Notable Clans

This section covers notable clans across the Lineages. You do not need to confine yourself to these clans; they are meant to be examples. Consider these to be “brand name” clans that your character would easily recognize. Of course, how you feel about these clans is for you to decide.

Aloran

Firstborn

Otherwise known as the royal family. The clan’s legal name is “Firstborn” to distinguish the royal family from King Riku’s original clan, the Senbonzakuras

Royal grant: The rule of all Seln and its waters under Mera’s guidance

Size: Extremely small

Prosperity: Poor

Blessings: Extremely heavy. Queen Astra has extensive moon blessings, and her daughter is possibly the most dragon-marked person in all Seln

History: According to the Firstborn, they were a clan of priests to Mera in the days when Izu ruled the Kingdom. One day, the man who would become King happened to visit the lake-side shrine that would become Seln Alora. As he walked the garden, he saw a shrine maiden singing to the spirits, and his heart was moved. Thus met the King and Queen of Alora.

The two young lovers then waged a long campaign of passion to bridge the divide between the nascent lineages. Drawing together heroes of the (then) four peoples, they rallied at the lake-side shrine and defeated a powerful servant of the Grand Fae in open combat. As commemoration of this battle, they founded the city of Seln Alora. When the man became King, he moved there to be with his love, and the lake-side shrine became the royal grounds.

A popular drama recounts this story at the grand theater in Seln Alora once a year.

When asked about the historical accuracy of the play, the Queen shrugged and replied, “I like this version better.”

Notable members: The King, the Queen, and the Crown Princess

Silverclaw

A tertiary branch of the noble family, the Silverclaws boast a distinct lineage mark: fine silver scales covering their palms and slender black claws.

Royal grant: Cutting and sale of gemstones in Seln Alora and the Scalewood

Size: Small (and exclusive!)

Prosperity: Extremely wealthy

Blessings: Fine silver scales covering palms or hands. Slender black claws.

History: One of the eldest Aloran clans, the Silverclaws have claimed the royal grant for gemstones from the dawn of the Kingdom. All across the Kingdom, advertisements for rings and bracelets use make-up to mimic the famous sheen of Silverclaw scales.

Of course, crystals form all over Seln. A Silverclaw gemstone, however, is no mere crystal. Rather, the family applies secret techniques to deepen the crystal’s weave, enabling these gemstones to act as a reservoir of elemental power. These function as an external Ki store and remain in perpetually high demand.

This clan relentlessly attempts to squash any cultivator’s market that would offer competing Ki gemstones, even beyond their official grant. Rumor has it their private enforcers, the Silvertons, will burn your house down for even suggesting a sale.

The Silverclaws assiduously maintain that every child is born with the clan mark, proof of Mera’s blessing. Those who privately doubt this claim keep such words to themselves; the prideful Silverclaw hold a grudge against those that slander the clan name. If the occasional wastrel should claim to have been abandoned for insufficient blessings, such rumors are only the jealousy of commoners.

Copper shiners

Needing to make a deal? We can help with that.

Royal grant: Exclusion from taxes on holdings, purchase, and sale

Size: Common

Prosperity: Wealthy

History: The pre-eminent merchants of Seln Alora, the copper shiners gained a unique grant from the Crown for the heroics of a master centuries ago: the clan pays no taxes. The clan profits greatly from making transactions on behalf of others (mostly noble clans), charging a fee less than the nominal tax rate.

In recent years, the Crown has noticed this clan’s increasingly disruptive behavior and started to apply pressure against them. So far, this has not born fruit. After all, the Shiners have a great deal of cash on hand to persuade folks to look the other way.

More interested in deals than details, the copper shiners have firmly ingratiated themselves into the aristocratic elements of each lineage. As a result, this clan has acquired a rather dour reputation for the common folk excluded from their services.

Emberborn

Fire, however fearsome, is essential to life. It is a power to be embraced, not feared. It’s also pretty fun…

Royal grant: The tending and management of forest fires

Size: Common

Prosperity: Middling

History: According to clan legend, this family descends from a fearsome dragon known as the Red. Lord of war and fearsome warrior, the Red dominated all he surveyed. These days, the Red is a distant legend, and the clan’s warlike past has largely faded. However, pyromania still runs in the clan, and the Crown granted this clan management over the tending of forest fires to put this troublesome trait to practical use.

As a result of this royal grant, the Emberborn have regular contact with the Path of Ashen Scales, for better or worse, and many Emberborn join that Path to express their natural affinity.

Any rumors about a tendency towards pryomania are strictly false, of course.

Floran

To expand

Izuno

To expand

Wehran

To expand

Whistler

You guessed it - to expand!

The Clanless

During the Kingdom’s dark age, administration lapsed in many areas. Entire clans were lost in the paperwork due to the influence of rivals or administrative error. Unfortunately, the current age, the Clanless are themselves a rather large clan, accounting for 5% of the Kingdom’s population.

Ronin

)When the common folk of the clanless, they imagine the ronin: wandering warriors beholden to no master. Romantic heroes of many a ballad, the real ronin live by the precarious edge of their strength of arms. When the work dries up, many resort to banditry just to avoid starvation.)

Royal grant: -

Size: Thousands

Prosperity: Poor

History: The original ronin came from Izu, and the name has followed them across the Kingdom.

When a warrior loses face and clan name, he faces a choice: dedicate himself to the hard work and rules of Hospitality with the Whistlers, or go his own way. Many of those who strike out alone seek to regain their former honor or find vengeance against those who wronged them.

Economic opportunities are rare for ronin. Their weapons mark their trade, and most live by the sword.

Merchant

Every clanless merchant has a practiced answer on why they would not join the Whistlers. Many prefer the profit margins that come from independent operation. Less acknowledged, most also enjoy the ability to flee with their profits and change their name twice a year.

Royal grant: Clanless merchants operate outside the royal grants, either setting up shop beyond a grant’s reach or operating as part of the Kingdom’s black market.

Size: Thousands

Prosperity: Wildly variable

History: Some are the descendants of disgraced and disbanded clans; others black market merchants operating under false pretenses. All learn how to talk fast and run faster.

Peasant

A pitiable lot, clanless peasants are forced to scrabble for every meal. Many shackle themselves to clan lords in deeply unfair work arrangements with the slim hope of one day joining a clan. Others live in the periphery of society, far from any trade route, all but forgotten.

Royal grant: -

Size: Unknown

Prosperity: Extremely poor

History: Clanless peasants have fallen through the cracks of society. Denied even the legal recognition of a clan, most own nothing but the clothes on their backs. With no education and training, most do not even realize that the Whistlers might accept them. The masters of their toil quite prefer this ignorance.

In recent years, the Crown has made several attempts to census the clanless peasantry with an eye to improve their lot in life. These surveys have failed, stymied by the quiet opposition of powerful clans that prefer a servile, all-but-enslaved working force for their operations.

These are a folk in powerful need of heroes to champion their cause.