Disowned
The Disowned have no Family, instead relying on their own skills and accomplishments to survive the demands of the Sparnell Confederation.
Causes
Sparnelli Families have full rights to disown their members for any reason, real or imagined, or no reason at all. The Family name is everything, and those intending to remain on top often discard any member they believe will hinder those goals. Smaller, lesser Families are more prone to retain their members, but have still been prone to disown those who too often go against their Family values.
Treason against the Confederation is grounds for immediate disownment, as any Family willingly harboring a traitor risks a declaration of Dishonor.
Prevention
The best chance of prevention is to alwaysfollow the Family decrees, obeying the will of the Family Chair.
In cases where an individual is unable to comply, often due to a lack of an expected natural skill, they may instead be promised into a new Family more aligned with the individual's natural talents, often through marriage. In these cases, the individual would take on the name of their new Family upon completion of the agreement, strengthening the Families' political bonds.
History
The Disowned have been a fact of life in the Confederation since the rise of political Families, although the frequency of the declarations tends to rise and fall with the political climate.
Those declared Disowned may choose to continue through life without a Family name, relying solely upon their own merits and personal reputation rather than a Family name or political network. Others choose to band together and form their own Family, working together for a better future for themselves. A select few are even able to join an existing Family through adoption or marriage, securing a support network through their new Family's resources.
Cultural Reception
Disowning Family members who are unable to contribute to the Family's prestige remains a longaccepted practice among the upper echelons of Confederation society, as well as Families desperately working to reach the same levels of prestige. It is said that within the Confederation there is nothing more important than the Family name, and many will take drastic measures to prove exactly that.
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