Cult Writeups and Reality
We all have a lot of creative power in determining what's appropriate for our campaigns. Cult writeups aren't meant to be carved in stone. This is especially true of Heortling cults, which in most cases have no centralised hierarchy to standardise practice and belief, no Uroxi Inquisitor (there's a thought...) or SeedMistress General to correct your wayward thinking. (Lunar and Solar cults are more centralised and uniform, but they also have a much more finely developed sense of heresy). Orlanthi myths, rituals and cultic expectations can vary considerably from tribe to tribe. 'No one can make you do anything' is central to the Orlanthi way. Your local interpretations will of course be the correct ones, because your rituals and ceremonies *work*.
In this case, there will be variation in both the way a particular clan treats humakti (based on past history, past 'identities' and power of current humakti, whether they've recently single-handedly saved a stead as opposed to wandering around semi-randomly cutting down the less-than-completely-truthful), the way the local humakti see their own role and way of living, and how much access they have to cult daimones who might teach them the eternal traditions.
Consider a typical clan of around 500 adults, as described in some detail in Thunder Rebels. Given that humakti tend to have a short lifespan, and that many (50% or more?) will leave to join Humakti mercenary units and hero bands, you could expect to have only five or so humakti at best residing on the clan tula. So a lot is going to depend on the personality and knowledge of the senior humakti when it comes to teaching and training, and the subsequent way the devotees behave. Their will be regular contact with other death lodges in the tribe, but little with lodges beyond it. Thus the range of variation we see among humakti during play - from uber-noble philosopher warriors to maniacal chop-and-sunder machines. Compare this to the stability and continuity of Orlanth and Ernalda, where half the clan preserves and teaches the tradition.
(And no, wandering duck death bands don't count for much either. Few of the humakti I've known would be seen *dead* in the company of death drakes (though a few have actually ended up exactly that) - they usually mutter something about ducks detracting from the inherent nobility of being a humakt. This is a pity, because in most cases they could learn a lot. Few humans can pwoberly pwonounce the names of the three Drakes of Death - Hueymakt, Dueymackt and Loueymakt, and indeed in human areas a duck with a big sword is more likely to scweam "Stand und Delibber, I haves yu suwwounded!" than "Twuth ish my Honour". [This aside has been brought to you by Tealophiles Anonymous]).
Personally I've always emphasised both the trauma that leads to someone joining a cult like humakt, and the way in which they become divorced from the daily life of the clan. However, this is just my own particular interpretation.
Kinstrife
> The PC, not knowing what
> happened to his half-sibling, killed him in self-defense. When he
> realized what had happened, he severed his old name and life and
> joined the cult of Humakt, hopefully avoiding curse of Kinstrife.
Kinstrife is a terrible thing. This circumstance is not necessarily kinstrife, esp. if the clan understood that the killing was in self-defence or provoked. It strikes me as typically Orlanthi that the threat of kinstrife might actually have come from two factions in the clan *arguing* about how severely your PC might be punished. Or was it his guilt over the killings that led him to the Death Lord - nightmares and ceremony visions of his brother's bleeding corpse?
Dual Membership
> The PC wants to be an Initiate to Orlanth
> Thunderous and the Humakt.
If the reason for the call to Humakt was traumatic or offerwise mentally scarring, I'd play that Humakt claimed him completely, *ZAP*. He'd be plagued by horrible nightmares and the Gloranthan equivalent of traumatic stress disorder, reliving or reenacting the tragedy. He'd completely lose interest in most things around the stead and perhaps wander around like Hamlet being a total pain in the place-where-you-give-back-to-the-earth for all concerned.
If however, the character simply loves the stories of humakt, their swirly black cloaks and the cool way they do those figure eight thingees with a sword (or if a female character is drawn because the cult generally regards gender as completely irrelevant) then there's no reason why he wouldn't spend his spare time at the death lodge and gradually be drawn towards making a commitment. In game terms I'd allow this as dual membership, though with a proviso that a decision one way or the other will have to be made before the player can advance significantly within either cult.
People are much more complicated than game guidelines. You'll be my own response to dual membership in my .sig.
What It Means To *Be* Humakti
While the cult itself is pretty cool, humaktis have a tough time socially. Depending on the local traditions, humakti are definitely on the outer, and are often feared and shunned in daily life.
In my Tovtaros clan, humakti live in their own lodge apart from the daily life of the stead. They are barred from work in the fields and among the herds in the fertility/growth parts of the year, so they either work as weaponthanes, champions or crafters or must leave the tula. They must be kept completely away from pregnant women, nandans and animals. They are "dead" to former kin and play no part in planning, clan justice, or in the re-distribution of wealth. They become cold, less-passionate, calculating - all feminine "girly" traits. Their irritating dedication to "honour" and "truth" stands in sharp contrast with the usual Orlanthi pragmatic opportunism and "clan first!" philosophy. As their link to the death rune increases, they lose their interest in the concerns of "life", in matters sexual, and may become infertile or impotent. (So much for Freudian sword symbolism!) Marrying a humakti is about as low as you go in the marriage stakes: its only slightly above marrying a trickster or an Uroxi, and few clans would support a permanent match. Divorce is common when a spouse joins Humakt. Humakti with a continuing desire for intimacy will seek it among their own kind.
On the other hand, a clan *needs* some humakti for ritual and ceremony, for their practical military contributions and because they are expendable resources that will sometimes undertake tasks that no other sane warrior would contemplate.
At base it's a human thing. You don't stop your love of an uncle or brother just because he's not formally kin any more, even if he has gone a bit funny. And if a humakt lodge becomes wealthy through plunder, you can bet former kin will start swarming around like bees. Nor can a humakti completely ignore the experiences and perspectives of her former life. Friendship *endures*. In my own clan, the aged humakti Broddi Clapsaddle is very popular among the young because of his stories and hospitality, and because the quiet of the death lodge provides sanctuary of a kind from the loud crowded continual mayhem of the bloodline hearths. And despite his links with death, he continues to sucessfully breed prize fighting cukbirds.
My approach and interpretation is just one among several equally valid interpretations. Its really up to you how you wish to run things. Game rules are abstractions meant to simplify your storytelling, not to be a straight jacket to your creativity.
John
Bound I to Humakt
Serve in awe
yet practise double labour.
With skaldic verse, and tales of war
I also serve Donandar.
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