Clan Warrior Interests?

[Jonathan Cyr]

Major goals of a clan warrior: to earn a blood name, to see their genetics used for future generations, earn respect and prestige, victory in battle.

But what else might they be interested in? "Old world" relics such as a football trophy Kerensky won in high school? Anything quasi-religious (speak up ye Nova Cats)? What about rare luxuries as isorla (maybe just for the prestige of having them?) Weapon caches of the IS wouldn't compare to their clan tech and they aren't (shouldn't) be interested in WMD which are dishonorable. Antiques? Music?

The lesser castes are more prone to having interest in luxuries and other vices, I assume.

Any thoughts?

[Tai Dai Cultist]

I want to see someone play an elemental who has a keen interest in ballroom dancing.  Or square dancing.  Each one is better than the other.

[Colt Ward]

The Cobras are the religious ones with their cloisters.  And even had a religious summit they invited the IS to- the Babylon Diet.

The Bears have their Great Works?  Which is a lifelong hobby/interest development and is some form of self-expression; art, music, poetry, or other creative endeavor.

When the Scorpions set up at a new garrison, they all sit down to watch a Indiana Jones marathon for their inspiration.

[Orwell84]

Sports such as football, lacrosse and athletics are played by Clan warriors. One Trial of Possession during Revival was settled by a football match between Ghost Bear Elementals and Sheliak's football team. Final score was 84-3; no prize for guessing who won.

Ranna Kerensky and other warriors paint, and Kilbourne Jorgensson was a sculptor. Blood Spirits were encouraged to have some kind of artistic hobby as well.

[Foxx Ital]

Jake kabrinski was a painter. In the dark ages the bears participate in a football league.

[Sjhernan3060]

Conversely your super hardcore clans esp the jaguars seemed to be utterly focused on trading and fighting. Trent the jag who turned on them was a noted chess player but he had a hard time finding somebody to play against

[Colt Ward]

Dunno, even the Falcons have other pursuits . . . which has carried into the Dark Ages as well.  Some actually take up falconing, Stephanie Christu makes & plays with knives in the last fiction we get.

[Deadborder]

At the end of the day, Clan Warriors are still individual human beings and still have their individual hobbies and interests. While there are examples on a broad Clan cultural level (The Ghost Bears with their Great Works, for example) there's plenty of room for each individual Clan Warrior to follow those interests.

Think less of what makes sense on a Clan level and more what individuals might like or find interesting. Of course, there is also the cavet of what might be seen as forbidden/taboo in general; for example, Aiden Pryde's collection of books was definitely something he had to keep hidden, given the suppression of pre-Clan media.

[Jellico]

I found that stupid in a I am 13 and just read 1984 kind of way. Those early Clan books made a big effort establishing Clan heros who were just like North American boys from the end of the 20thC.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

The Jade Phoenix trilogy made most Clan warriors seem like they're emotionally crippled drones.

[E. Icaza]

My last Clan character was a Freeborn Warrior whose mother was a teacher (Scientist caste) and she had an Interest (and Science) skill in chemistry and several other scientific fields.  Her best friend (also a Freeborn but from the Laborer caste) was a cook and could do wonders with even Clan survival rations (aka mystery meat).

Previous characters had the stereotypical Interests in stuff like Star League History, Clan Remembrance, etc.  I've had several artists, a photographer and at least one who was a beer/wine/spirits snob.

While the Clans are emotionally crippled drones to some extent, they still need to do something to pass the time. 

I imagine they couple a lot.  And play chess.  ;) 

[grimlock1]

It can also depend on what you get out of your art.  I have friends with artistic pursuits because their job is hard science.  Others do it for the creative aspect. For some it's almost like meditation.

The last group could easily find an outlet among more martial pursuits. People are surprised when I try to explain how target shooting can have a Zen-like quality, despite the fact that there is a small explosion¹ going off 4 inches from your face.



1:  yes, I know gunpowder doesn't detonate, it deflagrates

[massey]

Sports such as football, lacrosse and athletics are played by Clan warriors. One Trial of Possession during Revival was settled by a football match between Ghost Bear Elementals and Sheliak's football team. Final score was 84-3; no prize for guessing who won.

Ranna Kerensky and other warriors paint, and Kilbourne Jorgensson was a sculptor. Blood Spirits were encouraged to have some kind of artistic hobby as well.

I just have to correct this, sorry. :)

It's a football game, not match.  It's not soccer. ;)

[RifleMech]

Didn't Aidan Pryde have a collection of Star League Era books?

[grimlock1]

Didn't Aidan Pryde have a collection of Star League Era books?

Now that you mention it, I think he did.  Horse finding him and his stash was the start of their friendship, wasn't it?

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

It was.  They were "secret" but IIRC Joanna already knew about them.

[massey]

I never got the impression that the Star League era books were banned, more that if somebody found out he had them it would be frowned upon.  Like if a bunch of Marines found out one of the other guys in the unit wrote really flowery poetry or something.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

In Falcon Guard they were explicitly stated to be forbidden.

[Colt Ward]

In Falcon Guard they were explicitly stated to be forbidden.

I always took it that they were forbidden in the sibko, after all the Falconers would not want any competition with their indoctrination.  Its why we get the occasional line about a 'weird' Clan warrior having a interest in history before Nicky/Clans outside of the military.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I haven't read those books since the mid 90s, but my recollection was that it was forbidden for Aiden, who was at that time a Star Colonel, to have those books.

But that was probably a Jade Falcon thing.  Certainly it would have been more likely to have been acceptable to the Goliath Scorpions, for example.

[Colt Ward]

True, or I think the Adders with their staff ideas and historical analysis.

[RifleMech]

Now that you mention it, I think he did.  Horse finding him and his stash was the start of their friendship, wasn't it?

Thought so. :) Thanks :thumbsup: 

He and a mentor? Were also into falconing right?

[haesslich]

It was.  They were "secret" but IIRC Joanna already knew about them.

I don't think Joanna ever found out until after Aidan died. Kael Pershaw knew about them, at least later, but kept it to himself because the idea of a Warrior who he saw as a bit of a meat head reading amused him.

[haesslich]

I haven't read those books since the mid 90s, but my recollection was that it was forbidden for Aiden, who was at that time a Star Colonel, to have those books.

But that was probably a Jade Falcon thing.  Certainly it would have been more likely to have been acceptable to the Goliath Scorpions, for example.

No, as a Star Colonel he was allowed to read them openly (basically, have hobbies and quirks), but he didn't have the time anymore. He complained that Horse got more use out of it at that point than he.

It was when he was a mere Mechwarrior that owning contraband (Nicky K didn't want a lot of old Star League / IS ideas infecting his people) was the issue.

Especially things with uncensored histories or adventure novels like the stuff Aidan enjoyed.

[massey]

There's a lot of group-think in the Clans, and very little individuality.  It's like your entire life is junior high, and every person in authority is a football coach.  Aidan has started reading Little Women, and he's really into it, but he knows enough not to let anybody find out.

By the time he's a Star Colonel, he's earned a Bloodname and established himself, and it's not so big a deal anymore.  He's risen as high as he can go, and there's really not much anybody can do to him for being a little different.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Especially since he was put in charge of the least prestigious front-line cluster the Falcons had.

[haesslich]

There's a lot of group-think in the Clans, and very little individuality.  It's like your entire life is junior high, and every person in authority is a football coach.  Aidan has started reading Little Women, and he's really into it, but he knows enough not to let anybody find out.

By the time he's a Star Colonel, he's earned a Bloodname and established himself, and it's not so big a deal anymore.  He's risen as high as he can go, and there's really not much anybody can do to him for being a little different.

That, and he knows it's anyone makes an issue of it, he can beat them up in a Trial of Grievance. Nobody at his same command rank would bother raising a fuss, nor would a Galaxy Commander do so since it would look petty.

Hell, it's not like they couldn't have hobbies like hunting or falconing (thanks to Elizabeth Hazen sharing the hobby). Aidan's other hobby at Glory Station was hiking around the swamp. It's just that things the Founders didn't do or which had to do with the Inner Sphere were seen as decadent and to be derided.

Especially since he was put in charge of the least prestigious front-line cluster the Falcons had.

Didn't matter - he was a command level officer. As long as his hobbies didn't waste scarce resources, they were permissible. Just seen as "weird" - but being attached to Aidan as his effective second in command also let Horse get away with more quirks than being a Freeborn normally allows.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Didn't matter - he was a command level officer. As long as his hobbies didn't waste scarce resources, they were permissible. Just seen as "weird" - but being attached to Aidan as his effective second in command also let Horse get away with more quirks than being a Freeborn normally allows.

The point is that short of dropping his rank, there wasn't much that they could really do to him anyway: the assignment was effectively supposed to be a career-killer.

[haesslich]

The point is that short of dropping his rank, there wasn't much that they could really do to him anyway: the assignment was effectively supposed to be a career-killer.

The oddness wouldn't have killed his career - not once he went above Star Captain and got his bloodname. At the lower levels, it'd be seen as unClan-like, but he was already seen in that light.

Once you hit the command levels, hobbies seem to be ok. But below that? You're wasting your potential if you're not training and are unblooded.

[Apocal]

I haven't read those books since the mid 90s, but my recollection was that it was forbidden for Aiden, who was at that time a Star Colonel, to have those books.

But that was probably a Jade Falcon thing.  Certainly it would have been more likely to have been acceptable to the Goliath Scorpions, for example.

It wasn't forbidden for him to have the books.

Bloodname:

"I beat the system by convincing myself that all discomfort is comfort, for discomfort is all that a freeborn is ever allowed. It's a kind of perverse utilitarianism."

"Util-"

Horse put his finger to his lips, a signal that he had learned the word from one of Aidan's secret books. Aidan smiled. He knew there was probably no reason to keep the books a secret. Most trueborns would find Aidan's penchant for literature a curiosity and do nothing about it, but some were ornery enough to search out some law somewhere that would let them confiscate the material. It was better to hide the books. They had, after all, been hidden in the first place. Most warriors were not casual readers, anyway. Technical manuals, military strategy treatises, and endless quoting of The Remembrance were about their speed.

Falcon Guard:

"How many books have you read many times?"

"More than you, especially since you made Star Colonel."

Horse was right. Lately Aidan had little time for his secret library, those paper books he had discovered so long ago in a Brian Cache. He had carried them hidden away and undiscovered from one assignment to the next. Now that he was a Star Colonel, he could read them openly, but no longer had the luxury of time.