Panthalassa's Clan

(Under construction)

Initial Formation

The first dragons that would form the Clan of the Fragmented Cosmos believed in exactly that: that what one could see in the sky, all the planets and stars and celestial objects, and what was even here, on Sorneith, dragonkind's own fragment of the world, was made up of 'fragments' in turn, that one could break what seemed seemingly perfect down into components, and those, perhaps, even further still. But the founders of the clan, quite a long time ago, did not concern themselves with that; no, for one breakdown was enough to see a pattern. What lay beyond the world that they called home was more vast than they could ever imagine, but both there and here shared dust and gas and liquid moving in primordal seas. There might have been more of one than the other, but, in the end, these parts coexisted and combined in strange ways to produce, well, magic, and that type of balance is what these dragons aimed to follow.

Slowly, this like-minded group congregated on what would, over the years, become one of the the highest floating islands at the Focal Point--this was perfect, for it allowed them to both gaze up at the stars and conduct their own studies of it, and feel close to their Father and god, the Arcanist (though the clan usually calls him instead by his alternate title, the Starseer).

Over time, this small clan, seen by many to be rather odd, grew in number, refining their ideas and clan structure. Decades passed, then centuries, and still the clan thrived and kept its traditions and core message, even through many incidents of strife.

The Cluster and Their Acolytes
The main leadership of the clan comes from the Cluster, the three main leaders of the clan who represent three of the four 'common fragments': the dust, the gas, and the liquids. When the chosen dragons ascend to this position, they give up their old name and accept a new one, symbolizing their dedication to the keeping of balance of their clan. These names are Terrafirma, Aither, and Panthalassa, respectively, and when they ultimately pass on they are known as the First, the Second, or the Third Aither, for example. The current members of the Cluster are:

The Thirty-third Terrafirma (formerly Davon)
The Thirty-ninth Aither (formerly Azotos, and before that Sirius)
The Thirty-seventh Panthalassa (formerly Europa, and before that Eta)

These leaders eventually handpick an Acolyte (usually when they are roughly half through their tenure on the Cluster), one for each, to serve as their successor in case of their death or exaltation. These Acolytes are usually picked as fledgelings (have adult bodies/art but cannot breed), though rarely one can be chosen as early as a four or five days after hatching, and is dependent on a number of factors, including innate magical ability, agreeable qualities such as leadership and perseverance, and so on, as well as traits that 'embody' the fragment of the leader choosing. Currently, however, none of the current leaders have an Acolyte.

There are several rules that limit who can hold a position in the Cluster and be an Acolyte:

1.) Only Arcane dragons by birth can be a leader or Acolyte. This means that dragons from other flights cannot hold these positions, but their spawn can, even if their mate is not of the Arcane flight as well;
2.) Other than the above, there are none barred from becoming an Acolyte and part of the Cluster;
3.) Though a fledgeling or hatchling can inherit the titles of Terrafirma, Aither, and Panthalassa, they are not allowed to make decisions and only have minimal input until they come of age;
4.) One cannot take one's own child as an Acolyte, and it is frowned upon to take on a child from a leader's brood, or for two or more leaders taking a child from the same two mates;
5.) One cannot be mated to another member of the Cluster;
6.) At least one fae must always sit on the Cluster and the Cluster cannot be made up of all faes, and, most importantly:
7.) If a member of the Cluster, or one of their Acolytes, does not do their job as 'mediator of disputes, beacon of guidance,' and 'machinator of balance', then the other members of the Cluster and the Clan have a right to vote and ultimately remove them from their position, even by force.

The Leavetaking

When an Acolyte is chosen, spends a few days as an 'Unofficial' (where they go through some actual Acolyte training, but are not yet Acolytes, and as such can back out at any time if they feel they cannot handle it; once you go through the Leavetaking, one cannot go back), and, in the case of a hatchling, comes of age, they are also made to give up their old name and take a new one. Terrafirma's Acolyte is named after the solids that make up planets and stars (minerals and metals), Aither's after the gases, and Panthalassa's after oceanic worlds. This is a special ceremony that originally had no official name, but over the centuries became known as the Leavetaking. During this ceremony, the Acolyte-to-be and the leader fly from their camp at night to the highest point of the Crystalspine Peaks at a time only known to them. Before they leave, however, they wake up the Acolyte's family, lead them outside, and say their goodbyes. They then leave for their destination, and what happens at that peak those who are left can only guess, and those who actually know are sworn to secrecy. What most dragons can agree on, however, is that they go to watch the stars and speak, though what they speak of and even who they speak to is a mystery.

What happens between Acolyte and leader, however, is usually the farthest thought from any of the family's minds, for the tender goodbyes they get from their spawn is going to be the last memory of them as they know it. For as the new Acolyte and the proud leader rejoin the clan at dawn, the new Acolyte must go up to their family in front of all clan members and say something much like these words with no hesitation, personal grief, or fear:

"Your spawn was shattered into fragments beyond counting, but fear not, for a new thing has been made from the remains, and those remains will never forget. You were my mother, once; you were my father, once. But you are no longer. Now you are my clanmates, and now you are my equals."

The leader and the Acolyte then retreat to the Cluster's den, where the Acolyte will sleep from now on, creating that tie from the fragments of another.

Ascension

Whether through death, retirement, or exaltation, when one of the Cluster leaves their position, they partake in the ceremonies common to all Clan members going through these three events (these shall therefore be in the 'Clan Ceremonies' section). What makes it different, through, is the taking place of the Ascension ceremony immediately before the burial, retirement, or exaltation.

There are two parts to the event: the first, informally called the Scouring, is where the leader's Acolyte is presented to the clan and anyone is free to speak up about them, whether good things or ill. The Acolyte must reply to each and every comment, no matter how nasty, with a clear head, and try to show no favoritism to flatterers. Of course, this is almost always impossible, but this part is not simply to gauge the soon-leader's breaking point, but also how they react in general to such things--what hits on their nerves and so on--so that the other leaders can know in advance what weaknesses they can cover for the new leader and what the new leader can cover for them.

The second part, though, is what most members look forward to, and is such a well-known tradition that it is known simply as 'the second part of the Ascension'. In it, the Acolyte must do something that exhibits both power, control, and a 'willingness to sacrifice'. This is not as dramatic as it seems; usually what most do is call one of their relatives to the stage and preform their very heavily practiced magic routine around them, getting close enough but not quite.

What makes it so beloved an event, though, is when someone thinks outside the box. The quintessential example of this is the story of the Tenth Aither, known then as Helios: he was a typical proud Pearlcatcher, though undoubtedly talented in the magical arts and astronomy, and did not seem to grow out of it up to the Ninth Aither's exaltation. In fact, his Scouring is known to have been one of the most passive-aggressive and uncomfortable in clan history, for both the comments and the responses he gave. What he did for the second half, though, shocked everyone, even himself; he had practiced a routine, of course, but at the last moment he stopped his mother from coming to the stage, instead calling out an Imperial, the she-dragon Vega, with their rivalry coming out of more than their species, with the latter more than once trying to steal the former's greatest treasure, his pearl.

Vega, for her part, was prepared for the worst as she flew to the stage, body curling and uncurling nervously in sinuous coils. "Well?" she apparently said (for millenia have passed since this time, and all we have to go on are the words of the clan storytellers, and they on the stone tablets gifted to them by that famed wandering scribe, the Snapper Eulalia, who was already old and wise when the Clan was but a dream of a dream of a dream.) "What do you wish to say, Acolyte?"

It wasn't a very terrible thing to say at all, but it seemed it was the straw that broke the camel's back--at that, the Pearlcatcher gave a wordless scream, his eyes flashing, as his surroundings shimmered and shifted. He gathered the energy around him into his chosen medium, light, a beam that would kill at such close range aimed straight at the Imperial, just a second from being let go...

And then there was nothing, and everything was as it was.

"I am sorry," he said through only slightly gritted teeth. "For everything. I truly, truly am, Vega."

He paused for a moment, looking right into her eyes; when the moment had passed, that is when, with only a single moment of hesitation built in to all of his kind, he let go of his pearl, where it rolled and lay at Vega's feet.

No one knows what happened immediately after, but Helios became the Tenth Aither, renowned for his courage, sarcastic tendencies, and selflessness, and his blood is still in the Clan today through the he-dragon Carinae, his direct line stemming from the single clutch of four eggs he fathered; it is rumored that the mother was Vega herself, though no one knows for sure.

Whatever they choose to do, however, and during times of strife when the clan cannot afford to gather, they truly ascend to their position as one-third of the Cluster with these simple words:

"When I became who I once was, I was made.

When I became who I now am, I was remade.

When I become who I will be, I will be transformed. That time is now, and so it shall be."

Eternals

Though the process to choose an Acolyte seems rather quick, in reality many factors in both the individual and their surroundings are noted and considered when a member of the Cluster chooses one. The parents and their attitudes and behaviour in the past, the parents of the parents, the general attitude of the time period in which their parents developed, the attitude of their broodmates, and so on are only a few of the latter category, the former already mentioned above (magical ability, leadership qualities, etc.) A potential choice is further picked apart by one's fellow Cluster fellows and random clanmembers asked for their opinion on the youngling and their family, though in the end the leader who is choosing has a last say.

But even with all of this security, Acolytes can still be found to not be up to snuff to the responsibilities and pressures that the position entails. There is in place, therefore, a strike system: the third time you show that one cannot adhere to 'impartiality, compassion to all, sensitivity to the world, both unseen and seen, and a love of peace', or else is becomes apparent that the position of Acolyte is destroying them internally, one becomes an Eternal. These 'eternal Acolytes' are released in a private ceremony, with only the Cluster in attendance, and what this ceremony entails is unknown; what happens is an even more closely guarded secret than the Leavetaking, and for obvious reasons the clan is generally not keen to discuss such things. Either way, The four leaders come out and announce the Eternal's chosen name--for they can choose whether to continue to be known by their Acolyte name, or return to the name their parents gave them when they were hatched. The gathered clan then disperses, and the Eternal is once again reabsorbed into common Clan society.

These guidelines were made during the same time the Leavetaking got its name, near the beginning of the clan's founding, but they have almost never been used, for as mentioned above the Cluster and the clan are quite careful about these things. In fact, there have been only two known Eternals in the millenniums that have passed: one Acolyte to the First Panthalassa, whose gender and species have been lost to history and is only known by the name Apodis, and a male Tundra named Orion, unfortunate Acolyte to the infamous Third Terrafirma, the instigator of the Fae Conflict which lead to a requirement that at least one Fae be on the Cluster at all times.

Unworthy Leaders

A Cluster member can, hypothetically, step down at any time, provided that there is sufficient reason for it that cannot be resolved quickly or ever, such as a particularly bad injury or mental trauma. However, like Acolytes, they can also be ousted, and this time there is no strike system to protect them from the repercussions of their actions.

If they show that they are not adhering to the values of 'impartiality, compassion to all, sensitivity to the world, both unseen and seen, and a love of peace', then the other Cluster members and the Clan will raise a meeting, called the Trial. In it, evidence is presented to prove that the action the leader has taken was grave enough to warrant getting removed from the council, while the leader answers for every one to defend themselves. The leader is then taken away, wards specifically made against the leader in question are put up by the mages and Archmage, and the clan and Cluster members decide and debate on their verdict; every member's word, provided they are at least a fledgeling, will be considered and have equal weight.

The wards are then broken, and the leader hears of their fate: whether they are acquitted of what was accused, or if they are stripped, forevermore, of their title and banished, with the wards then set up to block that dragon out of clan territory.

This, as one may conjecture, is even rarer than the making of an Eternal; in fact, it has so far only happened once, to the aforementioned Third Terrafirma, banished due to her major role in the Fae Conflict; for it was she who had failed to keep a clear head with dealing with a fae, misunderstanding his intent (for coatls are not the best at understanding that species made in the Starseer's image), and it was she who struck him down with one powerful blow, and with that striking down and ending the First Peace.

The Clan Proper

As previously mentioned, the fourth common fragment of both objects celestial and earthly is pure/arcane energy or magic; this is considered to be the binding agent of the other three, and therefore the most important of all of them. This is why the fourth is represented in the clan as the clan itself--or, rather, it's 'common members'. The hunters, the gatherers, the storytellers and tinkerers and healers and fighters: they are what makes the clan a clan, and are the energy that drives it. Below are a list of these roles:

The Hunters

In the Clan, there are no set 'hunters'--all members old enough to learn and specialize in a craft or profession are expected to know how to hunt for the Clan, and as such are on the rotation for hunting parties, which are determined by the Cluster in set schedules.

The Fighting Force

Likewise, there is technically no category for this; the Clan as a whole generally prefers to respond to threats rather than initiate them, and most all dragons (with the exception of the Healer and their students) know how to fight, with either magic or tooth and claw. However, there are indeed some dragons whose profession is to study these and learn how to use them to preform a multitude of duties, including to fight and defend the Clan, as well as look for these threats; the Focal Point is a particularly popular place for monsters to land from above, riding on meteors that fall in the Arcanist's domain. There are three branches to this: the Mages, the Arms, and the Watchers.

The Archmage

The Archmage is, essentially, the most powerful mage or spellcaster in the Clan. Whether through some natural gifts (such as Antinous, the last Archmage and the father of the current Panthalassa, whose agility, control, and large magic pool for casting spells was unparalleled), or through dedication at their training, they have shown themselves to be some of the very best the Clan has to offer. However, as usual, to achieve this title you must prove that you are also worthy in personal aspects to the Cluster and one's fellow Clan members, specifically in the virtues of 'perseverance, integrity, imagination, wisdom, and awareness of one's effect on the world'. One will know why when they see a list of the Archmage's duties--training mages, innovating and finetuning their magical arts, and setting up and maintaining the Clan's most powerful, most important wards.