Jeff probably beats me. I think he may well be correct, as he has worked the politics professional gig.
>Bumping people off (except for bloody foreigners)
>doesn't really work (except in extreme cases, or where criminal Rings
>are involved) because whoever it was, someone is probably there,
>who'll demand wergeld, or blood, in return, or will carry out some
>other violent or non-violent (but financially disastrous) form of
>reprisal. And almost no-one can afford to pay Wergeld.
Weregeld certainly makes it less likely to bumb people off (or gives you a reason to kill people secretly, rather than just slaughter them in public), but if no one can afford weregeld then its useless - the idea is that in general you can afford weregeld, but its a large enough amount that killing is discouraged, and the relatives of the deceased are likely to choose avarice over vendetta and settle. Generally most people can't afford to pay weregeld, but the heads of their households can, so the heads of households try to stop killings so they won't be bankrupted.
Njals saga is a pretty good example of how weregeld doesn't settle a vendetta if the two sides are sufficiently dedicated, though - clan A kills a guy from Clan B, who accept settlement - all well and good. But then Clan B have a large amount of ready cash lieing around to use to pay the weregeld when they kill a guy from clan A, so they are more inclined to do so. In a couple of places in Njals saga the same actual pieces of silver are traded back and forth - the settlement process slows the vendetta down, but doesn't by any means stop it. Avarice is disliked among the Orlanthi - but the most avaricious Orlanthi are actually the peacemakers, because they are the ones that want to use the cash/cows for other purposes. Generosity is more of a virtue - but giving gifts to your followers is a bit more complex, because your followers are expected to contribute back to you in the event you need the money - ie to pay weregeld - so generosity has the effect of building coalitions, but also making the occasional death more bearable for the individual leaders.
Of course, it does mean you try not to kill important people with friends, as their weregeld is likely to be cripplingly large. But rich people can essentially buy their way out of murder charges if they stick to killing flunkies - which is exactly what I expect happens in Orlanthi politics quite a bit.
> When the balance of power changes (say the
> Ernulfing bloodline pisses off several traditional allies), so do the
> "institutions". As a result, they can be great coalition builders but are
> terrible institutional administrators.
I think no one really expects the chiefs in general to be the institutional administrators. The lawspeakers, and the various priests, are the 'institutional administrators'. The relationship between such people and the chiefs is one of the great tensions in Orlanthi politics. Since Alakoring, though, its been clear that the chiefs are in charge.
Cheers David ------------------------------
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