A religious interpretation of Order of the Bow Initiate?

[Kae'Yoss]

Of course: A shot you took two ours to aim for isn't really perfect. It's easy to hit a target with a lot of preparation time. The good ones shood from the hip and still hit (though that hip thing doesn't really apply to archers..)

 

[diaglo]

go reread Hiawatha and the Pearl Feather by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

picture Hiawatha as an elf.

also try another phrase:

i shot an arrow into the air
where it landed i know not where

the simple pure experience of placing faith in the deity. he will guide your arrow and your life.

 

[Piratecat]

i shot an arrow into the air
where it landed i know not where

I tried this. As it turns out, my neighbor's scream provided a pretty good hint.

 

[Thalia]

... is almost word-for-word taken from a description of the philosophical underpinnings of Kyudo. Google for that and you'll have plenty of metaphysical stuff to work with.

True. Bows, and arrows in particular, are a strong motif in Shintoism (also Zen, but that came later.) For example, Japanese people go to a Shrine on New Year's Day and often buy a hamaya, or an "Arrow of Demon Slaying" (literally, this is what the Chinese characters mean.) These arrows are symbols of purification and truth. At the following New Year's Day one is supposed to return the arrow to the Shrine for it to be ritually burnt (to destroy the negative energy it has absorbed over the past year.) Also, the Japanese characters for medecine and healing contain the symbol for arrow, which is thought to stem from the "demon-exocising" power of the symbol. I played for a short time in an Oriental Adventures campaign where one player created a Shinto-esque archer-priest. Very cool.

 

[Hypersmurf]

The OotBI leaves that behind with his Ranged Precision ability.

Yes, but if the OotBI believe that only one shot is ever required, why do they require someone to be able to shoot more arrows per round than normal before they'll let them in?

-Hyp.

 

[Len]

So you're playing an elven cleric archer with the Elf and War domains, and you're going to take OotBI, and you're actually worrying about roleplaying? Wow. That's got to be a first.

Yes, but if the OotBI believe that only one shot is ever required, why do they require someone to be able to shoot more arrows per round than normal before they'll let them in?

Because it's an arbitrary measure of their skill. Like how you had to study Confucius to pass the civil service exams in ancient China.

 

[Chroma]

Yes, but if the OotBI believe that only one shot is ever required, why do they require someone to be able to shoot more arrows per round than normal before they'll let them in?

-Hyp.

Uh... they might be facing two foes? *laugh*

 

[diaglo]

Yes, but if the OotBI believe that only one shot is ever required, why do they require someone to be able to shoot more arrows per round than normal before they'll let them in?

1 shot per target. you may still need to fire at multiple targets.