> Is this decisive objective proof that the Axe Sisters don't (unwittingly
>worship Babeester Gor?
Nope.
> Well, if the Praxians who worship the Iron Man spirit are somehow interacting
>with an aspect of the god Humakt,
> why is it impossible for the Axe Sisters to be doing the same in relation to
>Babeester Gor? Though maybe the
> Iron Man is the spirit of an otherwise anonymous Humakti hero who came to Prax
>rather than Humakt itself
Iron Man was written up in that book about hero bands.
> Is the 'true identity' of the Axe Sisters' spirit relevant in play in most
>circumstances
> -- on reflection, probably not (other than perhaps to a God-learner).
I'd say practically never.
> Maybe a Theyalan familiar with Babeester Gor would look at the Axe Sisters and
>see 'misapplied' Babeester Gor worship?
I think that is pretty much what happened during the first age (without the rules label). Remember that this was an age when scattered pockets of surviving humanity were discovering each other and finding that their stories had a lot of commonality. From that evolved the common worship of Ernalda and Orlanth among the Orlanthi peoples. With that background, what dawn-ager, arriving at the Paps, would not immediately think of Babester Gor when first encountering the Axe Sisters? (Especially after discovering that Storm Bull and Urox are definitely the same Bull.) Of course, we seem to find out at the end of every age (especially the second) that mythic correspondence does not mean identity.
I prefer that the Axe Sisters have a specific Praxian origin -- they are not just a first age Heortling import. I doubt that it would fit well within the canon, since we have all "known" for a long time that Axe Daughter is "really" Babester Gor, but we don't actually have to change that. The Axe Daughter might be misapplied worship to Babester Gor. Since the Axe Sisters are such a small group, I've never really thought about what their magic would be like beyond the guardian-level magic that the Axe Daughter provides them.
(Here is my preference on the story: Axe Daughter was a wild child of Eiritha and Storm Bull. Like her father, she was untamable. She acted like a bull, always trying to fight the other cows. So Eiritha sent her to Tada. Tada taught her the fighting dances that the Tada-shi learned. When Tada buried Eiritha to protect her from death, he left the Axe Daughter behind to protect her from rape. From the survivors of the darkness, she gathered women who were her spirit sisters. She was there when Waha was born and gave him gifts on his birthday. Any truth in this story would pose an insurmountable problem for correspondence to Babester Gor. But I would think that their origin stories are deeply guarded secrets.)
> Or maybe they would just see some barbarian women with axes doing their own
>thing?
>
I suspect that's what Heortling women would think if they visited the Paps at
any time after the end of the second age. During the seocnd age, they would be
certain that this is Babester Gor. (Whether they are right or wrong is a
different question.)
> For their part, surely most Axe Sisters would carry on doing what they had
>always done regardless of what the Outlanders
> think of it. Being an Axe Sister must be a big commitment (both spiritually and
>as a lifestyle choice), so they are unlikely
> to give up what they devote their lives to on a whim, or because of whatever
>some Outlander tells them.
Every Axe Sister weilds the answer for Outlanders who intrude into mysteries that are not theirs.
> What if a curious Axe Sister somehow saw, and was impressed by, the feats she
>saw a Babeester Gor devotee perform
> and wanted to learn how to copy them. Would the Babeester Gor cultist try to
>convert the Axe Sister?
The cultural barriers would be very high, so I don't think this would happen. The Babester Gori would first have to convert her to theistic worship, which is completely foreign to the Axe Sister. "Why are we to cut open the sheep? Argh! You didn't send its spirit back to its mother using the peaceful cut! Curse you!" And she must then re-contextualize the Axe Daughter's stories within the context of Ernaldan mythology. Every time the Babester Gori attempted this re-characterization, she would run afoul of serious differences between what she is suggesting and the unspoken mysteries that the Axe Sister already knows. "What do you mean that SHE sprung out of the earth fully armed? Then how do you explain the coursing of the sickle?" (I just made that up. I have no idea what it is. But neither would the Babester Gori, whose ignorance would call into question her claimed knowledge of the deepest identities.)
So both worshipers would see huge differences at the surface. They would also see additional differences as they learn about each other more. Only a deep mystic would go beyond those levels to say that the two are really the same. Those are rare enough that I would say that the Babester Gori would not make the attempt or would soon abandon it.
And, as Peter points out, what would the Babester Gori's motivation be? I don't
really see them as having a big outreach ministry. Either the goddess has
obviously called you or she hasn't. Her followers would not be well-known for
recognizing shades of gray. So any conversion attempt would have to be at the
order of some grand-high-muckety-muck. And if that's the case, then you already
have at least one answer that some earth mystic somewhere believes it well
enough to invest temple resources in it.
> However even if she did, would this process in any way depend on whether the
>Axe Sisters' spirit was or was not an aspect of Babeester Gor?
I would think that the underlying truth would matter a lot, if someone were to
find a way of testing whether it was true. Since the Axe Sisters are unlikely to
ever grow beyond the size of a hero band, I don't see it happening. If it does
in your campaign, then you will have an answer.
Peter:
> Given that the Romans saw Wotan as Mercury and Thor as Hercules,
Great analogy! To carry it out more explicitly, the many versions of Babester Gor that the first age Heortlings discovered when they found each other again were like Mercury and Hermes -- different names, similar stories, but ultimately recognized to be the same thing. But the comparison to Axe Daughter is like saying Wotan is Mercury/Hermes. There are some similarities, and maybe you worship in Axe Daughter's temple when you are there, but Axe Daughter surely feels foreign on many, many levels.
Chris
Powered by hypermail