> -- weregild
The legal price you pay (in silver or cows) for killing someone. If the victim's family accepts, they agree not to carry out blood vengeance. We typically use higher wergilds for more important people (some historical sources suggest that any killing has the same fine).
> -- housecarl (or huscarl?)
> -- weaponthane
These are all the same thing -- a professional warrior, usually in service of a clan chief or tribal king.
(About half-way through the development of King of Dragon Pass, we changed from "housecarl" to "weaponthane," partly at Greg's request, and partly because I saw people refer to them as "carls" which was clearly confusing. I believe that the term "housecarl" is used in Tarsh, while "weaponthane" is the Sartarite term. In East Ralios, they're called hearthguards.)
They are as equivalent as "sultanate" and "satrapy" in the Lunar Empire (at least, I understand those terms to be used interchangeably, depending on which you like saying more). The only difference is in which year Greg is writing.
> -- fyrd
A clan muster -- everyone who's capable of picking up a spear and defending the clan.
> -- feud
A feud is a state of hostility, either between two clans, or two families. Refusing to accept wergild is a good way for a family to start a feud.
> -- kinstrife
Usually refers to kinslaying, which is a killing within your own family. Since the Orlanthi justice system provides for payment of wergild from one family to another, or else a killing for a killing, it is impossible to resolve legally. It is considered a manifestation of Chaos.
> -- clan (or tribal) champion
The warrior who represents the clan or tribe in one-on-one military situations.
> -- godi
Essentially, this is a god-talker. It's sometimes used to refer to an Acolyte. Some people use the female version gyda.
> -- god-talker
Anyone who has a special relationship with the gods. This is somewhat more loosely defined than RQ's Rune Lord, Priest, and Acolyte, but includes all three.
> -- law-speaker
The clan's person responsible for knowing the laws and precedents and advising the chief on legal matters. Usually a god-talker of Lhankor Mhy.
> 2. What are difference between "tula" and "stead"?
A tula is the land claimed by a clan. A stead is a house (or small cluster of buildings) in which an extended family lives.
> 3. Is Elmal still worshipped among Sartarite? Yelm is not recognized as
> "the Sun"?
Given the diversity of the Sartarite clans, this has to be a yes. (Whether you like or dislike the Elmal/Yelmalio split, I think there has to be at least one clan that disagrees with you.)
Yelm (the Evil Emperor) is also a sun god known to the Orlanthi.
> 4. Can I call worshiper of Elmal as "Elmalion"?
We say Elmali, but I'm sure it varies in different clans. So you wouldn't be wrong to do so.
> 5. How orlanthi live in the stead? How many families does belong to a
> stead? How often weponthane patrol visit? How they farmers defend
> themselves from dangers of wilderness (chaos/bandit/raid)?
One family per stead (usually). Steads are usually scattered throughout the tula.
Weaponthanes patrol either along the perimeter of the tula (the outer patrol) or closer by. There are probably a couple of weaponthanes riding around at any time, though since they're supported by the chief, they probably don't stop by for hospitality. I suspect the outer patrol would take several days to make a circuit, though this will depend on the size and geography of the clan tula.
There are probably horns to signal (RQ2 had the lur horn) when an outlying stead is attacked. The chief (or perhaps clan champion) will gather any available weaponthanes and come to help. There are also a number of the fyrd (the shortcall) who farm with weapons nearby and can also help -- gathering the entire fyrd takes several days.
> I appreciate any other teaching about customs of storm barbarians.
The computer game King of Dragon Pass has most of these answers, as well as showing what clan life *looks* like.
Speaking of which, Steve Lieb wrote
> Please check out the review of KoDP at
> http://www.strategy-gaming.com/reviews/king_of_dragon_pass/index.shtml
>
> Great game, great experience. Highly recommended.
>
> Please direct all flattering praise to Mr. Dunham for a great game,
> brickbats to myself about the review as I wrote it. :)
and Mikko Rintasaari
> My compliments to David Dunham. King of Dragon Pass is even better
> than I dared to hope for, and I hoped for a lot!
Please direct your flattering praise at the talented team which created the game.
Andy Hall asked
> Is there a connection between Orlanth and cats as a picture from the
> Cults Book seems to imply?
Orlanth is the half-brother of Yinkin, the cat (alynx) god. Enclosure 2 has more about Yinkin.
David Dunham <mailto:dunham_at_pensee.com> Glorantha/RQ page: <http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html> Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein
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