This situation is beautiful. No really... Kinstrife is the gaping wound at the heart of the Orlanthi way, everpresent, and insolvable, its theodicy and theomachy, its eternal hurt. Kinstrife can never really be solved. That Mark is playing a Far Walker campaign is doubly ironic, for kinstrife has been the curse of the Farlanders ever since the family of Taros Ridgeleaper led them out of far Bilini. It looms large upon all the actions of the ancestors, it drags the clans down into despair, right down to the Yelmalio/Storm troubles of the present day.
Ok, lets go through the options:
Half-brother:
If same mother but different fathers, or several other, less likely combinations of marriage and residency, then the brothers could be of different clans. No kinstrife. (This is pretty unlikely, but worth stating explicitly). Kinship is everything. Most likely, the brothers are close kin, in fact the closest kin of all. Heortling kinship is based around brothers working together, so the brother-brother bond is as close and as sacred as that between mother and child.
Humakti:
If severed, and working according to divine example, then no kinstrife.
Outlaw:
Heortling Law makes the distinction between lesser and permanent banishment.
For example, the customary settlement slaying a high priestess or chieftain
or healer is full outlawry, while slaying a thane or hearthmistress is five
hands of seasons (five years) outlawry plus five hands of cows. (TR 42).
TR 43-44 describes the distinction: Lesser outlawry or banishment is temporary, and exiles must stay away from clan lands for the specified period, but will be accepted again as full kin. In paying so many cattle in the settlement, the outlaw's kin certainly expect him to return and work hard! . IMG temporary outlaws are in most senses still full kin.
Full exiles however, are beyond kin, beyond law, beyond Orlanth. They may be killed with impunity. No kinstrife.
Gagarthi:
I suspect that joining Gagarth would involve a renunciation of kinship rite,
even if you were not a permanent exile The writeup states that a newcomer
must offer 'proof of outlawry' and I would take this to mean vile oaths
renouncing kinship. IMG, Gagarthi are not kin, even though their actions may
occasionally be tempered by sentimentality towards former kin. Hence the
tension in the writeup that states Gagarthi must be outlaws, while also
stating that:
"Overall, the people of Far Point fear and despise the Wolves. However, there are times when they would rather placate than fight them, especially when ***kinship*** is involved."
See Mark Galeotti's writeup at
http://www.glorantha.com/hw/heroband_gagarthwolves.html
For me, this is an example the deep ambivalence and fear of kinstrife that most Orlanthi will feel towards outlaws and former kin. They would rather not kill any outlaw, unless they directly threaten life. They would rather respect former kin than hunt them down, even after the most deadly crime. Except for those deeply warped by chaos, it would be expected that shame would force the outlaw far from his native lands.
Severing in law is one thing, but you cannot undo the deep ties of sentimentality, love and tradition. The rite to cure kinstrife (ST 205) can only cure the deep hurt associated with it, and then only after a long time. An 'empty place' always remains: kinstrife itself always remains, the gaping wound at the heart of the Orlanthi Way.
Gagarth and his outlaws are part of the Sacred Order, as well as outside it. This is a clear contradiction, it is also a heartfelt truth.
This is the way I would play the hunt for a half-brother. By all legal accounts it would be a clean, clear killing, but it still should be attempted with a deep sense of reservation and fear and regret, accompanied by ill-omens and a gathering sense of evil wyrd. Hearts will be broken even if the slayer's sword is not. Or Humakt will work his wyrd upon the breath of the slayer, that he do what he must, and he will become more distant and joyless forever.
YGMV :) John
nysalor_at_... John HughesQuestlines: http://home.iprimus.com.au/pipnjim/questlines/
And if the earthly no longer knows your name, Whisper to the silent earth: I'm flowing. To the flashing water say: I Am.
Powered by hypermail