Deucalian Clans

[Star Wars Legacies]

The Deucalian Clans are a human ethnic group, similar to the Mandalorians, unique to the planet Deucalia, though they eventually became wanderers after the destruction of their homeworld. The aftermath of the Hundred-Year Darkness saw a steep decline in the Deucalians' population, as a result of their failed invasion of Mandalore and an attack on their fleets by the then-fledgling Sith Empire. As a result, a small surviving population is on the brink of extinction on their new home: Ando Prime.


History

They were born on the world, Deucalia, but it was not their destiny to die there. It was said they outlived that world of legendary savagery, fleeing the cracking earth split by fire and ice. A people adrift in the endless black guided by only the faintest glimmer of hope far beyond their grasp.

Deucalia was a world of jagged peaks and rough soil. Nothing grew there in such abundance as to allow cities and empires. Instead only roaming hunting bands could survive. Hounded by massive wolves, dragons that terrorized the deeps, and the harsh landscape only the strongest and luckiest clan members survived to bring new life into this world of death. Lucky was not how they felt, proud was. Earning their place slowly on the harsh world proved irrelevant as the sages calling upon the old carvings foretold the doom of the planet and all who lived upon it. Some ignored the calls, others sought to pray and sacrifice to the old gods and new alike for mercy. One clan did something different, the Clan of Baldr led by Freya the First Claw.

Named for being the first to kill a Direwolf in armed combat alone, the chief led her people to the sages for a reading of their fate. From the ancient scripts the sages saw the direction of their salvation, not east, nor west, nor north, nor south, but down deep below. Thinking they were to hide in caves until the horrors wracking their world subsided, Freya led her people into the old caves of her ancestors. Marked by the same runes of the sages she moved deep into the dark to find the strangest of lights. Faint blue and pulsing she entered the strange cavern alone and emerged with news that would change the course of their collective history.

Deucalia forged them into the people they were, but there was a beginning before the first clans. A people who rode the sky and ruled the stars and moons like kings. All was made possible by the glowing blue which allowed the strange buildings within the cave to fly. Freya Baldr and her clan may have kept this to themselves, they might have sought the stars and never looked back, but she made a fateful choice. Gathering her fastest runners she sent them in all directions with a simple message, come to the caves, or die.

Many came, including the sages who read the ancient words in awe. After much study the cleverest of the Deucalians were able to get the ships to fly and slowly, tenuously, carefully, the clans made their way into the stars. It would be the last time they were careful for quite some time. Leaving their dying world behind they followed the charts of their lost ancestors. Finding a world populated by strange speakers they did what they had always done, they showed strength. Capturing some of the populace and slaughtering the rest they acquired more knowledge of starflight and the surrounding galaxy, a scope of peoples and places the clans had never even dreamed of.

With this new knowledge the chiefs gathered. All gave fealty to Freya Baldr as their savior, but she knew such a peace wouldn't last. Breaking up the fleets and slaves between them she scattered them across the stars to find their destiny. For generations to come the Ten Claws of the Wolf would ravage the Outer Rim, coming and going like a beast in the night that would never end.

However, the Hundred-Year Darkness was almost the death of their culture. A raid on their ships by the fledgling Sith Empire, followed by a failed invasion of the planet Mandalore, severely diminished their strength and numbers. As a result of these failings, the survivors merged into Mandalorian clans; some married into Sith families and disappeared over the years; while others, determined to hold on to the old ways, fled to Ando Prime where their surviving population clings to its existence to this day.


Culture

There are stories told to children in the fringe worlds. Tales told to make them quiet before bed. Fear grips them as they grip their covers enraptured by the tales of the wolves of space. Stay quiet, stay neat, be polite, or surely they will come for you. So they do. Then the wolves come and they don't care about any of that. As those that were once scared children lay dying, at last they'd know what lives they had wasted.

History becomes story, story becomes myth, myth becomes legend, and legend fades away. Few know the name Deucalian that do not hold it back in reverent fear. Warriors from the stars without a home or land. A wandering people bent on burning and destroying wherever they went. Like a malevolent maelstrom they leave little in their wake unburnt and unbroken.

Still rumors fly like the raven and the savvy sailor of the stars knows to look for the signs of wolves dens and hunting grounds. Almost like a collective feeling they avoid the once vibrant trading colonies now reduced to ash. Many wonder if these marauders are even living for none had ever seen one fall in battle. What they did know was this. Blacken the night, snuff the torches, cut the lights, silence the babes and dogs and pray to your gods the fires of the sky do not descend. Every day is a blessing. Every night is a curse.

The Deucalians are grouped in clans loosely affiliated by familial bond and fealty to the Baldr though a member of that bloodline hasn't been seen in decades after the last one went into Unknown Space and never returned. Deucalian ships work in small groups to avoid the gaze of larger forces and mostly strike vulnerable targets on the outskirts of larger civilization. Each Deucalian clan is ruled by a Chief. Chief's are selected by a number of ceremonies each different depending on the clan and the instruction of the Chief before their death. Most involve ritual combat either to the death or till one yields. Those who place their hand in to be a chief candidate must either succeed or become a Bersark.

Deucalian hierarchy beyond the Chief fall into many alignments, but the general rule of thumb is you get what you earn and you earn what you take. If you feel the head engineer is doing poorly, take his position and leave them in a position where they wouldn't wish to or be able to fight back. Same for any other position of authority, land, ship, or title. This ensures strength, ambition, and bloodlust do not wither in the ranks of the Deucalian.

Deucalian live their lives for battle. When a raid is nigh the crew draws lots. One in ten have to remain aboard to man the ship while all others go off to fight. To return to the ship one must boast three kills and hold something of value. Those that fail die, or are dead to their clan for all time. If a Deucalian were to die in battle, the item of value can be the fallen ones corpse. Those that bring the fallen raider can strip them of goods and inherit whatever other items they posses including slaves.

Each Deucalian has a family name depending on their clan. Exceptions to this are Slaves given the surname Thrall and Bersarks who have no name at all and are simply called Bersark. Clans organizes under a chief with many advisors and other specialists. Slaves are subdivided based on their job on the ship.


Credit & OOC Notes

To @BlackJack for the original article and @Korvo for continuing to work on them.

At the start of the timeline, the Deucalian Clans are in the worst shape they've ever been in their history. They are diminished, weak, and teetering on the brink of extinction. As a result, the surviving individual clans need to be resubmitted as individual lore articles. Some clans can have survived to this point, but, after a certain point, there will need to be plots done to reestablish clans.