The Orkum and Gathum

These descriptions apply primarily to the Wolverine Gathum. Other Gathums may have somewhat different customs.

The Gathum

The undisputed head of the Orkum is the Dowmga. In time of war the Dowmga nominates a Zhoothraka to lead the Thraka in combat and wield the houshold spear, but the Zhoothraka is still subordinate to the Dowmga.
If the Dowmga dies, the Orkum waits until one of the Dowmgaday (or more rarely the Thraka). If a Dowmga reaches an age where she ceases to have children, she may choose to yield her place as the Dowmga of the household to the next dayla in the household who becomes pregnant. She then becomes a kind of 'Grandowmga' - a prestigious postition, since any ork who lives to be that age has demonstrated great skill in overcoming their Trouble.
From the point of view of the new Dowmga, it might seem to be a disadvantage to have an older Dowmga around (back seat orking!) However, her household would gain from having experienced Thraka, and from the knowledge of the old Dowmga.

Next in authority to the Dowmga are the Dowmgday. These are female Thraka chosen by the Dowmga as her personal bodyguard. They fight to protect her and also learn the easier Dowmga skills (Craft 1). Some Dowmgaday specialise in a particular Craft and can advance beyond Craft 1 in that skill only. Dowmgaday occasionally become pregant; when this happens they become Sethoo, expectant mothers, who live appart from the other orks and are taught Domwga skills by the other Dowmga. After a successful birth they will become Dowmga nad goudn a household of their own.

The Tala have a slightly anomlaous position. They are the bards and knowledge keepers of the Gathum and are thus hightly respected, although still subordinate to the Dowmga. Their prime job is to ensure that the great deeds of the Orkum are known to all in the Gathum and beyond, to ensure that the Gathum receives proper respect and status. They also learn sagas of past Ork heros to entertain the Gathum during the winter. Tala can also read the orkish runes and leave messages for other Tala carved on 'Kho stones', usually found near Eetalday (resting places for temporary camps) and Dooladay (more permenant winter homes). A Tala will usually have one or two apprentices among the younger Thraka. Tala are both male and female.

The majority of the Orks in the Gathum will be Thraka. These are the warriors and hunters of the Orkum and the survival of the Orkum and Gathum depends. Thraka are both male and female. Rarely a female Thraka will become pregnant. If this happens she is treated exactly as a pregnant Dowmgaday.
The primary weapon of the Thraka is spear and shield. Some Thraka use bows and larger richer households can support trained reindeer cavalry.

The Bodelay are the shamen of the orks and usually live appart form the Gathum. They are accorded great respect because they are the only Orks capable of functioning in the Otherside, the dream world. Most bodalay are assicoated (or at least more friendly towards) a single Orkum, but they are notoriously temperamental. A bodelay may have oen or two apprentice bodalat; these live with him and appart from the Gathum. Most , but not all, bodalay are male.

The Gathum

The most powerful Orkum in the Gathum is known as the Bashorkum and stands in regard to the other Orkum as the Dowmga does to her Orkum. The Dowmga of the Bahorkum is the Bashdowmga. She has ultimate authority in the distribution of food and spoils of war, and she decides when and if the Gathum will go to war. The Gathum makes decisions at a meeting called the Tooanda

When new thraka come of age, they make new households with any available new Dowmga. Any excess thraka are sent to other households which need them, by the descion of the Bashdowmga.

There are some interesting consequences of this, in terms of relationships between households and between Dowmga.

1. An ordinary ork has a direct relationship to *two* Dowmga - the Dowmga who gave birth to him, and the Dowmga in who's household he lives as an adult.
2. A Dowmga has associations with *three* households - the Orkum where she was born, the Orkum where she lived as a Thraka/Dowmgaday and the Orkum of which she is the head.
3. A Dowmga is unlikely to be the natural mother of a dayla who becomes pregnant and leaves her household. But there is status to be gained by having dayla in your household become new Dowmgas.
4. A new household has varying degrees of kinship with the established households, depending on which households the thraka came from. A new household might have thraka from most of the household in the tribe, or they might come from only one or two.