>I mean, are these ceremonial
>types constantly performing "raise the sun" rituals, sort of thing?
>It seems to impinge upon the Malkioni veneration idea... chief
>priests who may never need any magic appropriate for adventuring, or
>crafts, or whatever - what is THEIR magic? Are they just "blessing
>the country" all day?
It's reasonable to assume that, if the ceremonial types were indeed full-time "ritualists," their activities would also involve divination, guidance, and meddling in the business of ruling. A High Priest of the Sartari (should their be such a thing) might spend a lot of time receiving reports from agents on what is going on in the kingdom -- are the Balmyr and the Sambari bugging each other? Maybe rituals for peace and prosperity are called for. Has the barley crop done badly? Perhaps the godar of the Barley Mother and Minlister need to be consulted to make sure the nation has enough beer. On a kingdom-wide scale, especially, I suspect the question is not what rituals you know, but what rituals should be used now.
At a national High Priest level (or even a Tribal level), I can't imagine that the Priest will have much in the way of "adventuring" abilities. They aren't too likely to risk themselves by going off and whacking broos (unless they take a Julius II-style view of religious involvement). If you wanted a patron who would give PCs an excuse to wander around, doing adventuring things, this might be a good excuse -- the Tribal High Priest needs to know what the clans and neighboring tribes are up to, so she sends out a motley band of promising young things to get intelligence.... The players get to move from "clan and cows" to a wider level of political action. If you're playing in the right time periods, this could include making nice with Lunars (allowing a Lunar/Heortling mixed group with all the intrigue and backstabbing that implies), wandering all over Sartar, going to Pavis, Tarsh, or Esrolia, and so on, with frequent visits home to get debriefed, check on the herds, and watch your love-interests marry other people (it's a proud and lonely thing to work for the High Priest...).
Peter
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