Clans

The Clan is how the Yocan differentiate among themselves, in the same way one might use the word race to describe a different ethnicity or culture. Each Clan is comprised of several “Houses,” with each house being led by a single Kelk and their spouse from their respective home cities. The houses of each clan are further divided between the Lesser Houses and the High Houses, those of common blood, and those of royal blood.

There are normally only three High Houses to any given Clan, though the number of Lesser Houses can vary from merely ten to almost two hundred, depending upon the population of the city or town from which that house comes. The most common clans in the world are known to have Houses numbering in the high thousands, each one representing a peasant or land-holding family, and each one vying for power and control within the greater Clan structure, whilst also showing respect to the High Houses and avoiding drawing their ire.

Every Clan is overseen by a single ruling Kelk, an elected “High Kelk,” who leads all of the houses during the so-called “Clansmeet;” an annual meeting of all houses within a clan, comprised of the highest ranking members from the high houses and representatives from the Lesser Houses. Each clan has a Clansmeet, and each one is different in ways that make them seem alien to their cousins within other clans.

vV:Main/“Native” clans:Vv

Black Yoca: born of the Black Bear, these Yocan are the most common breed encountered across the world, having adapted to be capable of surviving in many varied environments. They are characterized by red glowing eyes and jet black hair, with skin tones varying depending on region, though they are often dark of skin. The High Houses of the Clan are Hew, Artik, and Var, while the head of house Hew usually serves as High Kelk in the Clansmeet. There are theories that this clan once interbred extensively with the prehistoric Dire Yoca clan, but these claims are unsupported and no evidence of that clans traits and characteristics have ever manifested in the modern day.

Grizzly Yoca: a rarer, more civilized clan among the Yocan, having arisen from the supposed strongest of all the Yoca, the Grizzly. As such, they lack much of the humility found in other, less fortunate clans; having been blessed with a fertile homeland and immense physical strength, they are often surprised when they find other parts of the world to be much less accommodating than their pampered birthplace. They are characterized by golden blond hair and clear, crystal blue eyes. High houses include House Gyriil, Famor, and Barsa, while the overall head of the clan is the Pontiff of Gyriilheim, who also leads the Yocan Church.

Polar Yoca: born of the Polar Bear, these cold-hearted burrowers have long been the go-to for siege warfare and fortress breaking, having long ago become accustomed to such things thanks in part to their proclivity for building semi-subterranean fortress cities; vast interconnected tunnels overlaid by a surface structure roughly equivalent to a normal Yocan city, including cavetowers. Having made their home in the frigid belt of frozen land far to the north which separates the realms of the west from the jungle lands of Targol’ja, the Polar Yoca are no strangers to extremes of cold. They are characterized by black, lightless eyes and snow white hair. Houses include House Frigga, House Baaldur, and House Hodr. The Head of the clan is usually elected from House Hodr, though in recent years, house Baaldur has made a push for the throne of High Kelk.

Brown Yoca: characterized by brownish hair and dark orange eyes, little is known of the Brown Yoca due mainly to their hatred of an event in their distant past, known to them only as “the Shame.” The result is a clan that fears record keeping and the acknowledgement of ancient history, choosing instead to look forward in all things and deny what has come before. What few Brown Yoca there are who frequently interact with the other clans usually belong to little more than tribal bands and caravan-riders that periodically wander the inhabited lands of Äskiia as nomads. No houses exist among the Brown Yoca, who see the practice as a useless practice dividing the Yocan, while in times of conflict, a “Chief of Cheifs” is elected to lead their people.

vV:Foreign clans:Vv

Eastern Yoca: born of the Panda, the Eastern Yocan are a race apart from those who rose in the western regions of the world: possessed of immense intellect and a passion for building, these Yocan are known mainly for the construction of vast megastructures across the territories they inhabit and control, including the Great Barricade of Thry’jid and the Palace-City of the God Emperor. They are characterized by grayish white hair and silver eyes.

Speckled Yoca: native to the blasted border regions which separate the lands of Thry’jid from the deserts of Lac’rat, these are a hardy and independent people. They are resilient, courageous, and overall, quite unpleasant to be around due to their tribal nature and a culture of piratical raiding. The harsh nature of their homelands leave no room for weakness. Little is known of their appearance, for they go mostly everywhere hooded and robed. All that is known for certain is that they have strange eyes speckled with flecks of gold and grey.

Desert Yoca: characterized by orange hair and dusty yellow eyes, these Yocan are hardy and immensely skilled in the arts of survival and conservation of resources. Their distinctive hoods and flowing robes set them apart from their sparsely armored cousins to the west, marking them out as skilled desert fighters and wise wanderers both.

Jungle Yoca: primitive black Yoca who have adapted to living within the jungles of Targol’ja, these red eyed giants hold dominion over that savage land. However, their tribes are divided and war amongst themselves constantly, each seeking total domination over their enemies. Their tribes are the Feren’gili, the Mazi-Kas, and the Haarakos.

vV: Extinct Clans :Vv

The Dire Yoca: an ancient clan, said to have been far larger and stronger than even the modern Yocan. Possessed of the innate ability to bond and control the powerful Yoca(bears), they ruled over a prehistoric empire that stretched from the borders of Vershia in the west to those of Targol’ja in the far far north. Though wise beyond imagining and powerful beyond belief, this clan slowly vanished over the course of the ages as breakaways founded their own independent tribes and diverges from the Dire Yocan baseline, becoming the modern Clans. Their population interbred with their lesser, smaller cousins over time, spreading their genes out until all that remained of them were the stories told by their descendants; of mighty heroes astride ursine war mounts, riding into battle against the forces of darkness.