Re: How rare is it to know the secret of a god?

From: Brian Curley <bkcurley_at_hZdyF9aT9a9HhM-iuwWiqEIb2QUG-Mz8Up8-4n3hLzZWq7hQS6jcneax8xUYdHE8bLg>
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:30:37 -0500

Roderick and Ellen Robertson wrote:
>> I'll tell you whose secret is rare indeed, if played by the rules. Valere
>> Addis. If I remember correctly, in order to learn her secret, you first
>> have to attain a high position in a lunar cult, devote a bucketload of
>> heropoints, then join Valere Addi, abandon your old cult, squander those
>> magical affinities/feats/grimoires you had in your old cult, become and
>> ordinate raise Valeres affinities to 1W2 and then use 3 heropoints to
>> learn
>> her secret. That's because only ordinates can learn secrets and ordinates
>> have to forget all magic that is not from their own lunar immortal.
>>
>> That's what the rules imply. How well does this model Glorantha?

> 
> VA is an extremely rare cult. But you don't have to go through all that 
> rigamarole you give above. VA was a "natural" - ab;le to understand 
> Illumination without any training. And that's the only requirement to join 
> VA - be "Be approved by the illumination council".   Yes, you *could* have 
> gotten there through "high position in a lunar cult", or you could be a 
> "natural", too.

I think this is expressed in the HQ rules. "Impressing the Examiners" or something like that. It states that the requirements for becoming a devotee, and by extention, learning a secret aren't strict "rules". If you can succeed at the contest, and the narrator agrees (natch), you can become a devotee with an ability score of 17 (or whatever).

Who gives a rip? If it's interesting, it happens.

BKC