>I'm confused by now as to what's cause, and what effect. Are you
>saying that they use the legalisms associated with marriage to
>frame the basis of the rights and duties of (non-severed, I presume)
>Humakti, or are you making an after-the-fact comparison?
I said Humakti joining a temple is _like_ marriage. It's an analogy. Legally it's different, but there are some similarities.
I archived the Iorgh post, not knowing it was yours. (Of course, I'd have done so had I known.)
>When Anders Foosson kills fellow Orlanthi, Bran O'Bar, henceforth
>A and B respectively, a number of outcomes are possible.
>
>1) A is tried for murder, and if held to be guilty, put to death.
>2) Someone, likely B's kinsman, kills A out of hand.
>3) A, or his clan, pay a wergild to B's family.
>4) Nothing much.
1 is extremely unlikely, because the real option is 1a) A is tried and outlawed.
I'm about to run a compensation case in my East Ralios campaign. The Lawspeaker of clan B is showing up and asking for the 100 cows wergild for the 9 deaths in his clan. He is trying to avoid going to trial by asking for compensation. A's bloodline isn't obligated to pay, but it's an honorable thing to do. If clan B can't get some satisfaction, they will have to go to the King of Delela (or perhaps the Delelan Moot, which would really be escalating), since clans A and B are from different tribes. (My players reading this: It's OK to know this, it's all part of your Custom skill.)
If it does go to trial, A's bloodline could be ordered to pay (or B could be authorized a cattle raid to collect). Or A could be outlawed. Given that this was all part of a cattle raid to begin with, 3 is normally most likely, 2 is always possible, and 1a is a lesser possibility. Individual cases vary, of course, which is why there are lawspeakers.
Of course, at the trial, wounds done to members of clan A during the raid could be used to offset the penalty (as was often done in Icelandic situations).
I have decided to base East Ralian wergild on an individual's honor price (eineach), even though apparently Irish wergild was fixed at 21 cows regardless of the individual. I believe being able to argue about the correct price is more fun. Note that RQ3 has a more or less similar approach. BTW, the word for wergild was cro -- makes you wonder about a culture that has a 1-syllable word for this.
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