> Orlanthi law places strong incentives
> for a bloodline to police its own - the transgressions of any member opens
> up the possibility of reprisals against any other member of the bloodline,
> usually the weakest members.
Much the same applies in any level of "legal entity" in Orlanthi society, of course: clan chiefs and rings settle intra-clan disputes, the tribal king settles those between different component clans, etc, etc. So in that respect, I think, as I think Jeff implies, KoS may somewhat mislead as to the extent that the bloodline is the "legal atom" of Orlanthi law -- depending on the context, legal sanctions (or quasi-legal ones, such as Peter's Beating the Shit Out Of) can be applied to an individual, a bloodline, a clan, etc, etc.
Not sure I have a point here, just thinking out loud. ;-)
> Let's say that Hroddr the Otter is a complete an utter bastard and his
> thieving ways have alienated the other members of the bloodline. They can
> refuse to protect him (effectively kicking him out of the bloodline) and let
> the other members of the clan know this (a very dangerous precedent), or
> they can kick him out of the bloodline - effectively outlawing him. At
> which point, Hroddr becomes very exposed....
Hrm, this is a tricky point. I imagine that a bloodline doesn't _formally_ have the power to outlaw someone from their clan; OTOH, if you're kicked out by your closest kin, you're in pretty deep shit. I suppose that in the majority of such cases, either the clan makes the outlawry "official", or in a few cases, the person is able to stay within the clan, but in a different bloodline (by becoming an "adoptee", or founding his own, those would seem to be the options), but that seems kinda tricky to pull off.
> Some clans might have generations of ritualized raiding that takes the
> form of sport rather than warfare
Which is only fair, since as many a hapless spectator has observed, Orlanthi "sport" is not unlike open warfare.
Benedict Adamson:
> 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.
I think you can try and run too far with the _de facto_ ball. Clans and tribes have _de jure_ leaders, not simply _de facto_ ones. I think bloodlines have a "leadership" that's more informal by far, and also more fluid.
If you're the "founder", or the "named" individual of a bloodline, then presumably you might actually be such a leader; but in most cases, person [X] of the [X] bloodline is actually some ways since deceased, and leadership of the bloodline is effectively in the hands of whichever of his sons or grandsons have the most money, huscarls, grain, favours, or Plot Points, depending on the whatever pressing matter is at hand.
Slan,
Alex.
End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #402
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