Swampfolk
Natives of the Slaughter River Floodplains, traditional Ardent territory.
Naming Traditions
Unisex names
Swampfolk names tend to have meanings related to violence and conflict, coming from their past (and present, in some cases) as raiders. Common examples are Aubrey, Avaleau, Casey, Constanza, Delaney, Donovan, Duncan, Dustin, Evan, Hunter, Iwisa, Jerry, Kelly, Madison, Nayen, Niccola, Orion, Reese, Rene, Robin, Shay, and Storm.
Family names
Unlike people in the rest of the Digital Conclave, they do not use family names. Instead, they believe you must earn the right to be called anything other than your first name. Passed a rite of maturity, young Ardent choose the ascendancy of either of their parents, and its symbol is tattooed on their face. These are Antilopo, Kapro, Safoi, Virbovo, Lupin, Almagro, Pampida, Casapetro, Maquel, Hippidion, Soldati, Autodromo, Scion of the River, and Milodon. Aditional titles may be bestowed upon individuals based on their deeds.
Culture
Culture and cultural heritage
Once fourteen disparate clans living mostly isolated, under Stender occupation all came together to live in Clay. Their descendants can be diferentiated by distinctive facial tattoos:
- Antilopo: Mighty hunters and warriors, this nomad tribe was recognizable at a distance by the kervicapra horns decorating their helmets and headdresses.
- Kapro: Once mere bandits in the New Pompeii area, the clan developed close relations with the Parture Corporation and benefited with advanced armament and tech. With most of their ancestral territory a smoking ruin, they now concentrate in District Golachab in The Throat.
- Safoi: Peaceful villagers tending to their crops, it is said the Safoi always harbored resentment for the other clans. When the First Conclave was called the veldheer of the clan, Aubrey, eagerly attended to include her people in the alliance.
- Virbovo: One of the most problematic clans, they controlled most of an ancient highway. They are hailed as the builders and creators of the Gauntlet of Hunters, initially planned to test only the combat ferocity of the young, which the all-Ruga Virbovo never lacked.
- Lupin: Mostly nomad, Lupin Corsairs initially refused to join the Conclave and terrorized the area for years. They were finally contacted by the Albor Corporation and the Iota Regiment of the State Guard, who supplied them with weapons and equites and directed their attacks against Analogic villages.
- Almagro: Notable constructors who built up an old stadium into present-day Vesting Stronghold.
- Pámpida: Despite initial clashes with the Antilopo over hunting grounds, eventually a frontier was set and a territory defined where the Pámpidas could employ their exceptional tracking skills to hunt down prey, human and animal alike.
- Casapetro: An apathetic group installed in what would later become Control, they are near extinct after most of them were drafted by the Conclave into the State Guard.
- Maquel: Precursors in the use of rafts and small ships to extend the range of their raids along the river.
- Hippidion: Fierce hunters riding the namesake hippidions, later replaced by equites. Strictly nomadic, did not count with a defined territory.
- Soldati: Mostly pacific and dedicated to their crops, the clan did however count with a disciplined militia to repel incursions, detected by their lookouts from the top of the Sword of the Regent Tower. They hosted the Veldheer Council before Stender occupation.
- Autodromo: Known for repairing and even manufacturing functional vehicles, they sown terror along Highway A001.
- Scion of the River: Same as the Maquel, the Scions employed watercrafts to lay siege to coastal settlements, proficient in attrition warfare.
- Milodón: Eager to trade with nearby clans, the Milodón would hunt and gather resources to craft impressive weapons and tools.
Common Etiquette rules
Swampfolk are blunt and brutish, less suited to the finer things in life, although they will promptly accuse nearly anyone else of the same crime. They look down on lying and general underhanded behavior.
Common Dress code
Swampfolk are a practical people, who will sooner scavenge what clothes and armor they can than waste material confecting their own. As a result most Ardent go around with patchwork leather jackets and jeans. Guild members do sometimes wear the uniform of their guild, however. And most professional Ardent hunters wear their signature fire-proof or fire-retardant leather, asbestos or starlite cloaks on top of that, and carry heavy flame-throwing wolframium gauntlets.
Art & Architecture
Settlements in the Floodplains sport the most post-apocalyptic look of all the Conclave. Theirs is a harsh world, and their art and architecture reflect that.
Songs are often criminally short or tediously long, depending on the mood of the composer. Lyrics tend to furiously narrate the adventures and deeds of Ardent heroes past and present, as they take great pride in both individual and collective accomplishments.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
For the Ardent, might makes right. If you are strong enough to defend your ideas, or have a small army to back you up, it doesnt really matter if you are correct anyway. You are the one who can back up your words with steel.
Dispute resolution in the faction ranges from arm wrestling to decide who gets the spoils after a raid, to duels because someone insulted someone else's clan, all the way to contained battles over political disagreements. Usually, however, the weaker side backs down before blood is drawn. No use dying for a lost cause.
Coming of Age Rites
At age 12, young in the Floodplains begin to prepare to run the Gauntlet of Hunters, which they usually do at age 18. Or whenever they feel ready, really. The Ardent arent big on rules and structure and are known to occasionally challenge even their own customs.
The Gauntlet consists of a series of tests that the runner will have to overcome in whatever way they can manage. Based on how they do it, they will be classified into a Ruga (challenger, fighter, someone who faces adversity head on), Moroti (diplomat, purifier, someone who can both give advice and convince others to help them), or Kurru (pragmatist, backstabber, someone who uses underhanded methods to bypass problems) and receive a facial tattoo of their chosen clan in the color red, white or black respectively depending on their Gauntlet results. This will conform the identity of individual swampfolk beyond their first names, and for better or worse set their place in Ardent society. Moroti are more likely to be trusted for council and Ruga when a more direct approach is called for, while Kurru are often mistrusted and solitary, and perform lonely assasination or infiltration missions.
Historical figures
Aubrey, a sort of controversial figure, played a major part in Ardent history. Veldheer of the Safoi clan, she orchestrated the occupation of the Floodplains by Stender forces in an attempt to unite the disparate fourteen clans against a common enemy. This resulted in over 200 years of uninterrupted occupation and opression. Still, as all historic figures, she has her sagas and songs, although hers tend to be less friendly sounding than most.
As resistance leaders during The Freykorp Incident, Robin and Iwisa also hold a promiment place in history.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
Genetic selection during the first decades of Stender occupation resulted in a limited selection of eye colors for the swampfolk. It is believed that bright orange eyes bring with them innate "Ardent virtues", which are never clearly defined and vary wildly depending on who you ask. These diminish the closer to brown the eyes are, while other colors result in inmediate distrust and the belief that one is a spy from another faction.
Major organizations
The Ardent Corporation is the major political power for people of the Floodplains and their voice in the grand scheme of things.
The independent corsairs of the Lupin clan roam the wilderness under employ and supplied by the Albor Corporation, but are still swampfolk (of a less pure blood because of their mixing with outsiders) and often visit Clay to trade their booty.
The Cult of Thorns, although aligned with the Parture Corporation, draws its members mostly from the swampfolk.
Encompassed species
Related Organizations
Related Items
Related Locations
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