The thing is, you don't really have a choice for number 1, do you? I may be misremembering something, but it seems to me that you don't get to choose not to Initiate. If you don't, you're not Orlanthi. There are no communal worshippers.
That sort of blows my mind. Probably because I see Initiation as a pretty big deal. It certainly seems you can't "drop" Initiation without being hammered by spirits of retribution and such.
I realize this doesn't really describe Orlanthi life well, since they can slide from subcult to subcult and the like (although how that jibes with their being chosen of the god and touched by them, etc etc, is unclear to me).
Anyway, it's not a complaint or anything. That's what they're like. They believe in more personal sacrifice. That's fine. I'm just sort of blown away by a culture of now communal worshippers. There's nobody who just shows up for the high holy days, participates in the general services, and then gets on with their lives. Even if not fanatical, that puts an intensity of religion in everyday Orlanthi life even higher than I had thought it was.
LC
On 14 Oct 2004 at 1:40, Peter Metcalfe wrote:
>
> At 08:09 PM 10/12/04 -0400, you wrote:
>
> >Something Greg wrote during the assorted traditions/practice/etc.. posts
> >reminded me
> >that Initiates really are "chosen by their god". And that's fine, except
> >that when you tie
> >that in with the fact that all Orlanthi initiate, then it seems the
> >Orlanth (at least the
> >Sartarite Orlanthi) are a pretty fanatically religious bunch.
>
> IMO you are misinterpreting the comment. There are two decisions here
> 1) whether you initiate or not and 2) who you initiate to. Normally the
> first is made as a conscious human decision while the second is
> determined by the gods.
>
> So the Orlanthi initiate all their people because they choose to do so.
> It's just the way things have been done. That does not make them
> any more fanatical than the Dara Happans who only initiate a minority
> of their people. It just means that their culture puts greater stress
> on _personal_ sacrifices to the gods.
>
> --Peter Metcalfe
>
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