I agree entirely here. A chieftainship is first and foremost a political and leadership position. A chieftain becomes a chieftain because the clan (or a majority of the moot) have trust in his or her judgement and leadership. Cultic skills are useful, but hardly necessary, especially to the exclusion of other considerations.
Despite all the fancy feats and magical support that Dar can give you, Sartar doesn't seem to have a shortage of ill-advised, impulsive, air-headed or merely incompetent chieftains.
A potential chieftain will have a strong political base: the support of one or more bloodlines. S(he) will have won the support of the moot, at least temporarily. Implicit in this is the support of the Womens' Circle and at least some of the Ring.
Heortlings are ritual bricoleurs, they can make a chieftain out of the ritual equivalent of a piece of string and two paper clips. Ernalda or one of her consanquines has chosen just about *anyone* as husband/protector at one time or another. Myths are versatile, and pliable, and there's a tremendous store of them that can be dragged out or 'remembered' to fit the occasion.
I personally think that non-Dar chieftains get elected all the time. Too rigid an interpretation of the rule guidelines can lead to situations of creeping hereditary chieftainism, which, while a problem and a de facto reality in some clans, is certainly **not** what the Heortlings are about.
The blessing and gifts of Orlanth the leader can be conveyed in many ways, inside or outside of a particular cultic structure. And a large and loud bloodline plus one or two senior Ernaldans on your side is certainly one of them. :).
YG... well you know.
Cheers
John
nysalor_at_... John Hughes
May God us keep
>From Single vision and Newton's sleep!
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