IlClan

This article is about the concept of the ilClan. For other uses, see IlClan (disambiguation).


Description[edit]

The ilClan is the Clan term for the "Clan of all Clans", determined by which Clan manages to capture the cradle of humanity: Terra. The senior Khan of the ilClan would then become ilKhan in perpetuity, and all future ilKhans would be chosen from the ilClan. In essence, the concept of ilClan determines which Clan the new First Lord of the resurrected Star League would descend from. The ilClan would also assume control of the Free Guilds.[1][2]

For the day will come and our kin will stand
On Terra's firm soil, ready to rebuild
The Star League with their hearts and hands.
But who shall lead? Upon whose shoulders
Will the burden lie? The answer is the test;
The test is the journey. Whichever Clan
Carves its way through the barbarians
To reach that fabled cradle of us all
Shall be the vehicle of the League's rebirth. Upon
The Star League throne shall sit that Clan's
Wisest Khan. So should it be -- So shall it be.

-- The Remembrance, Passage 72, Verse 22, Lines 14-24[3]

History[edit]

The concept of the ilClan originated in an obscure passage in Nicholas Kerensky's diaries, but prior to Operation REVIVAL it was not apparently a driving force among the Clans or even an official position. The exalted status of an 'ilClan' only became such when, after researching Kerensky's writings Khan Elias Crichell (and, according to one source, ilKhan Leo Showers) first proposed it to the other Khans on the eve of their return to the Inner Sphere. Each Khan accepted the motion.[2][4][5]

Reviews of the accounts of Nicholas Kerensky's contemporaries indicate he may have had a different intention referred to as "Unity". Rather than a race to Terra, the Great Founder supposedly wanted to Unify the Clans through either Trials of Absorption with the stronger Clans eliminating the weakest or Annihilation to remove the disloyal, with the end goal being a single remaining Clan, the ilClan, then launching the conquest of Terra.[5]

The Crusaders interpretation of the ilClan concept would be a driving force in the subsequent assault upon the Inner Sphere; Terra's status as the end goal determined the location of the invasion corridors which stretched directly rimwards from the Periphery all the way to Terra. It also dictated the pace of each Clan's invasion waves, as none of them wished for their rivals to gain an insurmountable lead in the race to Terra.[5]

The Truce of Tukayyid and subsequent events throughout rest of the thirty-first century ensured that none of the invasion's original architects would live to see one of their number claim the status of ilClan. However, neither the Wolves nor the Jade Falcons permanently abandoned this goal, and much of their efforts after the Blackout were dedicated towards conquering Terra.

In early 3151 the two Clans were finally able to strike at Terra itself. After first vanquishing the Republic of the Sphere's defenders, the Wolves and Jade Falcons fought a Trial of Possession for the mantle of ilClan. Clan Wolf emerged victorious, with its Khan Alaric Ward becoming First Lord of the Star League of a reborn Star League.

References[edit]

  1. Wolf Clan Sourcebook, p. 26: "Operation REVIVAL"
  2. 2.0 2.1 Jade Falcon Sourcebook, p. 21
  3. Wolf Clan Sourcebook, p. 37: "Fourth Wave: The Wolf Races Ahead"
  4. Invading Clans, p. 53
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 BattleTech: Legends, p. 70: "The Clan Invasion Era - Nicholas Kerensky"

Bibliography[edit]