Clan Broin

Clan Founder: Caitlin O Broin
Ancestral Home: Broinsrest, Krel Freeholds
Clan Colors: Brown and Green
Clan Iconography: A crossed round shield and axe.

Structure

Unlike most other Krel clans, clan Broin leadership is matrilineal. The matriarch of the clan is elected every five years by the council of elders, which consists of various wise women and former clan matriarchs.

Public Agenda

Clan Broin is mostly interested in the protection of the Krel Freeholds from its many roving Thrall warbands. They and their descendant clans also find themselves frequently involved in expeditions into The North Marches. While they do value martial prowess and strength in arms, Clan Broin is also known to hold strategy and cunning in high regard.

Assets

Clan Broin specializes in shield walls and group formations. At any given time, they maintain a standing militia of around 500 shieldmen/shieldmaidens. Their settlements lie on some of the more arable locales in The Krel Freeholds, and as such their holdings produce the majority of the food in Krel lands. Clan Broin comes behind Clan Foghladh in terms of descendant clans, with a total of 18 clans across the Kingdoms claiming descent from Caitlin O Broin. Most have opted to move into the North Marches in pursuit of adventure or to Grenesse to pursue a quieter life protecting the many farms and fields found there.

History

Clan Broin was founded by Kaitlin O Broin, one of the original three companions of Darragh Wintersbane. The exact relationship between the two has been muddled over the centuries, but it is believed that she was pursued romantically by both Darragh and Dubhan O Fogladh only to turn both men down to settle with one of the men under her command. During the Siege of Hearth, she helped command the shield wall, coordinating her men into a ruthless fighting machine that held the line outside the city against the onslaught of Thralls.
The story of Kaitlin O Broin's death seems to have been mostly lost to history, but it is a widely held belief among her descendants that she rests within the Black Oak of their major holding, Broinsrest. Stories say that as she neared the end of her life, the shieldmaiden made a bargain with a creature of the wood to extend her life so she may watch over her descendants, and was thus sealed inside a great oak tree. Most believe that one day, in a time of dire need, Kaitlin O Broin will emerge from the great oak tree in the center of Broinsrest and take up arms against whatever threatens her descendants. The similarity between this story and that of the Ironwood Oak of Iarann Adhmaid has been noted, and most Krels like to argue over which of the two founders of the Freeholds remains dormant and which actually perished.

Founding Date

Unknown, the four major Krel clans have been recorded to have existed during and perhaps even before the Sunfade.

Type

Geopolitical, Clan

Demonym

Broinian

Parent Organization

The Krel Freeholds

Location

Broinsrest

Controlled Territories

• Broinsrest

Related Ethnicities

• Krel