>A discussion on another list raised a question: Why isn't Barntar a
>subcult of Orlanth in _Thunder Rebels_? Instead, he's a very minor
>cult in _Storm Tribe_.
>
>More generally, how does farming magic work in Sartar? The main farmer
>subcult of Orlanth, Durev, provides magic for work, making things, and
>being a father, but nothing specific for dealing with domesticated
>plants and animals. There's an "Orlanthcarl" subcult for farmers, but
>_Thunder Rebels_ lists it as archaic (like Varanorlanth -- Orlanth the
>Wild). There's also an Orolmarn herder subcult, but that has no magic
>for dealing with crops.
>
>One interpretation is that most men don't have farming magic, but
>depend on women who worship Esrola for it. Another (broached on the
>other list) is that Barntar is more important, and more closely-tied
>to Orlanth, than _Thunder Rebels_ lets on.
It's pretty clear men have farming magic while women have crop magic. If it's a task to do with preparing the earth, protecting or harvesting the crop then there should be a man's cult which has relevant magic. If it's a task related to making the crop grow then it belongs in a subcult of Esrola.
Now the reason both Orlanthcarl and Barntar are minority cults is that they are cults for Carls. Their strongest magic is to do with handling the plough team, something which is entirely useless to the majority of men. Orolmarn is also a specialist herder.
My view is that a few specialists in each clan are enough to provide all the magic required in normal circumstances. Just as a few initiates of Esrola provide all the crop magic for the clan. It's why the clan structure is so important to Heortling society, it supports the specialists which make everyone's work more valuable.
>Making Barntar a subcult of Orlanth could create problems for past
>Sartar Rising materials, however. For example, it would prevent
>former Orlanthi in Lunar lands from worshipping him.
Even if Barntar were a subcult of Orlanth in Sartar it doesn't mean he can't be a separate cult elsewhere. Tarsh in Flames indicates that the Lunars accept at least some of the subcults of Orlanth as separate cults. So the Allfather subcults in Sartar aren't going to have much problem if they don't argue about religion and politics in public.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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