The Seven Great Clans Of Kel Nevath:
Veradun has recently ascended to the undisputed position of most powerful greater clan.
While their traditional power values of territory, population and technology alone had previously earned them the status as third most powerful clan on Kel Nevath, the recent politics have favoured them greatly. The Lord-Sovereign's current residency is located in Veradun territory, as is his honour guard of a full divison clad in trans-newtonian power armour. While those operate independently of the Veradun military, they are no doubt a strong boon to the military and technology might their territory emenates. The Starfaith has had most of its essential installations relocated into Veradun territories as well, among them the Starfaith Command and their first and largest academy. The only Nevithian shipyard is also in orbiat above Veradun.
Notable subordinate clans:
Mediocre clan of Tiovhan: Exterminated in '02 for rebelling against the Lord-Sovereign. The only clan among the Veradun territories to rebel against the new supreme ruler and one of the few outside of Sha'Thas territories to publicly take offensive steps against him during his rise to power.
Minor clan of Xolon: The clan of professor Ladythoggua, the current expert for trans-newtonian proplusion technologies without equal. They also manufactures the current imperial engine generation, with amibitions to stay the sole engine supplier for the uprising Nevithian Dominion. Their monopol is currently sanctioned by the Lord-Sovereign.
Darrus is the second most powerful clan on Kel Nevath, and has remained in this position for quite some time. While the entire Nevithian race on Kel Nevath is roughly on the same technological level, the Darrus territories contain large expanses of dry or desert terrain that is unsuitable for most life. In these regions, backwater settlements are notoriously behind the technological average of the planet, although the last two centuries of scientific advancement have remedied this to a large extent.
However, this desert is framed by two smaller oceans both east and west that mark the border of the Darrus influence. These oceans are home to numerous larger settlements and the cultural centre point for the greater clan.
With steady investments poured into the arid mid of the territory, the Darrus are on a steady increase in population and power.
Notable subordinate clans:
Major clan of Heras: The oceans are especially important for the Darrus, as the majoriy of their borders is defined by them. Controling these borders and using the vast amounts of waterborne resources is an important factor for both their security and economy. The Heras clan supports harbours in all of the Darrus' oceans and provides the great clan with almost all of its ships. While all clans have several families or a minor clan dedicated towards their maritime control and economic exploit, the Heras easily possess the largest wet navy presence on Kel Nevath and undisputable control over all the high seas Darrus territories have a border with - Considering the high gravity on Kel Nevath, making a ship float instead of sink is a difficult task that this clan has mastered.
Torpua is the third most powerful of the greater clans and spans the entire south pole as well as some landmass north of it. The south pole was annexed almost a century ago, propelling the clan several positions forward in the general influence assessment. In their past their Sovereigns have shown to be scientific minded in both military and commercial interests. Many of the newly constructed trans-newtonian research facilities are located in Torpua territories, as are three of the eight nuclear missile bases still in operation. The industrial reveolution on Kel Nevath originated from Torpua, which gave them a significiant advantage over their neighbours for a time.
Notable subordinate clans:
Mediocre clan of Duvan: This clan was responsible for the first accomplished flight of the Nevithian race. Similiar to the wet navies of Kel Nevath, raising something up into the air on a planet with mora than 2G is an exceptional challenge. The material requirements to make something light enough and propel it fast enough without breaking it to actually fly for a while was something not achieved by Nevithians for a long time, well into the late modern age. Since the last great war was before the development of flying vehicles, so far no mass produced fighting planes have been produced on Kel Nevath. Today, the Duvan clan is a well established manfuacturer for commercial transport and cargo planes and very interested in the appliance of trans-newtonian proplusion inside a planet's atmosphere.
Rediom lies north of Hil'Suv and calls a fraction of the lare mountain ranges its own. Previously the second least powerful, but now considerd the fourth most powerful, Rediom had a rather small territory larger only to Man'kerta. With the mountains bordering onto the economic and political aligned Hil'Suv to the south and a small ocean in the west towards the imposing Sha'Thas, the population of Rediom is in a favourable position against any invader that might want to annex the small territory. With their natural defenses and their own readily accessable metal mines, the Rediom are dominated by clans filled with military tradition and an aggressive answer towards any hostile gesture directed at them.
With the recent addition of Sha'Thas territories to its west, Rediom has increased its expanse by almost one hundred percent and encompasses some of the previously most advanced settlements, although many of them lie in ruin. They are focused on rebuilding their newly aquired land and perform their duties with exceptional discipline most of the other greater clans would never expect from their civilian populace. While currently charged with as much economic and personnel burden they can carry, future prospects are good.
Karmen is a splintered greater clan, actually composed of multiple major clans that form a council with a unified Sovereign similiar to how the Lord-Sovereign treats with the Sovereigns of the greater clans. Whether the Lord-Sovereign copied their system is unclear, but the irregular councils he conducts is in no way comparable to the regular debates within Karmen territory.
The reason for their splintered existence are the many oceans that Karmen borders on. Each of these large bodies of water houses its own humid environment that allowed early Nevithian settlements to establish permanent housing. Between those lies mere arid plains, rocky hills and deserts. Each major clan of Karmen resides on the shore of one such ocean, with the central territory unified in its own miniature council that sends one 'low sovereign' as their major clan's delegation to the actual High Council of Karmen. This almost democratic principle is unique on all of Kel Nevath, although traditional duels and honour- or treaty-bound oaths still dominate the landscape as in any other greater clan.
Due to the large amount of wet soil in Karmen, they produce an abundance of varied plants and cattle without the use of expensive greenhouses or animal batteries.
Hil'Suv is a clan in possession of large mountain ranges - something extraordinary on Kel Nevath. With the high gravity, most terrain is rather flat or hilly at most, but in Hil'Suv territory, large plateus of dense and ore rich rock dominate the landscape to the north and west.
Prior to the discovery of trans-newtonian minerals, the clan was in great favour among some of the clans, but a nuisance for just as many. The majority of ore on and in Kel Nevath is compressed into dense rocks that require intensive work to unearth them from the equally dense soil, often followed by equally difficult and complex refining processes to extract specific metals from the ore. In Hil'Suv territories, at least the first step is less tedious with the material not buried underneath the planet's crust, but rather exposed on a broad plateu's cliff or therein. However, since the Nevithians were forcibly unified and trans-newtonian resources introduced into their industry, Hil'Suv has suffered considerable losses in influence and power. Conventional materials are still used for nearly every product, consolidating the Hil'Suvs positions as a greater clan with less enemies and economic connections all around the planet, but dimnishing their position to the second least powerful of its equals.
Notable subordinate clans:
Minor clan of Weyd: This clan was supposedly dominante in a large region around Hil'Suv during the Nevithian antique and middle age. Their metalworkers were the best in their craft, capable of extracting the purest iron from the countryside and skilled in the productiong of hardy alloys to both support large structure and outfit an army with weaponry that could easily pierce a Nevithian's thick skin. The first alloys resembling steel or cruder siblings were supposedly smelted by Weyd metalworkers, although the greater clan of Torpua claims this achievement for themself during the beginnings of their industrial revolution. Due to intermittent history chronicles the truth is lost and the clan mostly faded into obscurity.
Man'Kerta is a rather small greater clan situated around the Sea Of Light. It is considered to be the least powerful of all the greater clans, although they possess ties, pacts and alliances with all the other greater clans. This is often the reason given for why noone has ever annexed the small territory, nor were any wars fought against them in over three centuries. Many people of the Man'Kerta clans are spiritually minded, although this is not by birth but choice. Due to the many immigrants the Man'Kerta clan receives, there are almost no families actually connected by blood for more than a generation. They are the only greater clan without any nuclear weaponry at all, as all other greater clans operate at least one missile base since the last great war between Torpua and the annexed greater clan of Ileum had ended.
With Sha'Thas officially removed from Nevithian records, the Man'Kera clan is now the oldest clan still in existance.
The Sea Of Light around which Man'Kerta lies is a small, isolated ocean favoured by winds and rain. Its name comes from the sheer coincidence that it's located in a prime position for the Turenas' system's suns to shine on it at all times and reflect magnificient light spectacles into the air above it, filled with waterdrops of constantly evaporating and raining water. During droughts, the area is always filled with the most leathal radiation storms and heat while otherwise the most humid area of the planet, featuring many exotic and unique life forms.
The Man'kerta is the intellectual powerhouse of Kel Nevath. For a race that used to spend large portions of their life with hunting, eating or gathering food the time to sit down and write a piece of literature is rare. More so, if scribes and authors were little more than required assets for a functioning society or science during large periods of civilisatoric development. The price of a very actve race with high energy demands and little time to sit down and read a book. Since the emergence of modern sciences and schools this notion has significiantly decreased during the last two centuries.
Ironically, many old scriptures, religions and philosophies originating from the Sea Of Light are said to be have been written after heavy radiation poisoning on the author and various medical attempts to cure the patient with all kinds of medicine.
The Former Great Clans Of Kel Nevath:Ileum used to be the nineth greater clan before its territories were annexed by Torpua. Just a century ago, the clan was annexed in the first modern war to use nuclear weaponry on Kel Nevath. Since missiles were experimental and plane prototypes incapable of flights, most tactical nukes were delivered in massiv armoured trucks, escorted by whole battalions of heavy infantry and further armour support. Once in position, the nuke would be activated to detonate after a set delay and the truck's engine permanently damaged. During the late phases of the war, the most ingenious nuclear weapons rigged the bomb to detonate upon touch by any Nevithian, or delivered the payload through crude short-ranged ballistic rockets.
The progression of this war was slow and scorched terrain a mandatory side effects of using land-bound nukes, but miniaturising the explosion's radiation output and destructive capacity while maintaing the required thread level was a task mastered by the Torpua military. Although the surrender of the Ileum Sovereign came quick after ever growing portions of his territory were scorched and exposed to radiation, the war cost the life of nine million Nevithians.
Even today, the sites of the first and largest nuclear detonations are suspect to radiation sickness and scarce population.
Sha'Thas was among the first clans to emerge to such a position of power almost five centuries ago and considered to be the most powerful clan in recent history until its downfall. When the modern age came that allowed Nevithians to populate both the dry and wet regions of Kel Nevath in unpreceded density, greater clans arose among the heavily fractured mass of Nevithian clans and families as those who could command and unite the most Nevithians under their name. Ever since, the borders of the greater clans have fluctuated as some came into existance and others waned, yet the Sha'Thas were one of the longest to endure and the great clan with the longest history still in existance.
Sha'Thas is considered dead nowadays, or at least no longer a greater clan anymore. When the clan had its status removed, all former members were attributed to various other, minor clans and families so that no official Sha'Thas remained, completly removing the greater clan from official records. Still, many former Sha'Thas retain at least the feeling of a greater clan uniting them. Some of the more critical Sha'Thas blame this downfall on the Lord-Sovereign and how he performed his rise to power, while outright rebellious circles mention not the procedure but the fact of his rise as the course.
A crude schematic of Kel Nevath's surface from a political view.