> Peter Metcalfe
>
> >Lunar Law does take into account communal ties and you can be
> >punished for the actions of a kinsman so arguably one could
> >say that it is the Lunars that are communal and the Orlanthi
> >that are individuals.
>
> I've always assumed that among the Orlanthi (both Ralian and
> Heortling), a bloodline is responsible for paying wergild. Two
> reasons spring to mind: it's added pressure against killing (your
> family gets grumpy when they have to pay for your deeds), and you
> might be dead by the time a feud comes to resolution.
Plus a wergild can be more than one person can pay. According to Harmast's saga, Orlanth set the wergild of a chief at 500 cattle, and Vingkot set the wergild of Thanes at 300 and karls at 100. Since the average "income" of a karl is 10 cows, you can see that it would bankrupt the average guy to kill even a karl, let alone anyone higher.
RR
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