Post originally by Sammy Grimes at 2005-06-16 14:39:35
Converted from Phorums BB System

Okay, I am not going to argue about the social stasis since neither of us is a trained sociologist or anthropologist (but Dr. M.A.R. Barker is, as well as a linguist, and he is sometimes on the Tekumel-Moderated Yahoo Group if you want to argue this). I am merely an Astrophysicist (Masters) and Astrobiologist (PhD candidate). Nor will I argue about the gods since I made my point and you have chosen to ignore it.

Social mobility stops just before the Very High Clan status. You can buy your way up to High Clan status even from foreign nakome scum status (which is five levels) by spending money and doing favors for the clan you want to be in. If you have sponsorship of an imperial prince (who are usually fostered out to the Very High Clans at a very young age) you can get into a Very High Clan, but you have to be have done some great deeds. In fact, this has been done before with the countless number of foreigners who have "stepped off the boat" in Jakalla.

As for social interaction, our own society uses intermediaries all the time. How many corporate CEOs talk to the guys in the mail room? Does that mean if the CEO makes policy changes that affect the mail room boys and they find out through intermediaries that the corporate system doesn't work. Hardly. So a Clan Blue Sea farmer (Very High Clan) has to go through a Clan Black Stone (Medium Clan) overseer so that he can tell the stump clearers of Clan Red Moon (Very Low Clan) to clear the stumps from the east 40 so that planting can take place soon. With the exception that there will be the use of the "most honorable you" and some bowing, its the same thing that happens in our society in hierarchical structures. I rarely see the Chancellor at my school, nor can I really even talk to him even if I were in the same room, but his policies affect me all the time, through intermediaries.

The clans give basic color to the world, much more than just telling the players "You are middle class." If you are not in one of your clan's professions or your clan's religion, there had better be some good reason why. Though your clan will help you and you are not nakome, it will still be awkward at times. Now true, the real color of the clans does not appear in the GoO book, since clans have specific holidays, customs, possesions, history, and family members (and family drama), some of which can be quite quirky. But if I were to run, I would give my friend Brandi a sample clan and tell her to use it as a template for creating her own (and probably those of the other players if I am running an interclan story).