Greg has already made it clear that his words are not canon on this
isssue. Anyway, see below.
>
> I, for one, wasn't reading Greg as saying all Hoomakti had to be
> slavering nutballs who murder while throwing their feces at people
and> giggling, but people that Are Not Normal for the most part. I'd
differ> in saying that almost anyone could be driven to worship
Humakt under the> right conditions. Being an obsessed anti-undead
killing machine of the> Lismelder is Not a Completely Normal Person,
in my book.
>
"Not Normal" does not mean "torturing" or "indiscriminately
murdering". As has already been pointed out, Humakti are already
considered abnormal because they are less emotional than other
heortlings. And then they probably have some other heavy "issues"
they're dealing with.
IMG, torture or indiscriminate killing would get you in Big Trouble with Humakt. But not necessarily Irredeemably In Trouble. Could it be that Humakt is (partly) a cult for murderers, torturers etc who want to change their ways? Who follow Humakt to purify themselves? Who are seeking a kinder, gentler death? In the recent discusions, we haven't mentioned his Truth rune very much.
Also, mythically, Humakt tried to eliminate the more horrible forms of death such as disease, torture and undeath. Probably there would be other, even more horrible forms of death if he hadn't done so.
By killing the Well of Death, Humakt may even have saved the world from Annihilation as opposed to just Death. I don't claim to know much about this, but Humakt's retrieval of death, even though incomplete, was IMHO extremely important for the restoration of some sort of order, harmony, and peace in the world.
> Personally, I've always rather thought that the grim, fearless,
detached> uber-Mercenary theme for Humakt was a bit of a myth within
Glorantha,> propounded by the same, that "covered up" the fact that
Humakt would> cheerfully allow chaos monsters, psycho killers, the
Kingdom of War and> other nasties to worship him. He's not very
discriminating. > > might be comprised completely of psychos.)
If you build on Guy Jobbins story about Humakt and accept that he lost a bit of himself each time he gained another piece of death, then maybe it follows that his worshippers also lose more and more of their emotions and perhaps personality as they become more like their god. Until they reach a certain point, a kind of enlightenment perhaps, when they become fully themselves again.
But yeah, probably beginner Humakti would have much messier personalities.
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