Words of Dullblade 4 from a Befuddled lay member. Errr, acolyte.
SEASONS "What's all this towntalk twaddle about the sun and seasons? That wheezing old shell of a Grandfather doesn't have the answer! The Storm decides! The Storm I tell you.
Orlanth is Lord and the Starmtame is his season. Storm Season is the time of the great battle between Storm and Light and Darkness. Depending on how complete the victory of Storm in a given year, so will the timing of the seasons be altered. In a good year up in the Far Place we might get snowmelt in the very first weeks of the season, and with a victory to the Storm the seasons will be pleasant (if windy) with no extremes of either heat or snow.
In the rare times when the great quests of Starmtame do not succeed, the seasons will be erratic, with burning summers, few winds, and an overlong,deadly, piercing winter.
What's an equinox? Trollkin urine that's what it is. The year varies, each unfolding is unique. Orlanth is the Lord of Movement and Change."
In short, Storm Season is like Orlanth himself; violent, unpredictable, and liable to change at short notice. The fate of the year depends on Orlanth's victory, and things usually turn out right except for when they don't. Nevermind, there's always next year...
Because of this, IMG, the year can be VERY unpredictable, and I'm not sure I believe in fixed equinoxes.
HELDEN / FIRES OF MIST AND WIND-BLOWN SNOW Belatedly, thanks to the tribesfolk who offered kind words and encouragement after my posting of the battle Chapter from "Fires of Mist and Wind-Blown Snow". And in reply to your questions:
The manuscript gets auctioned off at GloranthaCons from time to time but there are no immediate plans for it to be published. Web-publication is an option I'm considering.
I was aware that Helden was german for "heroes" (spot the David Bowie fan :)): I guess I should ask what the singular form is?
No, I haven't contributed to Tales of the Reaching Moon for some time now - the reason being that in the last two years I done a lot of moving about , and have spent considerable portions of it "offline" in several senses of the word. (Fingers crossed - things now seem back to normal). I've recently dropped MOB a new Cradledaughter story and a Vinga piece, so who knows? I was sad to hear that Tales will be folding at Issue 20. Quite frankly, Glorantha survives today because of Tales, and David Hall especially deserves recognition for his tremendous work on behalf of the tribe.
SARTAR CLANS Charles Corrigan asks, " How do Sartar Clans really work?"
Short answer: they don't, but we fix things. (The Orlanthi Way).
>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
>(dividing up the lands that the clan have given it between members,
>arranging marriages and punishing misbehaviour)? Also, there should be
>frequent worship of the Founder, perhaps the spirit of the Founder
will be a
>member of the leadership?
A bloodline seems to be a organisational as much as a formal descent group. With a hundred or so members in daily contact round the stead, and with housing, sleeping and sweat-lodging organised by bloodline, there would only seem to be need for 'formal' meetings and decision making on rare occasions. In my (communal and clan-based)Far Point steads, the bloodline lodge is a focal point for recreation and discussion.
Not being a formal descent group in the way a clan is, I don't believe formal worship of bloodline ancestors would occurr, accept as part of more general ancestor/tribal founder/stead-cutter worship ceremonies. A bloodline would typically persist for only a few generations before either splitting or being absorbed: the clan is the stable and 'base' unit of religious worship.
>How often would a new bloodline be established?
As circumstances and politics demand - can you say "kinstrife"?
>Heroes as bloodline Founders.
Perhaps, though only incidently. "A Hero belongs to the tribe", or in other words the communal support/communal POW that Hero needs to function require the resources and allegience of an entire clan or tribe.
>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.
Her husband's *clan*. Given the incredible diversity of Sartarite/Heortling marriage patterns, there can be no easy answer here. Women of a stead/village will come from several different clans, their focus of power and social activity will generally be the Women's Circle, while after Yelmset the men will gather in bloodline or cultic lodges or at the Chief's hearth. A woman's brothers will continue to ensure her happiness and protection if necessary after marriage, but clan structure is PATRALINEAL - the children belong to the father's clan. Unusually for Glorantha, Orlanthi marriage is primarily a marriage between individuals (see TOTRM 11). Clan and bloodline considerations will be minor at best. Brideprice considerations will be *major*.
On replacing a chieftain:
Customs vary from tribe to tribe. IMG the main vehicle for succession is the Sacred Marriage with the Earth every seven years or so: the outcome of the ceremony has very *real* consequences for the entire clan, so there is much politicing/breath-searching/subtle-unsubtle threatening to ensure the chieftain is the best possible choice. Many chieftains will step down voluntarily at this time. Replacement may be be moot or combat: Nick Brooke has a theory of Elmali tannists but I personally don't hold for this accept in rare cases. In many tribes the cheiftain will be replaced if he is disfigured or if his wife does not bear children.
>Would a clan raid against another clan of the same tribe?
Are we not Men? Are we not Orlanthi? Of COURSE we raid! It's good for the clan: better your own young men find weaknesses in your defences than chaos or enemies. I play it highly ritualised: within the clan you keep one calf and shouldn't seriously wound people; between clans there is a standard 'ransom fee' and often a chance of favour or a marriage match (though unneccessary violence can get you into LOTS of trouble); and against non-humans (Solars, Lunars, Orlanthi clans you don't wed or trade with) ANYTHING GOES.
*Sigh* Love is just a four-legged herd.
Cheers
John Hughes
'The Great Virtues'
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