> All of the plants and wild animals on the
> "tula" belong to the clan (this is the only game-compatible interpretation
> of "odal property" I have been able to come up with).
You mean that it's problematic in some game sense to have some broader meaning of odal property? In particular, say, domestic animals and produce? I'm not sure I see the problem, though I admit I've never run a game in which 'domestic economics' was a strong thread. (I doubt in such games the distinction between 'that apple is my property' and 'that apple is mine to scoff by established custom and tradition' would be exactly unbridgable, however.)
> The "stead" is a building, usually fairly large and sprawling, in which an
> extended Orlanthi family lives. Most clans I know are composed of several
> steads, which can mean "households", "families" or "bloodlines" by
> association.
In our clan, each bloodline (or the larger ones, at least) corresponds to a number of different steads. I'm not sure how typical this is, though. Perhaps out steads tend to the itsy-bitsy side, or maybe our bloodlines are larger than is sometimes the case. Some references I've seen imply that the model is something like the Irish derbhfine, a four generation kinship group, whereas in other cases they seem more like 'perpetual bloodlines', perhaps bordering on being sub-clans.
> Most Sartarite clans nowadays (1620s) do not include worshippers of Elmal:
> most of them left in the last half of the sixteenth century to resettle the
> Sun Dome Temple in Dragon Pass (and avoid a terrible civil war between
> Elmali and Orlanthi).
Though conversely if they _haven't_, they're proportionately more likely to be 'Elmali' rather than 'Yelmalians'.
> Greg nowadays pretends that to Orlanthi Yelm is more the "Evil Emperor" than
> the "Sun God", but I think he's fooling nobody.
This was certainly the _original_ 'casting' in the myths, I assume there's little dispute about that. Ever since they learned about 'Yelm qua Yelm' in the Dawn Age, the degree to which they're identified him with the sun (touchy-feely 1st Council stuff), and to what degree they're happier to emphasise the Evil Emperor part ('Wipe them all out...') has, I'd imagine, varied considerably. And to a degree I'm sure it varies with local conditions: if you _are_ an Elmali clan, the answer is pretty clear; if you're on good terms with your Elmali neighbours, then doubtless some formula constrasting the Winter Sun, valiant defender against the Dark, with the Oppressive, harsh summer sun (with its evil, harshly-bland MOR Vale-of-Leven-originated soundtrack...). If you have no sun-worshippers in your tribe, or among your neighbours, or if you hate 'em utterly, then your mythology can be as rude about them as you like...
> "Weaponthane patrols" are not regular, IMO: they'd be sent out if there was
> a reason to go.
Only when their hunters have been encroaching on your land, or their weaponthanes have been beating up your hunters, or you think they're about to raid you, or you're about to raid them, or there are Lunar patrols in the area, or incursions of Darkness or Chaos, or... Pretty much all the time, really. Though certainly not constantly: I don't know about your clan, but we don't have anything like enough weaponthanes for that sort of stuff. But if we didn't send them off fairly often to lour dramatically at passing goats and other such threats to clanic security, our supplies of beer (and worse, mead: do you know how expensive that is to buy, at this time of year!) would be even more on the slide than they are...
> Or else the ruling clan in a tribe.
I think that no[*] Orlanthi tribe has a ruling clan in a strict sense (better not say that in Latin). I trust you have in mind something on the lines of, the king's clan, or the clan which customarily/often supplies said king...
Cheers,
Alex.
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