> I have no problem with some 'sub-cults' of Orlanth being 'not open to
> women', Rex being the example used,
Rex is one of the ones that specifically must be open to women, simply because female chiefs and kings exist. It's Orlanth the Father, Orlanth the Seducer, and any other aspects that specialise in male fertility that women can't join.
BTW, Alex Ferguson suggested looking at my "eye-opening (and mindbending) Deconstructing Argrath articles" on the subject of female rulers. To save you the trouble, I think he's refering to part of the Kallyr section, and the mindbending ideas boil down to "proxies are allowed". The whole point about Orlanth Rex is that he's a leader, who has caught on to the art of delegation. He delegates the test of Healing to his Healing Companion on a regular basis, so why not certain other functions to his Fertility Companion? (Argrath, of all people, actually has one of these!)
Of course, using a proxy isn't anything like as effective as doing the job yourself. And you have to be very sure that you can trust the proxy. But that's a separate problem.
Uleria and trolls: let me throw a tentative idea into the melting pot here. The Trollkin Curse seems to me to be very similar to the problems caused by some fertility treatments in the RW. You end up with sextuplets, some of which might survive if they're lucky, rather than a single healthy child. Possibly Uleria was the attempted cure: and it didn't work. Xiola Umbar, with her (for trolls) attitudes of peace and sisterly love, especially to trollkin, could then be thought of as an aspect of Uleria? There probably ought to be a link to the story of Uleria and the Boggles, but I'm not sure how that would work.
Issaries quests: just a quick thought. Mapping. The CoP version of the cult write-up tells us that Rune levels, as a special treat, are allowed to try to map the Underworld while they still live. Gosh. I can't wait. Maybe initiates are "allowed" to try to map somewhere a bit less dangerous?
Jane Williams jane_at_williams.nildram.co.uk http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~janewill/gloranth/
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