Minaka Widowmaker spoke,
"I claim the Bloodname Vordermark;
It was my mother's and my mother's father's.
It is mine by association and blood pride."
The Council was stunned and outraged
By her lack of respect for the Clan ways.
Then the ilKhan rose and spoke wise words.
"Such a claim is not freely granted, Minaka.
Although your blood may cry out Vordermark,
It is your muscle and mind that will make it so.
Remember the Rede of our past, Widowmaker,
And do not ask words to win what the trial decides.
If strong, you will win the Right.
But do justice to our future
By remembering our past, young one.
Those are my words, that is my judgment."
-The Remembrance, Passage 167, Verse 34, Lines 33P48
Nicholas was determined that civil war would not claim his new society.
Instead of banning warfare, which he considered part of human nature, he created
controlled conflicts through regulations and rituals. Thus, the Six Trials of Combat were
established. Each trial begins with the batchall, the formal challenge, by which the
aggressor announces to his opponent his intentions, his goal, and his fighting force.
When disputes arise between individual warriors that neither they nor
their immediate superiors can resolve, both warriors must petition to have their
differences heard by the Clan Council (or the Grand Council if the opponents are
Bloodnamed or hold important rank). Until the council rules, the disputants are bound by
Clan law to avoid any unnecessary contact. This may be carried to the point of one
transferring to another unit. If one takes aggressive action against the other before the
council rules, or if he disagrees with the council's decision, he or she has committed a
breach of Clan law punishable by expulsion into a lesser caste or out of Clan society
entirely.
If a grievance cannot be resolved by the council, a Trial of Grievance
is called. The rules governing the trial are many and strict. If the combatants are
MechWarriors or fighter pilots of different weight-class vehicles, the council must make
the contest more even. Often, a vehicle type that is mid-way in size is chosen, and the
disputants have several weeks to become accustomed to their new vehicles. If the
disputants are from different branches of the warrior caste, then some kind of a middle
ground, such as fencing with Medusa whips, is chosen. If the two are dissimilar in
physique (such as an aerospace pilot and an Elemental), then they must choose proxies to
fight for them or forget the grievance altogether.
The trial itself is judged by members of the council, who ensure that
trial and combat etiquette is strictly heeded. A Circle of Equals is defined, anything
from ten meters in diameter for a hand-to-hand trial to more than 100 kilometers wide for
an air duel. No one but the combatants may enter the Circle of Equals unless invited, and
leaving the Circle before the contest is ended is a shameful defeat. All trials are
defined as to the death, but they usually end before either combatant is killed.
This elaborate system of decisions and regulations is designed to
outlast the anger that sparked the trial, and that is usually the case. Some records
indicate, however, that sometimes the anger between two warriors, or two sets of warriors,
outlasts even the Trial of Grievance, degenerating into what we would call a feud. The
most notorious and well-documented failure of the grievance trial system involved the
Nicholas Pride sibko and the Blue Devil kibbutz of Clan Smoke Jaguar. The Blue Devil
warriors maintained a grudge for several generations, based on an imagined slight during a
Smoke Jaguar Council ceremony.
Other tales suggest that many Honor Duels are resolved less formally
and more swiftly than official sources dictate. For example, a Trial of Grievance between
two sibkin rarely draws the attention of the Clan Council. Instead, a Circle of Equals is
drawn immediately and the two fight under the supervision of an instructor until one is
knocked from the circle.
Trials of Position determine rank and honors. The Trial of Position
determines whether a cadet becomes a warrior as well as whether a warrior deserves a
promotion to the next level of training. The trial is a combat situation in which the
candidate usually faces selected superiors one at a time with live weapons. The
candidate's success determines how far he advances in rank and responsibility.
The use of live weapons for what is essentially an examination seems
barbaric and wasteful of human life to those outside the Clans. An accident can easily cut
short a promising career or life. It is one of the best examples of how little regard the
Clans have for individual life in their quest for social supremacy.
Even if the goal is worthy, is it worth the cost in suffering and human
life? When asked this question, a Clansman most often reacts with a blank stare.The
concept of individuality is as alien to the Clanspeople as they are to us. Those who
understand that it is a question of balance can answer easily. The cause is worth
everything, the individual, nothing. If a warrior is unwilling to risk his life for the
good of the Clans, he cannot claim the status of warrior and is of no use to the Clans.
His fellow Clansmen would prefer to discover this in a test than in the heat of battle.
Therefore, they see no point in using powered-down weapons when a warrior is training to
face real weapons.
Throughout a cadet's training and a warrior's career, he continually
undergoes Trials of Position. From the sibko on, a warrior must face many trials. The
early trials would be familiar to us in the Inner Sphere as simple exams. The trials grow
progressively harder, however, and the cadet's attitude and mental endurance is tested as
well as his knowledge of facts.
The Trial of Position is also a cadet's final trial. During this test,
two cadets face six frontline warriors with weapons at full power. Each candidate faces
three of the experienced warriors, who attack one at a time. If a candidate attacks any of
the warriors assigned to another cadet, they are free to return fire, and the combat
becomes a general melee. To pass the trial, a candidate must defeat at least one of his
opponents. If he does so, he becomes a warrior and enters active service. Defeat of two
opponents earns the rank of Star Commander. Defeat of three, a rare accomplishment, ranks
the candidate as a Star Captain. Defeat of four requires cooperation between the two
candidates, in that one surrenders a potential kill to the other. On only one occasion has
a candidate defeated four opponents in a Trial of Position. Natasha Kerensky accomplished
this feat and earned the rank of Star Colonel upon her recent return to the Clans. A
warrior can be required to repeat the Trial of Position at any time in his career,
especially when his continuing ability to perform is in question, as it was with Natasha
Kerensky's, or when he is in line for a promotion.
The Clans have approximately 760 Bloodnames. The name of each of the
800 warriors who joined Nicholas Kerensky and refused to take part in the Exodus Civil
War, is considered a Bloodname, less the 40 names removed when the "Not-Named
Clan" was annihilated. Clan tradition dictates that only 25 living Clan warriors may
hold the same Bloodname, and each must have a direct matrilineal link to the original
progenitor.
Each Clan originally claimed rights only to the Bloodnames of the 40
warriors Nicholas Kerensky assigned to that Clan. This organization gradually blurred as
Clans each other in Trials of Possession for specific warriors' genes to enhance their
individual Clan. Even if warriors became abtakha (captured by another Clan), they still
retained the right to claim a Bloodname belonging to their former Clan. In this way, more
than one Clan could claim the same Bloodname. Additional cross-naming took place when two
Clans were disbanded and their Bloodnames spread among the other Clans. There are still
some Bloodnames, however, that are the exclusive property of a Clan. The Kerensky and Ward
Bloodnames, for example, are still held only by warriors of the Wolf Clan.
Winning a Bloodname is a warrior's guarantee of Clan immortality. Not
only is he honored with the right to use the Bloodname as his own, but he becomes eligible
for high military and political positions. Most important to Bloodnamed warriors is the
fact that, barring any subsequent action that would bring them shame, their genes will
contribute to the gene pool for the next generation. The remains of most Bloodnamed
warriors are returned to one of the 800 memorial chapels built by Nicholas Kerensky on
Strana Mechty to honor each of the original 800 warriors. There, the ashes of each
Bloodnamed warrior lie with the ashes of the other warriors of the same Bloodname in the
ornate tomb of their honored namesake.
When a Bloodnamed warrior dies, a Trial of Bloodright is declared. The
current Bloodnamed warriors of that name each select one nominee from the pool of eligible
candidates. The Bloodname's leader nominates additional warriors to bring the number to 31
candidates. The 32nd slot is reserved for all other eligible candidates, those who were
not nominated but who still wish to compete for a Bloodname. This group engages in a Grand
Bloodname Melee, with the survivor being awarded the 32nd slot. The 32 candidates then
begin a series of one-on-one duels that eventually result in one victor, who is awarded
the Bloodname. This fulfills Nicholas Kerensky's requirement that a Bloodname be won by
defeating all others who make a claim to that name.
Though winning any Bloodname is significant, it is interesting to note
that considerable prestige is attached to certain Bloodheritages. Because lineage is
traced matrilineally, each warrior is only qualified to compete for one Bloodname. It is
not uncommon for an ambitious warrior to decline nomination for what he considers an
inferior Bloodname, in hopes of competing for a better Bloodname later on.
The fourth type of combat trial is conducted when two or more Clans
claim the rights to the same thing, be it territory, a warrior's genes, or even supremacy
in a conflict of opinion. Nicholas Kerensky created this combat trial within a year of the
end of the civil war. As a reward for their loyal support, Kerensky decided that each Clan
should receive half of one of the colonized Clan worlds and small shares of the others.
Strana Mechty would remain neutral. The Clans had to determine among themselves who would
possess what area. If two or more Clans wanted the same piece of land, their claims were
subject to a Trial of Possession. This policy resulted in many hard-fought battles to
determine which Clans got the lion's share of the better worlds and how the remaining
lands were to be divided.
A Trial of Possession is initiated when the attackers issue a formal
challenge to the defenders. The attackers identify themselves, state their objective, and
ask the defender what forces he will use. For example, Star Colonel Adler Malthus began
the campaign against Twycross with this challenge: "I am Star Colonel Adler Malthus
of the Falcon Guards. What forces defend this world?"
The challenge changes to fit the objective. If, for example, the
challenge is over the rights to genetic material, part of the challenge might be stated in
the following manner: "What forces defend the spawn of Dan Kryla?"
The defenders then state what forces they will place in defense of the
objective. They also have the right to name the location of the trial. The defenders may
increase the stakes by demanding a prize of equal or lesser value if they win. This option
available to the defender is largely unknown in the Inner Sphere, but explains why Hohiro
Kurita was able to bargain with the Clan commander at Wolcott.
The attacker's subcommanders then bid among themselves for the right to
engage in the trial. The subcommander who bids to fight with the fewest forces wins the
right and responsibility to make the attack.
Clans can keep prisoners taken during such trials to serve as
"bondsmen" (laborers for the Clan), or else these individuals may be sent back
to their original Clan, with little honor lost. Bondsmen must serve the Clan until the
Clan Council decides to reinstate their rights as a warrior. A Clan can formally adopt
captured warriors if the Clan Council considers them an asset to its forces. Once a
warrior is officially adopted into a new Clan, he regains his warrior status.
Bidding and Trials of Possession both favor commanders who succeed
using minimal forces. Nicholas used these methods to prevent all-out war and the
catastrophic loss of industry and civilian life that inevitably accompanies it.
The Clan Councils and the Grand Council, like any legislative bodies,
vote on laws and actions that affect the community. Unlike Inner Sphere legislative
bodies, however, any decision can be challenged and reversed by a Trial of Refusal. These
trials afford the losing side the right to demand that the issue be settled by combat.
The forces used in a Trial of Refusal are determined on a pro-rated
basis. The side rejecting the vote declares what forces they will use. The winning side
can field a force equal to the ratio of winning votes to losing votes. If, for example,
the contested vote carried by a three-to-one margin, those on the winning side of the
issue can field a force three times the size of the force of those challenging the
decision. The traditional bidding by subcommanders usually results in a smaller attacking
force, however.
If this trial process is taken to its logical conclusion, it is
possible that a subcommander might vote for a decision he actually opposed, and then bid
so low that the decision could be overturned. My suggestion that a warrior might consider
this course of action was met with shock and frozen silence. One Loremaster refused any
further interviews, and another prohibited me from any contact with the warriors of his
Clan. Such a breach of honor is clearly unthinkable.
An interesting variation of the Trial of Refusal is the Absorption
Right. The Grand Council can vote to allow one Clan to absorb another, but only by a
unanimous vote (excepting the Clan being absorbed). The council then determines which Clan
will benefit from the Absorption. Naturally, the Clan to be absorbed would demand a Trial
of Refusal. The Clan chosen to absorb the weaker Clan may also be challenged by others in
a Trial of Refusal even before battling the Clan to be absorbed. The resulting trials can
last for years. Wolf won the right to absorb Widowmaker in 2825, for example, but had to
defeat three other Clans for that right.
A Trial of Annihilation is the most extreme punishment the Clans can
declare. It goes beyond the question of right and wrong. A Trial of Annihilation virtually
guarantees that the warrior will die and that his genes will be eliminated from the Clans'
gene pool. This trial can only be invoked by a unanimous vote of the appropriate council,
and only for the most heinous crimes against Clan society.
Trials of Annihilation have been declared against warriors, Stars, and
even Clusters, but only once has an entire Clan suffered this ultimate punishment. Because
any mention of the Clan involved in this Trial of Annihilation is punishable by a Trial of
Grievance, no Clansman would reveal the name of the "Not-Named Clan." The
details behind its annihilation were also impossible to discover. However, careful
research into The Remembrance and artfully phrased questions point to the Clan Wolverine
as the object of this Trial of Annihilation.
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