> What does the list think about a Chalana Arroy Devotee having second
thoughts?
>
> In particular, this Healer has (noble) family pressure to leave and
heroquest "damage" that removed her pacifist personality trait.
> How would a temple hierarchy handle such a member petitioning to leave the
cult gracefully?
As far as family pressure, what is that to the pressure of the Goddess? Heortling society isn't the same sort as Dara Happan (or some of the pre-modern ones in the RW) where the family can exert enough pressure to change a person's religion (basically that is what they are trying to do. CA is a pretty extreme deity, and a Devotee should have a pretty strong connection). How does this character's "Relationship Family" compare to her "Devoted to CA"? That should give some indication about tendencies. You'll also note that CA devotees are *supposed* to sever ties to family (ST 38), though this isn't as necessary as Humakti severing.
Heortlings assume that everyone must follow their wyrd, and that the god chooses the hero just as much as the hero chooses the god. So they might be disappointed that she joined that wierdo cult of total pacifists, they *should* understand that she didn't really have much choice in the matter. Unless she is the daughter of the tribal chief or something, "family pressure" is a lousy excuse to leave a cult. Heortling "Nobles" aren't quite the same as, say, medieval Barons and Dukes, they are much more liable to lose their noble status when the next chief comes along, or they manage to piss off the current chief, or the other member of the ring, so asking someone to "carry on the family tradition" in some way isn't as likely to happen.
The HQ "Damage" may be more problematical. Depending on what exactly it did, she may be unfit for CA, or she may just be a "injured, but still loved" member. You don't absolutely need a "Pacifist" virtue, you just can't act aggressively. So if the HQ changed her "Pacifist" to "Pass a fist across your face" (as it were), she may be too "damaged to continue oin the cult. CA would probably allow her to gracefully leave the cult without spirits of Retribution, perhaps to join another, more "earthy" healing cult, say, Bevara. Also, take into account how this damage happened - did she intentionally do something to lose her pacificity, or was it merely the outcome of a failed test? And how did she fail the test, simply a bad roll, or a bad decision? Does she *want* to stay in the cult, or is she having a crisis of Faith that the priestesses haven't been able to solve? The priestess may ask for divine inspiration in handling the case.
And, of course, what does the *player* (and group, in a far secondary concern) want? If the player really doesn't want to play a CA pacifist any more, then you should ultimately let her leave, though you might throw some obstacles in her way. If she really wants to stay, then again you should ultimately let her stay, but she might just have to sever ties to her family, and work hard to recover her pacificity.
RR
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