Warlord

When need arises, the Twelve Elders can come together and elevate one person to lead the Clan as its Warlord. Any adult member of the clan can be chosen, regardless of gender or social standing. As with most of the Elders' decisions, it comes down to a simple majority. The Warlord is then granted a ceremonial battleaxe, a set of armour and a horse.   While the would-be Warlord always has an option to refuse the position, that is generally frowned upon. Really, really frowned upon. To the point where it was not unheard of for such a refusal to be followed by a banishment from the clan. Everyone is supposed to be willing to step up and protect their clan, and refusing to do so can be seen as a great insult.

After twelve months have passed, the Warlord must face the Twelve Elders again, place the ceremonial axe on the floor and pay their respects. If the Elders allow the Warlord to take the axe with them when leaving the meeting, that means their actions have been well received and the Warlord stays as such for another twelve months. If not, the person leaving the meeting place is now an ordinary member of the clan once again.   Naturally, that tends to create problems of their own. Ruthless scheming starts whenever the Twelve Elders are divided on the topic and twelve month period draws to a close. Accidents tend to become more common, as everyone knows who the next Elder in line would be. On the other hand, on multiple occassions a Warlord would refuse to pay their respects to the Elders and thus avoid having the topic of their time limit brought up. Not exactly legal, but it can be hard to argue with the person with absolute authority over armed men and women.