5101-Ivinia, The Viking Lands/culture/clan structure

Clan Structure
The fundamental unit of Ivinian society is the extended, polygamous clan, which is the focus of virtually all economic and social activity. Clans vary in size and status. The clanhead is termed the valhakar. He is usually called by the clan name; for example, the valhakar of Clan Dagen will simply be called “The Dagen.”

The valhakar is assisted in government by the thrangaad, a council made up of all adult males with three or more wives. Smaller clans, of course, have no need for a thrangaad. The valhakar is usually elected for life by the clan council but any member of the thrangaad has the right to challenge for the leadership by combat. There are no other rules of succession; any clan member may be elected. Admission to the clan can be by birth or adoption; the latter is common. Under usual circumstances, only members of the thrangaad have a say in clan affairs, although a particularly strong valhakar may ignore even them. Other members of the clan must do as they are commanded or opt out of the clan; they may be adopted by another clan or become clanless.

The clan’s wealth is held in common and controlled by the valhakar and the thrangaad. Clansmen who leave the clan may attempt to claim a share but most assets are not easily portable.

Social stratification is relatively fluid in Ivinia. Personal status is derived from one’s clan and from one’s standing therein. The principal measure of respect is wealth and power.

Pendragon Freeclans
At the top of the pyramid are the pendragon freeclans, those that owe tribute to no one. They exact tribute from scores of lesser clans, possess fortifications, and can muster fleets and the crews to man them. There are ten such independent kingdoms in Ivinia. The economic speciality of these clans is government and warfare and they maintain standing warrior bands made up of royal clan members, men hired from or sent in tribute by subject clans, and mercenaries adopted into special retainer clans. The latter, although technically thralls, are of high status.

Great Freeclans
Great or royal clans are those wealthy enough to build stone keeps and castles. They receive tribute from lesser freeclans but also owe tribute to a pendragon. The valhakars of such clans generally call themselves kings and their thrangaads are sometimes called royal councils.

Most of the good land in Ivinia is held by 83 greatclans that have between 1,000 and 20,000 members. The land of a greatclan is called a thranaal (clan domain) and this territory contains at least one fortified settlement or town, as well as a number of lesser clanholds.

Minor Freeclans
Minor clans range from a few dozen to several hundred members in size and resemble greatclans in social structure. They will have a valhakar and, depending on their size, a thrangaad. A few minor clans exist in isolated regions. They may also hold tributary land within the thranaal of a greatclan, but virtually all such clans are related by blood or marriage.

Urban Clans
Around towns and fortifications, freeclans are less likely to practice agriculture, although they usually fish and hunt. “Urban” freeclans generally specialize in trades that are guilded in other parts of Lythia. These clans maintain monopolistic rights within their fields by the simple expedient of beating or killing any clanless competitor. The freeclan’s clanhouse will incorporate the workshops of its trade. Foreign guildsmen and Ivinian clan members recognize each others’ rights when trading. Guildsmen will treat clan members as guildsmen and Ivinian trading clans will only deal with foreigners who are accredited guildsmen.

In some ways, an urban freeclan’s monopoly is more exclusive than is possible under a guild system. In most districts, there is a single clan practising each occupation. Its size depends on the demands of the market; one woodcrafting clan, for example, will have driven out or adopted all of its competition. One difference between an Ivinian urban freeclan and a foreign guild is that the clan tends to train and keep its own members, while a guild family would send its sons to other families for training and would usually require that the trainee be a journeyman for several years.

Rural Clans
Rural freeclans comprise the bulk of the population; they hold mostof the agricultural land and fishing boats. They are rarely able to construct fortifications more impressive than a stone clanhouse and cannot afford to maintain standing armies, although all Ivinian freemen are trained to arms. Freeclans may owe tribute to each other or to a great freeclan.



The Clanless
The lowest caste in Ivinian society are the clanless. These are free men and women who, although they often have families, belong to no clan in the Ivinian sense. They live mostly in urban areas and practice occupations that are so uneconomical or demeaning that no freeclan wishes to monopolize them. These are the prostitutes, scavengers, and beggars, the urban poor of Ivinia. One may kill a clanless person with little fear of retribution, while injuring or killing even a thrall usually requires payment of wergild (compensation).

Some of the clanless are more respected than others. A few high-status occupations are technically clanless, such as skalds (harpers) and heralds. Visiting foreigners are generally deemed to be clanless; guilded foreigners are generally under the king’s protection or under the protection of an equivalent host freeclan. One important group of clanless are the Lia-Kavair, or thieves’ guild. This institution, while of foreign origin, has adopted thousands of the Ivinian clanless for whom it provides a degree of security.

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