“Steel is forged in rivalry, loyalty in blood.”
For as long as there have been people on Hade, there have been clans. Born in an age of fire and blood, the clans rose from scattered warlords who fought endlessly for land, wealth, and honor. For millennia, their wars ravaged the rocky shrublands, scorching plains and leaving the world marked with craters and ruins. Yet out of this chaos, a balance was struck in the form of the Treaties of Delicos, a pact that ended the bloodiest of wars and gave birth to the modern Council of Clans.
Today, eight great clans hold sway over Hade, each with its own enclave in the capital city of Delicos and its own dominion across the rugged plains. They still scheme, still duel, and still send their mercenaries across the galaxy — but above all, they remain bound to the ancient truth: clan comes first.
"The blade is only as strong as the hand that pays for it."
Clan Arsto are the keepers of wealth, the lords of trade and coin. Descended from ancient merchant princes who grew rich selling arms during the clan wars, they remain the masters of Hade’s economy. It was Arsto silver that funded the building of Delicos itself, and their trade halls are said to ring with the voices of ten thousand merchants at any hour.
Their mercenaries are well-paid, well-equipped, and fiercely loyal so long as contracts are honored. Rivals sneer at their “soft hands,” but none deny that Arsto gold flows through every deal struck on Hade.
Enclave: A sprawling fortress of blacksteel and amber-lit halls. Vaults beneath the complex hold fortunes in jewels, weapons, and contracts sealed in blood. Great amber-glass windows cast golden light across bustling trade halls where mercenaries and merchants alike haggle for services.
Appearance & Flair: Arsto warriors wear polished tan and gold armor, often ornamented with etched coin-motifs or inlaid amber stones. Their capes shine like coin in the sun, a promise of wealth — or a threat of ruin.
"In silence, we strike; in loyalty, we endure."
If Arsto are the voice of gold, Zelios are the whisper of steel. Their roots trace back to assassins and spies who made and unmade warlords in the age of chaos. Today, they are famed both as diplomats and as the galaxy’s most discreet killers. To hire a Zelios is to purchase silence — permanent silence, if needed.
The greatest nobles and crime lords alike seek Zelios bodyguards, famed for their unbreakable loyalty. A Zelios contract is a sacred bond, and it is whispered no Zelios has ever failed one.
Enclave: An obsidian-dark fortress in Delicos, its walls smooth and unyielding. Hidden passages twist through the complex, training halls echo with whispers, and high balconies look out over the city like silent sentinels. The air smells faintly of incense, masking the blood spilled in its halls.
Appearance & Flair: Zelios mercenaries wear sleek midnight-blue armor, faceless helms reflecting starlight. Their emblem, a black star on teal, marks only those who have passed the Rite of Silence — a ritual said to strip away fear.
"Our fangs in your throat, our banners in your blood."
The bloodiest of all clans, Mordane earned their name in the wars of old, when their armies fought alongside massive war hounds bred for savagery. Their scarred warriors are brutal shock troopers, breaking enemies with sheer force and unrelenting ferocity.
Honor, to a Mordane, is written in scars. Cowards are branded, but those who stand on the battlefields and return bloodied are revered as heroes. Their warhounds, often cybernetically enhanced, are treated as kin — to slay one is to earn a vendetta that lasts generations.
Enclave: Less a fortress than a war-camp, with massive kennels, training pits, and the constant roar of hounds and mercenaries sparring. Walls are painted crimson with clan symbols, and trophies from conquered foes hang as grim decorations.
Appearance & Flair: Blood-red mercenary armor, jagged pauldrons, and snarling hound emblems etched into every rifle and blade. Mordane mercenaries march with their beasts beside them, iron muzzles dripping with saliva.
"The wind is our blade, the stars our hunting ground."
Velkar are the winged fangs of Hade — ace pilots, reckless duelists, and skyborne raiders. Their history is tied to the first gravcrafts built during the clan wars, when Velkar champions rained death from above and claimed dominion over the skies.
Today, Velkar mercenaries dominate starfighter combat across the galaxy. Their dueling culture remains intact, with Velkar pilots engaging rivals in formalized aerial duels, often to the death.
Enclave: A gleaming spire rising above Delicos, with hangars carved into its sides. The sky around the tower is always alive with training craft and dueling gravfighters. Inside, star maps and trophies from aerial battles line the walls.
Appearance & Flair: Sleek silver flight armor with violet trims, adorned with snarling fang motifs. Velkar ships often bear painted jaws and claw-marks, making their approach a terror to behold.
"We do not break. We do not yield. We are the wall."
Stoic and unyielding, Vorstag are the eternal defenders of Hade. Where others charge or scheme, Vorstag endure, building fortresses and shield lines that cannot be breached. In the clan wars, their bastions held against sieges lasting decades, earning them the name “Iron Bulwark.”
Vorstag mercenaries are deployed as garrison forces and heavy infantry, holding lines with heavy blaster rifle and sword.
Enclave: A fortress-within-a-fortress, its walls layered and bristling with heavy cannons. Inside, endless training grounds echo with the rhythmic march of infantry drills. Their forges produce some of Hade’s strongest defensive arms.
Appearance & Flair: Bronze mercenary armor reinforced for durability, with heavy Blaster Rifles emblazoned with fortress symbols. When Vorstag stand together, they form living walls of bronze.
"The serpent does not roar; it strikes."
Born of hunters and scouts, Kyros mastered survival in Hade’s harshest wilds. They are trackers, snipers, and silent killers who can vanish into stone and shadow alike. Outsiders see them as feral, but their patience and precision have decided wars before they began.
Kyros mercenaries are valued as infiltrators and wilderness guides, able to track prey for months without rest.
Enclave: Hidden in Hade’s cliffs, its entrance nearly invisible. The halls are austere, with serpent carvings winding along walls. Training pits are filled with simulated wilderness environments where initiates prove their skill.
Appearance & Flair: Dark green mercenary scout armor patterned to break silhouettes, serpent-fang charms tied to weapons. Every Kyros carries a dagger forged in their initiation hunt, said never to miss its mark.
"The steel remembers its maker."
The smiths of Hade, Clan Drosvik believe that the soul of a warrior is bound to their weapon. Their ancestors forged arms for every clan during the wars, but kept the best for themselves. Even now, every Drosvik warrior bears a weapon forged by their own hand, blessed in fire and blood.
Their mercenaries are famed not just for their strength, but for the artistry of their arms. A Drosvik sword or rifle is as beautiful as it is deadly.
Enclave: A fortress of smoke and flame, its sky blackened by forges. The clang of industrial hammers and roar of furnaces never ceases. Training yards ring with the clash of steel, and halls are decorated with weapons stretching back thousands of years.
Appearance & Flair: Burnished orange armor engraved with flame sigils. Their weapons are ornate, often named and passed down for generations. Losing one’s blade or rifle is seen as worse than death.
"War is the highest form of thought."
Feared and distrusted, Veynar walk the line between warrior and sorcerer. Masters of Psionica and warfare philosophy, they see battle as art — every campaign a canvas, every soldier a brushstroke. Their ancestors were strategists who broke armies with cunning and strange powers, and their legacy continues.
Veynar mercenaries are both generals and psionic shock troops, commanding with chilling precision. To many, they are as terrifying as Warp Demons.
Enclave: A monolithic black tower rising in Delicos, surrounded by whispering gardens of white stone. Inside, libraries and psionic archives hum with energy. Warriors train in both spellcraft and swordplay, blending arcane might with martial discipline.
Appearance & Flair: Black armor traced with glowing spiral runes, helmets crowned with psionic visors. Their presence on the battlefield warps morale itself — allies feel inspired, enemies driven to despair.
The Council of Clans convenes in Delicos within the great pyramid of blacksteel, each clan seated by right of blood and conquest. Their debates are fierce, their rivalries eternal, but the Treaties of Delicos bind them: clan may war with clan, but Hade bows to none.