Wow! Lot's of good discussion on the list about Uleria. I just thought I'd throw my two cents in. As I see it, one of the core pieces of Uleria is that she is a goddes of sacred prostitution. Now, regular ole streetwalker-type prostitution also falls under her provenance, but the more magical prostitution is more important. RW Sacred prostitution relies on the principal of sympathy, so if I have sex with a temple prostitute it generates fertility in the land. Translating it to Gloranthan use, I see Uleria's prostitution as 'contagious fertility'. If I want to have a child and my wife is not conceiving, I go to a Ulerian and worship with her in order to acquire some of her fertility. I go home and have sex with my wife and pass on the Ulerian's fertility to her, so she gets pregnant. I can similarly transfer the fertility to my livestock and my fields (presumably with a special ritual, rather than having sex with them). Perhaps for soldiers, it's not so much a question of contagious fertility as contagious life. If a soldier sleeps with a Ulerian, his more likely to survive his injuries.
So how might this fit into Orlanthi culture? She does seem redundant with other goddesses like Ernalda, Uralda, and Esrola. Perhaps her worship is tolerated because of its ancient power; perhaps it's tolerated because love cannot be closed out of any culture; or perhaps it's tolerated because Uleria is the primal fountain of fertility. If she's offended, she has the power to deny fertility even in the face of Ernalda's power. But somehow I think this question is sort of a straw man. Most polytheistic systems are aggressively inclusive of deities. Polytheists want to worship as many gods as possible, because it reduces the chance of offending one of them. There is no conflict between Uleria and other fertility goddesses, because fertility is fertility; you can never have too much of a good thing. Such cultures have a way of overlooking what to more 'rational' minds seems contradictory. Undoubtedly, Uleria causes some problems in Orlanthi society, but then love causes some problems in Orlanthi society.
Speaking of Uleria, I am looking for a copy of the Uleria cult write up which appeared in White Wolf many years ago. Does someone have a copy of that issue which I could buy? Failing that, would someone be willing to send my a photocopy of it (in exchange for copies of some of what I have)?
Andrew E. Larsen
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