[Glorantha] Cult distribution

[Donald R. Oddy]

In message <f91200f10512071118h38878591k9dd7e3e0059885d0 at mail.gmail.com> Jeff Richard writes:
>Donald writes:
>
>>>In my list, Erantha Gor is one of the minor minor goddesses.  Amongst
>>>the Colymar, they'd all be at the Clearwine Earth Temple.
>>So the vast majority of Ernaldan temples - those used by the
>>thousands of women who don't go the Clearwine regularly - don't
>>have any guardians?
>
>The vast majority of Sartarite clans have - IMO - no Erantha Gor
>initiates. They rely upon their wyter and upon the general power of
>Erantha or Babeester Gor to protect the clan rituals, not upon the
>initiates of those goddesses.

That's assuming that there are no myths which require someone to
take the part of Erantha or Babeester Gor. While a Vingan or even 
a female Helering will do at a pinch it's going to be mythically
a poor fit. Given that there are very few Ernaldan myths published
and some of those require a these parts it's more than likely
most clans have a few worshippers. Indeed the initiation myth
which Greg wrote for the website implies such parts.

>There are probably a few Babeester or Erantha Gor initaties at the
>Clearwine Earth Temple.
>
>FWIW, I think the cult is more popular in Tarsh and Esrolia.  Around
>Wintertop, I suspect the cult distribution for women is significantly
>different from Sartar.

I agree there will be far more in both those places. What I don't
think is that there's a clear border. Many clans trace their roots
to Esrolia and others will have links with the Tarshite clans
around Wintertop. In such cases they may well provide the core of 
the clan warband - say twenty Erantha Gori rather than twenty
Humatki.

>>Even if we assume clan temples catering to congregations of five
>>to six hundred that's a couple of dozen assuming they are required
>>purely for ritual purposes, with more at Clearwine.
>
>Why a couple of dozen?  In most cases, the two Door Guards will be
>carved stone pillars, not people.  In all of Sartar, I doubt there 
>are more than 150 Erantha Gor initiates.

A couple in each clan, for ritual as I explain above. Yes stone
pillars will do for a lot of purposes but not all.

In relation to this I split your figures between male and females
as follows:

                 Total   Male    Female

Chalana Arroy     100     15       85
Elmal             300    300       -
Eurmal             25     15       10
Heler             120     60       60
Humakt            120    100       20
Issaries          100     50       50
Lhankor Mhy       100     50       50
Odayla            120    100       20
Urox              100     85       15
Vinga             120     -       120
Yinkin            100     50       50
Others            120     50       50

Now that gives a total of 875 males in minority cults but only
530 females whereas I would expect about 700 each. So either
the is a social reason why women are much less inclined to
choose other gods or we're missing some cults.

As a first stab at resolving this I suggest there should be
120 Erantha Gori and that the Vingan figure is the traditional
Vingan fighter. In addition there are another 50 who have
joined Vinga as a route to cults such as Orlanth Carl. The
numbers of men want reducing to bring that in line with the
one in seven proportion but that can be in proportion to
the numbers.

>I've used one in ten as a general rule.  One in a hundred means your
>player characters are usually all the devotees of a clan.:)

Even now when there are lots of reasons to remain an initiate?
But I agree in that case it will be higher.

From: Orlanth Umathi <orlanth.umathi at blueyonder.co.uk>

>I Think we have to be careful here. It is perfectly possible for any 
>reasonable candidate to fill in for a mythological guardian figure 
>without being an initiate. I suspect there is a roster in operation 
>where various people fill such roles depending on the significance of 
>the day.

I agree, if it's a guardian of the earth role the list will go
something like Erantha Gor, Babeester Gor, Vinga, female Helering
and then you're stuck. Ernalda and her subcults are a horribly
bad fit and I don't think men are allowed to take those parts.
Even if some Ernaldans do some fyrd training they are going to
struggle to cope with the mythalogical role as warrior.


From: Simon Phipp <soltakss at yahoo.com>

Donald R. Oddy:
 
>> So the vast majority of Ernaldan temples - those used by the
>> thousands of women who don't go the Clearwine regularly - don't
>> have any guardians?

>I've always assumed that Erantha Gor was one of the Scary Earth 
>Goddesses, worshipped at the Kero Fin temples and alongside Maran 
>Gor in a few places, but not really worshipped everywhere.
>
>Babeester Gor is my Earth Guardian of choice, although Vinga should 
>perform some guardian duties. Certainly between the two, there's no 
>need for any more scary worshippers.

There's been a long and convoluted debate on Babeester/Erantha/
Maran Gor. I understand the official line (based on Storm Tribe 
and a write up in Tarsh in Flames) is that Erantha Gor is the
Guardian of the Earth while Babeester Gor is the Earth's Avenger.
By my reckoning that makes Erantha more common than Babeester.

-- 
Donald Oddy
http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/