The Binding of the Clans

author: Archon Belketh

Before the Northern Clans learned to cover their bodies in shiny plate and draw the favour of Light from Elrath's winged children, they had been wandering Ashan wearing nothing more than leather jerkins of boar and bearskin, on sandals made of hemp and reed.

These boisterous women and men fought with ill-tempered iron swords and fire-hardened clubs, in battles as brutish as they were treacherous, fighting over summer rights to berry bushes and muddy fish-laden streams. Their leaderless ferocity was renowned and feared by even the Priests of the Shantiri who themselves feared neither Angel nor Demon, Faceless nor Spirit.

There is nothing more dangerous in our world than Humans without purpose. Their souls unfettered by reason are fires without hearth on winds with nowhere particular to blow.

When the Wizard Sar-Elam did the impossible, piercing the veil and ascending to Asha's moon, he spoke with the Dragon Goddess, and became the Seventh Dragon. This feat not only ended the Elder Wars, binding Light once again to Darkness, but it shattered the spiritual equilibrium that had guided the peoples of Ashan like blinders on a horse.

Many Humans, lead by Sar-Elam left the windy promises of their Dragon God Ylath with the new belief that any man could become a Dragon. Their purpose was clear: listen and learn from their prophet to repeat his unprecedented exploit. But the rest of the peoples of Ashan, whether Elf or Dwarf, Naga or Faceless, and the Angels like myself, were forced to take pause and ponder this puzzling event.

Alas, as every other soul was still contemplating how a man could become a Dragon, the Humans of the Northern Clans remained true to their nature in their ignorant bliss and pointless squabbling. All save one, the clever and courageous chief of the infamous and renown clan Falcon, Ronan the Great.

Ronan was smart and full of charm, but he knew that would not suffice to unite the Northern Clans under one totem. And so the chief of Falcon devised a plan. He traded leathers for magical steel with the Wizards, and had crossbows manufactured by the Dwarves. He crafted shields from the same metals and had his loyal guard learn the art of combat from the Nagas. Ronan was now ready to unite the clans.

Ronan slew the chief of Hound, and named his orphaned son Duke of Greyhound in compensation. He married the beautiful daughter of clan Griffin, and named her father Duke. One by one the chiefs of Bull, then Unicorn, were convinced to bow their knees. The Fox and the Badger, who refused, were slain in battle to the last man. Finally the Wolf, cornered by sea, threw down his sword and pledged allegiance to his emperor.

And so the Northern Clans found a leader in a time of doubt and questioning that forged them into a single purpose, and gave them a single banner to rally. And even when Ronan's wife gave birth to their first child, the blue-eyed boy, Brian, no sensible soul on all of Ashan would have wagered the Falcon's rule over such unruly clans would survive a single generation.

They could not have been more wrong. The Angels had a plan.

The Binding of the Clans

Lore for Might & Magic X: Legacy Video Game

Other Lore for Might & Magic X: Legacy