<< from what little I know of Hero Wars, from a single playtest and beta
version rules summary study, Orlanth is now worshipped through subcults
(Hero Cults, whatever)>>
'Full' initiates and devotees of Orlanth must dedicate themselves to one of the subcults (Orlanth Thunderous, Orlanth the Warrior, etc.), if that's what you mean. Lay members, now given the rather more accurate name of 'worshippers', just worship Orlanth & Ernalda, and will be initiated into one or the other, depending on gender. But that's pantheon initiation, or initiation-lite, if you will, not the sort of thing we think of in RQ. Devotees of Orlanth can, but do not have to, select some specific Hero Cults of their deity to join.
All of this is not yet official canon, may be subject to change when the rules are published, blah, blah...
<< Perhaps my understanding is out, but AFAIK the idea is that all Orlanthi
cults are subcults of Orlanth, whether they be Issaries, L Mhy, Eurmal, or
some more specific Orlanth Hero>>
My present understanding is that your pantheon initiation is to either Orlanth or Ernalda, and is determined by your gender, period. Cult initiation can be to any of the gods listed above, so in a way Lhankor Mhy etc. *are* subcults of Orlanth, but not in the usual RQ sense of the word 'subcult'. For a start, there is no such thing as the 'Cult of Orlanth' - there's the religion of Orlanth & Ernalda (lay membership) and there's the cults of Orlanth Warrior, Orlanth Thunderous, Lhankor Mhy, Vinga, etc.
The same goes for Ernalda, AFAIK.
<< Why then not simply add Vinga to this list, as the patroness of feisty
Orlanthi grrrls?>>
She already is, though, as a women's goddess its more accurate to describe her as a 'subcult' of Ernalda, for whatever that means. Note that there's nothing to stop a male pantheon initiate of Orlanth becoming a cult initiate of, say, Chalana Arroy, and likewise with women and Issaries etc., so again the use of 'subcult' in this context is dodgy, IMO.
<< L Mhy (Orlanthi Lawspeaker) >>
Just to confuse you, I don't think Orlanth Lawspeaker and Lhankor Mhy are really the same, though they're obviously similar. The former is an aspect of Orlanth, the latter is a separate deity who happens to be a part of the Orlanth & Ernalda religion.
Forward the glorious Red Army!
Trotsky
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