>Me>"While Praxians do have clans, they are not fixated on them
> >as the Orlanthi are. The Players Book: Genertela goes as far
> >to state that the clans are "loose and informal organizations
> >which change according to the needs and appeal of leaders" p12."
>
>Yea, I agree. Similarities and differences of the praxian clan structure
>compared with the orlanthi traditional one is something I`ve been trying to
>find out...
>But to the point; of course it doesn`t mean that praxian clans could not
>have a history with long traditions back in the time to the clan`s founder,
>or does it? The Elder Khans change but after all they act as a focus to
>religious powers of the clan`s Founder.
Only Tribal Khans can summon Founders. Lesser Khans do not have that ability and hence I conclude there are no clan Founders. Secondly I believe Khans get their most of their magic not because they are focus to religious powers of some powerful spirit or another, but because they act as representatives of Waha to the animal nomads.
Whether you want clans to have long histories is really up to you. But bear in mind that the Praxians are more diverse than the Heortlings and have much different core values. Among the Heortlings, clans are important because Orlanth and Ernalda made them. The Praxians do not have the same mythical attachment to clans because Waha and Eiritha are neutral towards clans. Even in the published literature, clan politics is almost an unknown among Praxians, while many Praxian families exist outside clans - something unthinkable in Orlanthi society.
Hence I think it more likely that there are a few Praxian clans with long histories and magical powers but that most clans are short-lived compared to the Orlanthi.
> >"Thus if a khan dies, the clan loses whatever special khan magic
> >he provided and gains the special khan magic of his successor."
>Humm...even though they worship ancestors too?
I shy away from assuming that when a Praxian dies, he can be instantly worshipped as an ancestor by his descendents. While that's valid according to our genealogical principles, to reach the ancestors _magically_ may require a different genealogical method.
IMO the ancestry a Praxian can recite is not the list of "I am son of X, son of Y, son of Z" but rather a list of ancestors who are interested in looking after the Praxian. This is much smaller than our definition of ancestor, will differ for each Praxian yet it gives each Praxian a list of ancestors he can call upon for aid. The Praxian's magic is influenced by what his ancestors did and his actions in this world will be subject to his ancestor's approval. This gives the Praxian "a sense of history" without forcing them to have Orlanthi clans.
>Ok :). I just started to think about the first hand 'profits' a normal=
nomad
>guy can get in the wastes, if he knows star lore/wisdom. When nomads view
>the night sky as different places: Summer Fertile, Zola Fel, Wastes &=
Winter
>Fertile; could it work as some kind of a 'map' to them?
Considering that the subject is a "normal nomad" then my opinion is no. Such knowledge is magical lore and in Prax that tends to be the domain of the Star Witch. Normal nomads may navigate by the stars as ordinary people do but to learn their deeper meaning requires magical instruction.
--Peter Metcalfe
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