ShadowofHades » Clan | Lair | Nesting Grounds

ShadowofHades' Clan

In the shadow, we stand. In the light, we shine

Mighty Lair

surviving in the

Emperor's Wake

Clan Info

Subspecies| ON Hiatus

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╔═Clan Summary══════════════════════════════════════╗

On the border of the Tangled Woods and Sunbeam Ruins, you will find a battlefield where the very world has given up due to the dragon's tendency to destroy each other. It is proof of a battle that was caused by schemes and plot, it holds the regrets of the great Hades, but the story is one seldom told. This proof of disunity and cruelty of dragons is now best known for the fact that the clan, which fundamentally disagrees, is housed by it. In this emperor-ridden battlefield, you will find a massive lair, known to the world to produce the best warriors, healers, and teachers, for not only is it a clan it is also an academy where any and all are welcome, The 6 Crests of Hades.

The 6 crests, each led by one of Hades’s students, stand together to protect the idea that their teacher passed onto them. They do this not only by being a clan of allegiance to many, but also by accepting any dragon into their academy where they teach them their skills, some of whom get a choice to join a crest. Others would return to their own clans to further spread the ideology. They do this to realize the dreams of their teacher and the 7th student who couldn’t stand alongside them today.

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╔═Clan Domain═══════════════════════════════════════╗

Despite being situated in a battlefield on the border of the Tangled Woods and Sunbeam Ruins, once one enters the domain which houses the 6 crests and the academy one can find the spewing volcanoes of the Ashfall Waste at the coasts of water of the Sea of a Thousand Currents. The 6 students of Hades had to first remove the blood sunk deep into the ground from the tragic history, they then terraformed the land with the understanding that one day this land would be called home by dragons of all different allegiances. Due to this the land produces all different kinds of resources from within the domain.

At the center of this domain you will find two grand statues of Hades and his 7th student surrounded by 6 towers each representing a different crest. The Statues were carved with deep care by Firin, the head of the Creative Crest. The Towers on the other hand were clearly carved by their respective heads. It is said that if one is hard-working and talented enough one can learn the skills of the heads themselves from 5 of these Pillars, with the 6th being of the Shadecrest. Around this monument, one will find an open space that is full of hustling students trading or selling items. On all 4 sides of this marketplace one will find buildings, behind the statues is the Dorm where all students rest. On the two sides, the twin buildings are respectively the public library and the Mission Center. The castle in front of the statues is the Academy. Beyond these buildings are essentially wildlands, almost completely simulating the various environments in Sornieth. Beyond these at the very periphery of the domain, one will find 2 regions each giving off a different sense of being than the others, one dark and hollow while the other mystical and full. These are the residences of those that chose to stay in the clan and were accepted into a crest.

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╔═Clan Academy══════════════════════════════════════╗

There are two types of education present at the 6 Crests. The first type is the general education system which any dragon can join. Here they can learn different skills required to excel in many fields. Some of these fields include war, politics, craftsmanship, martial skills and magic. Few of these students are invited to join one of the four Crests that look for members among the students where they inherit all the knowledge of the dragon who has chosen to accept them as students, which is the second type of education . The 4 Crest are the Peace, War, Magic, and Creative crests, while the other two often see members joining directly from the outside due to the rarity of those eligible to be a part of the Spirit crest and the stigma against the Shade-touched among the dragons.

The 6 Crests holds the notion that one’s learning should be dependent on one’s willingness rather than one’s circumstance therefore all knowledge even those of the Spirit and Shade Crest are available with enough mission points, which are given out in proportion to the mission the student has completed. The knowledge can be presented in the form of a one on one tutoring by a member of the crest or as scripts present in the library. Generally, the schedule of a general student would include waking up at dawn before training heavily until breakfast, after which they have a choice of attending the various open lectures on multiple topics given by different lecturers, some members of the 6 Crests and some guests. At the end of every year the students can take the 4 Crest Test, where their knowledge is tested to see whether they reached the sufficient knowledge level. A student can only stay in the academy for a total of 5 years.

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╔═Clan Sentiments═══════════════════════════════════╗

Those who decide to take the 4 Crest Test and pass or are personally selected to enter the 6 crests, will find themselves to be a part of an extremely tight-knit clan where those of many allegiances will stand together despite their personal differences. Where the death of one, will result in the entire clan going on a hunt for the dragon or clan responsible. A clan where each dragon is eager to answer the call of the deities but not due to fanaticism or piety but sheer will to fight the Shade.

The clan is one which welcomes others with open arms, but don’t take its warm demeanour as defenselessness. The cunning of the Peace Crest, the bloodthirst of the War Crest, not to mention the Shade crests which actively seeks out confrontation with the Shade-touched dragons who have given themselves completely to the commands of the Shade.

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╔═History═══════════════════════════════════════════╗

To understand the history of the clan, one must first understand the history of Hades and his students. It not only helps in understanding the formation of the clan but also it’s actions. So let’s begin where it all began in a small clan on the edge of the Sunbeam Ruins, close enough that one could see the activities of a clan in the Tangled Woods. A very convenient placement for a young imperial who had fallen for an imperial beauty across the border. Every day, he would take any job which could bring him closer to the lady of his dreams, upon arriving at the location the imperial would use his many talents to quickly finish his job and then would simply look towards the clan in hopes of catching a glimpse of her. His staring was eventually noticed by the members of the clan of shadow but thankfully, the two clans had an understanding as otherwise the intense staring of one the clan leader’s children would have surely raised suspicion. They also started to notice that this prince would often act quite foolishly whenever the princess of their clan of shadows and sole daughter of the clan leader came into his view.

Any dragon worth his salt knew what such actions implied, yet they did not oppose this young imperial and quite enjoyed his antics. Many would gather to see what else this Imperial would do, never noticing the faint glimmer of expectation that had started to appear in the eyes of their princess as well. Slowly, news of this spread throughout the clan and through the friendly channels of the two clans spread to the ears of the clan leader and father of the foolish Imperial. One day, the Imperial was summoned to the Throne Hall of his father, a place he rarely visited due to his own lack of interest and his older brother’s heir apparent status.

6 Columns held up the roof in pairs, each adorned with a crest. The first was a scroll that represents Peace, the column opposite to it was the sword meaning war. The next pair showcased Magic and Creativity represented by ancient spells and a sphere of various contraption respectively. The final pair showed a book and a blindfold of Education and Spirit respectively. The Crests were illuminated by the unfiltered light that entered through the ceiling high windows. Five of these crests would go on to be the representatives of 5 of the Crests of Hades, while the symbol of education would watch over its students.

Here he learned that his efforts were in fact effective, and he had received an invitation from their neighbours. Once he crossed the border he finally started to appreciate the shared heritage of the two clans to the point of seeing the same crests he saw in his father’s throne hall in their throne hall as well. Here from the leader of their clan and the father of his interest, he learned that he had to pass three trials if he wished to become her mate. Pass them, he did with his intelligence and strength or, as his father-in-law put it, through sheer stupidity. Like which dragon thinks of putting an explosive in the river because the challenge asked for him to water the plants. Thus, it was decided that the two would be mates and their future child was set to inherit the throne of a unified clan after their respective brother’s stepped down. But it was far in the future as their brothers had yet to even ascend, so all was well for the pair.

As the years went by, Hades’s recklessness turned to maturity and the princess’s beauty turned to elegance. Hades took to counselling his now clan leader brother, while learning many skills. The only thing that had not changed was his brilliance for unlike his brother who had to focus on the political chessboard and the battleground, Hades could do anything. So he would often learn from the various craftsmen of the clan. Then he studied magic and the mystic arts despite the fact that one of them required an innate disposition. The clan was convinced that Hades knew more about necromancy, divination and other mystic arts than some individuals who could use it. He even studied the Shade and the science of the second era. “IN THE NAME OF KNOWLEDGE” was something he repeated whenever one of his experiments went wrong. The only crest he did not exemplify was the crest of Education, for while he taught others, he never had the same zeal he had for other subjects.

Finally, the day many had waited for when the child of the two clans and heir to the thrones was born. He had inherited the talents of his father and elegance of his mother, quickly becoming the favourite of his uncles. This was much to the chagrin of his cousins, who should have originally inherited the respective thrones. Hades saw this but thought nothing of it, believing it to be merely childish thinking, who would have known what that would lead to.

While Hades’s child enjoyed the luxury of the greatest comfort, another child, a shade-touched, who survived on the fringes of the clan on the benevolence of some clan members. This young hatchling was caught by Hades’s nephew, who brought the unfortunate hatchling to the throne hall. He hoped that the capture of such a creature would make his father consider not giving his cousin the throne. Hades, seeing this cruelty, immediately ordered the release of the young shade-touched and took him under his wings. An action many elders finally considered too much. He was given a choice by the joint council of the two clans, to choose between the clans or the young shade-touched. It should have been an easy choice on one side should have been his family and friends, and on the other, a hatchling who would only bring him scorn. But looking at the fearful eyes of that hatchling, gave him a sense of purpose that he had never had before. But he did not wish to leave his family, so he negotiated, and finally came to an agreement. The two of them would live on the border of the two clans away, so that when, and not if, the shade-touched dragon showed his true colours.

However, it was not in the clan’s fate to be destroyed by a shade-touched but rather by the wolves that the young ones invited in an effort to keep the thrones to themselves. The cousins had each negotiated a deal with the nearby clans. These actions did not go unnoticed by Hades or his brother and brother-in-law. But they were unable to do anything as the meeting was completely peaceful. Then, one day the young child of Hades was assassinated. The cousins each blamed each other, the walls that had been lowered over so many years were built up instantly. The elders were easily influenced by the two dragons to the point that they stopped listening to their clan leader. Soon after, many of the elders who could see the reality of the situation, were promptly dealt with, with the blame being pushed to the other side. When the clan leaders of the clans along with the princess met to sort out the situation, they were killed by assassins thus further throwing the clans into chaos.

Hades, seeing this situation, chose to leave with his student. While he did mourn his family and friends, he knew that were he to go into this war, he would be dragging his still defenceless student into danger. So he left to explore Sornieth, in hopes of being able to find students who could spread the idea that he knew his clan stood for and not the current madness. A few months after the dust had settled and the war was finished. There were no survivors besides the wolves who were eager to divide the territory. Unfortunately for the wolves there were so many interested parties that it resulted in an even bigger war. The rivers ran red and the ground hardened into a blackish-red that spoke volumes as to what watered. Thus was born the great battlefield where the 6 Crests now sit.

As Hades travelled the world, he took in 6 other hatchlings as his students. Each embodied one of the crests, while to his first student, Terror, he gave all of his understanding of the Shade. The 6 Crests was the idea of the youngest of the seven, because despite his pleading Terror was not willing to teach others his knowledge regarding the ability to control the Shade and infuse it within his blood to create the first Shadeblood. An ability to shut off the Shade from the source of shade within his body meant that among the dragons they would be seen as monsters, despite their lack of a connection to the Shade, and an outcast among the shade-touched because of it. A monster of two worlds would be too heavy a burden to bear. But one day, a shade-touched killed the 7th student, sending the other 6 students into an episode of insanity.

This was also the time when the Shade Crest was born, with the sole purpose of hunting those who had given into the Shade. Hades guided them to the battlefield of his clan, where the 6 students completely let their wrath release itself onto the Emperors. Here in the battlefield Hades saw his dream of unity, so knowing his dream was in good hands he answered the call of the Lightweaver he had ignored for so long.

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