> Just to thrown in something else: what about the clans who
> are forced to outlaw one of their members by outside political
> pressure?
>
> "Those rebels who've been raiding Lunar caravans? They're not
> part of this clan anymore, Mr Governor, sir. We've outlawed
> them."
This is what they say to the Lunars.
> It would seem odd for the Sartarite rebellion to be cut off from
> worshipping Orlanth. ;-)
I believe here, as in elsewhere in this discussion, the terms outlawry and exile are, again, confused.
Exile is a way to send individuals away from their kin, clan & normal worshiping places. An individual can also him/herself choose to go into exile. An exile is not cut away from his/her religious ties. The Lunars cannot do it, the clan chose not to do it. And exiles are known to return back to their kin & clan, there are plenty of notions of that in what is written of the Orlanthi.
In a mythical world, outlawry is a way to cut people off from what they are, both from their society and their gods (which are, in the end, very much the same thing). Like Greg said, an outlaw is dead to his/her former people. All connection is lost.
This is how I understand it.
> But if the clans are simply lying to the Lunars and haven't
> gone through the outlawing ritual at all, isn't that extremely
> risky?
In my Glorantha, yes, it is extremely risky.
> If they get found out, the entire clan will be punished - and
> it's not as if the Lunars don't have enough Heortling
> collaborators to be able to recognise a correctly performed
> ceremony, surely?
IF they get found out, yes.
The Lunars have Heortling collaborators, yes.
This is why the clan and the individual have to go separate ways, i.e. when exile happens. Again, there are plenty of notions of Sartarite clans sending their members into exile when the Lunars so demanded.
Exiled individuals leave the clan & usually the general region. They either join a local rebellious warband or go to some place else (before the Lunar conquest, Pavis and Heortland; after it, still further - or then join the Exiles around Kero Fin). This is done in the hope that both the clan and the exile may go on.
Exiled people are no more within the clan, and the clan has no formal ties with them. They are usually no more with their normal neighbours, and often no more "practicing members" of the organized society. They are at war with Lunar. And they choose their worshiping friends cautiously.
So who would recognize them, spy on their practices, search out their connections in the god plane? Whoever it would be, it would be very dangerous for him/her too, because typical exiles tend to be a rough and skilled lot. It's a gamble on both sides.
But yes, it happens. Lunars get to know of such individuals, supposedly outlawed yet firmly connected to the Orlanthi way. And they do hunt them. And they do punish clans and tribes that have too tight ties to those supposedly outlawed but in practice just exiled (if even that).
But - very importantly - Lunars do get killed in the process of bringing justice to the clans. Thus, even if the Lunars know of clans and supposed outlaws not really outlawed, they think twice before they go on harsh punishments. It's easier to live with dozen freedom-fighters than with an all-out rebellion. From the Lunar point of view, there is hope of getting the job done in other ways than outright punishments and killing. They will pursue those ways whenever they are cheaper and easier.
Isn't that what the Lunar occupation of Sartar is? Isn't this the very logic the occupation is?
Greets,
-ILe
Powered by hypermail