Clan Stormbrand

"Flow like lightning. Strike like thunder." - motto of Clan Stormbrand

The main martial clan of The Reach, the Stormbrands made up most of the military might of the juvenile empire, and were the protectors of the land in the days before the Unification. They served both as guards of existing territory, and the raiders of new prospects.

Pre-Unification

Clan Stormbrand has historically been the largest of all the clans - being martially minded, their strength comes from numbers, both for fielding an appropriate amount of men (and for restoring their numbers following conflict). The Stormbrands, in their infancy, were primarily formed of the leftovers of the defeated military of The North. While leaders formed the Ironlords, but for the common rank and file soldier, a place in the Reach was yet to be found. These soldiers conscripted other refugees into their forces and became something of a menace to the South - raiding villages, pillaging them for goods, and abducting women as brides to their men. Already regarded as a threat by the other clans during this period, their raiding came to a head when a Frost-Bear settlement was the victim of their attack. With almost the entire population of the village massacred, the Frost-Bears declared war on the Stormbrands and other clans followed at the rallying of the, even then, influential Clan Staldor.
What followed was a bloody but reasonably short civil war. The Stormbrands may have had the manpower, but they lacked the combined will of the clans and without the guiding strategy of the Iron Lords, they were facing a battle on all fronts. Many Stormbrands were killed; but many more admitted the defeat with honour, recognising few common values but that they had been soundly conquered. From then on, the other clans kept a watchful eye on the Stormbrands, keeping their forces on patrols at the very border of their territory to prevent such internal raids from happening again. When Hagan Staldor rose to power, the Stormbrands were a Clan he knew he would need to facilitate the martial numbers to combat the Spellbreakers, but one he was wary of for their historical tendencies. Hagan proved his worth in a ritualistic duel to the death against the chieftain of the clan, in a fight now known as the Taming of the Storm. After this conquest, the Stormbrands had been taught introspection by the Iron Lords, and so were better fit for the diplomatic table than other clans had thought - but still maintained a hot temper and blunt attitude towards authority they did not yet respect. The Frost-Bears were particularly doubtful of the Stormbrands' part to play in the Unification, but eventually came around, with their brutal combat prowess being undeniable even by the staunchest opponents to the idea.

The Present

Stormbrands continue to serve as the bulk of the military alongside the other races and cultures that have, over time, joined the Staldor Empire. They still perform all military duties like guarding borders, protecting against external threats, and marshalling for war. Of all the clans, the Stormbrands have been the most diluted over the centuries since Unification; their purpose to serve in Staldor society is such that they are not localised in any one region, instead being peppered throughout their territory, and the onset of external recruits means any idea of a Stormbrand-dominated military has largely been forgotten. Only a few can still claim credible ties back into history, but given their pillaging origins, few will do so in the unified Staldor empire today. Their original holdings still stand, but are a shadow of their former self, with the few holding fast to the name embodying the idea of betterment through suffering. They are vicious fighters, and a reluctant yet useful tool for the Empire. Besides these isolated pockets, few (if any) Stormbrand traditions have survived to the modern day.

Culture

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Stormbrands were a militaristic society through-and-through - every individual born to the Stormbrand clan (and at the time, some children captured and enslaved during raids where their fathers had been killed) were expected to fight in battle. A strict regime of round-the-clock military training was expecting of all boys and, until adolescence, all women born to the clan as well. Those women kidnapped on raids were not expected to perform in battle, but would be expected to nurse newborns and also rear more young for the frontlines.
Stormbrand-born women served a "governing role" - after their minimum of five years of service, they would handle the general management and logistics of settlements. Leadership was retained for the men and chieftains of each branch of the Stormbrand tribes, but the menial day-to-day was left to women. Along the way, Stormbrand women would still be expected to also take a hand in birthing more Stormbrands and looking after young. As with most traditions held by the Stormbrands, these policies did not survive to the modern day.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

It was customary, prior to the civil war, for Stormbrand children with defects or other deformities to be thrown out and left to die (sometimes active infanticide was practised). Most children born to the Stormbrand name were the byproduct of raids which led to tenuous (if any) family structures between abuser and abused. As a result communal raising was more common, men of a particular village taking charge of raising the child. Males were vastly preferred (as women tended to be conscripted into the clan following raids).

Coming of Age Rites

Stormbrands practiced raids composed of children and young teenagers as a coming of age ritual. They had to survive a conflict - which involved all the violent trappings of a standard raiding party - and bring back sufficient spoils, one of which had to be a bloodied sword (or else they would fail the trial).
Female Stormbrands would still be trained as soldiers and expected to raid villages, but their coming of age was more literal and would be signified by being ready for bearing children.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Dying of old age was seen as an incredibly dishonourable way to perish - if one did not meet their end on the field of battle or in some kind of conflict, then their life was deemed as having had little meaning anyway, and their character called into question. Mass burials and burnings following a battle were commonplace and done with zeal, and only those who had clearly taken some of the enemy with them and died by the sword would be carried back home for a more formal procession. The rest would often not even had their names written down, and this is why claiming ancestry in the modern day is so challenging (even despite the taboo) as the names of those lost in many Stormbrand skirmishes have largely been lost to time.