Re: Sartar Daily Life: Stead vs Clan

From: Ian Cooper <ian_hammond_cooper_at_...>
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2012 09:46:35 +0100 (BST)

As Jeff says its going to depend on the clan. For example in The Coming Storm you will find that although there is one large village - Red Cow Fort - because the clan lives in the lowlands there are other small villages or perhaps better hamlets in the clan lands, that cluster along the Heort and Danda rivers. It's also worth noting that S;KoH points out that villages can be mixed with folk from multiple clans - only the tula is truly forbidden to outsiders, the sacred spaces. You will find in TCS that a number of villages along the rivers have a counterpart village from another clan, across the water. The villagers mix, with traffic flowing back and forth across the bridge. For the Red Cow, the border with the Blueberry is particularly porous and their highest number of Lunar converts are opposite the settlers from Wulfsland. 

In the past we have had the isolated model of Heortlings everywhere - that makes sense in the hill country, where the clan clusters in valleys surrounded by mountains (although it's likely that the mountains will have shared pasture used in transhumance). It's those regions too that have isolated steads as opposed to villages or hamlets because of the geography of access to lands.

So you need to think about the geography when you think about the pattern of settlement in a clan.

In TCS we also talk about where folks worship. The answer is that folks go to different places at different times. On high holy days some members of the Red Cow may go to Good Rain Hill, Larnste's Table,Greenstone, Clearwine to worship with the tribe - not everyone all the time - but the priests often guide this effort. Other times, or folk who can't make that journey worship at Grave Hill part of the clan's tula, but again that still won't be everyone, other people will worship with a god-talker at the stead. Think about similar models today. Folks might say a few prayers at home together, head into the village to the church, or sometimes make the big trip up to the city cathedral - especially if they want to celebrate or seek help.

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