> Nor did the Talastarings have IFWW. They have their own survival
> stories. So when these population groups become tribes their
> particular customs and deep powers (we survive because we eat this
> at night or pray to this entity, etc.) provide the core "become an
> adult" initiation.
Exactly. Here's where the key difference between the various Orlanthi groups come up - not in their worship of Orlanth and the Storm Tribe (which is probably quite similar amongst the various Theyalan peoples), but in their "how do I become an adult" and "who are my people" mysteries.
> Tribal culture heroes taught style of dress, haircut, and tattoos
(the
> most physical appearances); ancestral worship methods, and
everyone
> that survived the Dark had a spiritual protector of some sort; or
> practices or philosophies, such as a preference for a cult,
> matrilineal property lines, etc.
Absolutely. And some of these protectors and customs are widely divergent. One folk survived by being wrapped up in a golden sheep's pelt and protected by the Ram God, another folk survived by subjagating themselves to the green elves, another folk survived by burying themselves in the warm earth and watched over by their grandmothers, yet another folk survived by leaving the world altogether. That sort of stuff. Lots of variation.
> They SHARE the fact that they all worship the Orlanth pantheon as
> their religious component. Even when Lokamayadon was trying to
replace
> Orlanth with High Orlanth he acknowledged that Orlanth and
Ernalda
> were the Greatest Gods. And even the local ways to worship the
Storm
> Pantheon are all based on the old Theyalan methods taught by the
> Lightbringer missionaries of the early Dawn. This broad method of
> spiritual practice unites the holy people across the
entire "barbarian
> belt."
Yes, this is key. A lot of people try to distinguish the various Orlanthi groups by altering the core Orlanthi pantheon. I don't think this is really the case - although I'm sure plenty of local gods (and foreign gods) are worshipped in different regions (but that is just the nature of polytheism) - the Ralians, Talastari, Manirians, and Sylillans all know the core Orlanth pantheon and the Lightbringers.
Not quite so sure about the Umathelans. They were probably so screwed up by the God Learners that they ended up with the weird system described by Sandy and David Dunham.
> On the Other Hand, the Talastarings, Ralian Orlanthi and Fronelan
> Orlanthi look towards Top of the World as their Great Mountain,
not
> Kero Fin. Same religion, but... different.
Exactly. The differences are subtle, but nonetheless present.
Jeff
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