Gaming on Tékumel

Clans & Personalities

Major Clans of Khirgár

by M.A.R. Barker and James Maliszewski

Almost all of the major clans of the Imperium are represented in Khirgár. Their clanhouses bustle with local members, transients, guests, business enterprises, and clergy. A few of the most prominent and interesting clans are described here:

Black Hood

This clan is newly established in Khirgár, the result of a population movement into the Khirgári area by Hrü'ü worshippers from Mrelú. Its agricultural lands stretch away to the south and east. The current clanmaster is Bolúr hiVíridu, an energetic fiftyish merchant with prematurely grey hair and a perpetual scowl. His sole interests seem to be his eight children (by three wives), his commerce, and his rituals within Hrü'ü's new temple.

Blue Stream

These rural agriculturists are devoted to Avánthe. The clan owns large tracts of land in the western regions of the province. Blue Stream owns a significant portion of its fruit groves as well. The clanmaster is Dolón hiTlángtel, a bearded, balding gentleman with pretensions to ancient Engsvanyáli nobility. He enjoys classical music, gambling, and occasional pleasures with young clan-sisters.

Golden Dawn

This is an old medium-ranked clan descended from Engsvanyálu with extensive business and agricultural contacts. The clanmaster is Artukka hiVráisu, about 50 years old, whose ancestors were probably desert tribesmen from Milumanayá but who claims to be descended from the Sojourners in Grey, a scholarly sect of Thúmis worshippers. This small society used to have some presence and power in the northwest but now exists as a tolerated sub-sect in the Thúmis-Keténgku temples in Khirgár, Páya Gupá, Si'ís, etc. Artukka is a pleasant, middle-aged man with a bald head and a crooked smile (from some old injury, he says). He is a bit of a fraud and a rascal –– not be trusted with money!

Golden Sunburst

This Engsvanyáli-descended clan is devoted to Karakán and Chegárra. Much of Khirgár's military and political establishment derives from this clan. General Kéttukal hiMraktiné is a prominent member of this clan. The present clanmaster is Mirgán hiDulomésa, about 60 years of age. He is urbane, helpful, and somewhat learned, with interests in history, crops and agriculture, and the improvement of Khirgár's rather undistinguished wines. He has two wives, twelve concubines, and twenty-four known children, all of whom he loves greatly. He enjoys making matches for unmarried persons who visit his clanhouse.

Great Stone

Originally a northern matrilineal clan, these Ksárul and Hrü'ü worshippers have extensive mercantile interests in Khirgár and the surrounding province. The clanmistress is Jíleth hiTéyonel, a thickset, matronly woman in her forties. Her first (and only?) love is business. She has never married and devotes herself exclusively to her clan's commercial enterprises. Rumor has it that a previous governor of Khirgár once jilted her.

Ivory Staff

A clan of peasants and laborers devoted to agricultural work and the Lords of Stability. They possess practical control over most of the fruit growing industry in the province. They are also weavers, dyers, and cloth merchants. Their production of Firyá cloth is a mainstay of their prosperity. The clanmaster is Chakán hiVarusé. He is a newcomer, and little is known of his antecedents. He tends to be sarcastic and cynical-sounding, with a penchant for sharp verbal barbs directed at those of lower station.

Sword of Fire

This is another prominent Vimúhla-worshipping clan. This clan has been in the region since the days of the Dragon Warriors. Consequently, they remain aloof from the day-to-day politics of Khirgár, concentrating instead on their vast mercantile enterprises. Kagór hiVríddi is the clanmaster. He is an ex-soldier and is perhaps 55 years of age. He still maintains the ponderously solemn 'Imperial Army' demeanor that he learned long ago in the Legion of the Lord of Red Devastation.

Standing Reed

A clan descended from N'lüss who settled in the Empire, they have their huge clanhouse near the Hirilákte Arena. The clanmaster is Mjéshu Dza'an, a sharp and clever (some say devious) merchant and entrepreneur. He no longer speaks the N'lüssa language, but he has married a girl from Be'ilísha and has had his five children taught the tongue. Most N'lüss consider her dialect degraded, however, and he now wishes to send his older son directly to Malcháiran to study.

Vríddi

While their primary stronghold is Fasíltum, these Vimúhla worshippers have a presence in Khirgár. As elsewhere in the Imperium, the Vríddi are not much trusted because of their separatist tendencies. A few of the clan's younger members have been arrested lately on the charge of "disturbing the peace." They are also considered overly arrogant and resistant to compromise. This hostility is returned with interest by Lísha hiChárkha, the clanmistress in Khirgár. She is about 30 years of age, rather pretty, and unmarried. A soldier from one of the Karakán legions is said to be her present paramour.

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