generally, the tribe lives off the products of the cows (milk and calves); men can't own cows; women can't own cows until they've had a child; women _never_ have sex outside marriage (though the men do 8-); there generally isn't a surfeit of cows;the arrangements surrounding marriages get interesting. I've got quite a few questions about them, but not many answers.
Children get supported by their mother's herd, no problem. However, once the youngster becomes an unmarried adult, who's herd to they live off? Their mother's? Does the queen keep a very large herd to support the bachelors? If so, where do these cows come from?
Then the bachelor/spinster needs to choose a spouse (or have one chosen for them). Who gets to exercise the most control? Is it mainly a case of the woman getting the best warrior she can, or the man getting the best herder he can? How are dowries settled? Assuming there is no surplus of beasts, both sets of parents will have to donate animals to the young couple's support.
And who owns these animals until the couple have their first child? I can't imagine most young men wanting to be supported by their mother-in-law for a year or two. Added to that, there is the Sioux tradition (related to me my Martin Crim) that Sioux men were forbidden to even speak to their mothers-in-law, supposedly to prevent adultery. If that applies to Praxians, how do they cope?
What I think happens is that spinsters remain supported by their mother until they have their first child. When the boys become initiated and become bachelors, they are expected to fend entirely for themselves, but in reality get most of their food from their mother (only the impala folk take this to the limit). Due to the lack of bachelors (many are killed in raids and war), the man's family get to do most of the choosing of marriage partners. Once married, each partner obtains food as before until the first child, when both sets of parents give some beasts to the couple. The details of how many animals, etc., was sorted out before the marriage. And it's really funny how nearly all first children are born about season premature.
But I'm sure there are lots of you out there that have a much better idea of what happens than that. What is the normal Gloranthan human gestation period, BTW?
This is of more that academic interest to me, as all our PCs are young Praxian bachelors, and it would be nice to know who can engage them in heavy guilt trips.
Neil.
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