> Initially, the Theist/Animist split struck me as an excellent idea
> defining both more clearly. But there are an increasing number of
> irritating consequences to it, including this one... On the KoDP list,
> I was told/reminded (I could have figured it out myself I guess), that
> the 'Guardian Spirit' of the Tula was actually probably a Daimone,
> called a 'spirit' just as a common term. But we also meet ghosts,
> which we have no theistic equivalent of, so assumedly these are
> spirits, plus ancestors, which presumably are theistic... I can't
> figure out HOW, but it would have been a damn sight less complex to
> have one set of entities, with two separate ways to interact with
> them! Animists should deal with incorporeal entities which are
> actually THERE, and can be captured to gain use of their powers,
> Theists with things that grant powers when worshipped, and Sorcerers
> should deal with anything they like, but suffer for it...
Every culture (RW or Gloranthan) has its view of "what happens to you when
you die". In Glorantha, these various and varied afterlives are all equally
valid, and usually true. So a Orlanthi Theist joins the "Ancestral
Collective", but a Dara Happan might not necessarily do so - a dead DH might
be contactable as a seperate entity, or may dissapate into Yelm's Eternal
light, or whatever. Some dead animists may go to the Happy Hunting Ground,
some may stick around as "hungry ghosts", or may accept being incorporated
into a Ancestor Fetish. Don't expect that all Theistic cultures have the
same afterlife - Even within Orlanthi cultures, the gods promise different
things to their worshippers, and deliver on their promises! Yes, it's
complex, because real society isn't simple.
Should we (the designers/writers) done it differntly/more simply? I
personally don't think so.
Roderick