Sedic clan

Sedic clans are kinship groups among the Sedic peoples that provide members with a shared identity and ancestry. The Cídeach term clann translates to "family" or "descendants," and most clans have their own coat of arms, which members may incorporate into their traditional dress, tapestry, artwork, or other designs. These clans have an official structure recognized to varying degrees within Sedic countries.

While some clans have a clan chief, others are known as armigerous clans. In Salia, clans typically identify with geographic areas that were originally under their founders' control, often with an ancestral castle and clan gatherings that form a regular part of the social and sometimes political scene. The most noteworthy clan event in recent times was in 2009 in Scrá, Salia, which saw a turnout of at least 47,000 participants from around Eastern Alutra.

Origins
Clans were formed out of the need for protection by weaker, smaller, yet often more productive families. The productive families would pay homage to the strongest family in the region, or the strong family itself would reach out to members of the tribe and demand payment in return for protection. It was more or less impossible to escape such payment, which took the form of a tax.

The Salish started out as tribal, with powerful families ruling each tribe. It was typical a patriarch with a lot of sons that amassed a tribe around his family, led by him. As they grew, the tribal system developed into a clan system where this family didn’t just serve and protect a tribe, but a whole area of land, with borders and laws that was the equivalent of a fiefdom. Many people were simply content to live protected by the clan, people referred to as the slua of the clan.

In old times, the clan family was the largest and most powerful family of the tribe's territory, and thus a structure developed in order to keep the tribe safe. The clan family would act as arbiters of justice, as well as protection for the rest of the tribe, who would pay tribute and homage to the clan family. Any man could pledge himself to the clan family, who then gained their name (prefixed with Ó, not "mac" in Cídic lands) and worked for them and helped keep peace and prosperity among the lands the clan owned.

A Cidic clan was a territorial group with a common name, who believed they were descended from a common ancestor – thus the members of the Duny clan were supposed to descend from Duny, the Súileamháine from Súileamháin and so on. The territory of the clan was their duiche. A chief (taoiseach) was selected among the clan members to protect the integrity of this territory and that of his kinsmen (fine).

The fine were bound to each other by the practice of fostering their children to each other, thus making concrete what was a very distant blood relation. These foster sons (dáltaí) were the inheritors of a taoiseach’s title, whereas the taoiseach’s own sons would stand to inherit his land and wealth. In theory, the holder of this office (taoiseachas) was elected by smallholders, the people over which the clan was responsible, but in practice, he was often selected by negotiation, brute force, or outside interference.

Clan membership
Clan membership was open to those of both genders, but via different ways. A man could swear fealty to the chief of his tribe's clan, and in order to enter the clan as a dáltaí, the man would be asked to do up to three tasks, and/or give lavish gifts to the chieftain. The queen (wife of the Chieftain) would then, upon witness of the completion of these activities and the swearing in ceremony with her husband, bless the new clansman, and sometimes put on him a. Women could only join the clan through marriage, and clansmen were allowed to marry non-clanswomen. However, if a clanswoman desired a non clansman, the clansman would have to become part of her father's clan, in a joint initiation/wedding ceremony after his dues and tasks were paid. A woman could then join the clan by marrying into it, while a man could pledge himself to this family, and would be taken in as a clan member on the condition that he prove his loyalty to the clan and community. Performing rites, giving gifts, and/or proving himself in battle.

Other classes
Most of the land was actually held by smallholders, the “free men” of the clan who produced food for tribute or rent – they were referred to as the biatach, food producers and their townlands as the baile biatach. At the bottom of the Sedic social order were the landless peasants, referred to by contemporaries as the bodaigh. When exactions in any area became too demanding (for example obliging them to quarter soldiers for too long) the landless class would migrate to other areas, including lands held by other clans or even other ethnic groups (tribes) to escape them.

The fragmented nature of a Cídeach lordship could be a serious liability. When faced with a military threat superior to his own, the Cídeach lord could only count for sure on the support of free men of his own sept, a fairly small number. This decentralization of power was the motivating factor for the foundation of the Great Sedic Confederation, and partly the cause of its eventual collapse.

Class structure
Salian clan hierarchy was composed of 6 levels:


 * Chief (Taoiseach)
 * Queen (Ríon)
 * Seer (Saoi)
 * Sons (Mic)
 * Extended family ("Fine")
 * Subjects ("Slua")

The chief is the ultimate leader of a clan. His right hand man, typically his closest friend or a family member such as a cousin or a brother, handles many day to day aspects of clan ship.

Law
Sedic clan law was characterized as a system of negotiation and reparations. Thus, if a member of a clan was killed by another clan, his relatives were entitled to demand an eraic or “body price” from the offenders. The kin-group rather than the individual was responsible for paying fines, and as a result the family was supposed to prevent kinsmen and those biatach and bodaigh over which the clan reigned from committing crimes in the first place. The clan was motivated to decrease rates of crime for their own benefit, and thus were the primary law-enforcement body within their controlled territory.

For important members of the fine, this system had the advantage that their kinsmen of the clan had to pay reparations for their crimes, giving them virtual immunity. If they, or a member of the biatach or bodaigh committed such crimes, the case would be heard by the clan and the price of an eraic would be determined by the clan courts. The clan would then pay restitution if the criminal was a member of the fine, and if the biatach or bodaigh criminal was deemed unable to pay, then he criminal would then be indentured to the clan in order to work off the debt owed to it.

The price of an eraic was determined by the social importance  of the individual killed. Only for the murder of a chief did the law demand execution. While the crime of murder being punished by, it was in fact quite successful in preventing low level violence such as raiding or feuding from producing out-and-out bloodbaths. It was essentially a way of limiting violence in a chronically violent and competitive clan society. Clans collected tolls for road usage, tributes from people they protected, etc.

Salia
Salian names are patronymic. Among the three tribes, there are different standards for naming:

Cídeach
The Cídeach live in the western part of the island, in the territory known as the Cídeacht.

the patronymic prefix is “Mac” for men. "Ní" for a woman If a man is a direct descendent of a born clansman, he takes the "-(e)ach" suffix after the clan name as well. If a man or woman is simply affiliated with the tribe, he takes the "Ó" preposition before the clan name. Non-clan affiliated Salians only use "mac" in a patronymic sense. A clan-affiliated Salian may use both, for instance Cillian, son of Cloichín, born to clan Donn would be Cillian mac Cloichín Donnach—

But Cillian, son of Cloichín, sworn to clan Donn would be Cillian mac Cloichín Ó Dhonn— the "ó" before the clan name denotes direct lineage, however those who are not in the clan or related to a sworn member would use Mac/Ní only. (Cillian mac Chloicín)

The Lledy
The boatmakers of the east-south part of the country in Lledu. The Lledoweg also live on the island just east of Salia called Ynys Rhon.

The Lledy use "ap" or "map" (south/north dialectical difference) for all instances, but for clan membership the Lledy prefix the clan name between the given name and last name. For example, Arth of clan Drewyth, son of Don would be Arth Drewyth (m)ap Don. If the man is not associated with a clan, it would be Arth (m)ap Don.

The Cánach
Living in the north coasts to central mountains of Salia lie the Tír Ganaché, where the Cánach tribe is. This ethnic group is more spread out and rural than the other two

The Cánach use the same system as the Lledy, except the process is also different for men and women:


 * Men: the suffix “-(u)chnu” marks descent before the clan name. Gwirthói of clan Drú, son of Don would be Gwirthói Donuchnu map Drú. For abbreviation purposes, the man would use Gwirthói Donuchnu unless he wanted to purposefully stress his clan heritage.


 * Women: the suffix “-(a)chna” marks descent from the father’s name only. Calchathan, daughter of Don would be Calchathan Donachna. For women, the word “map” is not used to denote clan heritage, instead the clan name is just added after the patronymic name. Calchathan daughter of Don, of clan Drú would be Calchathan Donachna Dhrú.

Salia
After the second revolution and the modern constitution was written, the clan's official capacity to enact justice waned. The clan system still holds sway and has a lot of ties with clan members in government, but is divorced from government. However, they still are respected and still keep traditions, only they don’t uphold the law. In modern times, clans are hallmarks of many communities in Salia. They protect communities as a sort of neighborhood watch, organize charity, invest in businesses, and protect their own. Descending from a clan is a mark of honor and recognition— it can still give name-bearers an edge in everything from politics to business in modern society.