The Clans of Alba

The word clan carries a lot of unwelcome baggage. Historically, in Scotland, it's a better metric for dividing people than uniting them. Nowadays they're a cultural relic, with as much fiction remembered as fact, if anything is remembered at all. So I want to talk about what I'm talking about when I talk about Clans in Legends of Alba.

This is All Made Up

Before I ever started working on Legends of Alba, I was on a sustained deep dive into Scottish folklore, trying to get to the roots that surely lay beneath the Christianised tales that made it into the books. After a year or so I started to realise that this is an almost impossible task. Or at least, it's certainly one that sits more appropriately in the realm of academia than the kind of armchair archaeology I'm up to here. So I put this fixation on finding "The Source" to one side and tried instead to pull what I liked from I'd learned and write about that. 

For the folklore side of it, the actual "Legends" of the Legends of Alba, this has already provided many hours of fun, suspenseful and silly gameplay in my games. For that alone it's already been a huge success.

So I've stayed with this approach, doing enough research to get inspiration, then using that as a jumping off point, when it came to the Clans. So this is not by any means how I think it actually was. This is all fiction inspired by how I imagine it could have been.

Bound by Oath, Not by Blood

This is probably the most important thing - so important I put it second in the list. Clans are not families, they are communities. They exist because Alba is a harsh and dangerous place to live and folk survive more successfully if they work together. And folk work together more effectively if they share common values. These are the virtues that bind the members of a clan together. Concepts like honesty, justice, generosity, courage, wisdom, integrity: Ideals that facilitate community. Each Clan holds one of these as sacred, and this forms the basis of the oath that new members swear to join the Clan. 

Birth does not guarantee a place in a Clan, commitment must be demonstrated and the place must be earned. If a person is born into a Clan whose ideology does not match their own, that's a strong motivation to set out on their own and find their people, with no ill will on either side. So if the Clans are any sort of family, they're found family.

Chiefs Are Not Born

Each Clan is ruled by a Chief. The process of appointing a Chief varies from Clan to Clan but just as above, where being born into a Clan does not guarantee your position therein, being born to a Chief does not give you right to rule.

Chiefs Do Not Rule Alone

While the Chief has final say on all matters of Clan business, there's a common wisdom that a Chief is only as good as the Council they keep. Amongst the Chief's advisors might be found:

Clan Nobility (with titles varying between Kingdoms), living and working among the folk of the Clan, ensuring the Chief stays well in touch with their needs, and that the folk in turn feel safe, heard and valued.

The Archdruid, leading the Clan's Druidic Circle, providing spiritual guidance, acting as a conduit between the folk and the land on which they live, and upholding the unwritten Law of The Land.

The Storyteller, responsible for promoting the bardic arts, by which the Clan's deeds are immortalised for future generations. They speak with authority on Clan history, as well their standing and relations with other Clans. 

The Storemaster, linking hunters, farmers, miners, loggers and anyone else who brings resources into the Clan. They ensure that there's always enough to go round, and enough put away to see folk through the hard Winters.

The Warlord, leading The Chief's warband in battle. In peaceful times they are devopted to improving the stronghjold's defences, training warriors, and co-ordinating scouting missions to stay one step ahead of approaching threats. 

The Clans Are Just Folk

Well, if everybody holds the same values and agrees on everything, and there's no nepotism, and the Chiefs always keep and listen to good council, then this must be a utopian society where nothing bad ever happens, right? Wrong. Everybody in the Clan, whatever their role, is a person. Everybody is  capable of greatness, or upholding and exemplifying the virtues of their people. By the same token, everybody is also susceptible to ambition, corruption, cowardice, hubris, or any of the many vices that make life messy, that make a story interesting, and that make the Clans of Alba an essential part of the game. Against the surreal backdrop of The Otherworld and The Legends, it's the mundane dramas between people make the thing feel real.

At least, that's the hope.

-Till next time!