>I don't the the "cynical" gloss is appropriate at all. Obviously
>theism does anthropomorphise the divine to a fair ol' extent, but
>a theistic deity is still not simply a big guy on a cloud somewhere,
>on his mobile to his mortal clients.
Well, no, but if you were, say, a Humakt devotee and you got hauled in on some charge of heresy (consorting with Delecti in a duck quest, for example). You should, in a world with any kind of divination, be able to call upon your god to verify your piety, good standing, etc. Which makes religious courtroom dramas hard to pull off. Unless, of course, there's deniability in divination. "Humakt didn't mean you were blameless; he meant your were without shame...."
Richard, Jeff says many things about Elmal
>This Orlanthi uncertainty and ambivalence regarding the nature of the Bright
>Sun is the root of the uncertainty and ambivalence regaring the whole
>[Y]elmal[io] mystery. The sun is Elmal, but the bright Sun is also
>identified with the Evil Emperor. Complicated. Yes. Confusing. Yes. But
>why shouldn't important "things" be given multiple identifications and
>meanings? In our own Western mythologies, "things" like God, the US
>President, movie stars and capitalism are assigned a wide array of conflict
>and contradictory meanings and interpretations. Why should meaning be
>easier for the Orlanthi?
Strange to say, this cleared some things up for me. Yelmalio has never been a problem, but I had assumed a closer connection between the myths of the Heortlings and the Pelorians, at least since the 1st council. It's still awkward, but comprehendibly so. So, is there any difference in the status of Elmal in Dragon Pass vs that in Ralios (where, presumibly the Pelorian influence isn't as strong)?
Peter Larsen
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