First, from one of the Lagerwater tales ...
"On the day that Harlii Virginland was born, the sun rose twice. It was such a wondrous tale, so simple in the telling, yet full of truth and joy and beauty, and it was a favourite in all the hunting camps of the upland Tresdarnii. In its gifting, it seemed as rich in laughter and sunlight as Harlii's own face.
Arki Bark-carver, her mother's brother, loved to tell the story, and repeated it often, huddled round the tremulous night fires skinning and rubbing the fresh-butchered hides. He said it was his favourite, except perhaps for the 'Mongoose Mating Song' and 'Teeth in the Wrong Places'.
He said that Harli walked with a great goddess. Harli knew this of
course, for her mother held the rites of the salt licks and so was
revered in all the five camps. Like
Odayla Wildson, Harlii had no father, only her mother and her
mother's brothers.
Orsted Among the Oaks told it as well, his sonorous voice clear above the rush and roar of water over the Cleansing Rock. Everytime she heard the tale, either in the upland campfires with the stars close and the birch-kissed braichs closer, or in the reed-driven floating caighs of the refuge, Harlii smiled, and all the camp was happy. All were careful not to cross the young woman, for everyone wanted their salt to have taste.
For me, its highly regional. Sartar is really quite a small place, and the chances for *real* wilderness don't often extend more than a day or two in any direction. The Lismelder are in a better position than most: across the Sharl Plain they have the gors and gallt of the Far Place, leading into Uz lands, the Vale of Flowers and north to Balazar. (Turn right at Glasswall to avoid Ginijji).
The amount of wilderness will dictate how much isolation exists, whether odaylans are loners or form into sub-communities/hunting camps, the degree of their clan identification (if any) and the nature of their relationship with the wider clan.
My campaign base is the gors and gallt of the Tovtaros, a land watched over by Green Woman, where some form of acknowledgment of the Animal Twins ancestor cult is universal, an eternal forest of wilderness steads, strong Odaylan sub-communities, and semi-permanent hunting camps. Odaylans are important here, perhaps more important than anywhere else in Sartar. But such an environment is the exception rather than the norm. In a land where a simmering civil war continues (despite the Peace of Alone) between Aldachuri under Harvar and the upland Orlanthi/Elmali clans, Odaylan camps offer sanctuary to stead folk, and the deep walkers serve as sentries and scouts for the steads. I imagine such a situation would not be uncommon in Sartar, though again the scale would be different. And in the gors, the main enemy are Gargarthi, not military units.
Odayla is a central figure in Far Place mythology. In the Godtime, he danced the Three Element Dance to unite the powers of Vidblain - elements and beasts, spirits and humans - into a unity to resist the advance of Chaos. When the Far Walkers came to the Far Place, the Odaylan heroes called The Animal Twins reforged this elemental covenant, claiming a place for the human tribe amidst the beasts and powers and elements. (Taroskarla, available at Questlines, describes this in detail). This sets the mythic scene for the place of odaylans in my campaign.
If there are Odaylan sub-communities in an area, I would expect significant flexibility in custom. Relationships would be informal, and marriage more personal: the clan bonding aspect of marriage is less important when land and possessions are few. Ritual and myth are lived, not merely enacted: all life is a ritual, and myth permeates every action.
With Fimbulwinter, the Odaylans access to short worlds and even the Great Before through hunting heroquests (through the power of the Lady, not Orlanth) makes them central to clan survival.
I'm currently writing up more of the Far Place campaign, and the significant part that the hunting camps and Odaylans play. I can't say yet when it will surface.
And remember, if an Odaylan misses, it means she likes you.
Cheers
John
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