Hi Jeff,
I expect it helps that your player role-plays herding as a sacred activity.
> Wilms stands out as exceptionally devout and dedicated to his god.
> Does he spend most of his time away from society? No. He spends
> most of his time herding and praying.
So what do I think Wilms should be doing with those 3 1/3 days a week he is supposed to commit to Orlanth the Herder:
2/3 day leading worship with the cattlemen of the stead - probably praying for protection from predators that kind of thing 2/3 day in religious duties - probably walking the sacred boundaries of the steads fields, praying for Orlanths's blessing on ropes and goads, saying prayers at the byre, organizing the protection from wolves ritual, reciting the sacred stories of Orlanth the Herder for everyone to listen to, interpreting omens, etc. 2 days - forging a stronger personal relationship with Orlanth the Herder. Some of this will be solitary prayer, some will be contemplation of the sacred stories and their meaning, some will be ritual activity that has a work component - bull taming, facing predators, washing the animals, lighting fires to burn off disease - but here the emphasis is on the ritual element not the work, practicing magic working. If he is a preist or godi (and I assume that is the most likely case in my view) he will have pastoral duties performing magic for others, teaching, providing an example of 'right' action etc. The important point here is though that Wilms makes a genuine sacrifice of his time to the god.
So I suspect the distance between us is not great. You're notion that it is a sacred activity is close to mine. My objection is to the notion that you can meet the time requirement just by having an appropriate profession and thinking about the god while you do it. There is no sacrifice there, just expediency.
Of course player characters are likely to represent these exceptional people, but I just want them to play them as people with strong religious commitment if they do, and not play devotees if they don't want to be religious. I think it is hard to do right.
Out of interest medieval societies where only able to support about a 2% clerical population. Hence my estimate for 3-5% magic workers.
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