Re: Religious ranking?

Greetings and Salutations
2005-01-05-1335.

Jane Williams wrote:
> Back in RQ days, there was a rule that initiates did what Rune
Lords
> told them. Is there any such rule, social convention, or anything
> else, that defines the relationship between an initiate and a
Devotee?

I believe that is still true. Devotees can order initiates around, *to some extent*.
They lead them in sacred ceremonies and in their worship. Most devotees will have support of initiates or initiates as their followers at some point.
I do not think most devotees are seperate from any structure in a temple or shrine.

Can Devotees tell Initiates how to lead their lives, what they should do every day, tell them to fetch and carry, and generally boss them around?
They can try.
But as the Orlanthi sayings go:

    "No one can make you do anything!"
    "Violence is always an option."

So will the Devotee beat you up if you do not do as he/she asks? That is your answer. That is why some Initiates do *exactly* what a Devotee tells them ;-)

> I'd assume that if the two people are already in a common social
> structure, then the rules of that structure define their
> relationship. But if a devotee of Cult X walks into a bar
(campsite,
> fight, whatever) where there are initiates of Cult X present, will
> they recognise him as having some sort of authority over them, or
> not? Will they even know he's a devotee without proof, unless he's
> famous?

Initiates of Cult X will be able to recognise a Devotee of Cult X at anytime even if they had never seen him/her before. With a quick 'Soul Vision' they will be able to see that 1) they are devoted to a deity, and 2) what kind of deity they are devoted to.

So Destori initiates would see a new Destori Devotee and know that he would be devoted to a deity that revered Combat, Wind and Movement, therefore Destor! If he came from their temple or a related temple or shrine they would know him as a Destori. If he didn't come from their temple and seemed a bit foriegn he may worship a similar deity to Destor but without a HeroQuest or other significant event it would be hard to tell if he did or not.  

> Now suppose they're all at a holy site of Cult X - same answer, or
> not? Think of those temples in Sartar that are jointly used by
> several tribes - would a Devotee at one of those be able to give
> orders to Initiates from other tribes? To what extent would their
non-
> cult social/political position affect this?

At a holy site to Cult X then yes the Devotee is in charge [or the highest ranking or more powerful Devotee is]. The Devotee is closer to Cult X, he/she is closer to being Cult X here on the mundane world. The Devotee knows more cult secrets [or should], has a better grasp on the myths, and has been to the otherside as his/her deity in many HeroQuest worship rites.

The Initiates only see a small fraction of what is happening during those rites. They are participating in the rites, the Devotee is leading those rites.

Now a more interesting discussion is which Devotee can order Initiates around even though they are not in the same cult as it were? Can a Starkval Devotee order some Destori Initiates around? Can a Starkval Initiate order a Destori Devotee around?

|Darran