Clan Adderfang
The Adderfang of Moraby are a rigidly traditionalist, warlike clan of Keepers who call La Noscea home. Oft found in Lominsa in the employ of pirates, privateers, the Storm, and other such organisations, the Adderfang find themselves a clan on the rise after a history of decline.
The Sea-faring Hunters
A ritualistic and rigid culture, Adderfang are a distrusting and harsh people that value their warlike skills and fierce independence from governance, despite many serving within Lominsan outfits and companies as privateers, soldiers, enforcers, and other pursuits.As with their traditions, the Adderfang are rigid in structure. Each Keeper has a fate, and oft keeps the course throughout their life, though diversions are not unheard of.
Their Society
The Families
Each Keeper community is comprised of different families, some tracing their lineage back to those whom first migrated from their shrouded homeland in eras long past. For the Adderfang, there were five such families - the Jinjahl, the Epocan, the Rabntah, the Relanah, and the Habhoka. Years of strife saw the Relanah and the Habhoka branches within the clan extinct, and the Jinjahl become the Redain, to better suit the nation they now call home. Though not a popular decision amongst the Adderfang, as the Epocan and Rabntah cling to their great history, the word of the Matriarch quickly silences much criticism.
The Markings of Reivers
Keepers of the Moon have long painted themselves for hunts and battles, a tradition kept amongst the Adderfang that has since been taken to the extreme. A dedication to their warlike ways, each Adderfang sees themselves tattooed constantly throughout their life.The Drown is the defining moment in the life of each and every Adderfang, representing the death of the old, and the rise of the new, a clan member in full. No matter the circumstances of their rebirth, the reward is a tattoo borne upon the face, though it varies between the three families. In this regard, it may take the shape of a bar across the face and over the eyes for the Redain, jagged bolts across the face for those of the Rabntah, or intricate whorls and dots for those of the Epocan. Though uncommon, more elaborate, scrimshaw-esque markings may be given in particularly rare, and often exceptional, circumstances.The standing of a Redain is often denoted by the width of the tattoos, whilst for the Rabntah and the Epocan, other more detailed patterns suffice.Though not seeing the same due respect as the tattoos of the clan, Adderfang often sport tattoos from their own piratical, venal, or military affiliations in Lominsa.Religious tattoos that venerate Llymlaen and Menphina are also commonplace.
The Matriarchy
Any traditional Keeper community is led by a Matriarch, and the Adderfang are no exception. Keeper men are given names that denote their birth order and mother, and though many other communities oft eject them upon their coming of age, the clan has taken a deviation from the norm in order to better survive in a turbulent world. Though they still perform their 'duty' to all other clans through periods of wandering, all Adderfang men are expected to return to the clan eventually. Their return to the clan allows them to lend whatever skills they have picked up over their lifetime to teaching the next generation, and keeping the clan self-reliant. Some leave as old as 30, though none are allowed to leave prior to 20. Those returning to the clan may be as young as 35 or as old as 60 summers. Many of the Wrights of the Adderfang are male due to this tradition.The clan do have a tendency to believe their stock better than those of their Shroudborn kin, and therefore 'bless' whatever clan ends up with blood ties. This has caused no end of friction in the past.
The clan sigil, representative of Llymlaen and Menphina both.
Redain Drowned Marking
Given to all Adderfang upon their coming of age. To bear this shows that the Keeper has drowned, and risen again.
Redain Hunter
Borne upon the bulk of the clan, hunters keep stores stocked, coffers full, and threats at bay.
Redain Warrior
Warriors are rarer, more expert fighters among the clan, often taking the place of warleaders, and are responsible for keeping clan and territory secure.
Redain Navigator
The mages of the Adderfang. Devoting themselves to all magical pursuits, they are often utilised as healers and warmages. As the name would suggest, all are skilled at navigation.
A history of blood and hardship
Never far from conflict, whether in their past life in the Black Shroud, their many cycles wandering the Saltmoor of Yafaem, or upon their new home in Vylbrand, the Adderfang live and die by their belief in sea, stone, and steel.
Their History
Ever the source of survival for the Keepers of the Moon, many Clans have eked a living through hunting under the Black Shroud's canopy. For others, skills honed through generations of hunting were oft put to use in far more profitable ways. A staunchly traditionalist clan with a penchant for warlike ways, the Adderfang turned themselves from hunters to killers, selling their skills to the other denizens of the Shroud no matter affiliation nor creed.
This, of course, had ramifications. Those only felt long after the original leaders of the Clan had passed from memory into myth, only told by firelight to the young Keepers by bone-clad seers.Around two decades prior to the 7th Umbral Calamity, a concentrated force of Wood Wailers and God's Quiver drove the Adderfang from their camp, harrying them further for the next few cycles until finally, a decision was made. After all, why stay in the Shroud, when there were other city states far more agreeable to their ways than those of Gridania. The cycles that followed were those of hardship, as the Clan roved Eorzea, their numbers dwindling from the once-strong five families to three. Indecision and poor planning plagued them further, with no real goal in sight, they wandered Mor Dhona and the Yafaem Saltmoor fruitlessly.Further difficulties arose between the Matriach, Okhi Epocan, and an aspiring Clan warrior, Vaeh Jinjahl. Clashes were constant, frequent between both the two individuals and their families. Eventually, Okhi found her end, and that of the dispute, at Vaeh's hands; slain in ritual combat. Though not the first time the two had come to blows, all previous bouts had been victories for the incumbent, whatever methods that Vaeh sought to take control of the clan have left it firmly in her grasp. Hopes for the new Matriarch, however powerful, were low. Long had the clan suffered at the hands of one who had risen to power young, strong, and inexperienced.Despite their low morale, fates soon changed for the better.
Vaeh rallied the clan with promises of the wealth and riches that now seemed a distant memory. Taking ship from Vesper Bay, they bought passage to Limsa, striking out towards the hills of Lower Moraby. Setting their blood reputation through hunting of high profile pirates, political enemies of Admirals, and their services as scouts, they swiftly earnt back what had been lost cycles prior.
Efforts to seemingly assimilate with their new host nation have resulted in the accent becoming commonplace amongst all the clan's families. Despite tradition, Vaeh's family cast aside the surname they had once proudly borne as homage to the great families of legend, no longer Jinjahls, she decided upon the surname of the first captain that had borne them across the Rhotano - Redain.
Upon Llymlaen's Tides
As the Shroud gave way to Vylbrand, so too did Menphina to Llymlaen. Many of the clan's rituals saw similar shifts, with the ocean, and it's reigning goddess, being the centre of
Adderfang spirituality and ritual.
Their Spirit
Seers:
For every warleader that leads by the might of arms, every Matriarch that leads by their right of tradition, there is a Seer that leads by the light of the goddess.Every Seer is chosen on the sun of their birth, their fate divined and set, the spiritual leaders of the clan ensuring that there shall always be one to direct and lead the clan in the matters of ritual and spirit. Their training takes cycles, though they are only expected to observe, listen, and learn for a great many summers. Though they soon learn the intricate nature of the clan's many rituals, and of their once-proud history. It is a Seer's duty to learn the methods upon which one can be drowned and rise once more.The tattoos the Adderfang wear upon their bodies take upon different meanings for the Seers of the clan; each one bearing some meaning known only to them, witnessed in rituals undertaken within swirling mists of incense. Some might bear broken wings of bone, ships aflame on a blue sea, harpoons and beasts seen in the grasp of some strange reverie. Their demeanour and bearing also begins to differ greatly from their kin, eschewing the fanciful Lominsan garb common in the camps for vestments of scrimshawed bone and tattered sailcloth. Though even then, the changing times have left not even the spiritual leadership of the Adderfang untouched, and it is not uncommon to see the odd few Seers of the Redain cover themselves in finely-wrought silks and gilt jewelry. Though the family's current head Seer, Chani, refuses such change herself.
The eyes of a Seer are a treasured secret, and they go to great lengths to hide their eyes from the sight of their fellows, with it now said that looking upon the eyes of one whom has beheld Llymlaen herself can only bring ill luck and despair. Though this, as with many of their revised traditions, likely stems from the need for such masks in their former home of the Shroud.
Beliefs:
The Drown holds more meaning than the simple death of weakness and rebirth into strength. To the Adderfang it signifies the giving of ones' soul over to the Navigator herself, placing them in her hands once and for all. It is from this that many Adderfang have no qualms with bearing full plate armor at sea, for they have no fear of drowning, to do so would simply be to finally meet their patron. To die at sea is a welcome fate, any anxiety about such occurs to a small few. Cowardice is a trait ill-suited for any Adderfang, and often the fear of being seen as such only leads to more brazen and bold acts of fearlessness.
It is said that Seers impart a gift to each and every Adderfang upon their Drown, whether it be an enchanting charisma, a powerful constitution, or the ability to act swift or fire an arrow true. Whatever is passed from Seer to risen Adderfang is held as a sacred secret, and the details of this gift are never uttered to another, even close family or lovers.Fate and the acceptance thereof hold a special place in the clan's belief system, as it is said there is a course set for each and every Keeper before them, dictated by the Navigator, and to turn this aside spurning her gifts and benevolence forevermore.
Vex
Asrah
