>Not to mention that most of them [with exceptions of course] will only
>be communal worshipers of there pantheon. So initiating to a cult will
>be a step up for most of them.
Good point. Further, I think that basically, if the character was an initiate, he'd be less likely to end up in the army, unless his cult matched one there. That is, if I'm an Irripi Ontor scholar, I'm not very likely to join, am I? If I'm a Yanafal Tarnils Initiate, well, there's a regiment waiting.
For those oddballs who are initiates of some cult (or practitioners, or whatever), who do decide to join up, I don't think that they really "lose" their initiation, so much as it goes on hiatus. As soon as they muster out, they'll probably be able to pick it back up again. Along with keeping the army cult as long as they can find a way to worship as well.
Basically, I think it's more complex than, "I'm a this, so X." Let's say that the character is a Yanafal Tarnils Initiate garrisoned in Sartar somewhere. I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that some of these folks had somewhat "gone native" and had joined the Destor cult in secret. The Heortlings doing this would do so because they're trying to subvert the Lunars in question. The Lunars do it because they're curious, and far from home. The gods don't mind, they're far from each other, and actually admire each other's principles. I'm making this part up, I don't know Glorantha well enough to say that this is Kosher - but in my Glorantha it'd fly. And even if it isn't canon, somewhere something like this is going on. To an extent, it's the entire case with the Lunars.
The point being that it's precisely a matter of the people that the player decides to put his hero into contact with that decides what cults are available to that hero for worship. It's precisely these situations that the hero wars are all about. The mixing and collision of religions and their myths causing the world to change with who knows what outcome. Maybe your new syncretic Destor Tarnils cult will become dominant over all of Heortling and Lunar culture. Well, farfetched, but maybe locally you make a difference this way. And in the long run, who can say what happens?
The point is to look at what could happen, not to just play characters who accept what currently is the norm. The norm is no longer available, what will fill it's place? Isn't that the generic version of all of the hero wars maxims? Isn't that what you're playing to find out? It's what I play for.
Mike
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