> In some cases, of course the Clan Wyter may have a particular relation with a particualr bloodline, so the next chief may need to belong there to get the benefit of the Wyter (and I suspect this is the case for Sartar - Although Termatain's inability to relight the flame suggests his connection is weak, and without the Lunar Troops backing him, his [osition might be very shakey - especially if another heir to the house of Sartar could be found...)
My thoughts on bloodline differs in several ways ways
Temertain is descended from Sartar but was not a member of the Sartaring clan and therefore not a member of the royal bloodline within the Sartaring clan. Of course, by descent, he is qualified to become a member of the Sartaring clan and the royal bloodline.
More generally, 'every Orlanthi' has lines of ancestry/descent that cross multiple clans because of the exogamous marriages - lines of descent are not traced only through fathers. Never mind (possibly more controversially) the additional lines of descent from fostering and adoption.
2) A bloodline as a sub-organisation of a clan is not typically a permanent organisation. When a bloodline becomes so big that all its members do not intimately know each other and therefore become unwilling to take responsibility for each other's actions, the bloodline will split up.
Conversely, if a bloodline becomes so small that they cannot afford to pay a weregild for an accidental killing on a cattle-raid, then bloodlines will consider merging with another small bloodline. Or maybe 3 small bloodlines will split up and re-merge into 2 bloodlines.
> Tribes, of course may have their own rules about which clans can provide tribal kings as part of their founding rituals...
As a political organisation with some magical aspects, I suspect that a tribe is unlikely to tie itself up with these kinds of rules. If, for some reason, the clan is unable to provide a suitable candidate that is acceptable to the other clans, the tribe will have to refound itself as something new. And what clan wants to tie itself to an organisation that will never allow it to take serious political power?
For a kingdom, where the High King must be a descendant of a founder, this brings us back to the original question, the status of a daughter. Every clan in the Kingdom will want one of their young men to marry her and bring her back to the clan. Why? So that at some point in the future, the clan will have a descendant that will qualify to become High King.
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