Saints

From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_voyager.co.nz>
Date: Mon, 04 May 1998 20:51:09 +1200


Jose Ramos:

Me>>But I can't see why Malkioni would _care_ about distinguishing
>>[between Followers, Openers & Intercessors] as they amount to
>>the same thing in essense.

>It will be important for the individual worshipper and how he sees the
>blessing (and this is a game of portraying Gloranthans) and when it is
>adequate to use magic.

Given that these blessings amount to the same thing and the average Gloranthan has better things to do than split hairs about obscure theological doctrines, you still have not elucidated why they should _care_.

>And it will affect how you get the saint as a patron, as the Followers will
>need a serious committment and a long time learning the techniques and
>striving to follow their chosen patron, while Intercessors will sometimes
>just need a public commitment and a ceremony of inception at the saint's
>shrine, and voila, power at your command.

In that case, why make these views mutually exclusive propositions then? Within _one_ faith, you could have your Follower meditating in the wilderness while at the local village church, the wizard Intercedes for the Saints on the behalf of his flock? But instead you want to have credo-style fights over such a trivial matter where there are far more spiritually important divisions within Malkionism.

>It is considered unusual to have several patron saints (besides
>Malkion), and a show of great piety to achieve it (three patron
>saints is one of the harsh requisites to become a Magus).

You are arguing from Sandy's rules which present _a_ RQ-based version of Saints work. I do not believe that the average village priest, for instance, needs to have acquired a Saint as a patron before invoking him.

> So don't treat saints as just the
>(equally wrong) pagan "Cash the Power and get the magic" attitude so
>prevalent in Runequest.

Don't patronize me, Jose.

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