>The [Report on the Orlanthi] emphasises that
>- - the smallest legal unit is a bloodline,
>- - the law does not recognise that any crime can be committed by one
member
>of a bloodline against another and
PM>Such crimes are punished by the head of the household and his brothers
>who gang up on the offender and beat the living shit out of him.
This is certainly one option. The constant coercive threat that the bloodline will remove its protection and support from that member, leaving him/her alone and impoverished is the strongest incentive a member of a bloodline has to go along with the decisions of his family leaders. Beating up Hroddr the Otter for threatening his brother is infinitely less threatening than having the members of his family threaten to disassociate him from the bloodline. An Orlanthi without a family usually becomes a dead Orlanthi fairly soon.
>>- - a bloodline suffers all penalties against and enjoys all rewards to an
>individual member of that bloodline.
pm>Unless he's outlawed.
An important point - outlaws are removed not just from the clan, but from the family as well.
>>How often would a new bloodline be established?
pm>Whenever irreconcilable differences occur. The two factions have
>a huge punchup and go their separate ways.
Usually they split up before there is any violence between bloodline members. Remember the Orlanthi believe that violence within the bloodline is a VERY BAD THING. Folk that prey on their own bloodline are chaotic and must be thumped severely - see Ragnaglar (who preyed on his own bloodline) and Daga (who raided his own bloodline).
>>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?
pm>It depends on the type of marriage and how close the wife is to the
>in-laws (and in some cases her own family). The impression I get
>from the text is that whoever the wife lives with becomes her bloodline.
This is mostly correct - however a wife usually remains a member of her bloodline of birth and can still call upon her family's protection and support. Now given that most Orlanthi tend to marry women from outside of the clan, this protection and support is usually much less relevant than that offered by her husband's bloodline - how useful are Kalendra's Konthasos kin at protecting her in Varmandi lands? Still that connection remains in the background.
On the other hand, her husband's kin has a strong incentive to protect her. Failing to protect a member's wife runs the risk of showing other bloodlines and clans that the bloodline is weak and timorous - increasing the likelihood that other groups will screw with the bloodline. Furthermore it opens up the bloodline to attacks and claims from the wife's kin. It goes without saying of course that there is always the issue of the emotional attachment the husband might have to his wife.
>>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?
pm>A bit of both. If he fails to recognize that he's on the way out,
>the harder it will be for him when he is chucked out.
Exactly!!!! Orlanthi clan and tribal politics are very ...well... political. Ask anyone who played in Fall of the House of Malan.
>>I suspect that this would depend on the times and that a
>>retired chieftain would usually remain on the inner ring (and frequently
an
>>ousted chieftain would still have enough support to remain there too).
pm>It depends whether the new chief can tolerate him or not. The Inner
>Ring is chosen by the chieftain.
This is spot on. If the old chieftain voluntarily "retired" and was instrumental in chosing the new chieftain, he'll probably still be on the Inner Ring. If the old chieftain was forced out by a new guy who repudiates some important policy of the old chief, the old chief is probably not on the inner ring. If the old chieftain was forced out because his actions infuriated his clan, he might well be outlawed.
Jeff
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