Clan Homeworld sub-cultures and origin traits

[tassa_kay]

Awesome! Thanks for this. I figured as a Blood Spirit planet you might know something about it. What source is that in? TP: Foster? I love the idea of ruins on Clan worlds.

It is indeed! Foster was first settled by the Spirits, and I think TP: Foster did a good job of expanding on that colony and why it failed. The whole logging industry actually made things more difficult for them; they were expending so much labor just managing and safeguarding the land properly post-destruction of Passat that the colony was reduced to a self-sustaining level. Then the Burrocks began preying on them and they were spending more resources to keep the colony than it was generating, so they worked out their deal with the Smythe-Jewels.

[Metallgewitter]

In terms of traits: weren't at least one or two Pentagon worlds home to rather independent minded people? I seem to remember that at least Babylon and Arcadia had very independent minded people even after the Clans took over and that they actually never managed to get this out of them. And another point: who knows i there are still some "Non-clan" settlements on said worlds. Operation Klondike hinted that the clans never got a full measure of all survivng Ex-colonists

[Alan Grant]

In terms of traits: weren't at least one or two Pentagon worlds home to rather independent minded people? I seem to remember that at least Babylon and Arcadia had very independent minded people even after the Clans took over and that they actually never managed to get this out of them. And another point: who knows i there are still some "Non-clan" settlements on said worlds. Operation Klondike hinted that the clans never got a full measure of all survivng Ex-colonists

What you are describing is basically the origin story of the dark caste. From the very beginning there were people who didn't go along with Clan society. Didn't fit in. Didn't adopt Clan ways. We know this. Over time their numbers came to include a lot more ex-Clansmen who had been kicked out of, or had fled Kerensky's society rather than just people of the old Pentagon powers who just never assimilated.

So, you are right, but it's more than a hint. It's literally the history and particularly the origin story a slice of the dark caste. With more former Clansmen joining them and their descendants in the decades and centuries since then. The writers definitely threw some nods to this in the Operation Klondike book. It also offers a useful explanation for how the dark caste got their hands on some heavy equipment and dropships/jumpships starting from the early days of Clan society.

The RPG books already give us some rules for dark caste characters. Including traits, life path stuff, etc. It's a bit generic but it's there.

To me the interesting angle/dimension (that ties in with the topic of this thread) is developing Clan subcultures of some of these various homeworlds. And then perhaps if you are creating a dark caste character who calls or called that world home, then the potential is there to merge the Dark (Bandit) Caste character rules/traits, with the rules and traits of that specific world or sub-culture. A dark caste member who started life working in the mines of Diamondstar (Marshall) may have very different story and traits than a Dark Caste member from the back alleys of a city on Homer.

I wouldn't just limit it to those worlds like Arcadia and Babylon. Particular in the centuries since, you'd have dark caste members from literally every planet the Clans ever inhabited. Because the books make it clear the dark caste have always been there and have always gotten a slice of Clan society, the malcontents, criminals, the failures, the radical thinkers, and people who just didn't fit in.

[cmerwin]

I wouldn't just limit it to those worlds like Arcadia and Babylon. Particular in the centuries since, you'd have dark caste members from literally every planet the Clans ever inhabited. Because the books make it clear the dark caste have always been there and have always gotten a slice of Clan society, the malcontents, criminals, the failures, the radical thinkers, and people who just didn't fit in.

I think this is a really important point, and ties in well with this thread. I think its important to emphasize that the Dark Caste is what the Clans refer to these folk as as a whole, and not necessarily how they refer to themselves, or - more importantly - the reasons why they have dropped out of Clan society. Some may be loners, who just never fit in with the system. Others might be ideological reformists or radicals who have organized large insurrectionist groups. Some might harbor deep long - even personal - grudges from the destruction of Novy Moscva, the nuking of Great Hope, or any other inter-Clan conflict that radicalized them to take action against Clan society. Calling them "Bandits" is a convenient way to write them off (the Land of Dreams novel strongly alludes to this having been Nicholas' and Jennifer Winson's plan).

The sheer fact that some Dark Caste groups maintain dropships and jumpships (as mentioned in the Wars of Reaving) is a testament to their ingenuity, secrecy, and perseverance (probably more akin to groups within the Rebel Alliance than bandits).   

I guess building off of the previous posts, Alan (or anyone else), given the Foster example, what kinds of Dark Caste elements would you imagine there?

[Alan Grant]

On Foster I can easily imagine (and TP: Foster tells us this is or at least was a thing) dark caste settlements nestled within the tight tall forests. It basically tells us that the dense forests make even military operations tough. That book gives me the impression of trees big enough to even stop a 'mech.

It also tells us that due to the unusually high number of industrial 'mechs, at least in the era of TP: Foster, the paramilitary force (especially of the Fire Mandrill enclaves) were unusually large and powerful, even include some worn Star League 'mechs. It says that these machines have been used to put down more than one "industrialmech-supported civilian uprising."

So I think a dark caste settlement nestled within the deep dark forests of Foster is very plausible, and it may be a great setting for dark caste that actually have a few industrial 'mechs. Stolen machines dating back to some of those uprisings. Mostly used for firefighting and agriculture.

I think they'd largely be a low-tech forest dwelling people trying to stay hidden as much as possible. They might carve out a few little tree surrounded and covered open spaces to live in and to grow crops. Aside from hiding from the Clans, surviving the hellfires might be a constant concern. They won't be plugged into the same firefighting structure as the rest of the planet. They'd be on their own for combatting that threat.

I'm not going to go so far as to say they'd live in the trees (Ewok style). I think that's a little over a top and the book makes it clear that dead trees being fuel for hellfires is a problem, so carving up the insides of trees potentially means creating more of that problem. But I could see some expert tree climbing "spotters" being used to monitor their territory from the massive hometrees, and to watch for hellfires and Clan military operations.

So I could definitely see a few dark caste industrial 'mech pilots coming out of Foster. As well as agricultural experts. As well as people skilled in firefighting, tree climbing, and some skills or traits that tie in well with being a spotter/scout/lookout in a forest or wilderness setting.

They'd probably have SOME contact with the outside world. I'm picturing someone with the right fake credentials who can stroll into Clan communities using a light jeep or truck. Barter, trade, gather information, work with local contacts to consider taking in anyone who needs to run/hide from the Clans. That kind of stuff.

I'm not firmly set on any of that. It just makes sense to me.

[Gaiiten]

Maybe there are even some kind of lumberjack Free Guilds.

Given the last publications, the Free Guild have been described as being far more numerous and diverse than thought before