Re: Following the Leader....

From: t_m_ellis <tim_at_...>
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 00:57:39 -0000

>
>I'm not sure this is right -- I think Heortlings would be a little
>leery of a leader who was exclusively a leader. They'd rather have
>someone who can plow a field, repair a wall, treat a sick ox, fight a
>challenge, run a raid, call down lightning, clear or cloud the sky,
>etc.

I'm positive that they look for a leader amongst people who have shown that they are capable of doing some or all of those things. Not for them the folly of heriditary leaders, or a "political" class of people whose *only* job is to lead. That doesn't mean that, once someone has been elected a leader they don't expect them to concentrate their efforts on providing that leadership (TR p174 "Clan Chieftans always worship the Orlanth Subcult of Dar the Leader"). Dar has a "Lead Clan" affinity which includes an "Invoke Wyter" feat - It would seem therefore that a Chief who knew none of Dar's magic would have a difficult time in understanding and employing the Clan Wyter, which could be unfortunate...

(this doesn't preclude the Chieftan being a Devotee of some other cult and merely initiating into Dar on his election, of course)

> People who want to be LEADERS include the Pharaoh, the Heads of the
>EWF, the King in Tarsh, etc.

This spunds like a good and sensible Orlanthi attitude (and I'm sure all the Orlanthi who *do* want to be leaders (Argrath?) ensure that, like Ceaser and Richard III in their eponymous Shakespear plays, they are offered the job and have to be coerced into accepting ;)

>Devotees to Dar might be pretty rare.

At a maximum of one Dar cultist of any sort per clan, Worshippers of Dar are going to be pretty rare!

Personally I'm tempted to assume Dar is more like a Hero Cult than a standard sub-cult

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