Paladins in other cultures...

[David]

...or, would a paladin of Ra REALLY get a war-horse?

Okay, most of the abilities and restrictions of a paladin are appropriate regardless of a paladin's culture. That is, except one...the warhorse.

Ya'see, not all cultures rode horses and some didn't even have 'em at all. So, saying paladins from these cultures get a horse-buddy doesn't really make sense. While I can't offer a case-by-case, here are a few ideas:

Oerdian gods -- for the most part, horses are fine

Greek gods -- horses are cool, but for an extra-special quest pegasai, hippogriff, griffons, and their ilk are also totally appropriate

Egyptian gods -- these people didn't ride horses. I can see (for a special quest) paladins of Ra gaining a daytime-only chariot that zooms down like a fireball and can carry them anywhere the sun touches at amazing speed. For paladins of Horus, a giant eagle seems to make more sense. For paladins of Osiris I'm at a bit of a loss -- maybe the SPIRIT of a horse?

Norse gods -- horses work, but special quests for boars or bears also really work.

Celtic gods -- horses are best, but, like the Norse, other critters work too

Zakharan gods -- horses are good, but so too are camels or (for an extra-tough quest) a small roc

Hindu gods -- horse work for some gods, but a mount like the god's mount would work just as well (all of the Hindu deities have a special animal associated with them as a steed).

Chinese and Japanese gods -- horses are good, especially for the Japanese, although perhaps a paladin of Amaterasu who does a really special quest could get some sort of daylight-based transport instead?

Touv (African) gods -- yeah, no horses, except maybe as a meal

Olman (Mesoamerican) gods -- uh, what are those strange beasts with four legs and hooves? Totally inappropriate, although flying serpents or other more "divine" modes of transport work well

Amerind gods -- see Olman

[Admin]

Ya know...what about clerics...Arianna has wanted a Pegasus for years and years...what would a cleric need to do in order to get special mount? I've done quite a few "special quests."

Of course, in her current state and w/ the state of the world being what it is, the answer may not help her much right now...but I'm thinking more in general for all clerics "someday."

[David]

Good question, Kari.

Basically, it's a class ability of paladins to call for a warhorse. If a cleric would like the same thing, I would think they would have to do a quest first for the RIGHT to do so, and then the traditional quest to get the steed.

As for quests "already accomplished," in all mythologies of all cultures I'm familiar with, it is mankind's duty to struggle and work on the behalf of the divine; the gods don't really owe us anything. They created us and our job is to do as we're told (with the Babylonians being more harsh and the Norse being far less so, but basically it's all the same).

So, previous quests would "open the door" to doing another quest, to earn the right to do a quest, to get a special steed (and probably make a truly special steed far more likely), but otherwise, that's all water-under-the-bridge.