>How do the buildings and people group in a Herotling (Sartarite
>highlands) tula?
Well, the sample clan in TR has about 20 small hamlets scattered over its tula, each home to about 50-60 people and containing about half-a dozen longhouses each.
Personally, I see this as being a typical distribution in uplands, poor-quality land, sheep country - and areas where there are no serious, organised threats to the clan.
In rich agricultural areas, I'd expect to see a large central village holding most of the clan's population, surrounded by fields (for barley, cows, or both). This arrangement makes it easier to redistribute the clan's land between bloodlines if necessary - more importantly, it's a much more defensible arrangement: only one settlement to fortify instead of 20, and *all* your warriors are within shouting distance. This also seems to be the route taken in KoDP.
Possibly, the scattered approach is more common in Sartar and Heortland (hilly), the nuclear village approach in Tarsh and Esrolia (flat). Another excuse for culture clash...
A clan which has taken the scattered-hamlet approach might still build a central fortification (doubtless of the hillfort description) that all of the people could relocate to in times of emergency. This could also contain ritual buildings, and may in time become a permanent settlement itself.
Stephen
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