Confusion over Zola Fel...

From: Viktor Haag <vhaag_at_...>
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2004 14:11:03 -0500

How is Zola Fel worshipped by Sartarites in Prax?

I look in River of Cradles and the RQ3 Prosepedia, and Zola Fel is listed as a (male) God of the River.

In the Pavis tribe section of the website, I see the 'Zola Fel Tradition', where she (sic) is described as the spirit of the River.

This prompts me to ask some questions:

• When did Zola Fel (the male God) turn into Zola Fel (the female spirit)? Are these the same beings?
• How do the Pavic Sartarites who live on or along the River of Cradles worship Zola Fel?

  It would seem foolish for a Sartarite boatman or farmer to   ignore propitiating Zola Fel, but it would also seem more   natural for them to make sacrifices to Zola Fel the God then to   engage in ecstatic rites to converse with Zola Fel the Spirit.

  I can (from my limited experience of HQ and Glorantha) see a   number of possibilities here:

• Perhaps the Sartarites rely on common magic (charms?) to mediate their relationship with Zola Fel, which they have learned from sympathetic river folk over the years?
• Perhaps the Sartarites worship Zola Fel the River God and this is really misapplied worship of Zola Fel the spirit? This no doubt causes all sorts of bemused "debates" between Sartarites and aboriginal worshippers...
• Some few Sartarites who have "gone native" could specialize in Zola Fel Spirit worship? This would seem doable, but perhaps a bit unlikely. Mainstream Sartarites would therefore need the services of one of these bush-crazies, or a native, to mediate between them and Zola Fel when required.
• Perhaps the Sartarites are correct in their worship of Zola Fel the (masculine) God, and it's really the native's who are misapplying their worship in thinking that Zola Fel is a (feminine) Spirit? This would seem unlikely as it's the Sartarites that are the newcomers...

I'm currently attempting to writeup a "homeland" page for Pavic Sartarites, and the primary sticking points are in imagining how the traditional "Heortling" page would have changed over time as these people adapted to life in their new home (principally, I would think, in coming to worship Pavis and/or Zola Fel, in addition to their traditional Storm panetheon worship).

Any suggestions? (Ah, if only "Pavis & Big Rubble Companion vol 5" were available! 8))

-- 
Viktor Haag : Software & Information Design : Research In Motion
                              +--+
 Disclaimer mandated by employer: "This transmission may contain
confidential or privileged material. Any use of this information
by anyone other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you
  have received this transmission in error, please immediately
    reply to the sender and delete this information from your
system. Use, dissemination, distribution, or reproduction of this
 transmission by unintended recipients is not authorized and may
                          be unlawful."