Oh come on, it's as clear as the waters of the Zola Fel :).
>
> I think I have a bit of a grasp on it, but that's thanks to
> reading, re-reading, and reading posts to the list. This is, in
> my opinion, one of the hardest aspects of the game for new
> players to get their heads around.
>
> > I can say its harder to write a homeland for this sort of
> > worship. Eef. But I supose that Imarj would be an example of
> > a mixed common religion... I think...
>
> So what I should be handing to my players for those Sartarite
> characters who want to propitiate Zola Fel should be a common
> religion writeup a la the examples on p111-113, right?
Personally, I remain convinced that she should be treated as a
landscape spirit, like the Creak (page 149). To whit:
- It is a majestic spirit, with its own independent practice (it is
not part of the praxian tradition). Nobody would be a "shaman" of
Zola Fel, but there could be shamans who also are part of her
practice, and her limited formal priesthood would be high ranking
practioners. Many boaters would be spiritists or practioners of this
practice. The spirits she has available probably aren't useful
enough to heortling farmers along her banks to make many of them want
to do this.
- She is also a landscape spirit, and can be treated with as a
guardian (probably something like awareness: detect mud bar, defense:
wash away chaos, blessing: find fish or maybe fertilizing flood).
Those who dwelt on her banks and those who travel her occasionally
probably make the propitiary sacrifices needed to obtain these
blessings.
- Like any other landscape entity, you can get common magic off of
her, in this case charms, but doing so weakens her as a guardian, so
this would probably not be part of the common magic "mixed religion"
in most areas, although it wouldn't surprise me to find someone in
Pavis doing it (what can't you find in Pavis?)
It isn't that the Zola Fel isn't important, but for most heortling types, she doesn't do enough for them to be worth direct worship—just like in Sartar few worship the River or Creek directly.
> > > > Why do they have to make sacrifices to Zola Fel?
> > >
> > > Because I assumed that Sartarites would be more comfortable
> > > propitiating Zola Fel as a God, since I understood they had
> > > a tendency to think of most things in theistic terms.
This is possible, but I still think unlikely
> >
> > Misapplied worship then...
Yes, if you did this it would be misapplied worship. If they did, by the chart I think they'd get one affinity from it, and even if they had concentrated their magic they wouldn't get the `half price' cost for improving it. And they would never get a secret out of it. As a stab, I'd guess the affinity would just be called "Zola Fel." I suppose if any of the Heortlings are fishermen or boaters now, they might worship her in this way.
>
> Oi. How exactly does one decide on the effects of Misapplied
> Worship? I mean, I understand the rationale, and the table on
> p110. But, to use this as an example, suppose we *have* a
> writeup for (say) the Majestic Spirit Waha (p146). How do we
> determine what benefits misapplying-theists get from their
> worship of Waha as a god?
>
> At this point, I'm assuming the answer is "whatever is
> appropriate for your game", and I'm cool with that, but I'd like
> to be playing this game "as it is mean to be played" if you see
> what I mean.
>
I'd say you look at the spirits he has, and what powers they have,
and consider what affinity name seems to capture the gist of that,
and there is your affinity, and you take some of the spirits or
powers as feats within that affinity. I know not a big help, but I
don't think that there are hard and fast rules beyond "whatever is
cool."
--Bryan
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