Bloodnamed Freeborns

[roosterboy]

If you think about what has to happen to create the type of situation now days for a Freeborn to Win a bloodname you get why its so rare.

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As we see with Kev Rosse, though, some of the Clans no longer require maternal descent for Bloodname eligibility. Rosse’s mother was a Spheroid and his father was a Clanner yet he got a Bloodname.

[Colt Ward]

The Maternal does not have to be a warrior- Dianna's mother was a washout, and b/c she was dunked in the lower castes was a possible breeder . . . the book says she took out her own blocker (mechanism has always been vague) but later material indicates that those who are sent to the lower castes are expected to breed and thus as part of their washout process the females are made fertile.

Rather they have to be descended from a bloodhouse maternally.

Also children are not genetically tested- they look for the fighters among the freeborn to put into the sibko programs.  Its part of what allowed their system to continue- the Clan's system removed those who might be future rebels and instead made them part of the system.

The reason we do not get freeborns gaining bloodnames before the invasion is the same reason they did not become high-ranking officers.  The Clans' limited fighting means only those with the most pull end up with chances to distinguish themselves- and the freeborn are second class citizens.

[glitterboy2098]

a good question would be how far back that link can be for it to be valid. i mean, Phelan had a link through a lot of generations back to someone who pre-dated the clans, but Phelan probably wouldn't have even gotten a chance without people in high position bending the rules for him. so that doesn't tell us much.

so where would the clans draw the line? grandmother was a trueborn? great grandmother? haven't had a warrior in the matrilineal line since the clans got founded?

[marcussmythe]

Forgive a player with only limited understanding of the clans,

But this is a culture where ultimately might makes right, yes?  It would seem a Freeborn with sufficient ability to call out and kill anyone who stood between him and a bloodname would end up in a position to try for and in theory win one?

Or is this a case where no amount of martial ability (in theory the whole point of the clans) is able to overcome the clans own prejudice and hypocrisy?  One would think that a freeborn who was able to better trueborns would be in theory -exactly- what the clans would be looking for, honor, and want in the genes of the mext generation.

But as I said, other than a book here or there, I dont really think clan.

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[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Generally, a warrior has to have a certain amount of standing to bring forth such a trial- either a Bloodname or the sponsorship of someone who does have one.  That's how Vlad was able to get a Trial of Grievances against Vandervahn Chistu: Elias Critchell sponsored him.  Without that sponsorship, Vlad would have been SOL.

And even if that hurdle can be overcome, that doesn't guarantee a fair trial: Clan leadership can and will rig things against someone they don't like, up to and including sabotage in a few instances.

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[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

And in this instance, there would be little incentive for most Bloodnamed warriors to sponsor such an individual, since they'd typically stand to lose power and prestige in the event of said warrior's success.

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[Hellraiser]

The Maternal does not have to be a warrior- Dianna's mother was a washout, and b/c she was dunked in the lower castes was a possible breeder . . . the book says she took out her own blocker (mechanism has always been vague) but later material indicates that those who are sent to the lower castes are expected to breed and thus as part of their washout process the females are made fertile.

Rather they have to be descended from a bloodhouse maternally.

Yeah, that hit me today, what can I say, it was late last night when I was posting & my brain wasn't quite working clearly, hehe.

Still, the further away from a true born bloodnamed you get the thinner those genes & the less likely of getting a shot at the big leagues.

[Colt Ward]

I get that, I look at posts on occasion and wonder how the structure ended up that way . . .

As far as 'distance' from a bloodnamed warrior, its really questionable and depends on the Clan IMO.  We know the scientists order pairings between the lower castes and that children are also born outside those ordered pairings, the Clan non-warrior culture does not distinguish between them IIRC . . . but as each sibko washes out a majority of the wannabes, that is a lot of trueborn genes that keep flooding into the freebirth genepool.  Its going to affect it the same way the preponderance of trueborns quickly outnumbered freeborn in the first generations of the toumans.  And the stage of washout is going to affect things . . . a 8 year old Elemental washing out b/c they are unsuited to life as a infantry trooper (cannot be still, keep quiet, whatever- and how do you judge that with a kid?!) will not have been indoctrinated with the superiority of trueborns and iron wombs (ick, natural birth!!) compared to a washout that got as far along as Peri?  I mean I imagine they get dumped into a creche for all the other washouts of that generation who tested down to scientist/tech/merchant/laborer or whatever.  Those creches will promote pop expansion as a 'duty' to the Clan.

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[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

The Foxes are the only Clan that concerns itself with collecting wealth.  The other Clans operate under a planned economy (except for the Ghost Bears, who've given their merchant caste freer rein following the absorption of the FRR).  Heck, prior to invading the Inner Sphere, the Clans didn't even have an actual currency.

[tassa_kay]

Heck, prior to invading the Inner Sphere, the Clans didn't even have an actual currency.

Sure they did: the Kerensky, and to a lesser extent, work credits.

[Colt Ward]

Sure they did: the Kerensky, and to a lesser extent, work credits.

And while individual warriors may not have collected Kerenskies/credits, their reputation was linked to gathering/increasing assets aka enriching- the Clan.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Which is the exact opposite of what was being talked about.

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[grimlock1]

These are things a shrewd Freeborn could facilitate, for instance, by extraordinary skills out of the BattleMech, that might compensate for a weaker genetic history than a 1st or 2nd generation of descendant, provided they can turn in a minimum standard of Trial performance, of course, to make the field.

The Sharkfoxes would probably be down with some of that.

On a tangential note:  Is there a policy, custom or technical limitation about how long after the warrior's death a legacy can be used?  Is there a reason that the Dominion couldn't create a sibko from Ragnar Magnusson and Sandra Tseng?

[Gaiiten]

Do we know bloodnames who were created from exceptional good Freeborn warriors.
Kell is one I remember (Ulric Kerensky did it).
Anything else?

[Colt Ward]

Nope, Kerensky and other prominent founders get mixed back in over time . . . minor founders?  Bit more iffy.

Magnusson (GB)
Brahe (WW)

[beachhead1985]

Diana was allowed because it was an experiment by Marthe Pryde to see what would happen

I just love the idea of Marthe trolling her own people and then sitting back like this;

[grimlock1]

I just love the idea of Marthe trolling her own people and then sitting back like this;

I suspect that she had a few other motives.  Diana was the child of two trueborn, so that makes her somewhat palatable to the other trueborns.  But at the end of the day, she was a freeborn, which means Marthe can hold her up to the all the 2nd line freeborn like Horse and say, "You are important members of Clan Jade Falcon.  Work hard!  Kick Wolf Clan butt!_{Have the right parents}  And one day, some_{at least one, maybe less} of you will earn your shot at immortality in the breeding program!"