Orlanth Initiates can now be Shamans or Sorcerers

[Gary Norton]

I stumbled across this change while familiarizing myself with Cults of RuneQuest Volume 2: The Lightbringers.

The earliest reference I could find preventing Orlanth Initiates from being a Shaman or Sorcerer is in the Avalon Hill magazine Heroes Volume 1, Number 4 (published in 1984). This magazine includes a long-form writeup of the Cult of Orlanth. Page 19, under Initiate Membership, specifies: "Initiates are forbidden to become either shamans or sorcerers." This prohibition is repeated in the Cult of Orlanth writeup in River of Cradles (published in 1992) on page 158; the verbiage was slightly tweaked to read "Initiates may not become either sorcerers or shamans."

Why do I believe this is a change? I have a copy of the Preview Edition of Gods of Glorantha from GenCon 2019. Page 265 (under Orlanth Initiate Membership) states: "Initiates are bound by cult likes and dislikes. They may not become either sorcerers or shamans." The official version of The Lightbringers volume (page 26) has removed the second sentence. The change appears to be deliberate.

Comparing the Preview Edition to the released version of The Lightbringers and The Earth Goddesses, the following cults have removed the prohibition regarding shamans and sorcerers: Orlanth, Barntar, Heler, Asrelia, and Grain Goddesses.

Per volumes 2 and 3, some Babeester Gor initiates are still prohibited from being a shaman or sorcerer. Caladra & Aurelion and Lhankor Mhy prohibit shamans, but allows sorcery. Ernalda, Eiritha, Flamal, Maran Gor, Foundchild, Odayla, Storm Bull, and Waha prohibit sorcerers, but allows shamans. [All of these are consistent with the Preview Edition.]

Since it appears that this change is deliberate, I wonder how this is reflected in the lore of Glorantha.

Option #1 (YGWV): So far as RuneQuest Glorantha is concerned, Orlanth initiates (along with the other cults) have always had the capability to become a shaman or sorcerer. 

Option #2 (Orlanth Returns): Orlanth is dead or dying during the Great Winter. With Orlanth's return, Orlanth has decided that his initiates can now become shamans and sorcerers. Unfortunately, this doesn't explain why some gods have changed their philosophy and other gods still maintain their prohibitions.

Option #3 (Sartar Magical Union): Argrath White Bull essentially takes over Orlanth worship in the Dragon Pass area and mandates that shaman and sorcerers are now welcome in the cult of Orlanth because he needs the magical power. Unfortunately, that doesn't explain why other areas of Orlanthi worship in Glorantha would allow shamans and sorcerers.

[Richard S.]

I think it's simply a change without a lore reason. There never really was a good reason for him to deny them, imo, especially because there's several groups of henotheist Orlanthi like the Chariot of Lightning and Invisible Orlanth. On the shaman side, I believe it was said that Kolat is going to be integrated as a shaman path for Orlanth Thunderous.

[General Confusion]

I believe it's simply a tweak in how the mechanics of the game interact with the lore. After all, there have always been shamans and sorcerers within Orlanthi society in various places; Kolati shamanic traditions, Lankhor Mhy sorcerers, draconic mystics, Chariot of Lightning henotheists, etc. So now those people can be mechanically accounted as 'initiates of Orlanth'; that's really the only change.

[PhilHibbs]

I quite like both of options #2 and #3 but I don't think that they are necessary unless you're in a long running game and this prohibition has come up in play and you want to change it in-world. It can equally be considered a game mechanical correction.

[Joerg]

Given that one of Orlanth's greatest heroes, King Heort, was a shaman, I am a bit on the fence about the shaman prohibition, but then Heort lived in an Age where there was no Cult of Orlanth, at least not with a living deity.

[Jeff]

22 hours ago, Gary Norton said:

I stumbled across this change while familiarizing myself with Cults of RuneQuest Volume 2: The Lightbringers.

The earliest reference I could find preventing Orlanth Initiates from being a Shaman or Sorcerer is in the Avalon Hill magazine Heroes Volume 1, Number 4 (published in 1984). This magazine includes a long-form writeup of the Cult of Orlanth. Page 19, under Initiate Membership, specifies: "Initiates are forbidden to become either shamans or sorcerers." This prohibition is repeated in the Cult of Orlanth writeup in River of Cradles (published in 1992) on page 158; the verbiage was slightly tweaked to read "Initiates may not become either sorcerers or shamans."

Why do I believe this is a change? I have a copy of the Preview Edition of Gods of Glorantha from GenCon 2019. Page 265 (under Orlanth Initiate Membership) states: "Initiates are bound by cult likes and dislikes. They may not become either sorcerers or shamans." The official version of The Lightbringers volume (page 26) has removed the second sentence. The change appears to be deliberate.

Comparing the Preview Edition to the released version of The Lightbringers and The Earth Goddesses, the following cults have removed the prohibition regarding shamans and sorcerers: Orlanth, Barntar, Heler, Asrelia, and Grain Goddesses.

Per volumes 2 and 3, some Babeester Gor initiates are still prohibited from being a shaman or sorcerer. Caladra & Aurelion and Lhankor Mhy prohibit shamans, but allows sorcery. Ernalda, Eiritha, Flamal, Maran Gor, Foundchild, Odayla, Storm Bull, and Waha prohibit sorcerers, but allows shamans. [All of these are consistent with the Preview Edition.]

Since it appears that this change is deliberate, I wonder how this is reflected in the lore of Glorantha.

Option #1 (YGWV): So far as RuneQuest Glorantha is concerned, Orlanth initiates (along with the other cults) have always had the capability to become a shaman or sorcerer. 

Option #2 (Orlanth Returns): Orlanth is dead or dying during the Great Winter. With Orlanth's return, Orlanth has decided that his initiates can now become shamans and sorcerers. Unfortunately, this doesn't explain why some gods have changed their philosophy and other gods still maintain their prohibitions.

Option #3 (Sartar Magical Union): Argrath White Bull essentially takes over Orlanth worship in the Dragon Pass area and mandates that shaman and sorcerers are now welcome in the cult of Orlanth because he needs the magical power. Unfortunately, that doesn't explain why other areas of Orlanthi worship in Glorantha would allow shamans and sorcerers.

Option 1 is the canonical answer.

[Jens]

I wonder if it was more of a cultural rather than a cult restriction- in Prax, for example, sorcerers are greatly disliked, while in Sartar shamans might be fine out in the hills but frowned on in “civilized” towns. With the Cults books representing their cult in all of Glorantha, not just Dragon Pass, they obviously need to represent areas like the West where sorcerers often join Orlanth, or Kolati communities where Orlanthi shamans are more common.