The Sartarites will say that Than was an evil god who stole heads for
his own vile uses.
Yet how different are his actions from that of Orlanth who slew the
Celestial Dragon and
now swaggers around the heavens with its head in its belt? Cults of
Terror speaks of a
headless monster taking heads in the fens of Snakepipe Hollow but this
may be little more
than mythic slander against a successful tribe that followed Orlanth's
traditions to survive.
After all the Vingkotling Kings turned themselves into wolves and feed
on human flesh to
survive yet Vingkot's heirs are still remembered with respect!
What I propose is that Than be treated as a patron deity of headhunting
(ie his worshippers
have the magical knowledge to make heads) and that as well as being
worshipped within the
cult of Thanatar, he can also be worshipped by Orlanth (and possibly
Shargash and Zorak
Zoran but that's not important right now). Yes his cult is still hated
and feared and condemned
as chaotic but the worship of Ana Gor (the Goddess of Human Sacrifice)
was also persecuted
down through the ages yet still survives.
--Peter Metcalfe