I get the distinct impression that the "political technologies" of the Storm Folk tend to be pushing their boundaries at the tribal level; a lot is made about how clans are good and strong and right because we are all related and appreciate each others perspectives in some way - whereas tribes are convenient political structures that are a lot more prone to internal division and cynical political maneuvering. I sort of got the idea that Sartar cut through all that and made something different and that was part of his magic and wonder? I could be waaaay off though.
I have been thinking about how the political technologies of the clan
apply to tribes, tribal confederations, and "kingdoms"; and I get a
feeling that in some ways they are far from ideal. I don't think that
"we are all reasonable, surely" is a magic bullet for political
problems and I *like* the idea that the Storm People do something less
well than other people (i.e. manage larger scale political entities
where bonds of kinship and personal relationship start to wear pretty
thin).
Maybe I getting a bit to Hayek about defining people's abilities to
give a meaningful toss about other people, and I am sure that Ernaldan
and Orlanthi myth help extend that, but surely there are limits?
I think that there are in My Glorantha - I like that Ernalda and Orlanth's "laws" might start to fail a community once it grows too far beyond the clan unit. I get the feeling that Esrola has problems like this and I've certainly alluded to them in our game (although the players have been too busy to go check it out so far).
Bit of an aside re Rinliddi:
> I don't think the Rinliddi come from an Ernaldan base at all. I see
> their women as part of the Sun/Sky tradition rather than Earth.
> Darsani is an Earth tradition but may have little in common with
> the Ernaldan one.
I could very well be misrecalling - and now I can't reference it since I am at work (and Unfinished Works are not considered to be "archival resources of the Commonwealth") - but wasn't Deezola an earth-affiliated priestess from Rinliddi? I understand she lost her "specifically earthy" powers though?
--
John Machin
"Nothing is more beautiful than to know the All."
- Athanasius Kircher, 'The Great Art of Knowledge'.
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