>I agree somewhat. A henotheist Orlanthi-Malkioni blend would use his
>materialist magic on the spiritual body of Umath, not on the dead matter
>air, and by this admission weaken his sorcerous hold on reality.
I think this is the wrong way to treat henotheist magicians. Their magicians will concentrate on one form or the other with Clergy and Sorcerers of the Invisible God and his Saints and Priests of Orlanth etc. The laity will pray at both to even their bets, but Greg reckons it is very difficult to reconcile theistic and sorcerous magic (unlike Theism/Shamanism that the Orlanthi do). So it would be meaningless to think of a henotheist sorcerer that worships Gods. A few heroes have done so, but their viewpoints are not those of the average henotheist.
In short, I think the religious leaders of henotheist societies are tolerant of each other rather than syncretic.
>In Safelster, mercenary bands will include some magicians (I cite
>Mularik's pet sorcerers as proof), which might result in wizards from
>different traditions cooperating.
Mularik is from Tanisor rather than Safelster. I'll suppose I better say something about the philosophies of the Seshnegi.
The people of Tanisorans are Rokari, which is called the Realist Sect. Rather than simply taking this statement as meaning "one that uses the Malkioni caste realistically", (as opposed to the Ideal but impractical usage of the Hrestoli), I've interpreted this to mean they are obsessed with the material reality of the Cosmos and find it polluting. Consider peasants work in the fields and have short lifespans - ergo dirt is pollution.
Now the Quinpolic League are also Rokari but do not have this same obsession with the contamination of matter. Mainly because they know prayers to protect themselves against wordly pollution and to purify any matter handled by foreigners. Consequently they are unafraid to sail into the unknown, live in foreign parts and have pagan wives and are also have a notorious (and justified!) reputation for corruption in Tanisor.
Sir Richard is operating according to the Quinpolic norms. This doesn't prevent him from going against the Aeolians as he could regard Aeol as the Opiate of the Malkioni that prevent them from attaining dominance in Heortland for example.
>IMO both Orlanthi and Arkati traditions accept personally acquired
>magics as a way to greatness.
I don't think the Arkati operate like this. Rather they chose a path of Arkat (say the Liberator) and try and act according to those ideals (like kill inhumans and chaos monsters), gaining spiritual prowess from the completion of those acts. They can use personally acquired magics but for the modern Arkati, it is not their road to greatness.
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