Re: Outlawry

From: jorganos <joe_at_m9cZw1jiyvf3iNGCO0TGwS_nl64VWTDWtQV8fW9WcsG1mQNw891fJYK5a9_HqMQf4kQnoAkL>
Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 08:49:16 -0000

> Another possibility is that the Ancestors could be summoned and take
> the place of kin. That would be an extreme measure - but one that
> would emphasise the cutting off from the Clan.

Actually, I think that is what the clan-imposed exile does first and foremost. The clan is the usual link to the ancestors.

Separation from the, let's say formalized subcults and aspects of Orlanth ought to involve excommunication.

Membership in non-clan based organisations (e.g. the temple of a rarer subcult that is shared by adherents from various clans) probably requires some extra declaration of exile.

Just like the old German Empire had "Reichsacht" and "Kirchenbann" (imperial outlawry and church interdict), which were supposed to be automatically related, this broke down when papal interdict was used as a political weapon against the German emperors. Both had to be declared officially to be in effect, and a number of (Stauffer) emperors were under interdict but not outlawy against the empire.

The ordinary clan member whose life is focussed entirely on the clan will have little if any opportunities to remain in contact with the magic. King of Dragon Pass had the option to recruit weaponthanes from outside of the clan, and (in desperate situations) even from outlaws. This seems to be a manageable survival routine for exiles.

All of this mainly applies to male Heortlings, though.

Returning to another topic (Ernaldan kinship webs), what happens if a woman gets exiled from the clan she married into? Can she declare divorce, and return to her birth clan? Would that clan would take her in again (probably depending on what crime she was accused of)? If not taking her in again, does the birth clan have to confirm that exile? Is this part of the marriage arrangements?

King of Dragon Pass has one story-line about the haughty trouble-making daughter, with one of the (bad) solutions being exile (there are no good solutions to that problem).            

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