Nightsister Clans

Raven_41 · Sep 21, 2019

N IGHTSISTER CLANS

The Fanged God Theme

Origins Culture and Traditions

DESCRIPTION

The Nightsisters were originally an all-female clan of witches composed of Dathomirians, the offsprings between Zabarks and humans. However, Leviticus's massacre five hundred years ago left them teetering on the brink of extinction. To make up for this, some covens began to allow human women to integrate into their culture and learn their ways. This created a strain between those covens dedicated to the old ways, and those who saw the need for integration in order to survive extinction.

Their magick is an extension of their Force-sensitivity and is merely a form of the dark side of the Force. As a result, they worship a deity known as the "Fanged God," who is, in reality, an avatar of the dark side known as the Son—one of the three Mortis gods. They believe that the Fanged God exists in the spirit realm and is the source of the ichor that exudes from Dathomir's core. Whatever the case, natural or supernatural, the ichor of Dathomir allows the witches to cast spells infused with dark side energies.

Particularly after Leviticus's attack, and ever since the Nightsister covens have become highly xenophobic. Already they distrust male outsiders. However, the Sith Lord's attack also made them distrustful and even scornful towards Sith, whom they now almost entirely refuse to teach their magicks and techniques.

Even though time has passed from when the massacre took place, a lot of Nightsister clans today still know what the Sith Emperor did as the stories and scornfulness are passed down from generation to generation. While the Witches of Dathomir has recovered physically from the attack as multiple clans have grown larger, over the past five hundred years, the mental scar of the Sith still lurks in the Nightsisters as a whole.

ORIGINS

The precise origin of the first Nightsister Clan is uncertain, but they existed well before the beginning of the Sith Empire and were first encountered by the Sith Lord Leviticus during the Empire's early conquests. However, there are a lot of stories, myths and mysterious tales about the Witches of Dathomir. Due to being a people of very close guarded secrecy, there aren't a lot of information about these witches in foreign databases.

Leviticus was impressed by the dark power of the witches and learned what he could of their ways, but he also saw them as a threat to Sith rule and attempted to snuff them out once he had learned all that he could. He failed in this endeavour, though he did manage to scatter them, leaving many dead, including the Clan Mother Sycorax.

It took years for the Nightsisters to recover; and they did so by keeping their clan scattered into smaller covens, spread out across Dathomir so that they could reduce the likelihood that they would become targets able to be wiped out in one fell swoop.
CULTURE AND TRADITIONS

All the witch clans of Dathomir were matriarchal societies. Each coven is a "sisterhood" composed of Sisters under the guidance of the Clan Mother, and the "malelings" were generally disregarded as inferior. Each Nightsister covens is ruled by the Matron, who stood as the strongest among all of the Dathomirian population.

Each of the individual covens has its own identity as a clan that differentiates them from the rest, with their speciality and identity from where on Dathomir they reside in. In the wake of the Fanged God, when the Ichor is strongest and both moons are present in the form of a full moon and a new moon. Every clan holds a festival, called a Blót, in honouring the Fanged God.

Within these festivals, one large bonfire is lit in the centre of the village, where Sisters while in a chanting trance to music would dance side by side around the fire. The Blót is also where joint meals and drink offerings were included as well as blood sacrificing of the flesh of Nightbrothers or animals of various sizes took place. While offerings and sacrifices were common and used outside of the Blót for various reasons, the sacrifices and offerings done within a Blót are considered very spiritual and sacred to the Nightsisters.

Like Wookies have a holiday called Life Day, so do the Dathomirian Nightsisters. When nearing the end of winter, the Dathomiri witch clans hold an annual Winterfest at the Matron's fortress to honouring the Great Eagle Spirit and thank it for providing them with another spring. The Winterfest is the only time, that every clan can meet up for fun games and not act upon their rivalries between each other. During Winterfest, the younger witches receive gifts from the elders as an act of gratitude for keeping the teachings alive while the younger generation will perform various ritualistic dances as a way of honouring the elders.
The Selection Fury Night Elevation
- THE SELECTION
  
  A very important tradition was what the clans called The Selection and were a three-ritual series of brutal trials in which the Nightsisters of Dathomir chose men from the Nightbrother clan to serve as their mates and servants. While the Selection was only for Nightbrothers, the three trials of the Selection were also employed to select Nightsisters ready for full warrior status. Because of the name of the arena where the trials took place, the Selection was also referred to as "The Crucible".
  
  The ceremony consisted of the Test of Fury, the Test of Night, and the Test of Elevation. Failing a single test would eliminate a Nightbrother from the Selection process, or a Nightsister from achieving warrior status.
  
  All three trials were held at an arena at the top of a mountain chain called the Jarring Spire in Dathomir known as The Crucible. While some clans were further away than others, it was still a journey many Nightsisters with or without Nightbrothers must take. Success in the trials resulted in "a second beginning" by being assigned to one of three ranks or specializations—those of shadow killer, hunter and warrior.
- TEST OF FURY
  The Test of Fury primarily involved combat, with candidates either being pitted against each other or their instructor. When it came to picking a mate, the Nightbrother most of the times were pitted against each other, so the Nightsister could see who was the strongest and best suited for mating. When it came for a Nightsister to complete Test of Fury, it could depend on what her instructor thought was best suited for the situation and Nightsister.
- TEST OF Night
  Candidates fought much like they did in the Test of Fury, save for lacking the light of Dathomir's two moons. Fighters sometimes employed the technique known as the Ears of the Chiroptix to pass the trial.
- TEST OF ELEVATION
  Candidates fought amidst the moving stone pillars of The Crucible in a display of their abilities.
One of the other very sacred tradition to the Nightsisters and a Rite of Passage to young Dathomirians who desire the rank of Nightsister is the brewing and concocting of the mysterious and powerful Water of Life. It's a Rite of Passage every young Dathomirians has to go through when they come of age if they want to be recognized as an adult in the eyes of the Sisterhood and other Sister-clans.
Nightsister Stronghold Mumification After Life
- The Nightsister Stronghold is located on Dathomir, deep within a vast and large forest with enormous trees. It serves as the resident of whoever Clan Mother who is elected as the Matron and her clan of the Nightsisters. It is a massive forest village, almost the size of a town after five hundred years of rebuilding the Nightsister population and is built into the large trees, ground and over a waterfall. It is also where a massive Nightsister fortress is located deep underground, with enormous pillars keeping the ceiling from come crashing down on the underground lakes and rock platforms.
- Some of the more strange traditions of the Nightsisters, were how they took care of their dead. Instead of burning the dead or burying them, the Nightsisters mummified the deceased clan members and hang the bodies of their dead kin in pods suspended from the trees. With their enduring loyalty to one another, they kept the bodies is a sign of respect to the dead and a way to connect them to the forest in which they live.
  
  There is, however, a more violent use that the Clan Mothers or the Elders could use them for and that was raising their dead sisters from their eternal slumber and serving their kin in death.
- Every Nightsister believes in the afterlife and that when they die, their spirit is transported to the spirit realm. While the Jedis are able to turn into a force ghost when they die, the Nightsisters are turned into spirits when the life leaves their body.
  
  However, the spirit of a Nightsister can't return to the mortal realm on their own. While Nightsister spirits are usually friendly if a Shaman journeys into the spirit realm, they become a twisted form of vengeance if they are summoned back to the living through a ritual. While the Nightsister spirits can't directly touch mortals, they can assume control of the willing Nightsisters and boost the possessed Nightsister for the duration the spirits can stay in the mortal realm, before they must go back. The duration for how long the Spirit can stay can vary, depending on how strong the Nightsister is.
While not very common, a few of the clans had male warriors, believing them to be beings who were capable of balancing the masculine and feminine energies of the spirit realm. Despite being considered as skilled fighters, these Brothers were still subservient to the Nightsisters, still seen inferior to the Sisters and were kept in isolation.
Largest clans
- SPIDERCLAN
  
  "There is and can be only one clan of Nightsisters. This rogue clan that has taken up with the spiders... they are as great an annoyance as their pets."
  —Gethzerion
  The Spiderclan is a splinter group of Nightsisters located in the Nightspider Cult cave on the planet Dathomir in the depth of a massive cavern system in the same mountain as the neighboring Nightsister clan Singing Mountain Clan. They are known for keeping giant spiders as their companions and is the rivals of the witches of the Singing Mountain Clan.
  
  It was known that the Nightsisters known as the Spiderclan took control over one particular cavern and forced the young spiders to serve them. Only the larger adults managed to resist their will and resulted in the Spiderclan to fear those adults that lived deep underground.
  
  They live there with large gaping spiders as companions. The enslaved creatures help their mistresses with such things as daily chores and guarding the caves or patrolling the cavern system. The Sisters of the Spiderclan revere a giant spirit spider they called the "Queen Mother" and the matriarch of the coven is considered the voice of the "Queen Mother". The witches of the Spiderclan is unanimously detested on Dathomir—the Singing Mountain Clan consider them to be heretical abominations, and the covens see them a threat to be removed. However, the Spiderclan has shown to be extremely tough to kill off like their spiders and are very difficult to find once they want to disappear through their tunnel systems. It is unknown to all but the Spiderclan how far and wide their tunnel system goes in their territory. But one thing is known, that their tunnels don't stay within the mountains. The Spiderclan often uses ambush with their spiders to their advantages
  
  SINGING MOUNTAIN CLAN
  
  "There is no death, only a change of realm"
  —Shen
  The Singing Mountain Clan is a Dathomiri Witch clan village located near the Singing Mountain on Dathomir and a bitter rival of the Nightsister clan. They have their village near the Singing Mountain around hills and often performed various songs in honouring the spirits as well and providing offering to the Fanged God through totems and stone status of him.
  
  The Singing Mountain Clan are often in skirmishes with the Spiderclan and tend to get in a rather gruesome display of battle with one side ending up fleeing, which often is the Spiderclan when they are outnumbered. The Singing Mountain Clan's younger generation often climbs the Singing Mountain to get in touch with the Spirit through their beautiful voices and magick rituals.
  
  Despite the rather non-threaten name of the clan, they have proven to be a resilient clan with strong witches, warriors and hunters among their people and are often compared to be tough as the mountain itself. The Singing Mountain Clan is often seen, using glaive type weapon, along with the Schnee
  
  MISTY FALLS CLAN
  
  "Follow to sound of water and you shall never lose your sense of home"
  —Nasha Ka
  The Misty Falls Clan is one of the larger clans on Dathomir and is located near the Misty Falls, which is shrouded in a very thick fog. The Misty Falls is within a large vast swampland and tend to have a large number of marine-type animals that the clan hunts for food. The Misty Falls Clan have adapted just like all the other covens on Dathomir, to the very hostile environment and animal life in their territory. They always stay close to the Misty Falls, as it provides them with clean water and lots of food. The Misty Falls Clan is excellent climbers and uses climbing gear in the form of claws strapped to the back of their hands. These climbing claws are specifically made to give the Misty Falls Clan Sisters the ability to crawl the very slippery and wet flora at a fast pace.
  
  The Misty Falls Clan tend to move around by the large overgrown trees in their territory as that is a lot faster and it keeps them out of harm's way when they aren't in their village. Their villages are built on very thick and tall stilt, keeping them raised above the water, to keep them safe from the dangers that lurk underwater.
  
  DREAMING RIVER CLAN
  
  "Follow the guidance of the Spirits and it will teach you things you can't even imagine"
  —Astria Jae
  The Dreaming River Clan was a Dathomiri Witch clan village located near the Dreaming River on Dathomir. It was led by Astria Jae. The Dreaming River Clan has a vast knowledge of the spirit realm and the mysterious Ichor that flows through all of Nightsisters. Their Matriarch, but especially the elders of the clan are often sought after by many young Nightsisters from other clans seeking to learn from the great Shamans of the Dreaming River Clan.
  
  The Dreaming River Clan is one of the more calm and relaxed covens among the major clans on Dathomir as they see things a bit more different, as they spend so much time among the spirit realm. Their view is often on a much larger scale and doesn't like to interfere with the other clans business or fights. While they often let other clan's Sisters learn from them in the art of the Ichor and Spirits, after the witch has proven herself, they are still distrustful and cautious of outsiders.
  
  FRENZIED RIVER CLAN
  
  "Why fight the enemy in battle, when the shadow can do it for you"
  —Rule of the Blade
  The Frenzied River Clan is a Dathomiri Witch clan village located near the Frenzied River on Dathomir. While they are neighbours to the Dreaming River Clan with their territory, they are anything but the same. The Frenzied River Clan is probably Their teachings were similar to the Jedi Order's in that they were geared toward the light side of the Force. The Frenzied River Clan is also a lot more xenophobic than many of the other major clans on Dathomir, due to having taken a huge loss when Leviticus massacred the Nightsisters five hundred years ago and lost a lot of their people back then. Even those clans that are distrustful of outsiders and the Sith, see the Frenzied River Clan as an extremist clan of Sisters who hold on to the old ways of their people.
  
  The Frenzied River Clan is also masters of shadow, producing some of the best Shadow killer assassins of all the other clans on Dathomir. They are ruthless to those that invade their territory without permission from their Matriarch and more often than not will kill rather than capturing. If they do capture a trespasser in their territory, they torture answers out of the person with various high toxins poisons that will either work slowly or quick on the person's body. They are also very unpredictable in battle and isn't shy from using dirty tricks to win the fight.
  
  The Frenzied River Clan, like the Dreaming River Clan, lives near a river and spends most of their time to better their craft or patrolling their territory, making sure no unwelcome guest tries to enter without permission. They mostly live on fish and other marine-type animals that live by and in the river as fish isn't the only thing in the water. Their village is built on a very large earth platform that is surrounded by one of the vast swamps in the territory and strangely enough doesn't the clan get attacked by the animals around them.
  
  GREAT CANYON CLAN
  
  "Like the Rancor, we shall always overpower our enemies to dust"
  —Vonnda Ra
  The Great Canyon Clan was a Dathomiri Witch clan village located near the Great Canyon on Dathomir. The formation of the Great Canyon clan is of the oldest clan of all other clans on Dathomir and it is said that the founder and Matriarch of the Great Canyon Clan are the first Dathomirian to have bonded and ridden the great beast of Dathomir, the Rancor. However, that is more in the area of legends and myth than actual proof. Nevertheless, the Great Canyon Clan is a clan of Beastwardens, breeding, training and holding Rancors. They are brutal and vild like the beast they ride into battle with.
  
  They value strength above all else, due to living by the ruthless and unforgiving Great Canyon of Dathomir. The Great Canyon clan uses Nightbrothers much more actively than most other clans among the Nightsisters. Though while still subservient to the Clan, they were regarded much higher than most other clan did to their Nightbrothers. The Nightbrothers are trained as scouts and warriors and are often used for patrolling the Great Canyon Clan's territory or taking care of the clan's Rancors.
  
  The clan village contained concentric rings of tents, homes, slave's quarters, and workshops that surrounded Clan Mother Mintinee's home (known locally as the Waterhouse due to its proximity to the clan well). Due to Mintinee's belief in the power of talismans, chimney-like stone piles containing magical talismans were also found scattered around the village. The village included a well-fortified stockade for holding rancors that is used often by the Beastwardens of the clan to go on hunting, patrol with the Nightbrothers or in battle.
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Nightsister Clans

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