The Great Anarchy: A History of the Nine Clans (Y79-Y182)

The story of the Nine Clans is the true history of the Forsaken Demesne. While the "civilized" counties of Galax and Marshall cling to 13% of the coast, the real Demesne—the vast, 87% interior that was the graveyard of the failed Eastern Front—is the domain of the Clans. Theirs is a story of survival, trauma, and the forging of a new, harsh, and mobile culture.

Part I: The Compassionate Mutiny (Year 79)

The story of the Nine Clans begins with a secret, compassionate betrayal. In Y79, Commander Narcis First, a weary Aasimar Cleric of Saery, stood in his command tent, his 45-year war finally over. He had successfully routed the fiendish hordes using his "Funnel" tactic.

His new orders arrived from the Army of the Astral Sea. They were good orders: "Return to base. Resupply. Redeployment to a new battlefield. You are hereby promoted to General."

Narcis looked out of his tent. He did not see a victorious army. He saw survivors. He saw men and women who had not known a single day of peace, who were haunted by the atrocities of Levistus, and who still screamed in their sleep. He knew they were broken. He could not, in good conscience, lead them to a new war.

He calmly burned the scroll.

He called a final council of his captains and lieutenants. He lied. "Our final orders have come," he announced. "The Army has recognized our victory. Our mission is complete. We are to 'spread out and keep the peace.' The battalions are disbanded. Go, and be people."

This "Great Lie" was a profound act of mutiny. Narcis sacrificed his promotion, his career, and his place in the Army to give his soldiers the one thing they had earned: peace.

His officers, trusting their commander, took these "orders" and executed them. They led their most loyal soldiers away, not to build static villages, but to begin their new lives as the free, mobile, nomadic clans of the Demesne.

The non-clan villagers (the settlers in Larya's old, permanent camps) were now left on their own, but they were protected by these new, powerful, roaming clans.

Part II: The Dragon Tradition (Y100-Y122)

As the original Aasimar founders began to grow old, the mobile clans faced a crisis: how to choose a new, worthy leader? A tradition emerged, born from their original divine mission: the Purification of the Dragon.

The 87% "Wilds" were still infested with evil, chromatic dragons. To prove their worth, a would-be leader had to venture out, find one of these dragons, and "purify" it by the act of subdual, forcing the evil creature to become their loyal mount. This was the ultimate test of a leader: providing their nomadic clan with the ultimate, powerful "cavalry."

• The Test: A new leader proved their power by transforming a symbol of evil into a tool for order.

• The Loopholes: The tradition was vague. A Clan Bastion leader might bring a whole team to "tactically" subdue a dragon. A Clan Solace leader might see the "egg" loophole—stealing an egg and raising the dragon as a "parent"—as a more compassionate and true form of purification.

• The Price: The tradition had a grim, pragmatic end. When a leader stepped down, they would fly their dragon far away and release it. The dragon, no longer magically bound, would almost always turn and eat its former master, a final, accepted price for a lifetime of subservience.

Part III: The Caspian "Solution" (Y122)

The clans, for all their power, were mobile. They patrolled the vast "Wilds," but they did not govern the static, non-clan villages. This vacuum was filled by the Brigand Barons—Aasimar-descendants who seized these undefended villages, becoming petty tyrants.

It was this chaos that Caspian Silversky was born into.

When Caspian began his one-man war to cleanse the Barons, the Nine Clans, in their nomadic arrogance, simply "moved out of the way." They watched this lone Paladin do their dirty work. Caspian successfully cleansed a 7.5% sliver of the Demesne, and the grateful, non-clan villagers chose to align with him, forming Marshall County.

This act did not unify the Demesne. It simply created the modern, tense political map: the "New Law" (the 13% Counties on the coast) now co-exists with the "Old Guard" (the Nine mobile Clans who rule the 87% interior).

The Nine Clans: A Deeper History

1. Clan Narcis (The Keepers)

• Founder: Commander Narcis First (Cleric of Saery - Grave Domain)

• History: The "founding" clan. They are a semi-nomadic clan of historians, morticians, and diplomats. Their "capital" is the Great Yurta-Archive, a massive, ornate tent that moves with them. They are the spiritual center of the Demesne, and their sacred duty is to travel to the static villages and even other clans to perform the proper burial rites, managing the trauma of the war.

• Dragon Tradition: They see the Purification as a long-term "penance" for the dragon. They exclusively use the "egg" loophole, believing that true purification comes from raising the dragon in the light.

2. Clan Bastion (The Engineers)

• Founder: Captain Tom Bastion (Fighter - Battle Master)

• History: This clan is the mobile fortress. They are masters of the wagon-fort (or "laager"). When they make camp, their massive, iron-banded wagons lock together to form an instant, impenetrable wall. They are the shield of the Demesne, a clan of tacticians and engineers who protect the static villages when fiendish hordes get too close.

• Dragon Tradition: They are the primary users of the "team" loophole, seeing the tactical, coordinated takedown of a dragon by a skilled squad as the true test of a leader's strategic mind.

3. Clan Justice (The Inquisitors)

• Founder: Lieutenant Justice Hammer (Paladin - Vengeance)

• History: The public face of vengeance. This clan is a relentless, nomadic patrol. They move constantly along the (now-ruined) trade roads, hunting the mortal criminals—the Brigand Barons and their remnants. They see themselves as the true law of the Wilds, and they have a tense, rivalrous relationship with Caspian's new "official" government.

• Dragon Tradition: They demand the "Pure" Test: one-on-one, against an adult. To them, any other way is a failure of conviction.

4. Clan Rapture (The Shadows)

• Founder: Lieutenant Phobus Rapture (Paladin - Vengeance)

• History: The secretive face of vengeance. In Y79, Phobus and his followers vanished into the deepest, darkest forests. They are a nomadic clan of fiend-slayers. They completely ignored the Brigand Barons, focusing only on hunting the true, hidden fiendish remnants and demonic cults. They move as ghosts, protecting the Demesne from threats no one else sees.

• Dragon Tradition: A true, solitary hunt. The new leader must vanish into the wilderness, returning on the back of a dark-scaled dragon (Black or Green) as proof of their mastery over the shadows.

5. Clan Helia (The Crusaders)

• Founder: Captain Helia Sunglow (Cleric - Light Domain)

• History: The "zealots." They are a massive, mobile "crusade" of bright, white tents, centered around a great "Sun-Banner." They see themselves as the "last light" in the Demesne. They are proactive, moving their entire clan-camp to the site of any reported fiendish activity, often "purifying" a region whether the local villagers or other clans want them to or not.

• Dragon Tradition: They prioritize the subdual of a Red Dragon. To them, taming the "purest" symbol of evil (fire) is the ultimate test of their faith.

6. Clan Testament (The Legalists)

• Founder: Captain Elias Testament (Cleric - Order Domain)

• History: As Narcis's former adjutant, Elias was obsessed with the Army's code of law. His clan is the "Mobile Chancellery." They travel from clan to clan and village to village, carrying the "old codes" (the rulebooks) with them, attempting to mediate the endless disputes over land, resources, and honor. They were the first clan to "legally" recognize Marshall County.

• Dragon Tradition: They are the primary architects of the "egg" loophole. It is the most orderly, predictable, and "lawful" method, allowing for a 20-year "training and indoctrination" period, as detailed in their clan's 500-page "Dragon Accords."

7. Clan Balthazar (The Mercenaries)

• Founder: Captain Balthazar (Fighter - Champion)

• History: Balthazar was a pure warrior who believed might makes right. In Y79, his clan seized the most resource-rich valley by force. For the first few years, they were the Brigand Barons. Caspian's arrival forced them to "go legitimate." They are now the "Golden Horde" of the Demesne—a massive, mobile army of brawlers, for hire to any clan or village that can meet their price in steel and food.

• Dragon Tradition: Only one way: the "Pure" Test. One-on-one, subduing the biggest, meanest adult dragon you can find. The leader's mount is a trophy of their personal power.

8. Clan Vanguard (The Frontiersmen)

• Founder: Captain Silas Vanguard (Ranger - Hunter)

• History: This clan has no "territory" because all of the Wilds are their territory. They are truly nomadic, living in small, scattered hunt-camps along the outermost borders of the 87% "Wilds." They are the Demesne's early warning system, and the first to skirmish with new monster threats.

• Dragon Tradition: They see the Balthazar method as foolish and the Testament method as cowardly. Theirs is a test of cunning. The new leader must hunt and subdue a dragon in its own lair, proving their skill as a master hunter.

9. Clan Solace (The Healers)

• Founder: Lieutenant Elara Solace (Cleric - Life Domain)

• History: The "Red Cross" of the Demesne. This clan is a massive caravan of healers, diplomats, and psychologists who have declared total neutrality. Their white-flagged caravans travel between all other clans (even Balthazar) and the static villages, trading medical aid for food and protection, trying to heal the "screaming in their sleep" that the war left behind.

• Dragon Tradition: They are the moral counterpoint to all other clans. They only use the "egg" loophole, as they believe it is the only compassionate and true form of "purification," raising the creature in the light rather than breaking its will.