With spirit cults, it seems simple, as shamans are de facto priests, and can just obtain Rune spells from the appropriate spirits. Daka Fal seems to be a sort of half-way house between a spirit cult and the more standard cult of a deity. The way Daka Fal priesthood is described in Cults of Prax feels more like shamanism in any case, with its emphasis on communication with ancestral spirits, though some of the spells seem to be substitutes for abilities a shaman already has - would a shaman need to cast a spell to summon an ancestral spirit, or would he be able to simply go on to the spirit plane and find one, perhaps using a family heirloom, bone, lock of hair or something as a link? In any case, I presume that a shaman who follows a Daka Fal tradition would effectively be a priest, and have access to Daka Fal Rune spells on that basis.
Then we get to the actual Praxian deities, like Waha and Storm Bull. I know that in HQ terms, you get into issues like misapplied worship, but sticking with the RQ format, how does a shaman interact with say, Waha?
The way I see it, either a shaman is allowed to be an initiate, and to purchase spells as an initiate (i.e. single use), or else is granted an equivalent status to a priest (while not getting the allied spirit and other specific priestly benefits), and may therefore obtain Rune magic as if he were a priest. Or, conversely, the shaman would have to approach the god concerned, as a shaman petitioning a very powerful spirit, and obtain the spell from him directly, perhaps having to perform a service for the god as well as sacrificing the prerequisite POW. Are there any hard and fast rules for this? Stuff I've found on the Web seems very bits & pieces, and the RQ rules seem to go out of their way not to link the rules for Cults with the rules for Shamanism at all.
Cheers -
Malk.
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