Yelm in HQ2 (2013)

Submitted by DSPaul on Sun, 21/07/2013 – 22:17

So, I’m thinking about starting a intrigue-heavy Dara Happan campaign in HeroQuest 2nd ed., but I’ve run into a few problems with regards to Dara Happpan religion.  Namely, I can’t seem to figure out how the cult(s) of Yelm and associated deities are supposed to work.  I’ve run into references to:

  1. “Direct worship” of Yelm, for which only a few very high nobles are eligible

  2. Aspects of Yelm — Youth, Warrior, Priest and Noble

  3. Portions of Yelm, especially Antirius and Envirinus

  4. Emperor cults, like Murharzarm and Urvainirus.

It doesn’t help that the different sources I’ve found seem to contradict each other a great deal.  So, I’m asking you folks:  Which of the above are part of the “core” cult of Yelm, which are subcults, and which are seperate cults?  Who is eligible to worship and/or initiate into each?  And which are commonly worshipped at the end of the Third Age, as opposed to being purely mythic figures or obscure minor cults?

(If you’ve got time, I’m also wondering how to treat the various war gods; eg. Hastatus and Sagittus.  Are they subcults of Yelm, of Polaris, or something else?  And just who is the Young God, anyway?)

Submitted by Tim Ellis on Mon, 22/07/2013 – 10:21.

My understanding, such as it is, is that Initiation is much less common in Dara Happa than amongst the Orlanthi, with most people being “lay members” or “pantheon worshippers” or equivalent.   Of course what applies to “most people” and what applies to “Player Characters” may not bear much relationship…

I’m tempted to think that “portions of Yelm” and “aspects of Yelm” are the same thing, in the same way that “Orlanth Adventurous” is the same thing as “Orlanth Destor”, with Dara Happans eligible to worship those that match their status/position.  (a Yelm the Youth is a member of a yelmic noble family who is not serving as a warrior or priest and is not the head of a household).

Warrior Gods are, I think separate deities who acknowledge Yelm as the Emperor (as are the City gods, like Raiba (Raibanth), Shargash (Alkoth), Busserian (Yuthuppa) etc). 

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