The whole "devotees vs. initiates" thing has got me wondering--If you
concentrate magic, just what effect does that have on your ability to
participate in worship of beings from other otherworlds? Certainly
you're going to be limited in what *benefits* you could get from that
worship--a concentrated Theist can't get charms from the Creek. But can
he participate at all?
Take the following case: A Heortling clan has its annual holiday
offering worship to the local river-spirit, who once saved the clan by
drowning some broos fording the river to attack. Note that this is
animist worship, not (misapplied) theistic worship of a spirit. Clan
member Hrothgar (an Orlanth Thunderous devotee) is a concentrated
theist. I can think of a few possibilities:
- He can't participate in the ceremonies *at all*. (He probably
disapproves of them, anyway.) He sits home and sulks.
- He can participate, but he's just going through the motions. Yes, he
walks in the procession and sings all the right songs, but for magical
purposes, his presence has no effect at all. As far as the river spirit
is concerned, he might as well not have been there. But he can still
outwardly participate in what the rest of the community is doing.
- He can participate like any other lay member of the community. When
you add up totals for "community support" and the like, you count
Hrothgar like any other clan member. If the ritual goes horribly wrong,
he'll pay penalties like any other community supporter. His *personal*
benefits are probably somewhat less--e.g. maybe ordinary community
members get "swim safely" charms from the worship, and he doesn't. But
he helps the ritual proceed.
(In any of the cases, he would benefit indirectly from the benefits that
go to the community. When the river provides fish, even the theists can
eat it at the feast! But he's not going to get direct, personal benefits
from the spirit.)
This sort of ties into the question of just how useless/fanatical
devotees are. If a devotee can't participate *at all* in any kind of
ritual that doesn't match his otherworld, that will cut him off from a
lot of community life. Even the thoroughly theistic Heortlings have
their Flesh Man talents, and might end up with any number of holidays
and customs propitiating the local essences and spirits. And of course,
a Kolating devotee is going to be well and truly cut off, since he can't
participate in the overwhelming majority of his community's religious life.