Re: Humakti mini-comment

From: Andrew Solovay <asolovay_at_...>
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 10:41:32 -0700

A newbie thought... (not really "newbie": I used "HUMAKT" as a PIN 20 years ago! But a newbie to this list.)

Greg Stafford <Greg_at_...> wrote:

>

> I just felt it useful to explain what an obsessed type of person is
> like in Glorantha, and by definition, Humakti are obsessed because
> they have such a narrow field of worship. Most of the noble Humakti
> that I have seen in games would be, in my Glorantha, Orlanth types.

Hm... maybe this could be said of any devotee of an "archetype" God? I mean, Humakt "is death" much more than Orlanth "is storm" (since Orlanth is also majesty, justice, fatherhood, rain, farming, but Humakt is just Death). Even in the anthropomorphic world of the theists, Humakt would seem less "human" and more like a cosmic force--and that would come across in his devotees.

Perhaps we should look at other, equally single-minded gods (and their followers) the same way? Perhaps Chalana Arroy's followers are equally obsessed--"serial healers", as it were. They keep trying to screw up the winter pig-slaughtering, they stand aside while that great-troll charges Grampa Snookti because, well, tripping the troll would be *wrong*!

In the Storm pantheon, there seem to be a few places where a person can choose between a normal, well-integrated god and an obsessed one. A healer can go with nice, level-headed Ernalda the Healer, or with batty Chalana Arroy; a warrior can be a regular, stand-up Orlanth Adventuror, or a spooky Humakti.

...just random musings...

--Andrew Solovay