> >> >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.
>
> >> Wergild payment is not automatic. If you are strong enough, the other
> >> guy can forget about collecting wergild.
>
> >Certainly. But no-one's alone in the Orlanthi system, as symbolized by
> >a poem in the Orlanth cult write-up; also, see Orlanth's First Ring
> >mythology. And KoS. More below.
>
> So? The other guy can still be cowed into weakness if his buddies
> are not strong enough.
That's one of the extreme cases.
And I should have said "(except for foreigners, and other marginals)".
> >> Thersites :
>
> >In similar situations, the Orlanthi might exhibit similar behaviour.
> >But not (normally) in peace time, at home.
>
> Why not? It's how many Great Orlanthi assert their authority.
Because peace can be defined as a non-violent situation? Use of violence in peace time can be roughly divided into crime, and persecution of crime. Remember that I mentioned criminals?
> >Most people have *some*
> >political connections, in such small places. Usually *indirect*
> >connections. But everyone belongs to a bloodline at least, almost
> >always to a Clan, and a Tribe, often to a City, and to the Kingdom.
>
> So? That does not mean that their views will be respected all
> of the time. If the clan chief has done you a wrong and your
> clan supports him, then you are shit-out-of-luck.
If your clan chief commits an illegal act of violence against you, then he's broken a taboo, and he is a criminal. Tough luck for you, but if that is your chief's usual method of controlling your clan, I suggest that you make friends with other people he's done it to, and start fighting back. If his act wasn't illegal at all, then it can only mean that you have done something violent yourself, and it hasn't really worked ...
> >This means that someone who is injured has several legal (and
> >extra-legal) options open to him. And if someone is injured,
> >then his family is too, and sometimes his clan. Which is where
> >Hero Wars Player Characters get involved.
>
> You are changing the premises. First you said that nothing of
> the sort happened in peacetime because of the legal reprecussions
> involved.
No I didn't. I said that *killing* people "didn't really work". I can't remember saying that it didn't happen. I said that it was unusual in peace time. And I said that it didn't really work because of various repercussions, legal and extra-legal. OK, I didn't use those exact words, but it should have appeared obvious that the violent or non-violent forms of reprisal against murder that I mentioned are based on an assumption that such things *do* occur.
> Now you say that they are bound to call someone to
> even out the odds.
Saying it now, and strongly implying it before. You have distorted what I wrote, and then claimed that I'm the one who's changing the premises.
> >Normally, non-violent solutions are preferred to violent ones.
>
> Non-violent solutions are preferred? Whadarya? A Wuss?
The lovely Peter Metcalfe ...
(Piss off!)
Believe it or not, people dislike friends, family, and kinsmen being killed or hurt. And there are harsh written and unwritten laws against kinstrife. Generalised acts of violence occur when there is severe civil disruption. The rule of law breaks down, and people must take it into their own, factionalised, hands. In the medium term, this creates more problems than it solves, and "doesn't really work".
> >Luckily, Orlanthi society is based on Orlanth's Laws, which provide
> >various alternative solutions to problems created by violent people.
>
> And Orlanth himself sanctions violence as a solution.
How might that invalidate my previous statement?
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