Ecstatic Yelmalio

From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_bigfoot.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 16:40:44 +1300


Keith Nellist:

>The radical difference is that the hunters are worshipping him using the
>methods available to them - which I think is ecstatic worship.

For a start, the Hunters do not normally worship Yelmalio, as "The cult of Yelmalio is a specialized cult of nobles and city dwellers, though occasional Balazaring Hunters also join it to gain the noble status implied by the religion." Also if Yelmalio was ecstatically worshipped then outsiders would _not_ be able to worship at the temple.

>But Shamanistic Traditions are described as surviving within theist
>cultures due to their specialisation (p205 HW). [...] Theists are not
>described as survivng amidst Animist cultures, although there is the
>Spirit Cult phenomema.

Sun County is an example of a theistic culture that has survived amongst an animist population (Praxians). The Vendrefs are theists within a dominant animist pantheon (Grazers). The trolls are animist yet they support several theistic cults. Just because the rulebook doesn't mention the possibility isn't evidence that such arrangements are impossible.

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