Charles Corrigan wrote:
>
> > Jeff wrote:
> > ...
> > > I don't think the nuclear family as we know it today really exists
> > > amongst the heortlings. A bloodline _is_ the family
> > ...
> >
> > This was my understanding, and the reason I sought clarification of
> > the Family relationship in TR.
>
> I think that the larger bloodlines (several hundred adults according
> to TR page 26, which could mean between 500 and 800 individuals
> including children) are just too big to be considered family. Within
That is an UNUSUALLY large bloodline. I suggest you look at the 'typical' bloodline and take things from there. That total is about the size of small CLAN.
According to the Typical Clan writeup, a clan will have about 1200 folks divided over 6 (for example) bloodlines. That's 80 adults, 20 elders and 100 kids.
I'd think that this is much, much more family. When bloodlines get to the point of the upper limit, they break up into smaller, more managable units (as is noted further on in the chapter)
> bloodlines of that size, I see that there is an emotional (but not
> legal or magical) bond to a subgroup which is analogous to an
> extended family.
> I suspect that bloodlines of this size only come into being in feud-
> ridden clans where it is potentially too expensive (on the payment
> side and for the enforcement of penalties) to be a member of a small
> bloodline.
No, it probably happens in very SUCCESSFUL clans where there's not a lot of attrition.
And these huge bloodlines spin off into smaller ones in time -- if only because there are too few positions for that number of powerful men and women
Power, in Orlanthi society flows UP from beneath. This would entail that if there's too much pressure from below, the social group fragments -- think of Colymar breaking from a HUGE clan into a whole tribe of clans in the 1300's (but this being on a bloodline level)
Jeff
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