FWIW, this is part of the write-up for a major NPC in the players' clan.
(PDP with some mods, and influences from Hero Wars & KoDP.)
- ---
Derik Sharpsword is a Sword of Humakt and our Clan Champion.
In 1324 ST, five years before the clan came north to Dragon Pass, Derik
underwent the rituals to become a Sword. He performed the Ritual of
Severance and separated himself from his kin and clan. We held the
customary funeral for Derik Sharpsword. His wife, Ailirreen, and their
three children were recognized as widow and orphans. The next day, a
stranger came before the chieftain and the clan ring. We greeted him in the
customary fashion. He identified himself as Derik Sharpsword and the chief
offered him our full hospitality. He proved himself to be honorable and
promised to help protect the clan in exchange for this hospitality. Then he
asked to join our clan. The clan ring agreed to adopt him into the clan.
He later courted and married the widow, Ailirreen, and accepted her children
as his own. Two years later, when Jilros the Horse died, Derik become the
Clan Champion. (Derik and Ailireen were formally married one week after his
adoption into the tribe. He started courting her the day of his adoption.)
- ---
It is intended to introduce the players to some of the ritualistic
"machinations" and that these things are taken seriously by the clan. Derik
the initiate joined Death and so a funeral was held for him to mark the
fact. As far as the clan sees it, Derik the Sword of Humakt had to be
adopted into the clan to become a member of it. Derik the Sword had no
relationship to Ailireen until he courted and married her. They did play a
little loose with property and inheritance. For the most part, after the
adoption and his marriage, his interactions with the clan were pretty much
as they had been before. The new Derik Sharpsword assumed all of the roles,
responsibilities, and relationships of the old Derik Sharpsword, in the
informal sense. Any formal relationships would have had to have been
created anew.
The Humakti of this clan are probably "Sword of Life" or at worst "Death
Wielder" types, per Julian Lord's distinctions. Derik does not know the
Berserk power and does not like the idea of "losing control" in battle. As
he is the spiritual leader of the clan's Humakti, he takes them down the
path he follows. PC Humakti will have opportunities to learn of other
"aspects of Humakt" if they visit friendly clans or tribes, and learn under
the tutelage of another Sword of Humakt. It may be quite a shock to the
players, if not their characters.
Oh, and the Ritual of Severance is usually only done for Swords, not
initiates. It is always done for Swords. In fact, the rest of it, through
adoption into the clan, is generally seen as a part of the whole ritual.
But only the RofS is part of the Humakt Initiate-to-Sword ceremonies. The
rest is a clan ritual. (At least in this clan.) Marrying the widow/widower
again is dependent on the individuals involved. Derik and Ailireen have
high Love(family) and Love(Ailireen/Derik) values.
As always, YGMV.
Dick Kingman