Prevalence of sorcery use in the Middle Sea Empire

[Deleriad]

Something I've never quite understood is what is the spread of sorcery use in the West in Glorantha. For example, does a devout Jrustelan peasant know sorcery spells to help with their work? Or are they likely to just know some common magic?

More relevantly, would members of a mercenary band be likely to know sorcery or are sorcery using warriors more likely to be specialists from sorcery orders?

Reason I ask is partly to get a feel for what everyday life is like but also, simply, as a GM to help me decide whether NPCs are likely to know sorcery or not.

 

[Loz]

This is where sorcery and divine magic differ considerably in scope.

Many peasants and lower castes have access to divine magic through their cults. Sorcery, however, is order based which means committing to a cause over and above your day to day life. So I don't see the average Jrusteli peasant having access to sorcery unless they join the army, become actively engaged with the temple, or find some other way of getting on that path to power.

 

[duncan_disorderly]

This is where sorcery and divine magic differ considerably in scope.

Many peasants and lower castes have access to divine magic through their cults. Sorcery, however, is order based which means committing to a cause over and above your day to day life.

Also, most sorcerous societies are caste-based - so magic is the preserve of the Wizard/Sorceror/Zzaburi caste, and that pretty much guarantees that it will not be as common as divine magic.

Orlanthi Farmers will worship a farming god learn his magic
Malkioni Farmers will worship the Invisible God and church will cast its magic on their behalf...

Learning sorcery requires the mastery of Grimoires, so generally* will require literacy, so sorceror peasants are unlikely

However...
1) Some Malkioni churches have quite liberal views on Caste Mobility, so you might encounter a mercenary who has learned fighting skills in one caste and magic in another
2) A Mercenary band is likely to include a Wizard/Sorceror to cast spells on their behalf (just a party of D&D adventurers is likely to include a Cleric)
3) Some evil sorcerors may care little for caste restrictions and take apprentices wherever they can find them
4) I think you can find members of the Wizard Caste in many occupations, whose magic will come from an "occupational" Grimoire - there (raw) skills may or may not match other members of the profession (This is more likely to be true of the more "educated" occupations)


*Third Eye Blue metalworkers are Sorcery users and illiterate. I think they learn spells as "Songs", and the tattooed "third eye" is the physical representation of the link to the sorcery plane (it effectively acts as a talisman for casting the spell (Per HQ1))