The Soom-Clan Marauders (SCM)

[BladeofOblivion]

Soom-Clan Marauders
Planum Khassia (Region 74), Veehra

Summary

Three Letter Code: SCM
Starting Ruler: Chieftess Varsa Soom
Starting Technologies: Dust Hardening
Starting Faith: Mother Serpent (Majority)

Faction Support:
Government: Soom-Clan Marauders
Mercantile: Soom-Clan Marauders
Media: Soom-Clan Marauders

 

History

There are many tales of the clans’ history. Some say that a demiurge sculpted them from clay as the first people of the red earth. Others say that the wastes were once bought and sold by corporations, and people were brought to work in factories and plants. Some even say “Syvine Nanotechnology” is still out there somewhere, broken and buried but spewing silvery dust that thinks into the storms. Whatever the case, this era came to an end with the Bombardments. The Red Planet’s skies were choked red and black, and the barren years began.

There was little in the way of civilization at the time, with only small bands of survivors eking out a wretched existence in the wastes, scavenging what they could. But two thousand years is a long time, and slowly people rebuilt their understanding of things, built up once more the trappings of science and technology. They struck deals with Sorcerers, beseeched the blessings of the Mother Serpent’s protection, and grew strong again, bit by bit. But among dozens of clans, it was the ambitious Soom that gained the Imperial Engines and joined the Elect, carting two ramshackle carriers and a fleet of air superiority fighters away from the smoldering remnants of what had once been the Horn Traders. Wretched poachers - they would not be missed.

Geography

The Khassia Plain southeast of the great Oases is a smooth expanse of red stone and choking dust upon the surface of Veehra. It has little in the way of landmarks but for the serpent’s spine in the west, a great mountain range broken in the center by a crater from the war, a gap said to lead to fabled fertile lands in the west. There are ancient cities too buried beneath the dust and sand, but little remains of them to seek upon the horizon. No, the true landmarks of the plain are the winds and tunnels left by the passage of the Vast Serpents who call this land home, who part the sands and stone alike as they travel between their hibernation periods; in their wake travel the people, who reinforce the tunnels and build cities of their own beneath the earth, carving out tributary tunnels and passages, until the time comes to move on once more and their last home is inevitably buried beneath the dust: Just one more ruin among many.

People

The Clans in general and the Soom-Clan in particular lay claim to descent from the eldest peoples of Veehra. “The Soil is Red with the Blood of our Ancestors”, they cry at rallies and screens: Lingering resentment for those who squat on fresh water remains, leaving them to eke out an existence on hunts, hydroponic vegetables, and what water they can get from moisture collectors.

Survival in the wastes is dire. Outside of their dugouts, the clans maintain vehicle fleets to travel in relative security through the storms, but maintenance is a perpetual struggle; they have learned to scavenge for what they can, build what they need from limited materials at hand, and raid for what they cannot.

Despite the prevalence of vehicles though, there are some traditions for which they are forbidden - many lesser hunts are considered dishonorable to attempt unless on foot. It is common both in and out of safe dugouts to wear tight cloth wrappings for protection from the dust, and even in safe places it is highly taboo to show a naked face, even moreso than naked flesh. Masks both ceremonial and practical - or even just cloth face coverings paired with protective goggles - are a frequent sight.

Like all cultures, the clans have fashion and status symbols in their dress: While dyes and vibrant colors are an exorbitant luxury afforded only to a scant few with the ability to maintain a secondary wardrobe they can keep entirely separate from the dust, the most common status symbols are animal parts such as horns, furs, bones, and even the scales of the Mother Serpents (harvested only rarely when shed or from a body returned to the soil - Serpents are not hunted). Wearing such an animal part is only permitted for those who collected such parts themselves directly from the animal - typically the hunter themselves. Attempting to claim such a trophy dishonestly is punishable by injury via the offending trophy - impalement for horns, smothering for furs, bashing for bones, and very literally “swallowing one’s lies” for scales. This is not inherently a death sentence - survival of these ordeals is considered equivalent to earning the piece.

Disputes within and between clans can frequently be resolved by trial by combat, in the form of a duel with traditional weapons to yielding. This is only honorable from an insider - an outsider challenging a duel is a deadly insult. Outside of heated disputes, wrestling is much more popular as a form of sport for both recreation and minor resolutions - an emulation of the Mother Serpent’s preferred method.

Government

The Clans are organized into networks of main and branch families, alongside communal affine kinships who are not members of the clan such as lovers, concubines, thralls, and even hirelings or the rare welcome outsider. Though there are others with their own chiefs and communal councils, the Soom are the region’s dominant clan and the mainline Soom family - a dynastic house in all but name - holds primacy in a wide variety of executive matters, particularly including raiding, hunts, battle-readiness, and preparations to abandon a dugout city when the time comes. Most day-to-day operations of a clan are however communal and managed by a council of representatives who have the time and patience to regularly spend hours in meetings regarding hydroponic practices and moisture collector rationing.

Faith

Majority: Mother Serpent

Mother Serpent burrows, embraces, protects her young. Mother Serpent glides through the sands between her times of rest. And when she wills it, Mother Serpent swallows whole.

Mother Serpent is not a singular being, but a mythologized representative of a species of Vast Serpents that roam above and below the shrouded plains of Veehra. No single member of this species is Mother Serpent, and yet all living specimens are. Snub-nosed, powerfully-muscled, and possessing only vestigial fangs, Mother Serpent is the color of the sirocco and nearly invisible within the howling storm but for the rumbling of the earth and glimpses of stirring scales in the dust. The trails she leaves are nevertheless unmistakable, and lead always to shelter when Mother Serpent dives once more. And though her wrath is terrible, she is no danger when resting beneath the dusts. When danger grows too great…Mother Serpent sheds her skin as well. She is reborn, glistening and new beneath the shell. So too are other things.

Resources and Technology

Resource: Energized Chrysoberyl (Precious Minerals/Conductors and Circuitry). The stone below the Plain may be poor in metals, but it is surprisingly rich in quality semiconductors suitable for use in lasers and similar applications.

Required: Ores and Alloys. The plain is notably metal-poor, and what little is available goes overwhelmingly into maintaining vehicle fleets and critical tools. It’s never enough.

Techs:
Dust Hardening: Various masks, seals, and other assorted technologies are critical to survival in the rougher parts of Veehra.
NONE: Though not [i]primitive[/i], the Soom-Clan’s technological state is generally very last-gen, and they do not stand out technologically from the Imperial baseline.