>1. Blood over Gold states that in some of the
>islands off the coast of Wenelia there is a
>profession (the Propitiators) devoted to the
>propitatiory worship of various sea gods in
>order to keep the Mer-people on side. What sort
>of magic/worship do the Propitiators perform, at what cost:
It depends on their religious system - if they are theists they will sacrifice etc.
> and what benefit do they derive from it?
It depends on what the sea-god is being propitiated.
Manthi - general sea issues such as floods. Tholania - freedom from ordinary sea monsters Magasta - whatever cthuloid horror climbs up from the depths
>In Runequest terms, I see the gods, spirits
>etc., of the Islanders' religion as being a
>hotch-potch of spirit cults (some of which mayÂ
>be mixed/misapplied worship, as some of the
>spirits may be gods whom the mer-people worship
>theistically), although I'm not sure if I would
>describe a propitiator as a shaman-- though
>he/she is probably more like a shaman than a
>conventional sorceror, priest or mystic).
I think the word you are struggling for is Spirit-talker.
>[Handra] had an arrangement with the Merfolk
>based on tribute and trade. Is this a wholly
>secular arrangement under which the Handrans pay
>tribute in exchange for protection, or does it
>have a religious dimension of propitiatory worship.
Since the Handrans get goodies from the sea-floor
under control of the Seamen's guild in
return for weapons and other manufactures, it is
neither tribute nor propitiary worship.
--Peter Metcalfe
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