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The Lesson
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We are grateful to the archivist,
who risked his life to bring us this secret history of Clan Kindred. How the
archivist gained access, and lived to tell us is unknown, but he is brave and
the free world can only salute his fortitude. Sadly we lost contact soon after
receiving this report, we can only hope that he escaped and will contact us
again some day.
Time is running short so this dispatch will have to be brief. I expect
to be discovered soon, so I must flee, for my life will be at an end if I am
caught. So who am I? My real name must not be revealed so I shall call myself
the Archivist. I have spent the past month rummaging through the archives of
clan Kindred (or clan Kindred if one copies the way that that pretentious
"collective" refers to itself) and so the title is appropriate. I fear that
my presence has been discovered, so I shall tell you of the rise and fall of
the Kindred and leave the telling of what occurred after the fall to another
time (and possibly another entity).
The early days are the most difficult to decipher. As best as I can work
it out, the old world had been destroyed by a large meteor or fire storm and
purged of all the titans of the old clans. This event, referred to as "The Restart"
resulting in a mass of new clans all being born within a few days of each other.
Most were reincarnations of clans from the old world, but a few were new. One
of those new clans was the Kindred.
The Malkavian Plains In the early
days, the Malkavian Plains were rich in biomass. Clan Ortis can be
seen to the north, Spanish Inquisition to the south and Wrenhaven in
the east. |
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The clan's
Mother materialised upon the Sphere next to the coast of The Great North-western
Ocean. Initially its world view was of a few hills to the south, sea to the west
and an empty plain (named the Malkavian Plains) stretching off north and east.
It wasn't long though before clans borg (a clan that became inactive soon after
the restart) and Spanish Inquisition were sighted to the east and south
respectively. More visual contacts with other clans followed: Secret Spy (a
stillborn clan), WrenHaven (also no longer with us) and Ortis. As the first
tourney drew to a close, the foundations for the clan's future were laid: an
alliance with Spanish Inquisition had been arranged and the clan's first titan
had been shot at and destroyed by clan Sidhe.
Dance of Death with Help me
Help
me sends a invulnerable fighter (ringed) into the Malkavian Plains
to seek revenge. Four Kindred fighters surrounded it and kept it
occupied to prevent it reaching any breeders. It was quickly
dispatched once its invulnerability ran out.
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Tourney two saw the
start of the clan's period of growth. The lurking titans of clan borg were fired
upon and two titans of clan Mark (Bedo and Waggi) were shot at, allegedly for
theft of biomass. Clan Help me was also attacked by the Kindred apparently
because of advise from a clan elsewhere upon the Sphere (Horde) that Help me was
not to be trusted. Sidhe, Dark Shadow, Secret Spy also join the list of clans
fired upon. Ortis became the clan's second ally. All of the titans attacked up
to this point were regarded by the clan as minor point scoring exercises. A
neighbouring clan had been selected as a true enemy that would suffer a full
scale assault. This decision is, in this researcher's view, the root cause of
Kindred's ultimate fall. The clan in question was Crocodile. As tourney two drew
to a close, breeders were prepared in anticipation of a increase in clan size.
Fighters were due to pour forth at the start of tourney and drive straight into
Crocodile's territory. Things didn't go quite according to plan though.
Self Destructing Titan Malkavian
Tertius IV was one of the two titans that self destructed as clan
Mark's fighter came into view
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The third tourney
arrived and the clan moved two scouts into Crocodile's territory and claimed it
as its own. Unsurprisingly this had the desired effect: Crocodile's forces
opened fire and Kindred forces moved in to "retaliate" against this aggression.
Unfortunately as the invasion order was given, news reached the clan of the
actions of another: clan Bloodguard. The latter had decided to encourage various
clans in the area to form a coalition to teach the upstart clan Kindred a lesson
in Sphere etiquette. My research into the Kindred's clan strength suggests that
this could well have spelled the end of the clan, were it not for a huge stroke
of luck and a big mistake on the part of clan Bloodguard - clan Ortis had been
lumped in with Kindred as a target for this lesson. Even so, what was supposed
to be an invasion of Crocodile's lands, turned into a defensive formation around
the Grandstand to prevent Crocodile invading instead, as many forces were
diverted north east to defend that section of the Malkavian Plains from attack
from Bloodguard and his associates Crimson Brotherhood, Dark Shadow and Help me.
This situation was further exacerbated by Crimson Breath sending troops to
assist Crocodile.
One other clan, Mark played a part in the events
of this tourney in a way that caused much heated exchange between the two clans.
I refer of course to the now infamous "self destructing titans" incident. My
research suggests that clan Mark may have exaggerated his claim that every
Kindred titan within scan range self destructed. Two badly damaged titans
appeared to be the only ones involved.
Battle with Crocodile
The
Malkavian Plains lay stripped bare of biomass as the battle around
The Grandstand rages
on. | |
By tourney four,
the Malkavian Plains had been stripped bare of biomass and the war effort was in
danger of collapse. The decision during tourney three to hold the border with
Crocodile and join Ortis in a large scale assault against Bloodguard paid off
though, as the enemy was being pushed back exposing lush new biomass fields. The
allowed battle front to be strengthened and reinforced with new fighters filling
the newly enlarged clan size. It was also during this tourney that a breeder
finally completed a journey started in the previous one to orange biomass and
the clan hall was born. This was the pinnacle of clan Kindred's rise: it was at
war with seven clans, yet with Ortis and Spanish's aid was holding on one front
and advancing on the other. Further the clan's intelligence network was
developing well with a number of clans, including Canadian World Domination
(hereafter referred to as just clan Canada) secretly supplying information on
other clan's movements. Proud boasts of tactical power were being banded about
to anyone that would listen. However hints that the clan knew it couldn't last
are apparent when one digs through the records, as the decision was made that
the northern forces were to remain and fight to the death defending the
Malkavian Plains whilst the clan was rebuilt from a few refugees that had
escaped south.
A clan such as the Kindred clearly could not head
south without causing disruption and Deathslayers, Wolf Clan and Brazen Cowards
were added to the enemy list in the process. As an ally Dragoon was at war with
these clans, the migrants took a route through Keewaydin's territory. Keewaydin
objected, being an ally of Crocodile, but backed down (for a time at least) when
Dragoon's guns turned that clan's way. Toward the end of the tourney, the
northern forces won a reprieve. In what appears to have been a war of bluff on
both sides, Crocodile broke first and admitted to having run out of biomass.
Clan Kindred had been close to admitting defeat itself as all new Kindred
fighters faced a seven turn journey to join the southern front due to similar
lack of biomass near the Grandstand.
New Attack Wave
Early in tourney
five, Ortis and Kindred capture the hills known at the time as
"Bloodguard's Grave" only to face a new attack wave from Bloodguard,
Crimson Breath, Help me and
Mark | |
Tourney five and
the war in the north carries on. Advances were still being made by Kindred and
Ortis, but the taking of each hill cost the lives of many titans. The enemy did
an excellent job of protecting their breeders too as new waves of fighters were
there ready to face the two clans at each new hill. In the middle territories,
the war with ACT as it named itself (Deathslayers et. al) was providing the clan
with amusement as cease-fires were repeatedly broken though this was clearly a
drain on the clan's resources. In the south, things were starting to look less
than ideal. Another alliance, to which Crocodile, Keewaydin and Crimson Breath
all belonged, had already partially occupied the lands that the Shadow Syndicate
(the alliance to which Kindred belonged) had planned on occupying themselves.
This was causing a rise in tension between the two alliances. Inter-alliance war
was looking likely. The records show that Herculean efforts were made by many
clans on both sides to avoid conflict; but ultimately it was to no
avail.
"Kindred-on-a-Stick"
With the
other clans of the Syndicate having few fighters in the area, clan
Kindred's forces were deployed in suicide runs to try and hold the
enemy in place to give the impression of greater
strength. | |
Negotiations
failed and tourney six saw war break out between the Syndicate and the Keewaydin
Alliance as it is termed in the records. Clans Kindred and Dragoon were the only
two clans of the Syndicate with full clan size and significant numbers of
fighters in the area and so they were deployed in what is referred to as the
"Kindred-on-a-stick" method. The fighters of these clans were rushed forward to
engage the enemy in the hope of buying time for the other clans to breed
fighters of there own. The approach was thought to have worked at the time as
the enemy alliance did not advance for a long time and then only very slowly.
Information gained toward the end of the conflict though suggest that the enemy
alliance was equally weak and unable to advance. The "Kindred-on-a-stick" method
severely weakened the Kindred and with a hall trapped and almost constantly in
flight mode, the clan never recovered. Whether this tactical error really cost
the Syndicate the war right at the start will have to remain speculation.
Canada's Surprise
When attempts at
persuading U-235 to withdraw from the conflict failed, the
Syndicate's secret member - clan Canada - was brought in to try and
help turn the tide against the enemy.
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Tourneys seven and
eight saw the slow but steady advance of the Keewaydin Alliance and the slow but
steady demise of the Shadow Syndicate. Whether this was due to tactical
superiority on the formers part is difficult for me to determine as the
Kindred's records are biased to its own position. According to the records, the
alliance found itself with numerous trapped halls, no secure access to
transgates and a lack of orange biomass and so whilst the enemy alliance grew in
power and confidence, the Syndicate was obsessed with hall safety and struggled
to get access to a transgate. Attempts to persuade U-235 to leave the war were
made, but they failed. Clan Canada, who had been a trusted friend of the enemy
alliance and who supplied valuable intelligence information was bought into the
war as a last ditched attempt to turn the tide against the advancing enemy. For
a time, this looked like it might work, but the advance stalled. It did distract
the enemy away from one transgate though and the halls headed for that in the
hope of escaping.
The halls gather for the jump
With
the enemy rapidly advancing, the halls gather near a transgate in
the hope of escape. | |
By
tourney nine things were looking desperate for the Syndicate. Clan Mark had
reappeared on the scene with a very large force that was advancing straight
toward the area where the halls were gathering. Relations between the Kindred
and other clans were becoming strained and things were getting worse daily.
Mark's threat was deemed sufficient for clan Canada to blow its cover as
friendly toward that clan and start attacking Mark's forces to delay them.
Meanwhile Help me had set up a well defended force just south of the gate and
was shooting anything that attempted to use it. Growing ever more desperate,
clan Kindred deployed hall bred titans to try and secure the area but this
appeared to simply alert the enemy to the plan to jump the halls and Dai Shan
soon moved much stronger forces in place effectively closing off the route for
good.
As the ninth tourney drew to a close, the Kindred made two
decisions that would secure its final fall. First the plan to destroy each
other's halls was agreed with Horde. Secondly, clan Canada's cover was now
totally blown and that clan had outlived its usefulness. Rather than petition
for the latter's removal from the Syndicate, turn 125 saw the Kindred resign
from the Syndicate itself with a declaration of war against clan Canada and the
self destruct order issued to its hall.
And so this once proud
clan, that almost believed its own hype and thought itself near unbeatable,
completed its fall. It had lost its hall, abandoned its allies and yet still had
a dozen or more enemies to contend with. Whether clan Bloodguard planned the
lesson to be on quite such a grand scale as it turned out seems unlikely, but
regardless of that it was a lesson well taught and a lesson painfully well
learnt!
Now I must flee for I feel that I will be discovered and killed if I remain
a moment longer. How the hand of friendship was offered from an unlikely source
and how the second rising of the Kindred begun will have to be told another time.
The Archivist.
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Such a self seeking, power hungry, vindictive
and betraying clan, we wonder if he really has learnt his lesson.
Oh how these wars in hell reflect the souls trapped here....
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