Moreover, in the scenario you describe, we'd be forced to marry into the Xuan. That... creates all sorts of new problems, including the fact that we'd be no longer Cai's vassal afterwards
I'm not sure why people keep perpetuating this.
Clan Head marriages do
not fold the smaller clan into the larger by default. This is desired by neither side:
-The Ducal clan forming a foreign alliance would be impossible as a result.
-The Baronial clan loses their right to claim their own territories.
-The Ducal clan must now pay for the upkeep of an entire new sub-faction, which does not generate any new income, as they lost their right to claim their own territories to pay their own upkeep. The exception is if they were specifically being recruiting a clan of one. Then they just need to worry about envy
Rule of Thumb for feudal marriages:
-Clan Head marrying regular member of another clan. Customarily the Clan Head retains their title and status, while their spouse forsakes theirs. This is regardless of clan status.
-Clan Head marrying Clan Head. This can be a union of the clans, but more commonly they have an established contract about which of their children can inherit which titles and in which priority. Its really unusual anyways, the only example I could think of in setting is the Sage Emperor.
-Regular member marrying another regular member of another clan. Depends on the specific contract, as neither of them own any land or title, their transfer between the clans is considered a point of negotiation. If theres an excess of land and resources they may be spun off into a branch clan.
I wonder how Xuan Wu territoriality works, whether it is it based on who they are raised with or if it is an instinctive response to different subspecies. If Ling Qi had spirit blooded children with Xuan Shi would Zhengui have an instinctive dislike towards them he had to suppress, or would he just consider them part of his shoal without any issues?
Based on Xuan Shi's handling of the matter its likely to be something the Xuan have had to deal with fairly often. I'd guess it happens whenever the young Xuanwu meet their peers for the first time
Ducal families are huge. There are plenty of low talent members of branch families, yes. There are also low talent scions who are bankrolled to green, the last achievable stage with money, and stay there.
Ducal families also have modifications to their bloodlines which give them higher talents on average.
Word of Yrs was that while you cannot ensure higher talent you can ensure nobody has low talent. Think of it as rerolling Talent 1-3s
So a ducal family would be carried on a large body of Greens with minimum talent of 4-5, who could be sponsored into Green and then left there.
Really, with a Ducal clan's resources, if you have Talent 5 and a good work ethic you don't really mind not having Talent 6+
