Long lived. STEADS are short lived. Some bloodlines have outlasted clans.
> - be named after a still living leader,
Named after a common ancestor
> - be a legal rather than a magical entity (i.e. no wyter though a
Legal AND magical entity. They are about the smallest level one can
get an _effective_ wyter at.
They are also the smallest legal entity in Heortling law.
> stead/longhouse/village might have one) and
A stead is smaller than a bloodline.
> - recede in importance in small clans as it is easier for an
Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on the isolation of the steads to some extent. I think in larger clans they may be more important for the reasons you cite.
> individual or small group to get representation on the clan
authority
> structures (i.e. the inner and outer rings).
>
> Clans (and for that matter tribes and even kingdoms) seem to have a
> much longer duration and so it is easier to structure them.
However,
Clans can be very short lived. Tribes, in some areas like Ralios, are alomst a legal fiction. Its easier to disolve a tribe than a bloodline -- they are kin and nothing in Orlanthi socieity is stronger than kin.
> designing a set of bloodlines for a clan and working out how they
> might change over time appears to be much more difficult.
When I make a clan, I try to think about a half dozen (for example) bloodlines that can _Work Together_. Thats how clans formed -- familes banded together for mutual support and protection. IF they can't work together, the clan dies. David's Greydog stuff is a great example of bloodlines (though they may be not enough of them in the clan -- I'm not quite sure yet).
Jeff
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