The Zeedarr Clans

> My people never stood a chance. I may not care for my adoptive home of Earth, but I would never let it suffer the same fate as my kin did.
>
> Twegathi Asaf

**The Zeedarr Clans**, The Zeedarr Tribes, Zeedarr Union, The United Zeedarr Clans or United Gigantus Clans are a group of five races that inhabit the world of G14N7. They are older than humanity by several thousands of years, yet find themselves behind on many technological advances due to a lack of natural resources needed for space travel. They use a tribal/clan based system in almost every aspect of their lives, with each of these massive tribes being made up of a different subrace of Zeedarr. While being moreso an associate of The Coalition rather than a full-fledged member (mainly being a trading partner) some members of Zeedarr species have been pivotal to galaxy-wide events. Two of the best known Zeedarr come from Clan Asaf, namely Twegathi and Rebecca, the famous Colonial Marines who fought during the events of The Longest War, New Hell and New Hope.

### Goverment

The Zeedarr Clans consist of five distinct clans or tribes, who each live in a different biome of their world of G14N7. Traditions and customs vary heavily dependent on which territory one visits. What each of the clans share however, is a high level of militarism. Each Zeedarr clan has hundreds of thousands of individuals in it, covering an entire biome in the form of settlements.

Each clan is lead by a chieftain, who dictates the day-to-day affairs of the clan. Some clans have a hereditary chieftain, some are elective.

**Elective Clans**

* Clan Asaf
* Clan Cauntain
* Clan Skain

**Hereditary Clans**

* Clan Zeedtic
* Clan Hivst

Above the Chieftains reside the Seers, who are clan elder's and always seem to contain a lot of wisdom and psi-powers. These Seers are isolated from their clans for most of their lives, sitting alone in their own residence and only seen by the chieftains of their respective. These five Seers combined form the Council of Five. Seers are the spiritual leader of each clan.

**The Council of Five**, the Seer Council or The Five meets quarterly to discuss the events of their world and the galaxy as a whole. They decide the path forward, how much each clan can raid another, how much trade is to be done and more. The Five are in reality 'The Seven', for they hold a spot in honour of the long forgotten Coast Clan as well as a spot for the hivemind that connects their entire world.

When one of the Seers dies, the chieftain of the clan it belonged to and the remaining Seers chose the replacement Seer, which is generally the oldest or more powerful psychic of said clan.

### Economy

The Economy of Gigantus Prime is a well-balanced machine, controlled by The Council of Five and executed by the Chieftains.

Clan Skain will raid Clan Asaf for their animals, taking the meat and leather they need, Clan Asaf may end up in turn killing Clan Skain raiders and find themselves valueable furs from the bodies of the Skain, who they would not have access to otherwise.
Clan Zeedtic will trade it's many ocean-rich resources and fish to Clan Cauntain in exchange for their glowing mushrooms, a delicacy to the people of Zeedtic.
Clan Hivst will will send it's predators into the lands of Asaf or vice versa- with Asaf infiltrating the forests of Hivst to find themselves prey and fruits, yet the predator often becomes the prey itself, ending up in an exchange of meat.

Constantly, the world is in balance and thrives, being in almost perfect harmony, despite the deaths that occur from this. While this kind of behaviour is normal and chosen by The Council of Five, the people of each clan hold hostility to most other clans.

## History

Much of Zeedarr history is unknown to the wider galaxy, as each clan guards it's knowledge intimately. Only a few known facts have made it outsiders.

* **Clan Hivst was not always part of a hivemind**.

Millennia ago, Clan Hivst were merely the Zeedarr who lived in the forests of their world. They had full freedom of mind and were a more primitive (compared to others) clan that worshipped nature as their Gods. The last few hundred years, this has changed. The hive mind that controls the forests, beasts and the rest of the planet integrated almost all of Clan Hivst into it's shared mind. Now, Clan Hivst's Zeedarr are semi-independant only, acting similar to people whilst also being linked to the Gigantus Hive.

* **Clan Skain and Clan Cauntain used to be one clan**.

Where Clan Hivst lost it's true independence, the Mountain Clan of Gigantus Prime separated into two different clans after an event only referred to as 'The Quake'. This 'Quake' is said by some to be an earthquake that caused cave systems to open up beneath the mountains and many of the Mountain Clan to fall into them, whereas others state it was a conflict battle between two tribes of the Mountain Clan that grew by the hour, with more and more tribes joining each side, resulting in a battle where the cries of warriors and clash of weapons were so loud the other Clans across Gigantus Prime could hear them ringing out across the lands, which eventually ended in each of the tribes separating into two new clans, namely Clan Skain and Clan Cauntain.

## Clans

Each Clan is considered a sub-race of the Zeedarr and has several biological differences, with each of them inhabiting a different region or biome on their homeworld. Each clan has tribes in it, which are represented differently for each.

* **Clan Asaf** translates to 'Steppes Clan' or 'Plains Clan'. In Zeedk, the word of Steppes and Plains is the same, causing for some confusion. The 'Asaf' or 'Steppes/Plains' are a region inhabited by Clan Asaf, who'se lands are vibrant and green during some seasons, whilst they are dry and yellow during others. Clan Saf does not favour one or the other season, for different kinds of plants are harvested in each period.

Asaf is the smallest but most hardened of all of the Zeedarr Clans, having several hundred tribes that cover their land with small villages or even towns, the one exception being the chieftain's tribe, who has a city sized tribe, including walls, towers and a keep.

When a new chieftain is selected and he or she is not from the primary Asaf settlement, they agree to marry to one of the individuals who reside here and then move there themselves, leaving their old tribe behind to rule from the safety of the capital.

Asaf are primarily farmers and shepherds, yet trying times at the hands of the other Clans and nature itself have made them more resilient than ever before. Regular raids from Skain, Hivst and sometimes even Cauntain has made the daily life of Clan Asaf one of caution and battle. They are excellent bowmen and often breed and ride the ferocious Kraf into battle as mounted archers.

* **Clan Zeedtic** tranlates to Ocean Clan in their native tongue of Zeedk. The Zeedtic are said to be the oldest of the clans, when evolution advanced millennia ago, the water-dwelling Zeedarr ancestors became capable of going on land. Those who remained in the water were the Zeedtic. Taking pride in this fact even today, the Zeedtic' developed both land and water capable bodies, having gills as well as legs. Some sources do claim the only reason they are capable of land is that a hero of the extinct Clan Tafo had a hybrid child with a Zeedtic princess, resulting in the first of the modern Zeedtic.

The Zeedtic society is largely based around trading and ocean-mining, where they gather the most valuable of resources to sell to the other clans for a profit. They benefit from this in a variety of ways; They have less raids on their territory, for they don't want to risk cutting off trade. They have a larger access to several of the other Clans' resources and are generally the most trained in diplomacy due to their daily on goings with others.

The chieftain of Clan Zeedtic is called The Ocean King. They rule from the largest Zeedtic tribe, which roughly outsizes the other tribes at least twenty times. It is this strength that keeps them in power.

* **Clan Hivst** are the Forest Clan, they live in a region called Valley of the Giants. There are two sub-sections of Hivst, those who are part of the Gigantus Hive Mind and those who are not. Those belonging to the hive mind are known as the Children of Gigantus, whereas the 'free minded' are known as The Lost. Out of all the Hivst tribes, more than nine out of ten are connected to the hive mind.

Most inhabitants - primarily those of Hivst - consider the 'Children of Gigantus' to not only be the Zeedarr of Clan Hivst, but also the animals that live within the Valley. Most Hivst even consider every living on Gigantus Prime to be part of the Children, claiming the hive mind is connected throughout the entire planet, although other Clans would at times deny this, for it weakens their own integrity, despite them knowing it to be the truth.

Those part of the hive mind are not controlled like puppets, instead they are connected to others within the hive. Those individuals can sometimes alert nearby animals, plants or Zeedarr through thoughts alone. Those with the strongest capabilities in this area are all psionics. It is this connection to the land that allows Hivst to calm down predators and even get some of the most stubborn beasts to be their lifelong companions.

Hivst are primarily isolationists, staying within the Valley and being the sworn defenders of their home; whether this is the Valley or the planet itself, they proclaim to be the guardians of it all. This causes trespassing of Hivst warriors often, who claim they are there to protect something or other, causing incidents with other Clans.

The Lost - those Hivst not part of the hive mind - are often frowned upon by the rest of the Hivst and are more feral and savage, having to defend themselves not only from other Clans, but from the predators within The Valley as well.

The Matriarch is the chieftain of Clan Hivst. The Matriach will always birth a single child; a daughter. When the old Matriach passes away, their daughter undergoes a pilgrimage deep within the most dangerous parts of The Valley, only returning months later, belly round with pregnancy. They are blessed and and intertwined with strong psionic power, giving an unnatural glow within their veins. Who - or what - impregnates the Matriachs is unknown. A Matriach's daughter has been on numerous occasions been threatened by other Clans, yet by some miracle has never been harmed, the cycle of the same Matriach family unbroken.

The Matriachs and their daughters have been the wanted study of several outside species, wanting them for their unique capabilities of avoiding genetic defects or cancerous growths. It seems that a daughter is immune to any and all illnesses, until the day she is a Matriach and has given birth, when these immunities seem to mysterious disappear.

Hivst is often belittled as zoophiliacs and tree-huggers due to their connection with nature and occasional bonding with plants or animals. This is because they do not choose their bond-mate, it is a natural soul mate of sorts, that can connect to anything within the hive mind.

* **Clan Skain** is the first of the former Mountain Clan, now known as the Sky Clan

CLAN SKAIN ELECTS THEIR STRONGEST(temp)

* **Clan Cauntain** is the second of the former Mountain Clan, now known as the Cave Clan

OLIGARCHY OF SORTS, SMARTEST(temp)

* **Clan Tafo** was the supposed Coast Clan, which no longer exists. Some historical sources claim it was wiped out during a long-forgotten war, where others claim the unification Tafo and Zeedtic created one people, taking the identity of the stronger Zeedtic.

## Technology

Zeedarr technology is very dependant on each clan, using a similar level of technology but in different ways. Their biggest flaw is their space-faring, with them lacking natural fuels. They rely on rare and powerful crystals found only on their world that powers their weaponry and machinery, but these are not strong enough for space travel, unless heavily concentrated. It is for this reason the Zeedarr have a very small, but powerful fleet. Zeedarr technology has been close to it's current level for much longer than humanity even had it's first bronze weapon, yet has been dwarfed by humanity now.

These crystals provide different weapons for each Clan.

* **Clan Asaf'**s weapon of choice is a crystal-enhanced bow. They do not use arrows, only pull back the string to form an energy-based arrow that they fire on their foes. This bow is sleek and adorned with one or more crystals, often little more than a handle that extends and is easy to carry, this is done to allow them to easily carry their weapon on them at all times while farming or shepherding. They harvest their crystals annually during an event called 'The Night of Light', which is a natural phenomena where small crystals rain down from the skies across the lands of Asaf (and beyond). Children consider it a part of growing up, as well as a game, to gather as many crystals as possible and bringing them to their village elder, where the tribe with the most crystals gathered will be rewarded in some way or form.

Asaf crystals are a brown colour.

* **Clan Zeedtic'**s weapon of choice is a staff, with one side having a hook and another having a 'spike' end. The hook can be replaced with a drill for mining, leaving minimal environmental strain on their world. Not only do they use this staff for mining, but for fishing and defending themselves too. The staff is very much part of a Zeedtic Zeedarr's life. They find their energy crystals inside of caves, deep under the waves and hidden under the coastal sands, where they seem to grow naturally, as well as in the gut of some of the largest mammals that live in their oceans.

Zeedtic crystals are said to have been combined with the yellow crystals of Clan Olaf and the blue of Clan Zeedtic, causing an labradorite kind of hybrid crystal.

* **Clan Hivst'**s specialized equipment comes in the primary form of a two-pronged spear. These weapons can be used as a ranged weapon, able to use the trigger mechanism to fire the laser weapon sitting in the middle of the two prongs, or as a melee weapon and impale it's foes. Hivst often use shields alongside their spears. Their energy crystals are harvested from special plants, who secrete a sap that forms the crystals within The Valley.

Hivst crystals are a neon green colour.

* **Clan Skain**

Uses some crossbows but primarily weapons like axes. Swinging them leaves a short-lived 'disc' of energy attack.
Skain's crystal is moonstone.

* **Clan Cauntain**

uses explosives, gasses, slings and catapults
Cauntain's crystal is amethyst like in nature.