Clan Goliath Scorpion Totem

The Babylonian goliath scorpion is renowned and admired for its suicidal defense of nests and its lethal venom. Many of the early settlers of Babylon lost their lives to this creature. The venom forms an important part of Clan Goliath Scorpion's rituals, which has earned this Clan's members equal measures of respect and disdain from their fellow Clans.

Possessions

Worlds: 5 (all shared)

Until recently, Goliath Scorpion territory had remained constant, all of it underdeveloped by Clan standards. The Clan's recent expansion on Tokasha, which its warriors claimed part of the former Ghost Bear holdings in the face of similar moves by Clans Jade Falcon and Hell's Horses, represents the Goliath Scorpions' first appreciable growth since the early years of the Golden Century. The move netted them several heavy industrial sites, but it remains to be seen if the Scorpions can retain possession of them in face of more experienced enemies. The Clan has also taken control of the Abysmal continent on Huntress.

Allies and Enemies

The Scorpions' isolationism and tendency to stay out of disputes between the Clans has given them few enemies or allies. Politically, the Scorpions have followed the lead of Clan Wolf, regarding themselves in debt to the Clan of Kerensky for Ethan Moreau's long-ago redemption. This alliance is somewhat one-sided, however, as the Wolves barely acknowledge the Scorpions' existence.

This Clan's only real enemies are the Ice Hellions, with whom they have clashed for many years.

Military

The Goliath Scorpion Touman is built around mixed Trinaries tailored to the needs of the unit and the situation, allowing Scorpion forces considerable flexibility to meet any opposition. Most units are overloaded with ground forces, a weakness the current Khans are addressing. However, many of the Scorpions' new aerospace pilots have more experience providing ground support than dogfighting or achieving air superiority.

Small-unit actions and night engagements typify Scorpion tactics. However, as with the incorporation of aerospace assets, the Clan is expanding its repertoire of skills so as to be less predictable on the battlefield. Most Scorpion units have mascot animals, reflecting this Clan's fondness for pets.

Society

The Goliath Scorpions are generally less disdainful of freeborns than other Clans, having relied on them to compensate for the fatalities resulting from warriors; use of scorpion venom in vision quests. Trueborns maintain something of their Clan-wide mystique, but are not regarded as the pinnacle of evolution. Similarly, Bloodnamed warriors are respected, but not put on a pedestal. These relatively egalitarian attitudes stem in part from the Scorpion "living heraldry" system

Living heraldry seeks to turn the history of the Clan and its members into works of art that outlive them. Individual warriors use living heraldry as a visible codex, announcing their own abilities and the history of their bloodlines. Rather than medieval-style coats of arms, living heraldry involves collecting animals, objects and followers that somehow express the individual warrior's identity. Together with their vision quests, the Scorpions regard living heraldry as a form of practical mysticism that allows them to honor the pas-particularly the Star League- and to reassemble it with relics.

As part of this system, bondsmen are closely associated with their bondholders, regarded as living trophies and serving as squires. These bondsmen provide a tangible demonstration of a warrior's abilities. Members of the technician caste act as de facto bondsmen to the warriors they serve, remaining with an individual warrior through their careers rather than with a given military unit. Other Clans generally refrain from taking Goliath Scorpions as bondsmen or adopting Bloodnamed Scorpion warriors, as so many Scorpion warriors are physically and psychologically addicted to scorpion venom. With those liabilities, taking them into another Clan is frequently considered a waste of effort.

The nomadic lifestyle adopted by so many members of this Clan has hampered the Scorpions' technological and economic development; consequently, most other Clans consider the Scorpions backward. The Scorpions also consider an individual's vision quest a more important obligation than the Clan's military goals, a distinctly un-Clanlike attitude that has led many other Clans to shun them. However, this same absence of a rigid infrastructure and relative lack of resources has spared them the raiding suffered by many other Clans.

The Scorpions are staunch Wardens, but their interpretation of the philosophy deviates from the norm. Like other Wardens, they do not believe that the Star League should be recreated through conquest. Instead, they believe it must be reborn through rediscovery of the past. They view the people of the Inner Sphere as misguided, to be brought back onto the true path through the teachings of their betters.

Brief History

The Scorpions' founder, Cyrus Elam, was not a typical soldier-Clansman. He was a combat engineer specializing in bridge-building and demolitions, skills that proved vital in the advance on Dagda. His saKhan, Jenna Scott, was equally unusual: an intelligence officer whose influence led to the Scorpions' specialization in information-gathering. The Clan's third and unofficial founder was Ethan Moreau, a member of the SLDF who rejected Nicholas Kerensky's call for a second Exodus and remained in the Pentagon worlds throughout the civil war. After the liberation, he underwent the public confession and humiliation known as Thamzing. Moreau's genuine contrition for his error in remaining behind so impresses Nicholas that he created surkai, the Rite of Forgiveness. Moreau was allowed into Clan Goliath Scorpion, but was denied a Bloodname and a place in the eugenics program because he was not among the original 800 Clan founders.

As the Golden Century dawned, a flood of new warriors outstripped the available machines in the Scorpion Touman. In an effort to weed out lesser warriors, the Clan's leader created a coming-of-age ritual that required a new warrior to subject himself to the sting of a goliath scorpion. The death toll from the venom soon grew high enough to threaten the genetic stability of the Scorpion Bloodlines and force a halt to the practice. Khan Shandra Dinour then ordered the scientist cast to find an alternative that maintained the ritual's spirit while lessening it lethality, without destroying the valuable visionary effects imparted by the scorpion's sting. Two years later, the scientists introduced necrosia, a derivative of the scorpion venom. Necrosia soon became a part of almost every cadet's induction into the Goliath Scorpion Warrior caste.

When Clan Coyote developed the OmniMech, the poor showing of the Scorpion military attempts to capture the new technology embarrasses the entire Clan. In an effort to increase the martial skills of her warriors, Khan Dinour created a series of tournaments known as the Circle of Honor, based on the Martial Olympiad of the Star League. This Gladiatorial tradition still thrives in the present day.

As the Golden Century progressed, Clan Goliath Scorpion's warriors increasingly sought personal connections to the half-forgotten glories of the past, using necrosia-induced "vision quests" to direct their searches for ancient relics. The warriors claimed that the venom cocktail allowed them to see beyond the mundane world, making connections between artifacts from the past and events of the future. Many Scorpions became solitary wanderers, lacking the cohesion of the other Clans. The actions of these so-called seekers often led Clan Goliath Scorpion into skirmishes with other Clans-their only official contact with outsiders for much of their history. More often than not, the small groups of nomadic Scorpions fell prey to their better-organized and equipped neighbors, hampering their Clan's development.

In recent years the Khans of Clan Goliath Scorpion have recognized these weaknesses and undertaken steps to compensate for them. They have entered into negotiations with Clan Snow Raven, offering to trade Scorpion military backing in future enterprises for equipment-mainly aerospace fighters-and Raven tactical advisors. The Ravens are driving a hard bargain, but a deal appears imminent. In addition, Khan Ariel Suvorov;s reforms of the Scorpion Touman have amply demonstrated their success in recent months through the Clan's victories in the Trial of Possession for Ghost Bear holdings on Tokasha.

Beginnings

During Operation Klondike, the Goliath Scorpions were assigned to assault the planet Dagda along with the Clans Burrock and Widowmaker. The operations success hinged on taking a heavily fortified defense base on the continent of Riva. Scorpion saKhan Jenna Scott led her infantry Stars and quickly captured the rebel communications center. The facility in Clan control, saKhan Scott ordered the assault to begin.

Things took a turn for the worse when a group of rebels ambushed two Goliath Scorpion 'Mech Stars and destroyed all but one 'Mech. The Scorpion forces, led by Khan Elam, quickly seized the base with minimal losses and executed the rebel commander. The conquest of the planet, however, fell behind when the Fire Mandrill Khans began bickering amongst themselves. ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky subsequently ordered Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon to assist in the conquest.

This set in motion a feud between the Falcons' Carl Icaza and Scorpion saKhan Jenna Scott. The pair had once been lovers on Strana Mechty and gone through training together. Icaza denegrated the Scorpions' combat abilities and claimed that only the Jade Falcons were capable of capturing the assigned target. The Scorpions were forced to watch in silent frustration as the Wolves and Falcons completed the conquest of Dagda.

Elsewhere, on Babylon, the Ice Hellions found a lone warrior wandering the wastelands there. The warrior, identified as Ethan Moreau, a former General in the SLDF, demanded to be taken to see Nicholas Kerensky. Moreau was taken to see the ilKhan. He pleaded for mercy and asked for forgiveness for failing to heed the call for the Second Exodus. Impressed by Moreau's sincerity, Nicholas used the situation as the basis for the rite of forgiveness - surkairede.

Nicholas gave Moreau the chance to join one of the Clans, but the Ice Hellions refused to accept the aging warrior. Scorpion Khan Elam, who had been much impressed by Moreau's plea for forgiveness, petitioned Nicholas to allow the Scorpions accept him as a trainer for the Scorpions new cadets. Nicholas allowed the Scorpions to adopt Moreau into their Clan, but forbade them from using his genes in the breeding program. Moreau eventually became the first Loremaster of Clan Goliath Scorpion and his influence went on to change the nature of the Clan.

The Goliath Scorpions set up base on Dagda and built their first enclave near the rocky shores and coastline. They soon became quite skilled at undersea mining, developing an exoskeleton mining suit. This suit would later be acquired by Clan Wolf and become the basis for the Elemental battle armor.

The Scorpions later stood by the other Clans when the Not-Named Clan broke away from the unity of the Grand Council. Years later, when the WidowMakers and Wolves engaged in their Trial of Absorption, LoreMaster Moreau led a Star of Scorpion Mechs into battle save a trapped Star of Wolf 'Mechs from a superior force of WidowMakers. The battle came to an abrupt end when an artillery barrage killed Scorpion Khan Elam and WidowMaker saKhan Vordermark. The Wolf forces regrouped and destroyed the remaining WidowMaker forces.

Though outraged at the Scorpion interference, Wolf Khan Jerome Winson forgave the Scorpion's interference as Moreau claimed he was merely fullfilling his surkairede obligation to the Wolf Clan. Khan Winson then ceded much of the WidowMaker enclave on Roche to the Scorpions in thanks for their efforts.

Golden Century

It was during the Golden Century that the drug necrosia, derived from the venom of the goliath scorpion, began to be widely used by the warrior caste. It was widely known that the goliath scorpion's venom could induce a dream-state that often gave prophetic visions. Loremaster Moreau had originally wanted the warriors to be stung by the goliath scorpion to receive the full power of the venom, but a high mortality rate severely affected the viability of the warrior's gene pool. As a result, Scorpion scientists devised a ingestible serum that would produce the same results but would not adversely affect the user.

A few years later, Loremaster Moreau gave speech to the Clan Council where he told them of how the Goliath Scorpions would lead the other Clans to glory in the Inner Sphere. To achieve this, he charged each of them with finding Star League-era relics left by the Not-Named Clan that he claimed would insure the Scorpions' dominance. The warriors searched for five years but found nothing. Then, in 2850, the Ice Hellions found the cache the Scorpions had been looking for. The Hellions refused to part with it, prompting a series of Trials that would last for over a year.

Eventually, in 2851, Clan Fire Mandrill tried to take advantage of the situation and launched their own Trial against the tired Scorpion and Hellion forces. The two Clans were enraged by this interference and set aside their animosity to force the Fire Mandrill's off the world. The victory came at a bitter price. Loremaster Moreau was killed in the fighting by a Fire Mandrill warrior.

The Goliath Scorpions and Ice Hellions agreed to an amicable split of the Brian Cache. The Hellions departed with all of the war materiel and the Scorpions retained the Cache's stock of artwork and books.

The Scorpions were amongst the last to field the new OmniMech technology. Embarassed by his troops poor performance, Loremaster Lan Kirov instituted the Circus Honorae, a series of events similiar to the Star League's Martial Olympic by which warriors could improve their skills.

Loremaster Kirov was also instrumental in forming the Seekers. This cadre of warriors was charged with scouring the Clan homeworlds for Star League-era relics. Loremaster Kirov was convinced, like Loremaster Moreau before him, that the key to the Clan's future lie in its past. The Seekers, like knights of old, took with them a small specialized retinue of lower caste personnel to aid him in his search. Over the centuries, the Seekers have uncovered many lost treasures and brought them to the Clan's Temple of the Nine Muses, where all such finds are kept. The Scorpions have also dedicated an entire Galaxy of front-line troops to the defense of the Temple.

The creation of the Seekers almost became the undoing of the Clan. As the years went by, a widening chasm emerge amongst the warrior caste. The size and popularity of the Seeker cause drained many of the Clan's best warriors away from the military. The youngsters, who grew up steeped in the lore and legends of the Star League, cast aside their desire to serve in line units and spent their time travelling as Seekers or visiting the Temple of the Nine Muses. saKhan Jenna Scott forced the issue to a climax by challenging Loremaster Kirov to a Circle of Equals. saKhan Scott beat Kirov with five deft blows in a short-lived battle. She then extracted an oath from all the Seekers to follow Nicholas Kerensky's ideals and the Clan Way. When all present gave their oath, saKhan Scott collapsed and died of her wounds.

Dragoon Compromise

Khan Nadia Winson's call for invasion in 3001 caused an unexpected response from the Clans. Stymied by Wolf Khan Kherlin Ward's Dragoon Compromise, Winson had no choice but to accede to his demands. As another shock, Clan Goliath Scorpion offered to train the Wolf warriors by pitting them against the elite Heartvenom Cluster. A number of young Scorpion warriors went along with the Dragoons when they left for the Inner Sphere.

A few years later, the Wolves captured Star Colonel Vlad Dinour in a Trial of Possession. They gave him the troubled Fourth Wolf Striker Cluster to rebuild using Goliath Scorpion methodology and tactics. Colonel Dinour also provided the Wolves with intelligence gained from the Scorpion warriors who returned to Clan space during the Dragoon's 3009 supply run.

Revival

The arrival of the Outbound Light in 3048 brought the question of invasion to the Grand Council once again. This time, Smoke Jaguar Khan Leo Showers managed to convince the Council that the Inner Sphere was on the verge of discovering the Clan homeworlds. Using this as incentive, Khan Showers forced a vote and the Council elected to invade the Inner Sphere.

The Goliath Scorpions performed well in their Trials, but were beaten in the second round. Rather than throw a tantrum like Clan Ice Hellion, the Scorpions chose to expand their holdings by striking at territories left lightly defended by the invading Clans. The Scorpions earned the ire of the Jaguars by seizing several small enclaves on the world Tranquil.

Unknown to many in the Inner Sphere, a small force of Scorpion warriors travelled with the Steel Vipers to the Inner Sphere. The force, led by saKhan Posavatz, was lost on the world of Tukayyid during the bloody fighting at Devil's Bath. At the same time, Khan Nikolai Djerassi stepped down to implement several ideas that would strengthen the sibkos. The new Khans, Ariel Suvorov and Nelson Elam, each worked in a different manner to build up the Clan's touman.

Death of a Clan

The destruction of Clan Smoke Jaguar has yielded several dividends for Clan Goliath Scorpion. First, the Clan captured the continent of Abyssmal on Huntress and, at the same time, procured several samples of Proto-Mech technology. The Clan also fielded the Undine battle armor for the first time. Also, trade has increased with Clan Snow Raven as the Scorpions strive to build up their aerospace forces. Time will only tell where the Scorpions future lies.