There is a legal system that covers the rules for dealing with "strangers", allowing for grievances to be resolved and compensation to be paid when there is a violation of these rules. In Dragon Pass, these laws derive from Sartar's Laws.
A new social group, the guild, is factored into the priority of social connections. For the Orlanthi-all, the new priorities would run something like this: Bloodline/Family > Guild (if a member). Followed by, City > Bloodline's original Clan. And then much below those: Tribe.
Some things I would expect to see, given the information shared so far:
Instead of focusing on food production, cities are about wealth production. Coin and luxury items are now the measure of a person success, instead of the size of their personal herd.
Families can jointly own property. For the large workshop with living quarters above, it would be surprising to see only one citizen out of the eight to twelve people living there. Surely the married couple that run the place are both burghers, and likely any adult children that are still working and living there.
There is a large population of outlawed Orlanthi working as labor. Unknown percentage of the population. Basically, anyone that is moving into the town is a lower class and watched carefully by the city watch. For many, entering city life is a chance at redemption, for others, their true character comes out with the new anonymity that comes with leaving their old society.
Thieves exist in cities that would never be successful on a tula. Portable and durable wealth, the anonymity of the crowd, and the ability to recruit clan-rejects all work toward Lanbril's advantage.
Non-Orlanthi and non-humans pass through (and occasionally inhabit) cities on a regular basis. The generation of goods creates a stockpile of wealth that produces a market for imports and luxury items. These require specialist that may not be available to the Orlanthi and exchange of good with foreigners. The laws protect this exchange for the benefit of the city inhabitants, and those visiting, for the benefit of continued trade.
Some criminal transgressions merit non-Orlanthi punishments. Due to the greater presence of outsiders, including outlawed Orlanthi, some acts of violence and destruction may have to treated with physical punishment or possibly even execution. When there is no Family or Guild to speak for someone in the city, there is no way to recover compensation. The only way to discourage this behavior is the threat of harm or death for these actions. Just kicking the offender out of the city is probably viewed as no punishment at all for those that have little social investment in the city's institutions.
Sacred Time must be a lot of fun in a city.
Guilds (in real world history) were originally formed to control the secrets of the various crafts. In Glorantha, these secrets are not limited to just specialized skills and crafting techniques, but are actual mysteries and arts that are involved with the specific craft. A Guild-wyter, access to special spirits, or the secrets to an indispensable spell seem just as important to me for guild members as training in the skills needed.
--Todd
On Sun, Jan 4, 2009 at 7:04 AM, Ian Cooper <ian_hammond_cooper_at_NV1_8xRTI-BZjgo042KzfDqLZUr2hPnw2WS-CrDPFKa0Lb8ABY4k41idBDFwO-HJrc5f_8khh74gltmQAaJ5GoRXvzSY0o9FBg.yahoo.invalid>wrote:
> I summarized some of the information from that as a box-out on
> Sartarite cities in Dragon Pass: Land of Thunder as well.
>
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