Holy Age Faction Spotlight: The Thousand Clans of Myr'ahn

Today we talk about one of the most powerful nations during the Holy Age of Phycos: The Thousand Clans of Myr'ahn.

Territories of nations in Myr'ahn, circa 1300.

Dominating most of the known parts of the great southern sub-continent of Myr'ahn, the empire known as the "Thousand Clans" is exactly as its name indicates. This centuries-old confederation of Xurax (southern lizard) clans has remained strong despite the increasing number of invasions on their homeland. It is also the home of the last remaining Faldarin Tree in Phycos. These trees were once used to channel magic energy and spread it across a certain area, ensuring the bountiful growth of life and preservation of a temperate climate. When the lizard kingdoms dominated the continent, there were six, but the constant infighting between the kingdoms caused their destruction and the eventual downfall of those kingdoms. These kingdoms since broke into smaller clans no better than barbarian nations, and the lizards mutated into more savage forms now known as nurax (northern lizards). These nurax were subject to enslavement by the races that later colonized Phycos (humans, saal).

A Thousand Clans army.

The Faldax clans that would form the Thousand Clans, however, did not go down this path. Seeing in-fighting as the inevitable destruction of their way of life, five great clans banded together and started to unify the smaller clans around them in Myr'ahn and the surrounding islands, through force or diplomacy. In the end, each clan was given its place in a new empire, and prosperity returned to the southern nations. With its faldarin tree intact, the Xurax kept their forms and their society flourished.

Clox, the immortal prophet-king and original unifier of the Thousand Clans.

Outsider nations that later came to Myr'ahn were under the impression that the Xurax of the Thousand Clans were savage and uncontrolled like the nurax they had enslaved. These nations found themselves gravely mistaken, once they faced the powerful, unified, disciplined military of the Thousand Clans. Since then, the rich territory of the Thousand Clans have fallen under constant conflict, with nations from all around Phycos vying for control. Most of the greatest conflicts of the Holy Age usually involved some nation trying to take control of Myr'ahn, with the Thousand Clans at the defensive. Yet, despite these odds, the clans remain strong and continue to beat back invaders.

Various clan warriors and druids.

The population of the Thousand Clans consist almost entirely of Xurax, with humans being the most significant of the minorities due to the long-time presence of Tiergonian humans from the east. All races are welcomed in the clans, but few ever come willingly due to the overwhelming "evil" stigma that many outsider nations have associated with the clans. The conflicts of the Holy Age have served to make the people of the clans more xenophobic than ever, since it seems every outsider is trying to take something of theirs.

The daunting Gate of Saur, one of the first lines of defense into the heartland.

Other nations want to say that the Thousand Clans are a bunch of savages drawn together, when in fact the Clans have perhaps the most developed and advanced society in Phycos. The cities within the heartland of the Clans (the area surrounding the faldarin tree) are rich and beautiful, with great structures blending in naturally with nature, a testament to the Faldax's belief in their mother goddess. The Clans are ruled by a council of elected officials, with an immortal prophet-king serving as a figurehead and a source of guidance for the mortal leaders.


Their technology takes a more balanced approach, using a combination of magic and nature to create a material known as "traz", a plant like substance that grows into a solid form with the consistency of bone or wood. The density, form, and shape of traz is easily altered depending on how its grown, allowing it to serve as a building material from anything ranging from weapons, to buildings, to tools. In addition, it has the ability to grow back when in the presence of magic energy. Since magic energy flows thick in Myr'ahn, this means weapons or structures made of traz that are broken will seemingly regenerate back to their original forms. As a sister material to traz, there is also what is known as "uraz", a leafy cloth like material that is instead used for softer things like clothing. These two materials and their countless variations are the literal building blocks of Thousand Clans society. Coupled with the much-underestimated ingenuity of clan engineers and scholars, the Thousand Clans reach a level of technology not expected of a nation that follows the goddess of nature, and certainly not a nation of "savages".

Some of the fearsome cavalry of the Thousand Clans.

Of course, the "savage" appearance is probably helped significantly by the military of the clans. Aside from its formations of intimidating foot soldiers, archers, and fearless berserkers, the Clans' most notable aspect are their mounted forces. Riding atop carnivorous lizards or armored, horned lizards, Clan cavalry presents a daunting face to all its enemies. Combined with this are the fearsome Jel'arir - champions of the Clans who have undergone significant magic mutation/enhancement to become even greater warriors. Some of these warriors end up breathing fire, running with impossible speed, having indestructible rubber-like bodies, or even becoming giants. All these forces combined to make a powerful, unique force that most foreigners are not prepared to see.


Its great strengths, however, come at a cost. The Clans are only able to replenish their forces in their homelands, and their forces tend to be spread relatively thin. As such, they tend to have greater trouble holding territories they have taken from other nations. Most clan gains are lost soon after, keeping the territorial lines somewhat stagnant during wars. While strong at protecting their own lands, they are unable to do much more. More importantly, as more and more invading nations realize the true strength of the Clans, they to start to band together and form coalitions capable of meeting the armies of the Clans head on. In time, it's possible that the Clans will find themselves facing an alliance of nations even greater than their own.

In the end, however, the Thousand Clans remain strong, as they have for the millennium that their union has endured. With their sacred charge to guard the last faldarin tree and the desire to protect their homelands, it would be extremely difficult to remove the Thousand Clans from Myr'ahn. After all, their ancestors rebuilt Myr'ahn from the ashes of the Four Meteors, and they still feel a responsibility to protect the land, one that they will never abandon.

Some xurax weapons.