I have no problems with Iniates drifting from God to God within the framework of their Culture as their own faith/personality/life changes. The obvious example is the Childrens Goddess Voria. As people grow they leave the worship of Voria and turn to 'grown-up Gods'.
For Iniates I see no reason that a fairly drastic life change could well lead to a change to a more apropiate god, and if it's within the the overall faith no major penalties applying. Frex the Barntar worshipper changing to Storm Bull or Humankt after his farm is burned out by the Lunar or the Ernaldan moving to Babester Gor or Vinga after her family is killed - -.....and after the Lunar's are driven out or the rapist/murderer's eventualy tracked down and killed changing to a different God. Maybe back to the original or maybe onto a third....
The progression of Voria-Babs-TyKoraTek recently completed in my own Campaign.....the Earth trilogy being the most obvious progression. Young Maid due to be married....Woman seeking vengance for her man killed on the wedding night....Older Woman having seen 'justice' done.
I can imagine a simmilar progression from other gods.....especially aspects of the Same God...Orlath the Adventurer might well have a natural progression to thuderous or Rex depending on the life choices/events of any one worshippers life. I doubt all Humakt/Storm Bull iniates fight on to the death or reach preisthood. Some must 'retire to a stead up in the hills' were they might well take up another faith more actively, Barntar, Orlanth, various of the Thunder Brothers etc
Of course a lot of both my reply and the question is sort of RQ centric......HW :-Having the Orlanthi keywords sort of assumes that although a Character may well centre on one God or Goddess he applies his worship to the ENTIRE faith. I think RQ sort of centred us on thinking about being preist of ONE god.....you might well be iniated into several but basicaly you followed Orlanth or Storm Bull or Yanafal' or ZZ or wotever.....better than the other games of the period but not that good a picture of a 'real' polytheistic culture.....where you pay homage to the apropiate God at the apropiate time. At funerals everyone (well thats a Orlanthi All) pays homage to Ty Kora Tek or Humakt, in Spring Voria, Barntar and co get honoured....Chaos beasties in the woods? Time to sacrifice to Storm Bull! If your Orlanthi Farmer has taken to the Heather and is living with a Outlaw Warrior band fighting the Lunars he's going to attend a lot more Humakt/Storm Bull cermonies than hes used to and a lot less Barntar ones.....but hes still Orlanthi.....
God Speakers/Preists TEND to follow one God or Goddes...but they dont have to! In a small community one or two God Speakers may well take on all the roles as a matter of course....Orlanth and Ernalda being the obvious couple...but taking on the roles of the rest of Orlanth's Clan as required...with help from other worshippers.
DomT
End of The Glorantha Digest V8 #89
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