Something that I consider a bad hangover from the HW days of infinite subcults is the idea that everything needs a special cult assigned to it. That’s not really the case in RQ. Instead:
Cult: That’s the standard cult as it is most broadly worshiped.
Subcult: That a localised version of the cult – often associated with a cult hero – that typically has a special Rune spell. A few subcults are really important and found in lots of places – Orlanth’s two three aspects, Yelm Imperator, etc. But most are pretty minor, and are most often the result of some hero that brought a Rune spell or specialised training to a temple, and it caught on. Sometimes subcults get called hero cults just to make it clear that the hero is being worshiped as part of the cult. Sometimes the hero revealed something important about the god and others followed in the path, widening the understanding.
Now something else – I don’t really buy the whole anthropological approach to Gloranthan deities. I say that despite having read quite a lot of anthropology and history of religion, etc. Why you might ask?
Let’s start with this – in Glorantha the gods are empirically REAL. You can experience them, wield their power, and experience their events. This is part and parcel with Glorantha being a FLAT WORLD, with a SKY DOME, and the Sun physically entering the underworld every dusk only to return at dawn.
This puts a different twist on things than saying something is anthropologically valid. As Greg put it to me some years ago, anthropologists don’t summon Thunderbolt to prove a point.
