Notice that I didn't say she was Animist, but that she worships "in an animist fashion" - ie, with ecstatic rites. People *can* tell the difference between sacrificial, venerative and ecstatic worship.
> I would expect most to classify religious practices as right (the
> way we do things) and wrong (the way others do them). So to the
> average Orlanthi both a Kolating Shamen and a Yelmic Priest are
> wrong. Lunars just have a greater tolerance of wrong practices
> within the Lunar religion.
I believe you are mostly correct, but...
I don't think that Orlanthi would qualify worship of Kolat as "wrong" - after all, he is one of the "good" part of the Storm pantheon (as opposed to Valind, Mallia, etc., that are the bad part of the pantheon - known and possibly propitiated, but never worshipped by right thinking people). So even though he is worshipped with ecstatic rites and lives in the Spirit plane, he is part of "our way of doing things" - heck he even has his own holy day in the heortling calendar when *everyone* worships him! Worship of the Solar pantheon is wrong because they are our traditional enemies (ditto Lunars, Malkioni, Zzaburi, Praxians, God Learners, Nysaloran Illuminates, Trolls, Elves, Dwarves ...), not necessarily because they use another style of worship than we do.
I tend to think of the "Theist" (or Animist, or Sorcerous) religions treating each other like the Jews, Christians and Moslems - yes, we all have a base of understanding and some stuff in common, but that doesn't stop us from hating you.
The Lunar Religion includes beings and worship styles that combine all three types of magic. Jakaleel just happens to be the one that is as "pure" a styles as there is in the religion - she is worshipped with almost-pure Ecstatic Animism). All other Lunar beings are worshipped in a truely mixed fashion. Just another reason that all right thinking people *know* that the Lunars are doing Bad Things(tm).
Pesonally, I believe the word "religion" was used wrongly (and badly) on pages 104-105 - specifically the first sentence that says: "Specialized religions concentrate on one form of magic to the exclusion of all others". "Religion" should mean "those beings we worship and how we do it", rather than "Pure Animism, Theism, or Sorcery". The "Storm Religion" combines both spirit *and* divine beings in one pantheon. *IF* I had it to do over, I'd make the Theism/Animism/Sorcery distinction a step lower than it currently is - not at the religion level, but at the level of worship of a specific being in that religion. So in the Storm Tribe we have a ton of people worshipping the various gods as thesitic beings, and a handful worshipping Kolat as an animist being, and a smaller handful worshipping Serdredosa as an animistic being (incorrectly - she is a Goddess). Each being, however, is clearly in one or another otherworld. They only give one kind of magic.
The Lunars are the only *human* religion that has beings with actual mixed magic - a Lunar immortal might provide Feats, Spells and Spirits (and some do) (This is explained further in ILH2 - and no, I don't know when it will be out). Some inhumans probably have mixed beings as well - the Trolls, frex, seem a natural for it, coming from the Underworld as they do...
RR
C'est par mon ordre et pour le bien de l'Etat que le porteur du pr�sent a
fait ce qu'il a fait.
- Richelieu
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