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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rhialto" data-source="post: 2132631" data-attributes="member: 630">One of the ways the Bodai measure status is by the ownership of their fierce, hardy ponies.  An individual who owns his own pony is a "Bodai'sha"--a true adult.  These individuals are a surprisingly small portion of the population and constitute a sort of savage Bodai 'knighthood'.  They ride with the fierce Bodai war parties, and are allowed to seize whatever spoils their horse can carry.  An individual who owns enough ponies to give his immediate family mounts is a "Bodai'kasha".  These individuals may lead their families into battle, and speak at clan meetings.  An individual who owns enough ponies to give mounts to his immediate and his extended family is called a "Bodai'kasha'kai"--they recieve the same rights as a kasha, but their opinions carry more weight, and they are generally powerful war leaders.  An individual who owns enough ponies to give mounts to his extended family, AND twenty or more individuals to whom he is not related is called a "Bodai'sa".  These individuals tend to lead the smaller Bodai hordes, and are generals, and statesmen.  An individual who owns enough ponies to give mounts to his extended family, AND one hundred or more individuals to whom he is not related is called a "Bodai'sahn".  These are the monarchs of Bodai society.  Sergis Sahn is one such individual.  Next, we must consider those who do not or cannot own their own mounts.  A man who does not own his own pony, but must ride his mounts his family provides is called a "Bodai'ne".  This is not a dishonorable position, but it also not a particularly honorable one--many young men in it are hungry to prove themselves, and be awarded their own pony.  An individual who must rely on the charity of strangers for a pony is called a "Bodai'sora"--this is a shameful position, generally occupied by criminals and cripples, and any healthy individual who is in this state is viewed with disgust.  Sora are often not allowed to ride into battle.  A completely different individual is a "Bodai'lho", a warrior who has sworn loyalty to a Sa or Sahn and now rides his lord's mounts into battle.  Lhos compromise an elite fighting corps in any Sa's forces, and are honored and exulted--especially when they are individuals who give up a Sha, Kasha, or Kasha'kai position to do so.Inheritance law among the Bodai are, interestingly enough, practically non-existent.  While an individual may leave their ponies to a son or daughter--or for that matter a sibling, a niece, or a favored war leader--that heir must demonstrate sufficient power, magnetism and force to make those wishes come true--otherwise the mounts will be seized by everyone trying to reach a higher status.  This often results in a period of intraclan violence when a leader dies, followed by the group splintering into several smaller clans.  The larger the clan, the more violent such quarrels tend to be.  When the famed Bodai warlord Ossa Sahn of the Red Hand Horde perished, her sons, daughters, and warlords fought amongst themselves for a month to determine the distribution of her ponies--they were only stopped by a massed attack by several of the clan's enemies, who wiped out the Red Hand Horde to a man.</blockquote>

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