Roving Clans

Background[]

Traders, explorers, and adventurers, the Roving Clans are nomadic and mercantile. Traversing Auriga on their great beasts of burden, the Clans bring commerce and hard-headed negotiation to the far corners of the world.

Traits[]

Peace and Prosperity: Once a peace treaty has been signed, Roving Clans can enjoy immediate Commercial and Research agreements with their newfound partners.

Mercenary Comforts: By furnishing their sellswords with opulent digs, mouth-watering delicacies, and extra coin, Roving Clan mercenaries are that little bit extra motivated to perform.

Make Trade Not War: The Roving Clans believe that warfare is only for desperate fools; they do not view it as a viable option.

Insider Trading: In exchange for small "donations", traders in the Roving Clans' marketplaces will give up information on who's buying and selling.

Cuts Both Ways: Whether another empire buys or sells, the Roving Clans traders will always take a slice of the transaction.

Keys to the Market: Another empire getting too big for their boots? Perhaps we should ban them from the market and see how they fare then!

Nomadic Cities: By gaining full control of the giant scarabs upon whose backs many tents of the great caravan cities rest, the Roving Clans can move their settlements at will.

Heroes[]

Siryi Alastra[]

From her youngest years, Siryi was fascinated by the concepts of number and shape. Her father was a fruitseller, and every day he would set up a stall brimming with luscious peaches, fairberries, and bright round citruses, with all his wares stacked in clever arrangements. Siryi's love of mathematics and patterns grew out of this life, and she would help total ledgers, count stock, and many other things besides. One day she vowed she would join the Clans' mathematical Academy of Tedad to learn the secrets of this realm. In the late years of her youth, however, a long famine decimated her father's trade, and he had to travel further and further for less and less produce. Bandits would steal his fruits, so Siryi insisted on becoming his jarkar, a personal guard. A fiend with a pair of scimitars, many a thief learnt a painful lesson at Siryi's hand, and her name became legendary. One day she hopes to get back to her first love, mathematics, but for now, with her father in safe retirement, Siryi is saving her Dust as a sellsword.

Bazi Safar Bahas[]

Bahas was destined to be a loner. As a child he already disappeared for hours at a time, exploring the land around the clan’s encampment or running alongside their giant steeds. After his adolescence those hours stretched into days spent scouting, seeking, and wandering. He soon left home and moved from clan to clan, spending years touring the wide spaces of Auriga. He gained many of his trademark features then: a yellow bandanna, eyes that tend to squint as if forever in the wind and sunlight, and a mouth half-lifted in a perpetual grin.
Bahas was changed forever by an encounter high on the cold mountains of Drakkenhome, where he was befriended by an equally restless Drakken who showed him some of the treasures of the Endless. Now an eager seeker and explorer of the mysteries of Auriga, his knowledge of the Endless and Dust goes far beyond what his silent and introspective character displays. For this reason he has been made an honorary Bazi (Captain) of the Roving Clans, able to levy and command troops wherever he may be.

Illegra Mordicant[]

Born on the back of a great beast of burden during a fierce thunderstorm, Illegra Mordicant was fated to become a leader of men. Brave and shrewd, she first showed her knack for command when the trade caravan of which she was part became split from its jarkar—guard unit—during a sandstorm in the dangerous Adoban Wastes. After three days of waiting with no sign of help, Mordicant climbed atop the largest pack beast and roused the frightened traders from their hopelessness, instilling in them a deep belief that they could navigate the hostile sands and find refuge. They did indeed, though fully a quarter of them perished and the rest were forever changed. Known behind her back as "Gharqa" -- The Unstoppable Force -- Illegra has a reputation for completing whatever journey, negotiation, or project she sets out on.

Units[]

Settler[]

The backbone of any migration or colonization effort, Settlers are the hardy few willing to strike out and found a new home.

Dervish[]

A mainstay of the Roving Clans' hordes, the Dervish excels in rapid and devastating charges that take advantage of its mobility and mass.

Kassai[]

Perhaps the most rapid military unit on Auriga, the Kassai move with exceptional speed both in and out of battle.

Yirmak[]

Though the fast and powerful Yirmak is technically a cavalry unit, its fearsome claws and aggressive nature make it quite effective in melee.

Art[]