Re: Kinslaying outlaws from Trotsky on 2012-09-21 (World of Glorantha)

From: Trotsky <TTrotsky_at_Z0tKparLzFK9FxPzVtl6sWyZOGjZbFvMsZEVBOFe2kn4_o3eNJ78R0Vzez3igYM4bOB>
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2012 23:24:44 +0100

Andrew Larsen wrote:
>
> I am wondering if being an Heortling outlaw negates the chaos-danger
> of kinslaying. In other words, does becoming an outlaw cancel the bond
> between family members? Given the ease with which a person might be
> outlawed, simple outlawry doesn't seem enough to achieve that. But
> what about the more or less permanent outlawry that comes with being a
> Gagarthi? Does Gagarth worship terminate one's kin bonds?
> Part of what inspired this question is the quests in KoDP. Orlanth
> cannot fight Daga because Daga is his brother's grandson. So he needs
> to find another way to defeat Daga. But during the same myth, he
> fights Gagarth, who is actually slightly closer by blood, being his
> nephew rather than his grand-nephew. So does becoming a Gagarthi
> involve severing one's kin ties, the way becoming a Humakti does?
>

I'd think it has to. If you're an outlaw, you're outside of society, and that includes your family. Hard to see how Gagarth could function otherwise, really.

> Related to this question is how close the kin-bond needs to be in
> order to generate a risk of chaos from kinslaying. Obviously killing a
> first cousin is close enough. But what about a second cousin? A third
> cousin? A fourth cousin? Obviously the further the bond extends, the
> more likely one is to accidentally trigger chaos by killing a distant
> kin. In actual Germanic society, the obligation to avenge the murder
> of kin was tied to the ability to inherit from them; if you couldn't
> inherit from X, or everyone had forgotten you were kin with him, you
> were not under an obligation to avenge him or help him seek vengeance.
> Does that apply in Heortling society, or is there some other rule?
>

It'll be a social definition: if you're considered to belong to the same bloodline, you're kin. If not, not. Which, in practice, is much the same as the German situation, since most things are inherited within the bloodline as a unit.
>
>

-- 
Trotsky
Gamer and Skeptic

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