After some of the discussions on the digest about how an Orlanthi clan 'works' I remember Johh Hughes commenting to me that we needed to find something people could actually play. Some of the differences in presentation of the Orlanthi could be looked as: how complex you want your game to be?
Basic Glorantha - The Orlanthi all look like the Heortlings; local variations such as Esrolia and Malkonwal change a few parameters but not the overall model. This is enough for most people to play and be faithful to Glorantha. For Tarsh we have clans and tribes; local variations exist in that the tribal leaders are appointed by the King not elected, and Orlanth himself has been replaced by Earth cults such as Barntar, or Lunar gods. Newbies start here. G:IttHw lets you play at this level.
Advanced Glorantha - The Orlanthi models has room for regional variation. The basic precepts are the same but local differences create variations that add a lot of local color to the story: For Tarsh we still have clans and tribes, but the clans have been weakened. They no longer elect the tribal king, whose appointees are replacing the authority of the clan chiefs, leading to a decline in the relationship with the clan and an increase in the relationship with the tribe for justice and protection and the bloodline/family for support. Increasing urbanisation and lunar contact creates 'civilised' Orlanthi who begin to diverge from their rural cousins, in custom and organisation. Migrate to this level of detail if you want to. Hopefully TR lets us play at this level if we want to.
Digest Glorantha - Orlanthi model! The Orlanthi model is a God Learner fiction of unity in a diverse and individualised culture born of phallogocentric attitudes in Western culture. How can you speak of a single model for these people when each Heortling stead is unique in conditions of geography, individual relationships,history, and myth. Your attempt to impose your views on their identity is far more a reflection of your own prejudices than any understanding of how these people live. I've lived with these people, I've bled with these people. I wear their tattoos, I've worshipped their gods, made war on their enemies and had sex with them. I can tell you may be how the Solid Oak stead works, but not the Flower Meadow stead. For the seriously commited or confused only; requires long hours in libraries and on the mailing lists ;-)
Ian
PS Yes I am as guilty of the last as anyone.
Ian
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