Jane and Donald have been talking about a distinctly unusual initiation=20 history. I'm not entirely sure how to separate out the superhero=20 exceptions and "we've been writing this since RQ days and some of the=20 stories don't gel/translate well" from the Heortling default, so I'm=20 afraid I have more questions.
>> =3D Jane Williams
> =3D Donald R. Oddy=20
> >Initiation to adulthood at age 14.
>
> Bit late for a girl.
It's probably late according the theory in Thunder Rebels. It's early=20 according to the description of initiation in King of Sartar, which was=20 the state-of-play when this story began.
By the way, I thought I'd read somewhere that she initiated to Ernalda=20 at 14. Is that a mis-reading of the standard Heortling and communal=20 Storm pantheon initiation, or is it a missing link? Sorry, can't recall=20 the source.
> >Then "tests" in Vinga, same year. I assume her parents thought Vinga
> > was the obvious way ahead.
>
> I reckon that was her choice, especially as the youngster usually
> gets their choice first.
This is a special case, but it's where the lack of apparent Ernaldan=20 initiation becomes a concern. Is the idea of having to go through=20 Ernalda to reach Vinga a later addition to the corpus?
> >Next year, "tests" in Rigsdal. Presumably her idea.
Was this when Rigsdal was a standalone god rather than a subcult of=20 Humakt or Elmal? Is this an exception for the men-only-except-Redalda=20 Elmali subcult, or is she Humakti?
> >Year after that, now aged 16, initiates to Vinga and Vanganth. Her
> > parents must have been right. But Vanganth?? A cult previously
> > unmentioned?
>
> Definitely something screwed up there, perhaps she's just being
> awkward.
If this is Vanganth as a subcult of Orlanth -- rather than as a=20 standalone deity -- it might be evidence that initiation to a deity=20 generally takes the equivalent of a year of study, but once you're done=20 that you can pick up other sub-cults relatively quickly and easily.=20 She's a Vingan already, and Vinga is the path to Orlanth for women, so=20 she's effectively picking up another Vingan subcult.=20
> >No, I'm not saying this is typical. Not at all. But does it help a
> > little?
Um, maybe not as much as a few typical case studies would help. :-)
Cheers,
Jennifer
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