best cult for a trollkin scribe?

[littlewitchmaus]

so! a major npc in the campaign i'm working on is a trollkin who makes his living as a scribe and a document collector amd i'm leaning towards him being an argan argar initiate (communication.)

does this sound reasonable or would there be a more suitable cult?

[Godlearner]

Great if he can join, but it would be hard. Perhaps some sort of a minor spirit cult.

[Jason Farrell]

Argan Argar sounds appropriate to me!

Edited December 5, 2023 by Jason Farrell

[Richard S.]

Why not Lhankor Mhy? He doesn't have any racial restrictions, and if your trollkin is free enough to be making his own living then he's probably outside of troll lands, so access to an LM temple shouldn't be a problem. No better cult for a scribe than the god of scribes!

Argan Argar is great for being an intermediary between trolls and humans, but not so much for paperwork.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Richard S.

[g33k]

I too like AA.
He's the great patron of "improved" Trollkin, after all.

Maybe also a lay-member in LM... likely, in fact!

Maybe even aspiring to dual-initiate?
(I haven't checked Cult Compatibility; but even if it's a problem, IMG a very-grateful LM high priest might be able to "arrange" an exception)

Edited December 11, 2023 by g33k
mis-autocorrected typo

[Jens]

33 minutes ago, g33k said:

I haven't checked Cult Compatibility

In the big table in the Cult Compendium LM is Neutral to AA while AA is Friendly to LM, so dual initiation shouldn't be a problem.

[French Desperate WindChild]

If he lives in troll culture then AA and why not, in addition, LM or Irripi Ontor (but imagine how he met the cult) 

if he lives in orlanthi culture then LM but in town not in clans land (well my Glorantha does not welcome strangers)

if he lives in lunar culture Irripi Ontor or maybe but it seems to me difficult (but I may be wrong) Buserian. I imagine Buserian is much much more difficult than IO because Buserian is (if I understand well) a light god

’

 

[Joerg]

Argan Argar has a literacy requirement for initiates and upward, which means they are lay members of LM almost by default. AA seems to be the go-to cult for troll literacy, and the cult is known to make the best use of trollkin, e.g. with the introduction of the spearkin.

[French Desperate WindChild]

35 minutes ago, Joerg said:

 

Argan Argar has a literacy requirement for initiates and upward, which means they are lay members of LM almost by default.

 

That is something I don’t understand (I m not challenging, just looking for a reason)

i have no issue in Orlanth pantheon, you learn r/w with THE cult providing literacy. That’s part of their role so of course you are at least lay member 

but in another culture, where there may be (probably ?) no LM initiate at all and where literacy is very implemented (AA, KL high level, etc…) why should they worship LM ?

[Joerg]

Argan Argar is deeply intertwined with the Theyalan or Unity Council. While the deity himself wasn't present for the Unity Battle or I Fought We Won, his son/avatar Ezkankekko (The Only Old One) was, and probably shaped the cult.

The Kitori Shadowlords were keeping the books on the Equal Exchange between the survival sites in the Silver Age and the Dawn Age.

The act of reading is a magical dedication to the Lord of Knowledge and Literacy. It may be low level, but it is done all over the world.

Whether all the literates go to visit a shrine to LM regularly to deposite a certain amount of magic points is a different question. I would not be surprised if some form of offering would be included in certain AA rites, though.

There ought to be a hero who developed the writing of Darktongue in darkness. There is a good chance that this entity does receive associate worship in AA rites.

[soltakss]

Argan Argar sounds good to me. A Trollkin Scribe would probably be powerful, or useful, enough to be able to join Argan Argar, after all, the cult fields phalanxes of trollkin spearmen.

[Godlearner]

On 12/4/2023 at 10:33 PM, Godlearner said:

Perhaps some sort of a minor spirit cult.

Rotus Penpusher

Dark custodian.

Rotus was smart. Very smart. Too smart for a Trollkin. That never ends well for one of its kind. From most of his kin aspire to stay out of the next serving of Kin soup, or as ball of the next Trollball championship. Rotus wanted more than to survive. He learned how to count and was taken on by an Argar Argar to care for his good. This lead Rotus to start a career of bookkeeping and janitorial duties. A loyal companion, Rotus was never much of a merchant, but no one was better of tracking and making sure the even the last Bolg was accounted for. Even after death he maintain his now everlasting vigil for bookworms and arithmetical errors.  

Rotus will his rune spell, as a Hero Cult, and bookkeeping skills to any pursuing the safe route of Maintenance.

CHARACTERISTICS

INT 12 POW 25 CHA 20

Move: 6

Runes: Darkness 60%, Law 100%

Rune Spells: Clean manuscript.

Skills: Craft (Restoration) 150%, Craft (Bookkeeping) 150%

 

Clean manuscript

1 Point

Ranged, instant, non-stackable, reusable (Law)

This spell is cast on a single book, scroll or manuscript. It immediately removes minor damage due to dirt or water damage and even restores tearing and handling. Cast on any script recently written, the spell will correct arithmetic errors. It does not perform spell or grammar checking.

[hasevir]

YGMV...but trollcults do kinda look down on trollkin and rarely allow one to join a real (troll!) cult. In that sense a human cult is oft easier.

Xiola umbar being offbeat here as is argan argar (full of humans too) to a lesser degree. And then there is Zo!-Rak!-Zo_ran! (2 slow one fast double drumbeat). Guess the 3 sibling darknesses seeing yelm the unseeable made them all a little weird.

Then there are the old school rules of no one below one 90% knowledge skill being eligble as a novice of lhankor mhy. Serve as a hang around busybody learning as you slave away until then. Merely worked and not beaten or eaten?? Paradise better than hell to a trollkin!

[littlewitchmaus]

thanks for the responses!

i've settled on him being an initiate of argan argar and a lay member of lhankor mhy (and this will allow him to set up shop in clearwine without it being too difficult and allows him to hire the pcs to retrieve scrolls and the like that would be of interest to both temples.)