(These are * definitely * GD-type questions)
> I've been considering myths from another angle. First some background.
> Theistic feats are, in short, the 'channelling' of divine power by a
> worshipper, who, by duplicating the actions of their deity, empowers
> those actions with the deity's magical strength.
Careful : this is RuneQuest Sight, and evil God Learnerism !!
;-)
Theists do not 'channel' divine power. They're not sorcerors.
By duplicating the actions of their deity in the Myth Time of Sacrifice and theistic Worship, they gain the ability to incarnate that part of the god that performs the Feats in question. Crucially, those portions of the god are transcendentally "swapped" (if you like) for the Initiate's Free Will and Sacrifices. The god gains Free Will to the exact measure of the Initiate's use of the Feats in question, which are exactly equal to the amount of divinity that is manifest as the Initiate's magic.
> They learn HOW by
> watching or otherwise experiencing the actions ...
Not quite : the Initiate actually * doesn't * know how to do the magic (except in some forms of weird Lunar sorcery etc, and other rare exceptions).
Only the god has the knowledge. The gnosis.
The Initiate actually sacrifices a subtle portion of his own presence in the Inner World to the god, and part of the god manifests as the Feat.
In the game, this is controlled by the player.
>From the Hero's subjective POV, he * thinks * he controls the magic.
>From a transcendental POV, the god acts.
> Just because you never
> HEARD of idiots throwing rugs into a fight ... doesn't mean the
> magic can't force you to obey, if you don't resist.
During the magic, part of the god plane is manifest _as_ the rugs in question.
> HOWEVER... what happens when a theist augments a worshipper of another
> deity? Specific case - My Vingan augments the rest of the group (let's
> say a Yinkini, a Humakti, a Lhankor Mhy and a Telmori) with 'Fight
> Against Uz'. I think she CAN do this, but what actually happens?
Part of the god plane is manifest as the augmentation in question, and the whole group partakes of Vinga / Vinga is incarnate as a specific magical bonus shared by all / a portion of each beneficiary's soul is temporarily turned into a part of Vinga.
All gods partake of various forms of transcendance.
In cosmological terms, Arachne Solara's Web is Infinite, and all of Glorantha is transcendentally connected to every other part. So, Vinga can become manifest anywhere.
(That's not the only explanation for this, but it has the benefit of being fairly easily understood. A more difficult explanation involves the "Ultimate" Realm and the various Otherworlds. And more HPG fodder)
> 1) The feat imparts transient knowledge of the Vingan feat/myth to the
> recipient, allowing them to re-enact it like the Vingan.
No. The Feat is itself a transcendental portion of Vinga.
> 2) The feat creates a sort of mini-wyter or magical 'power armour'
> around the recipient ...
That's how a God Learner might analyse the magic.
> 3) The feat forces your actions, just like the attack magic.
Somewhat. Your Free Will is, indeed, partially occupied by Vinga during the magic.
> Surrendering
> yourself to someone else's God? Does that sort of thing work on
> Animists?
All Gloranthans are bound into the Compromise
God is Infinitely Powerful
The Great Spirit is Master of All Things
All Mortals are the Humble Servants of the Most Exalted O
Of course it works.
These are * gods * we're talking about, not spells ...
The World is Made of Everything is the single best answer to the question.
> Do the recipients
> understand what they are doing, do they have to, to control it? Or
> does the feat somehow invade their consciousness and take over their
> instincts?
They do not (usually) understand what they are doing.
They don't need to (except in the higher forms of magic).
They cannot control it, although the magician may very well believe that he does. Only very exceptional people, like Lokamayadon, Harrek, the Red Emperor, Disciples, Gloranthans who know Great Secrets, can gain actual control of the magic within normal Time.
All Vingan Feats are performed by Vinga herself.
Julian Lord
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