#at lesat I got to dig up these parts of my notes again

[ertrunkenerwassergeist]

Rough Galahkari Clan Structure

Some time ago I said I would talk about family dynamics in Galahkari culture. I’ll do so soon, but first I feel I need to talk a bit about Clan structure. Mostly for the sake of completion, but also to make things clearer. (Hopefully XD)

Galahkari society is made up of Clans and families. Clans are (mostly) simple, families are complicated.

To be part of a Clan, one needs to complete their First Hunt. And everyone with the same last name is part of the same Clan. When someone is part of a Clan, they are considered a proper and fully fledged member of society.

A Clan is responsible for ones financial aid, benefits, sick money, pension, etc. Essentially a Clan helps get its members stable liveleihoods. In exchange the Clan member helps sustain the Clan.

The structure of a Clan looks roughly like this:

First, there is the Oirkar, the head of the Clan, the leader. Literally, the word means ‘first person’. So the head of the Clan is considered the first person of said Clan.

The position gets handed down from one Oirkar to the other, but the person to inherit the position does not have to be closely related to the old leader. What I mean is that, when the old Oirkar steps down (when they hit 70 they’re strongly encouraged by society to do so), they choose the next leader, who they feel would lead the Clan best.

One step down there is the Datkar, or Heliokar, Nohelihm or Obiar Oirih, depending on where on Galahd a Clan is. In order they mean ‘second person’, ‘helper’, ‘helping hand’ and ‘behind the first’.

They are the second-in-command. They help run the Clan and make sure the Clan Head’s decisions get carried out. They also take the position of temporary Clan Head, if the Oirkar is out of commission for whatever reason and the heir is still too young.

A new Oirkar chooses their Datkar. But a Datkar always has their own ‘heir’ that can step up should something happen or they want to step down. Also in the bigger Clans there can be more than one Datkar to help with the workload.

The Heir, or Miga Oi - which means ‘little first’ - is a very fluid position in the sense that the power it has depends on how far along in their training the heir is.

Next are the Sinehäri - the Elders. Every person over 70 has a claim to that title, but the ones with actual power are those who were either the Oirkar, the Datkar, or a Qurah.

Elders mostly function as advisors and educators for children. But their age and subsequent experience gives every Elder a certain level of respect.

Qurahi are the Masters of the craft the Clan specialises in. They are in charge of the Clan’s workforce and trade. They make sure the people under them and their dependants are taken care of.

The Miqur are the helpers and assistants to the Qurahi. While not Masters themselves, all that’s keeping them from the position is experience/age and the mastery exam. (Libertus has this position in his own Clan.)

After that is the mostly homogenous group of everybody else.

How does all this relate to families?

Well, mostly in a sociopolitical way.

A member of Clan Ostium can have dependants that aren’t part of Clan Ostium and the Clan would still have to pay money to help with their care. Mostly those dependants are children who are potential new Clan members, so that isn’t really a problem. It gets problematic for some when the Nameless get into the equation.

Let’s take Crowe. In my worldbuilding she isn’t part of Clan Altius and as such does not have a legal last name where the Galahkari are concerned. And as she isn’t part of a Clan, she does not have the financial security net being part of one would give her.

Now, as Libertus’s sister, she can count as his dependant and he can basically ask for money from his Clan for Crowe’s support. (Which would be like kicking a hornets nest, since Murus is a prejudiced dickhead when it comes to Clanless people.)

A Clan cares for their own, and it would really hurt their social standing, if they could not do so. Like, if Clan Najad could not pay its members for their work, or pay them their sick benefits or anything else, and another Clan would do so, that would be a major blow to the face. (And cause for conflict.)

By that I mean, for example, Pelna Khara and his wife Tethys Najad. If Tethys’s benefits fell away for whatever reason, Pelna could name her his dependant and get money for her from his Clan. Which would very likely cause an inter-Clan crisis.

(Here I should reiterate that when people marry, they don’t leave their Clan to join their spouse’s. Which also has the consequence of people keeping their last names.)

So yeah. Clans are mostly simple. Families make it all complicated. And part of why that is, is that families of deed and choice have just as much value in Galahkari society as families of blood.