> Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 10:38:29 -0000
> From: "Charles Corrigan" <charles_at_indigost.demon.co.uk>
> Subject: How do Sartar Clans really work?
>
> I think that given the above, there must be some further religious and
> social bonds between members. I feel that each bloodline should have a
> council or some other leadership mechanism to actually runs its affairs
>
A bloodline is a fancy way of saying "extended family". The eldest brother rules the family and determines how the land is divvied up and is responsible for the actions of those in his family. How ever, never forget that old orlanthi saying "no one can make you do anything". If the brother does not keep his family happy there is nothing forcing them to stay part of the family.
> frequent worship of the Founder, perhaps the spirit of the Founder will be a
> member of the leadership?
This will vary wildly from clan-to-clan and from family-to-family. There is no general statement that can cover this.
> How often would a new bloodline be established? My feeling is that, once a
Again, this varies with the family. If the second brother does not want to answer to the eldest he is free to leave and form his own household.
IMHO the name of the household changes to reflect the current head. It should be safe to assume that most heros eventually become head of their house or of their clan so I don't really think they would form a 'new' house, their current house would eventually change their name to match the new leader.
> In the case of a Clan Founder and (possibly) Bloodline Founder, will the
> ancestor worship take them out of the cycle of rebirth?
What cycle of rebirth? The Orlanthi don't believe in rebirth. After death you go and party with your god in his house.
> It appears that, in the majority of marriages, the wife will move to her
> husband's home but this implies there will be cases where the opposite
> applies, but I do not wish to explicitly spell it out in each of the
> following cases. How involved in a bloodline will a wife be? How does a
> bloodline regulate the behaviour of its married daughters? Obviously a
> wife's original bloodline will protect her interests, especially if it comes
> to divorce, but from a practical and legal point of view I think she will
> have become a member of her husband's bloodline.
This depends on the type of marriage. In King of Sartar(KoS), on page 242, it details the 7 common types of marriage (if you don't have KoS email me off line and I will happily write it out for you). Who moves where and how property changes hands depends on the type of marriage.
> Moving on to clan and tribal behaviour.
>
> The clan chieftain is expected to be a warrior. Is a chieftain expected to
> voluntarily retire when he loses his fighting abilities or would the clan
> chuck him out? I suspect that this would depend on the times and that a
A clan chief's duties vary from clan to clan. Mainly he is to be a leader. He usually has a champion to fight for him. Being Orlanthi though, the chief is usually a warrior. Again, KoS has a great description of the duties of a chief and of the Tribal King. Briefly: he must know and recite the laws, or have a lawspeaker. He must work with his council (ring) for the good of the clan. he must know the customs of giving and gifting and guesting. He must lead the defense of the clan. He must oversee markets, celebrations, battles, sacrifice and movements. He oversees the harvest, plantings and storage of food. He represents the clan to foreigners. He must adopt minor orphans and raise them.
> retired chieftain would usually remain on the inner ring (and frequently an
> ousted chieftain would still have enough support to remain there too).
An ousted chieftan usually has to leave rather quickly to avoid linching. Retired chieftans are not common, most chieftans serve until they die.
> Would a clan raid against another clan of the same tribe? I had a chat with
You could but it would not be common. Simon's idea is not bad but most Tribal Kings would not permit any intra-tribal violent interactions. One of his duties is to protect his clans just as the chief's duties include protecting his people. IMO the offending clan would be asked to leave the tribe if it repeated the behavior.
Hope this was of some help. I would be happy to discuss it in more depth. Drop me a line wquadros_at_sprint.ca
Wesley
wquadros_at_sprint.ca
wquadros_at_aimtronics.com
www.bvcompuworks.com/wesley
End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #399
Powered by hypermail