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Urban Orlanthi


Joerg

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5 hours ago, Jeff said:

Yep. Kinship ties are not so neat and tidy as they are sometimes presented. One person might be more loyal to a warleader (unrelated to them by blood or tribe) than to their clan, or to their tribal leaders than to their immediate family. Others in the same kinship group might be the opposite. 

Nice to see this confirmed. Follow Chosen Leaders is not restricted to one's own kin in the clan.

But I really asked about the reverse situation - how does the clan community regard and treat those kinsfolk living far away (i.e. more than a day's march away) in the city? How is their status before the clan wyter when they return to their clan (for some it may not even be their birth clan if they are second generation city folk) for important clan holy days that don't clash with their temple obligations in the city? Do they receive the welcome of kin or of guests? Are they able to participate in more than a support role in the rites (provided their position in the cult warrants such a role)? (While I am at it, would a priest from a nearby temple with some relevance to the occasoin visiting the clan for this festival be there as a participant, or as a honored guest?)

And how does the same apply to clan people who have entered the retinue of a tribal king, staying at the royal stead rather than with their kin in the clan? Also, what treatment can the tribal king and his specialist retainers expect when attending a clan festival?

 

Which brings me to urban festivals. We have one in-world description of such an event, when Biturian Varosh witnesses the effects of City Harmony on Jarang Bladesong's provocation during the Pavis procession.

Any thoughts how these would go along?

 

Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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1 hour ago, Joerg said:

Nice to see this confirmed. Follow Chosen Leaders is not restricted to one's own kin in the clan.

But I really asked about the reverse situation - how does the clan community regard and treat those kinsfolk living far away (i.e. more than a day's march away) in the city? How is their status before the clan wyter when they return to their clan (for some it may not even be their birth clan if they are second generation city folk) for important clan holy days that don't clash with their temple obligations in the city? Do they receive the welcome of kin or of guests? Are they able to participate in more than a support role in the rites (provided their position in the cult warrants such a role)? (While I am at it, would a priest from a nearby temple with some relevance to the occasoin visiting the clan for this festival be there as a participant, or as a honored guest?)

And how does the same apply to clan people who have entered the retinue of a tribal king, staying at the royal stead rather than with their kin in the clan? Also, what treatment can the tribal king and his specialist retainers expect when attending a clan festival?

 

Which brings me to urban festivals. We have one in-world description of such an event, when Biturian Varosh witnesses the effects of City Harmony on Jarang Bladesong's provocation during the Pavis procession.

Any thoughts how these would go along?

 

You are over-thinking this. I'm the son of Jarandros Black Spear and under the law of the Black Spear, I'm a clan member. It doesn't matter if I live in Black Spear Village, Clearwine Fort, or Nochet. That's a matter of traditional law.

That being said, if I've never contributed to the clan, never shown up at an assembly, was initiated elsewhere, never offered sacrifices at the clan temple, etc., I suspect I will get just what the law requires and no more - unless I persuade folk otherwise ("I was a captive of the Empire for the last twenty years," "I bring valuable gifts," "I am a famous hero and want to return to my people," etc.). 

Think of the clans as villages, where most of the inhabitants are kinfolk. each with their own priest-strongman. The tribal king is the big priest-strongman who has the blessing of the tribal gods, collects revenue from all the villages, and has the most treasure to give to supporters. In exchange, he's expected to protect the villages, lead the villages in war, and resolve disputes between the villages. Sometimes, someone from a village leaves the village but they are still kin. Even their children are still kin. In many cases, even their great-granchildren might still be kin, according to local law.

The cultural expectation is that a member of a clan will aid another member of a clan against an outsider - even if they don't know or like the other clan member. The cultural reality is that often doesn't happen. Other loyalties may be personally greater - to family, to a friend, to one's tribe, to a chosen leader, whatever.

 

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51 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Nice to see this confirmed. Follow Chosen Leaders is not restricted to one's own kin in the clan.

But I really asked about the reverse situation - how does the clan community regard and treat those kinsfolk living far away (i.e. more than a day's march away) in the city?

Ties of kinship are primarily honored as a source of credit.  Someone is always getting married, born, initiatied, divorced, equipped etc and that means money getting borrowed

.  Families fork out resources to cover those expenses.  Nobody will object to a family member in the city who can help them shop for a better deal, or who has a bit of coin to spare, such people are a valued resource and will be honored.  Those who visit the clan regularly will probably never have their membership questioned.  Those who drift away will probably eventually have to make a legal claim to re-assert their membership when inheritance time comes.

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

And how does the same apply to clan people who have entered the retinue of a tribal king, staying at the royal stead rather than with their kin in the clan? Also, what treatment can the tribal king and his specialist retainers expect when attending a clan festival?

People close to the body of a king are intrinsically of high status, even if the king is unpopular.  Few people ever get a social demotion from being close to power.  As for how a Tribal king is greated in a given clan, that is a matter of politics.  All tribal kings are due huge hospitality, but that will be mitigated by plenty of custom and social minutiae about what may and may not be expected and the associated ettiquette.  Insults can be quite intentional or quite unintentional, and the Orlanthi are a feuding culture.  If you are going to have the Tribal King over and give him a good time, it is normally a means to pony up a request of some sort.

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

Which brings me to urban festivals. We have one in-world description of such an event, when Biturian Varosh witnesses the effects of City Harmony on Jarang Bladesong's provocation during the Pavis procession.

Any thoughts how these would go along?

There is probably one for each cult on their high holy day, and probably more than one per year.  I would imagine that there is probably a big inter-faith procession to mark the first day of Sacred Time, and people have probably spent a long time preparing for it.  As with true to life festivals there are probably musicians, carried floats and relics, festooned with decorations, possibly people marching with recent scarification or mortification visible as marks of faith, Glazed Eyed hero questers in place of deities in some cases, and sacrificial animals led throught the streets covered in ribbons and flowers.  The poor will devote their time to building the floats, the rich will devote their money, and the various cults will vie to out-do each other in their display.  It is likely that the deities in the procession will peel off from the main procession after completing a mandated number of passes and go to their repsective temples.

On the other hand religious marches can be intensely political too, religion being an intrinsically public and social activity.  Cult rivalries can easily turn such events into riots, as antagonistic faiths are forced into a proximity they normally avoid.  It only takes one slur, or one thrown rotten piece of fruit to spark something off on such occasions.  Some of these events will be known to regularly end in an almost ritualized brawl, then everyone knocks off for lunch and comes back to brawl a bit more in the afternoon.

There will of course be plenty of people out to witness the whole affair, with hawkers selling cheap "delicacies" on sticks, votive offerings made of clay and wood, and of course the town watch has to pull a double shift.  It is always a day to be seen in attendance, and may well have important rituals to follow in the various temples and sacred spaces. Sometimes it will be the only time of a year when a specific magic is available.

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