Lets remember that Sartar has only recently been resettled. Most of the Heortling settlers knew towns and cities - either in the south, in the Holy Country etc.or in the west, in Saird and its neighbours. That so many of them chose stead life is a reflection on both the state of the countryside, and, I suspect, on religious/ideological considerations as well, an aspect yet to be fully explored. (I'm slightly contra Greg's post here). The Orlanthi have had cities and empires in the past, and they will again, but during the resettlement it was the stead winds that guided them. Then Sartar came, and one of the first transformations was the rebirth of the city spirit.
A few Sartarite towns and cities have been partially constructed upon old ruins dating to the Youf (Alda Chur springs to mind), and not a few are *very* recent, due to the influence of Sartar the builder and his dynasty - Boldhome being the example supreme.
A majority of towns and villages will have sprung up on major trade routes, and so were not necessarily founded by Sartarites. I suspect that where a conscious decision was made to found a town during the resettlement, city rings came into existence fairly early on, and so these places will be well planned, probably overgoverned to the extent they are unworkable (three or more clans 'cooperating'- -well suuurrreeeeee), and will have well-demarcated areas belonging to member clans.
Dry thoughts, dry season. Gotta run...
John
> Let's start with "towns."
> A cluster of buildings larger than a stead, say one that has several
steads, is a village.
> Most clans have a town of their own. It's a cluster of dwellings and other
buildings, such as the clan smith, the clan temples and the clan chief's
long hall. It has a weekly market, too.
>
> >I assume that, while there's
> >certainly large commonality, the clans believe that
> >the only true Heortling way is in the tula.
>
> I think this is too primitive. I think the Heortling way recognizes towns
as a part of their normal way of life.
>
> >I'm presuming that most clansmen never set foot in a
> >city, or if they do, it's quite rare.
>
> Again, too restructive to me. Most clans are within a week's voyage of a
real city, and I would guess most of them have been there. At least to their
own city. Probably not much father.
> But in general, the city is where a regular (daily) market is, and is also
the point where the clans meet each other and meet outsiders, where larger
temples are, and where the specialty temples are likely to be.
>
> >I also note variations on subcults
> >(such as Issaries) stemming from the town/clan
> >distinction.
>
> Yes, absolutely. The Garzeen will be in the city, a Harst represents the
clans.
>
> >I'm
> >particularly curious about the economics; is clan
> >trade primarily between the clans, or does it go more to the local
settlements (if any)?
>
> The Harst collects the spare grain (hence his name) from the clan and
takes it to the city, where he trades it for the goods that the clan does
not make for itself.
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