Clan Name: Sea Otter
Clan Hearth: Dwerrowfall Caves, Cave with entrance under waterfall, with other sub entrances and some worked tunnels.
Hearth Location: South shore of the elf sea, on the estuary of the Dwerrow River
Hunting Grounds: Dwerror River Estuary and Elf Sea coast
Clan Spirit: Sea Otter – fast swimming, hold breath, water sense
Population: 480 people 166 Men, 184 women, 130 Children, 84 hearths
Tribe: Trilus
Summary:
The Sea Otter Clan has been at its current clan hearth for hundreds of years and as such are one of the most settled and advanced clans in Balazar. there clan hearth is a permanent community as through fishing and hunting they can usually feed themselves without a nomadic lifestyle.
Though other clans fear the river, the clan totem and worship of the spirit of Dwerrow seem to keep the Sea otter Clan out of most harm.
They are mainly fishers who use bow and spear as well as boats and nets. They are also pearlers collecting freshwater mussels from beds in the Dwerrow estuary.
This has made them traders with good standing, and thus a rich clan with lots of metal tools, pots and blankets. Even the trader Joh Mith visits yearly to buy pearls.
The clans only feud is with The leaping Salmon clan, a breakaway clan 12 miles up the coast, the clan broke away for the usual reason of growth about 6 years ago, but there were also disagreements about the change of kings in Trilus and the sharing of wealth and hunting grounds which have made the separation bitter .
The Sea Otter Clan was close to old king and clan chiefs were tied by blood to the Gadaringer dynasty, and because such the clan is still being actively courted by King Yalaring who is keen to keep them loyal.
They are friendly with the local newtling communities and join them in their sacred time rites in the river estuary, which usually keep the sea monsters away from the clan and newtling communities.
Quirks and Traits:
A sea otters are a very tactile people who like to be in physical contact with other people whenever possible. It is very common for clan members to hold each other’s hands when in the same physical vicinity. It is not a sexual contact and to refuse or pull away or to withdraw is seen as rude behaviour.
The clan is famous throughout balazar for its otter fish stew, which contains a number of fish, shelfish, herbs, root vegetables and no otters.
The clan has few dogs but keeps otters in a similar way as the rest of the Balazarings keep dogs.
People:
Balori Bluestone – Clan Chief a mature patient man, well respected leader and a competent trader
Yotarni Burning Spear – Master Hunter and defender of the clan. He likes to hunt oversized sea monsters and the kill he is most famous for is the killing of Giant Crab he fought on the beach near Dwerrowfall caves.
Goomor Turtleback – Goomore is the master boatbuilder for the clan, he usually builds small coracles out of hide and wood, but his best boats have coracles made from Giant Turtle shells. He is resposnible for showing the clan how make , keep and repair their boats.
Inia Goodwife – Inia is the heart mother priestess and also in charge of ensurng the women of the clan make and keep the clans nets in order. She is hard taskmistress to the younger girls, but more relaxed with the older women.
Kaska the Pearlmother – A shaman responsible for the magic that protects and preserves the pearl beds, she is relatively young and new to the role but seems competent. Kaska struggles with the otherness than comes from her roles and often feels lonely.
Altus Boldface – A young hunter who thinks a clan of this size and riches should be able to protect itself, and does not think the clan in martial enough. He is considering going to Trilus to join the citadel warriors. He will be keen to show his bravado to any warriors for outside and will be hostile to any who do not seem suitably impressed.
Takanthi Cliffleaper – A young brave who has just been initiated into adulthood, he is a careless thrill seeker who will put himself in danger for the fun of it. He can usually be found cliff diving , rapid swimming or dodging dangerous animals, so far without incident.
Tashka Icewalker – The daughter of Balori and a good friend of Takanthi. She gets caught up in Takanthi’s craziness but is more usually dragged along. her head is now turned to marriage and she hoping for something that will get her out of the clan and into new experiences, she also sees all of the clan boys as beneath her.
Clans Relationships
The sea otters have the following relationships with clans
Allies; Treefrog (Trilus), Yellowback (newtling)
Friends; Greenridge(newtling), Black boar (trilus), Crocodile (Trilus)
Conflict; The leaping Salmon clan (Independent)
Plot Hooks & Ideas
Campaign idea is for a small group of citadel warriors sent from Trilus to aid the Sea Otters in dealing with a number of problems, however most of these ideas can be run as a one off story idea for any
Deadfish – Large numbers of dead fish are being found in the clan waters which border the Leaping salmon clan. Party are sent to investigate cause, find that Greenridge newtlings are similarly distressed and annoyed. Leaping salmon clan deny all knowledge.
Mad Neighbours – Leaping salmon clan start to raid their neighbours waters and attack boat and nets and steal fish, they need to be repelled.
Those Meddling Kids – Takanthi and Tashka get trapped in a cave by a water wyrm, pcs have to extract them without offending the Dwerrow river spirit by killing the wyrm. if you want to make it more tense have the tide coming in and filling the cave.
Mad Newtlings –The Greenridge newtlings now start to attack the clans fishing grounds, talk with yellow backs suggest they are also having trouble with the green ridges. Newtlings can be driven off but they do seem fenzied and disturbed.
Gomoors Turtle – A magnificent giant turtle has been spotted and Gomoor wants to make a coracle out its shell, the PC’s track it down to find out it is an intelligent turtle. Soup or no soup?
Dead Neighbours -Pc’s are sent to deal with the Leaping salmon tribe, on the way they skirmish with a sea monster, it does not press the attack home. They arrive to find the entire village dead and rotting, the sea monster attacks them in the village but again doesn’t press the attack home.
See Monster – Yotarni Burning Spear declares the Sea Monster the source of the problem and leaders the players in a hunter, the monster will skirmish and flee, before being cornered where it will fight to the death.
The Chaos Effect – It is realised that the sea monster wasn’t creating the problems after they continue after its death, further scouting or divination will bring to light a powerful walktapus which poisons the water as well as the air. Creating violent madness and aggression, before killing its victims.