> Perhaps you should start from the few numbers we have, 15% of the
> overall population initiate to gods other than Ernalda and Orlanth.
> If you assumed that this was evenly spread between the various cults
> that would result in almost 2000 for each of them and very small
> numbers for the lesser cults. Is there any particular reason to
> believe that Humakti would be rarer than, say, Uroxi?
Certainly not in my Glorantha - in fact, if anything its probably the reverse. Not that the various specialist cults are evenly distributed among the 15%, of course, but Humakt is one of the larger ones, IMO.
> That would imply that roughly 4% of the fighting force of Sartar
> would be Humakti, although clearly this would vary wildly between
> clans (I would expect more in the Grey Dog Clan just as I would
> expect a lot more Elmali in an Elmal clan).
Sounds about right to me. Which means a little over 1500 of them in Sartar, which also feels right. That most other people seem to have come up with far smaller numbers suggests that we have a different conception of Humakti (and of Sartar's capability of forming a full Humakti Battalion even if provoked sufficiently to recruit every member of the cult into one warband). I don't really go for all this strong liminality stuff, with Humakti standing somehow outside of society - I don't think they do so any more than, say, Lhankor Mhy initiates. Sure, some Humakti really *are* that extreme, notably Disciples, but the overwhelming majority (more than an Orlanthi 'all', say 95%) are IMO resheathed. This means, among other things that they 'must pay and be paid fines and wergild as normal' (ST p96), which implies its perfectly possible to take them to court if one wishes. This, to me, is both more plausible and more interesting from a gaming POV than having hods of death-wielding fanatics clogging up the countryside.
This may or may not be true in 'official' Glorantha (and consequently, in anything I write for official Glorantha...) but its sure as heck the case in my Glorantha. We game there to have fun, after all ;-)
-- Trotsky Gamer and Skeptic MXLPs: 3 (Cap'n Q, Harvey Mills, Tim Hall) ------------------------------------------------------ Trotsky's RPG website: http://www.ttrotsky.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
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