hipsterinspace

Most adulthood initiations happen in the initiand's early teens, and as mentioned previously, the rites are conducted based on what bits they were born with. It's a rite of passage that generally coincides with the beginning of puberty, so the Ernaldan adulthood initiation happens at menarche while the Orlanthi adulthood initiation happens in cohorts every few years. It is about becoming a member of the clan and tribe, understanding what it means to have the responsibilities of kinship and community, and experiencing through the gods what one's role in that community is going to be. After, they become lay members in the cult they intend to initiate into to and begin an apprenticeship period of two or so years where the initiand learns what it means to be a full member of their cult. They are taught the specifics of their social/vocational roles and the mysteries of their cult, at the end of which they sacrifice their characteristic POW to formally initiate into the cult. It seems rather straightforward to assume that the cult skills represent that two year apprenticeship period. Though I'd imagine most people would probably have some idea beforehand, during adulthood initiation the initiand is chosen by a god and experience that god. Pointedly, not all vingans are Vingans, not all nandani are Nandani, where they go depends on that direct personal experience of the divine rather than the particulars of their gender identity (also, Nandani are just regular Ernaldans in terms of cult). So, while the ordeal may begin as a gender-normative Orlanthi or Ernaldan ritual, their experience is wholly personal and can go in a much different direction.

People often forget the utility of common rune magic, especially Heal Wound, which means that even if you’re just part of the missionary cult—not one of the specialist individual Mother’s cults—there is still plenty of useful magic available to you. Add to that the Jakaleel shamans being able to teach an initiate just about any spirit magic (plus cultists of the associated Etyries can trade spirit magic spells), and the potential to transfer into more specialized cults down the line, it’s not a bad deal magically. Add to that the social benefits of conversion, especially in a place like occupied Sartar, and it’s understandable why some people took that bargain despite the hostility of their kinfolk.

I think the primary intersection of Ernalda and Esrola as the six sisters is actually here. Rather than Ernalda, Esrola is the goddess and sister that represents the physical land of Ernaldela, she is immanent as the earth itself. Ernalda is of course still present in the land, but as the unifying power within all earth, what she seems to have inherited from Gata.

I think the important question to ask and answer is why this elf is adventuring with humans. As you say, Elves are often insular and mysterious, but to be among human adventurers, even if they are elf friends, probably requires some sort of a reason accepted by both parties, and from there you might be able to cobble together more of a history of how that cooperation came about.

In the Sourcebook (and elsewhere) it is stated that Humakt, alongside Uleria, was illuminated by Rashorana during the Great Darkness. They are pointed out as the only entities who listened to Rashorana and were strengthened by those teachings rather than being corrupted by chaos or surrendering to be annihilated by it. Every living being is born and every living being eventually dies, and during those occasions (even for chaos creatures) Uleria and Humakt are present, respectively. Yelm is more difficult, but I think one of the biggest parts of his illumination is that presence of both Life and Death within him. He was able to reconcile his internal opposites, Humakt and Uleria, accepting his place in the world as a manifestation of the endless cycle of death and rebirth.

There is a known Troll hero of the Blue Moon listed in the Prosopaedia, Bina Bang.

Veskarthan/Lodril’s son, Oakfed, actually has a pretty important spirit cult in Prax and elsewhere. He’s the great spirit of wildfires and would be known to many shamans. In Prax he’s a friend to Waha, but he also does his own thing, he is a wildfire after all. He appears in the RQG core book as an example of a spirit cult. Even though Lodril doesn’t have defined cult shamans, there’s nothing to stop a Horned Man shaman from joining the cult and connecting with Lodril both as the great spirit who lives in/is The Vent, and as a figure from the god time with deep secrets for heroes.

Personally, I would cast them as portions/aspects/names of Ernalda and worshipped through the wider Ernalda cult—the Prosopaedia implies as much. Outside of wisdom, magic, and heroes, Delaina is also the patron goddess of the city of Rhigos. It wouldn’t be a surprise for her to be venerated as a city goddess there, with the current Queen of Rhigos, the Demivierge, as her high priestess. I would imagine Delaeo receives veneration and offerings regularly by the nobility in Nochet, with Queen Samastina belonging to her namesake Great House. They all seem to fit within the wider Ernalda complex, similar to Esrola, so I don’t see why they would be split off as separate cults when Ernalda worship is likely to have hundreds of local variants, names, and unique traditions in the land she lives in and calls home.

This is probably rooted in Balazar's god, Tharkantus, the version of Yelmalio that arose to oppose the EWF. Balazar brought Tharkantus/Yelmalio to the lands that would take on his name, and some version of Yelmalio continues to be venerated in the citadels into the Third Age. I believe Monrogh may have passed through Balazar in his journeys.

There are also literal and figurative magic roads between many places, some of which serve to shorten travel times pretty significantly. In a highly urbanized society like Fonrit, as awful a place as it is, there are likely to be those sorts of networks that were established to deal with effects of the closing, when the much more efficient overseas trade and travel became impossible. This post deals with travel between Lowland Peloria, Dragon Pass, and Kethaela, but it probably wouldn’t be too hard to extrapolate for elsewhere with the Argan Argar Atlas’s hex map. As for ocean travel, this post has some useful guidelines.

Chalk Man, a fairly notable spirit, also has the luck rune. He is said to always know the odds of any contest, among other things.

This kind of othering isn’t necessarily subtextual to the elder races as much as it’s fully textual to in-world beliefs about the Hykimi animists, especially in the case of their relationship with the Malkioni. The peoples of Danmalestan colonized lands that were once the territories of many different Hykimi groups, with conflicts like Akem breaking the Eleven Beasts Alliance punctuating much of their early history. In the wake of this, some of them assimilated with the Malkioni (or other non-Hykimi groups), like the Pendali of Seshnela, while others continued to fight back, like the Telmori, who would side with Nysalor in an attempt to take their revenge on Akem and their other foes. There’s actually a pretty wide cultural variance within different groups of the same elder race, even if they speak the same language and follow the same traditions. The Uz of Dagori Inkarth are culturally distinct from those of the Shadow Plateau, likely in part due to very the thing that seems to keep the elder races relatively united in purpose: the strength of their traditions of ancestral worship. Dagori Inkarth is more culturally “trollish” and suspicious of humans than the relatively more cosmopolitan trolls of the Shadow Plateau, likely because they’re ruled by Mistress Race trolls and, as such, more strongly Kyger Litor-aligned, while their Argan Argar cult lacks the same prestige as the one in the lands once ruled by his son. More broadly, the strength of Kyger Litor and Aldrya, the respective ancestral mother goddesses of the Uz and Aldryami peoples, seems to be the key part of understanding why they remain so much more unified (and distinct from humans) as cultures.

They have a rather hostile relationship. They are peoples with ancient grievances from the time when they were on the opposite sides of the Gbaji war, the Telmori remain tainted by chaos from their association with the one who inflicted the trollkin curse on the Uz mother goddess.

As others have mentioned, Aldryami are specifically tree-people, not just plant or nature. Very closely tied into that is the fact that Prax actually used to be a gigantic forest of redwood trees before the dawn. During the darkness the forest was clear-cut and fed to Oakfed (likely along with it's Aldryami denizens) to keep the people from freezing to death, and the elves still really resent that.

Per this post from David Scott: “A spirit society is a collection of spirit cults that are culturally shared. Your rune points go into a shared pool, but you still have to ally each spirit individually.” It seems straightforward enough to me.