The Confederacy of Clans

“From a distance, the Confederacy is a fearsome sight. Flags of any color fly from the parapets of a score of walled forts. If their swords were not all pointed inwards, I fear they could conquer the whole world.” - A traveler.

The cluster of Fragments dubbed the confederacy are home to many fiercely independent clans. Between then is a blood oath of mutual defense that has obliterated anyone foolish enough to raid them. That, however, is where the alliance ends.

In the confederacy, the concept of 'the clan' is the corner stone of their culture. To dilute culture is to defy the nature of the broken world. Anything that infringes on tradition, culture, or faith is a threat to the Clan. A strong clan will face off any threat. If you cannot defend yourselves, you are not worthy to be called a clan.

The Confederacy is built around a structure called The Stack: a colossal Pillar of stone and fragments reaching both up into the storms and down into the mists. Stormfire wracks the tip of this pillar, and mist boils around its base, giving the impression of a lit candle.

Strange energies must coarse through the stack, for many, many fragments cluster around it. The cluster is smaller than the Union's Archipelago, and a lot more chaotic. Many of the fragments are debris and junk, or large enough to support a single family.

The skilled Geomancers of the Earthborne do their best to keep the stack stable, and assist all the clans who live there for a price.

Each Clan has allegiance to one of three Ruling Clans, who make the central stack their home.

What stops the whole Confederacy boiling over into all out warfare is the influence of the three largest clans: Earthbourne, O'Sheas, and Corvidae. The founders of the Confederacy have grown naturally into positions of prominence.

Over the generations the 'ruling three' have formed bonds of non-aggression and mutual benefit with the smaller clans. Nobody would dare attack a neighbor without the consent of their 'sponsor'; Their advice is taken with great weight.

The Ruling Three are the first to state that each clan rules itself, and they merely offer advice. Some consider this a hollow sentiment; Subtle power plays keep the Ruling Three at the top of the roost, and clans threatening the Confederacy have been outright crushed.

Overall, their influence has been for the best, and nobody could deny the Ruling Three work harder than most to keep the Confederacy from imploding.

While none would say they have absolute power, they hold a position of authority like no other. The Earthborne are said to be responsible for creating the stack, the clan itself call it the work of their God-King, King Lemur.

Certainly, the Earthborne are Geomancers without peer, and welcomed on all fragments to tune and align them with the rest of the stack.

Earthborne tends to sponsor forward thinking clans, those looking to maintain or improve life in the Confederacy.

The Corvidae themselves are a clan like many others. What makes them special is their relationship with the Hareppi. Many nests of the beasts settle among the Corvidae, where they are treated like gods, and like tempestuous children. To cross the Corvidae is to bring the attention of Hareppi upon you, and indeed it is their influence that keeps unruly clans inline.

Corvidae tends to sponsor the more devout clans, those who can best defend the confederacy, and those with the most… distinct traditions.

Trade between the clans is a tricky affair when there is no common lore, and handled elegantly by O'Sheas trading house. O'Sheas take an interest in affairs outside the Confederacy, and assure that any new resources absorbed into the stack are relinquished to the most worthy. Their silk tongues have smoothed over many a conflict, and brought riches to the whole Stack.

O'Sheas tends to sponsor the more mercantile clans, those with valuable resources or skills to offer, and those involved in relations outside the clans.

In the Confederacy, might makes right. The richest and the toughest demand respect, and the strength of clans reflects strongly on their sponsors. Currently Earthborne sponsors the toughest clans, and is viewed in highest regard. O'Sheas and Corvidae vie equally for respect.

All clans readily recognize the importance of their sponser, and more grudgingly recognize the other Ruling Clans. It would be considered weak not to view your own clan as superior to all however, and the Ruling three take no offense at this.

The individually of the Confederacy is naturally at odds with the Union, who records claim they have clashed with before. They are skeptical of the twin clans of the City Fragment, but recognize their might. The devotion to faith found among the Fallen is admired, though the Confederacy's faith in the strength of humanity puts the two colonies at odds.

The Confederacy works on the Confederate Sovereign. This is a coin made from hardened obsidian glass, formed in the confederacy mints. The raw materials for the glass are only found on the O’sheas fragment, and the mines there are carefully regulated to prevent the supply drying up.

The Stormtouched within the Confederacy are viewed with a mixture of fear and awe; properly trained, they can be a devastating asset for a Clan in its struggle for dominance. Without control, however, they can lay waste to large areas and destabilize the fragment stack at the heart of the Confederacy. All Stormtouched must therefore travel to the Corvidae clan stronghold for training with their Stormtouched and the Hareppi that make their home there.

Those that survive the training will not speak of it, but rumors abound of punishing exercise regimes, strange meditations, and even throwing people off the fragment and seeing what happens. Once they have been safely trained, they are allowed to return to their Clan and work for it. Excessive use of Storm energy within the Confederacy will soon bring down the wrath of the Corvidae, however.

“We of the confederacy have slain dragons, we have built towers to the heavens, we have put fear into the hearts of demons. It is our history that gives us strength. Our ancestors who carved out this history guard us.”

The Church of Ancestors is the closest thing the Stack has to a common religion. The monks of the church are skilled morticians, versed in every clan's burial practices. The church's traditions are steeped in Passion magic however, and they offer an expensive service to clans when a real hero falls.

The church can embalm the soul of a dead hero, preserving it for all time. Some clans permit the soul to be placed in a Hall of Heroes where all can experience it. Others request the spirit to be bound to the clan holdings, as an ever present guardian.

A challenge to tradition is an important affair. Effectively, for two clans to go to war is a challenge for one clan's traditions to usurp another. In one memorable case, one clan actively wanted to adopt the religion of another. In order to placate their neighboring clans, they performed a ritual where the warriors of one clan lightly hit the other with sticks.

In the Confederacy it is very common for marriages to be arranged, so that strong ties between families can be cultivated.

A marriage must be planned right. As many of the clans that make up the Confederacy have strong clan traditions, things like the size of the dowry and the nature of the ceremony must be carefully negotiated, a process which can take many months.

Once the marriage has occurred, the married couple need to decide which family they will formally belong to. One partner or other must very symbolically denounce all their old traditions, to assure no dispute over Inheritance.

Naturally, faith differs greatly between each clan, ranging from the zealous to the indifferent. The faiths of both Corvidae and Earthborne have appeal outside their clans however.

Many recognize King Lemur as a living god, and incorporate his legends into their own. Not many claim, like the Earthborne, that he created the world before it broke. These clans are unified in the belief that the world can be healed, and remade whole.

Others follow the Corvidae in worship of birds - a beast normally despised as a pest. This is partially due to the Corvidae's aggressive stance on any who would harm their sacred guardians.

Technology in the Confederacy is somewhat tied in with Geomantic techniques. It is not surprising, then, to see small transportation fragments being used to carry people around the stack and its fragments, some of which have been adapted and enhanced with mechanical devices to allow them to move around at the will of a trained operator as opposed to a Geomancer. Whilst these fragments could in theory be used to travel to other factions this tends not to happen for political reasons. Thus the ferrymen still have their place for the people of the Confederacy. Communication beyond word of mouth, similarly, is done through a postal system whereby messages are physically transported and delivered across fragments through Geomancy. Sometimes this is done by carrying messages in person, and sometimes by launching particularly small message-bearing fragments at the destination.

King Lemur, supposedly a divine being, is the closed thing the Confederacy has to a leader. King Lemur is very reclusive and seen by none except his closest advisers.

It is said that he and his brother Odin ruled an unbroken world, that they were more of god than they are today. Odin and Lemur ruled the Living World, Odin from above providing Light and Heat, Lemur from below providing Life. Mankind was respectful to the gods and believers in propriety and modesty.

But in time propriety was seen as less important and immodesty started to take over the world. Things became worse until, in an orgy of gluttony and lasciviousness, the New Gods were unleashed upon the world. Created of Chaos and Immorality, they struck down the weakened Odin and Lemur. They broke apart Lemur's body, creating the Broken World. And they tore Odin in two, creating the Mists and the Storms. And to make things worse, they fathered numberless races of unpleasant, dangerous and above all Not Human creatures.

King Lemur tells us that to heal the world, taking it back to its unbroken form; Mankind must reunite under a single banner, and drive back to alien races. The one exception to this seems to be the Hareppi, King Lemur has told the people that as the New gods are not all powerful, not all their creations are under their command, the Hareppi have developed free will, making them different from the other races, who exist solely to do the bidding of the New Gods. Their capricious nature comes from the fact the concept off free will is new to them, and they must learn to use it responsibly, and it is up to man kind to teach them.

“The Union planned to unite the clans in their belief; they drove out ideologies they deemed unacceptable, the worship of Birds, and the Sacrifice of Virgins. However many were keen to hold on to these age old beliefs. These Perishers fought the Union but were driven out of the Archipelago.” -Professor David Meade, College of Horizons.

When the Union was founded some Clans were opposed to the removal of their individual privileges and Traditions. They fought against the Union to maintain their individuality. They lost. To subject the will of the Union would only cause unrest; instead they were allowed to flee the archipelago. Many arrived at the Fragment Stack of the Earthborne who had left the archipelago months earlier, and it was here a new civilisation was founded.