The Orlanthi folk heroes are Orlanth and Ernalda. Orlanthi obey choosen leaders. The bloodline would have a pair of _de facto_ (everything in Orlanthi society is de facto) male and female leaders, usually married, taking the role of Orlanth and Ernalda. The Orlanth leader might choose a ring (council) to advise him.
> Also, there should be
> frequent worship of the Founder, perhaps the spirit of the Founder will be a
> member of the leadership?
The spirit of the founder would be Ginna Jar for the ring, if the ring were the Lightbringer type. But why WORSHIP the founder? Recite his/her sagas, certainly, but why worship a founder that can do nothing for you, unlike Orlanth or Ernalda?
> My feeling is that, once a
> bloodline exceeds 50 adults, there would be a tendency for it to split,
After the first few generations, a bloodline will not increase in size, because the recruitment rate (from births and marriages) will equal the leaving rate (from deaths and mariages), on average.
> as
> the temptation and opportunity to cheat would increase as members could not
> easily keep track of one another.
Orlanthi society is not literate, nor is its legal system as rigid as ours. Consequently, the definition of bloodline membership is not as rigid and legalistic as you might expect. If collaterals want to 'leave' the bloodline (that is, form a new one), that can. Leaving with some possessions is usally harder: violence is always an option. As for joining someone elses bloodline: everyone knows who their parents and siblings are, so impossible. A family might claim that their bloodline was a long lost branch of a bloodline, and request reacceptance. Oratory, lawspeaking, saga knowledge and being valuable (powerful, wealthy or respected) all help. See, for example, Argrath's reacceptance as a member of the Colymar tribe.
All the stuff of adventures, really.
> In the case of a Clan Founder and (possibly) Bloodline Founder, will the
> ancestor worship take them out of the cycle of rebirth?
Cycle. Did you say CYCLE? What kind of a Lunar trick is that? Son, he went to Orlanth's Hall, like all good men.
> 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.
Not in Germanic barbarian society, so probably not in Orlanthi society either. The brother of a married women usually looked after the legal interests of his sister. Her daughters were part of her husband's bloodline.
>
> Moving on to clan and tribal behaviour.
>
> The clan chieftain is expected to be a warrior.
I think 'expected to have BEEN a warrior' is probably more precise. Of course, he remains 'supreme military commander', and leading on a battle field is not the same as being a warrior. Ealdorman Bryhtnoth at the Battle of Maldon (England, 991 AD) was a grey-haired old man, for example.
> Would a clan raid against another clan of the same tribe?
Orlanthi have traditional eneemies, and traditional friends. So if a traditional enemy happens to be of the same tribe: yes. Of course, the tribal King is unlikely to approve. Since he could probably mobilise most of the tribe for peacekeeping/retribution/reparations, intra-tribal raiding is not always worthwhile.
Of course, when chaos worshipping foreigners stir things up, weaken the King, and your enemy clan has been seduced by their unwholesome religion, things are different.
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