In the beginning, there were the six Clans: Clearstone, Sweetwater, Bluemist,
Goldenfield, Brightwind, and Greystone.  The Clans lived separately, trading
occasionally along their borders but otherwise mixing very little, passing
their lore down from generation to generation.

About 280 years ago, the Clearstone Clan discovered a use for the ugly glowing
translucent crystals that proliferated around their area -- they discovered
magic.  They used this power to assume rulership of the other clans, beginning
an empire that spanned the entire country.

About 200 years ago, the other clans rose up together and overthrew their
oppressors.  The Clansman's Clasp was instituted, a council of tribal leaders
who met to preside over interclan disputes; their first official action was to
declare Clearstone Mountain a neutral territory and the new Home of the Clasp;
and to declare the use of magic and witchcraft illegal in the Clans.

The Clasp continued to exist, but was not very important, until the West was
discovered.  Trade routes began, immigration occured, and the Clasp became an
agency that represented the whole Clanlands.  It became more and more
important.

Then the East-West war began, and the Clasp became very important.  Now
politics is taking on whole new meanings with the peace summit...

THE CLANS

The People, The Human Beings -- these make up the Five Clans.  The "Senate"
(it's the closest Realm translation of the term) is made up of the heads of
the Five Clans.

The Clans practice tanistry; all members of the immediate family [NOTE: The
Realm has a different meaning of "immediate family"] of the current Clan Head
are considered equal heirs; upon the death of the Clan Head, the Clan elects
its new Head from this family.  In practice; the field of "immediate family"
is whittled down by the Head over his/her reign; he tends to have 3 or 4
favorites he feels capable of taking over (the Clan is free to elect a new
Head outside of his recommendation, however).  For the last few generations,
the Clan Head presumptive has been the eldest child of the current Head (yes,
the women can inherit from men, and vice versa).

Each Clan is made up of many families; Clan Head tends to stay in one or more
of the more prominent of the families.

Conscious of the wondrous machine called "the body", the Human Beings have a
propensity for naming their organizations after body parts (ie, the Heads),
especially those most amazing appendaged, that which sets us above the Beasts,
the Hands.  The Senatorial Bodyguard is the Iron Gauntlet -- strong, solid,
that which protects the Clasp (Eastern translation of Senate?).  The Left Hand
is a tongue-in-cheek name -- sigils for protection from evil were made by the
left hand; until very recently, witches were considered the epitome of evil.
The splinter group, the Black Hand, originally set out to blacken the Realm's
morale and chances at victory (then Morgause got her hands on it, and ... but
that's another story).  In part facetiously, the Assassins Illuminati is known
as the Right Hand, that which wields and manipulates.

ECONOMY.

The economics of the Clans is very different from that of the Realm.  Because
of the nature of the people, most of the exchange of goods is done with
bartering, with finely wrought metals and gems acting as measures of worth.
The Clans were considered poor by the Realm because they didn't exchange in
mythril (it was considered another gem with intrinsic beauty that could be
worked -- magic being illegal) and did exchange in things like metals (which
do have worth in the Realm, but, but not much).  In fact, the Clan Lands are
rich in all metals and (uh oh, idea) in high-grade mythril.  It wasn't
exploited by the People because 1) magic is illegal and 2) mythril isn't that
pretty.

The Clan barter system evolved because of the very different locations, skills
and resources of the clans.  The Goldenfield lands were the most easily farmed
of the Clanlands, the Greystones were miners and metalsmiths extraordinaire, 
the Bluemist clan became famous for their breeding of livestock, particularly 
horses.  The nomadic desert tribes of the Brightwind clans were very short on
raw materials and manufacturing, but were the best fighters of the lot when
given something to believe in--it was the Brightwind raiders who organized and
led the Clearstone revolution.  Finally came Clan Sweetwater, whose economic
stability is based mostly on its establishment as a religious site, a Mecca
for the Clans.  Though not as large, or as rich, as the Goldenfield lands, the
Sweetwater territories provide delicacies and exotic fruits known all over the
Clanlands; they also are famous for producing the best soothsayers and 
astrologers in the East.    
  [Please note:  This is in large part due to the Sweetwater Clan's
distinction as the center for witchcraft in the East, which is what is *truly*
responsible for their economic success.]

Every month, the Great Bazaar is held in the Clasplands, where merchants from
all over come to exchange their wares.  Merchant caravans and free traders
also ply their routes throughout the Clans.