place?
Yeah, but he's not such a good farmer as the rest of them (attachment to Death Magic kinda leaves you less time for Fertility). He may be best off getting a full-time post as housecarl, just so he doesn't need to keep farming -- this is one of the ideal positions for Humakti.
> Could/would he lose magic gained through just Orlanth or would he lose
> everything not from Humakt, I guess this depends on how complete a
> severance it is?
Yeah, that'd be your call. I think the "normal" case is that Humakti don't sacrifice for Orlanthi rune spells any more (because *Humakt* severed his ties, cf. the CoP & GoG cult writeups) -- if you're an Orlanthi who joins Humakt in the course of play, I guess you'd either keep your remaining rune spells on a one-use basis, "convert" them to Humakti magic somehow (same way an Ernaldan moving on to Maran Gor, Asrelia or TKT might), or lose them: RQ never had any particularly appealing rules for this kinda situation.
> Does the initiate usually choose or is it cultural, on how severe a
> severance it is.
A bit of both, IMO. Sometimes the Sword of your Temple will require it, sometimes your personal circumstances will lead you to it. In Corwen's case, he got *really* pissed off at his Orlanthi brother when the latter "borrowed" his sword at the Governor's banquet and used it to strike down his longstanding Yelmalion enemy. With such synchronicity, going through with the rest of the myth made all kinds of sense.
For plenty of Humakti, it's a bit of a formality -- if your kin were slain in the Lunar invasion, or Starbrow's Rebellion, cutting clan ties doesn't cause much of a problem. These guys might now form a hard core of severed Sword Brothers, full-time Humakti with no worldly ties to pin them down.
I think allowing some variety in local practice will lead to more interesting situations than a blanket One True Way approach. The nearer you get to your God, the more you should be emulating him. And Humakti *try* to stay neutral and "above the fray" -- you can cause stressful situations and wonderful roleplaying in games by (e.g.) sending an ex-Greydog Humakti from the Lismelder Humakt Temple to serve as a new bodyguard for the Poss clan chieftain, his clan's mortal enemies. (Remember, the whole point about Humakti honour and neutrality is that it's un-Orlanthi -- your kin will still expect you to take their side, and can't understand why you're putting Honour, Truth and Death above Hearth and Blood.)
Regards, Nick
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