Re: Re: New devotees, starting feats

From: John Hughes <john.hughes_at_...>
Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 10:39:47 +1100

My own personal angle would be for the initial tests to be between player and god - or emissaries of the god. If successful (or in some cases, unsuccessful, the player gains the feat, though may not realise it until the next contest, where the feat 'kicks in'. Success or failure might determine what 'path' the humakti embarks on - death-wielder, life-awakener, solitary-death-haunted gibberer, Matrix-inspired Hallmark-greeting-card philosopher ("Every beginning has its end". <Nod sagely and grunt.> etc.

In these circumstances, simple personality tests will rip out large parts of the soul and former self as a price for gaining the feats.

As David suggested, these 'awakenings' or 'dyings' can be told in flashback, perhaps at crucial moments before a combat (so the Devotee discovers the power of the new feat, but is disadvantaged by the distractions of his memory.

'Braggi grasps the hilt of his bronzed death-messenger, bragging of his ancestry, his herds and his deeds to the raider, warning him to flee*. As in a fevered dream, he remembers vividly the strange encounters at the Hill of Sorrows. As though he were there again he remembers the limping warrior, and the laughing corpse...**

• Obviously still a lot of Orlanthi in him. :)
  • Or the one-eyed duck with the iron sword and aphorisms of consolation, the stranger with the cloak or shadows who broke Braggi's every dream, the fever priestess with the broken tongue, the vision of his dead ancestors, The Circus of Death and the unwritten scroll of Truth...

There seems to have been a general relaxing of direct interactions between deities and individuals in recent years, partly game evolution and partly an effect of the Hero Wars as the barriers come down everywhere. Men can be as gods, and gods as men.

And of course, while Braggi struggles with his Becoming, riding the madness winds that threaten his soul, clinging to Truth whle overwhelmed by Death, there will be other Devotees watching. They've been through this themselves, and will keep close watch to act as helpers if required. This may be even before the Called One realises his destiny - even Orlanthi elders might call in the help of a Death Sword if they believe an initiand has been marked.

Later feats relating to sword training or discipline should perhaps be mediated through the cult.

John

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John Hughes
Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research Australian National University
Canberra ACT 2600

Phone (02) 6125 0649
Visit CAEPR on the web at http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/