The Coho Clan - Spieden - Sep 08, 2016
[dohtml]The Coho Clan
Origins
The Coho Clan is a rather recently formed bloodline, currently only reaching back three generations to it’s founding pair, Skana and Kawak Coho. However, the Cohos owe their roots to a clan found on the western coast of Canada, in a land of saltwater, rugged beaches and fjords, the Blackfish. Once tightly knit and family oriented, the Cohos are now found in farflung reaches following the betrayal of Skana and Kawak, and the ultimate demise of the pack they had founded together.
It was in Relic Lore Skana found a new beginning, leaving her mark in her own way before her death within the lands. Several of her children had also independently made their way to the Lore, seemingly unaware of eachother.
Heredity
Lineage in the Blackfish clan is traced through the maternal side rather than paternally, thus admittance to the clan (and inheritance of “blood”) is based off of one’s mother. Males married into the clan take the Blackfish surname. A female taking a male’s surname is considered unusual in the area and practically unheard of within the Blackfish clan. Skana broke these norms in adopting her mate's surname of Coho.
Mythos
Overall, members of the Coho clan tend to follow the same religion as found in their coastal homeland. The Blackfish clan’s foundational belief is that they descend from a killer whale ancestor. Various interpretations of the legend exist, often centering on the adoption of a seacub gifted from the whales to the wolves. The common thread to each variation of the tale is that the great seawolf Gonakadet was returning a kindness shown to him by the landwolves, and that one of his children is the foundational ancestor for the Blackfish clan. Some believed that the descendants had been able to shift between whale and wolf form at will and that this ability has simply been forgotten through the generations.
Their religion is animistic, believing that animals and natural features are inhabited by spirits, and the world is filled with many gods that control these things. Though the great seawolf is their patron god, it is not unusual to seek favor with the gods of other species. Small rituals and prayers may be performed to ensure a certain outcome, seek favor or advise, give thanks, or otherwise communicate with the spirit world, with water frequently used as a spiritual conduit.
Family Tree
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RE: The Coho Clan - Spieden - Sep 08, 2016
[dohtml]First Generation
Skana has the honor of being the first Coho to make it to Relic Lore. Despite Skana’s cool confidence and wisdom of her later life, her earlier years were very much filled with trial and error with more brash and spontaneous tendencies. Young Skana was quite taken by the amiable, wandering Kawak, and despite her parents protests she eloped with him. This was quite the disappointment to her family as the eldest daughter, Skana was meant to be heiress to the head matriarch. While marriages were not explicitly “arranged”, it was traditional for the elders to vet suitors and ensure unions were advantageous to the clan. Kawak’s background was highly questionable and Skana went against her parents wishes in leaving with him. Together they formed the Salmon River pack. Following Kawak's death, Skana barely escaped with her life and unwittingly landed in the realm of Relic Lore. Here she worked her way into the respects of the leader of Willow Ridge, becoming Elettra's trusted advisor. Not only did Skana lend her advice in matters of the pack, but was a sort of grandmother figure to Elettra's pups. Skana lived out the rest of her days in Willow Ridge, taken by a harsh winter just before her eighth year.
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Kawak Coho 
A charismatic and gregarious wolf, bright in attitude and truly quite charming, he was often able to win others over to his side without force. A bastard son, born to a low caste female named Kalakala Coho and a lone male simply known as Kamooks (“dog”) who had made himself scarce well before Kawak’s birth. The man's primary downfall was that he was overly trusting, and blind to the scheme that was brewing within the ranks. Kawak was killed in a coup d' etat instigated by the pack's second, Lila.
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Wasgo Blackfish
Teacher, story-teller, legend-keeper, Skana’s littermate and overall right-hand man. Though technically not a 'Coho', Following Skana’s schism from the main clan, Wasgo remained loyal to Skana and helped establish Salmon River. An easy-going, genial sort, but very wise and an “old soul”. Wasgo was much more religious than his sister, causing some strife between him and Skana but nothing that couldn’t be overcome by simply agreeing to disagree and a good scuffle here and there. Much of the education of the cubs was left over to Wasgo, and whether they took after their uncle’s spiritual beliefs in line with the clan or their mother’s agnosticism is much of a coin toss either way.
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RE: The Coho Clan - Spieden - Sep 09, 2016
[dohtml]Second Generation
As just a yearling, Spieden had witnessed the murder of her father, Kawak, and the exile of her mother, Skana Coho, who she presumed to have died shortly after from injuries. Perhaps if Spieden had fled with her mother then, she may have been spared years of suffering. Spieden was forced into servitude by the usurper of Salmon River, and held prisoner in her own home with her brother Kelp. Spieden attempted escape many times, and nearing her fourth birthday was she finally successful in eluding the border patrol.
Having made her escape, Spieden aimlessly traveled into the land of Relic Lore, unknowing this was the same place her mother came to years prior. Wary about joining a pack, but finding life as a lone wolf challenging, Spieden made the difficult decision to join the ranks of Oak Tree Bend. By some twist of fate, the mysterious disappearance of the pack's lead female Nayeli resulted in Spieden stepping up to the plate to fill the role. Nayeli made a brief reappearance hounded by a band of religious zealots, staying long enough to birth two cubs before she vanished again. With no other alternatives, Spieden stepped forward to serve as the surrogate mother to Sahalie and Drift, whom she now considers equal to her own blood. In her sixth year, as a result of a fit of hormone fueled madness Spieden gave birth to two cubs, Marina and Mako. Spieden never learned the name of their sire, Valiant. She came to believe through a series of dreams and hallucinations that their father is the god Gonakadeit, who had taken the temporary form of a wolf. Spieden's reign of two years at Oak Tree Bend came to an end when she was challenged by Aponi for leadership of the Bend. The ghosts of Spieden's past returned to haunt her, and in a paranoid frenzy believed that her family was in mortal danger just as it was before at Salmon River. Spieden fled in the dead of winter with her children in tow, choosing to brave winter as lone wolves rather than risk reliving the past. With a small gaggle of her children and their friends in tow, Spieden briefly stayed with the pack Whitestone Monadnock. Feeling like she never quite fit in there, Spieden and her girlfriend Capable, along with Mako and Marina eventually left Relic Lore to return to her coastal birthplace to live with the Blackfish.
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Polaris was the first born and most independent of the siblings, hotheaded but kind hearted. She remained with Salmon River through it's shift in leadership, but quickly left when she sensed things were turning sour for the Coho children that remained. She was the first of the second generation to make it to Relic Lore, though her stay within the lands was brief and it is unknown what she has been up to since then.
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Kelp was held prisoner along with his sister Spieden, and was the first to escape with Spieden's help. He briefly passed through Relic Lore.
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RE: The Coho Clan - Spieden - Sep 09, 2016
[dohtml]Third Generation
Born to Oak Tree Bend and single mother, Spieden, young Marina is being raised alongside her brother, Mako, by the entire pack. With so many pups in the pack, there was always someone around to keep the young Coho amused, if not her own brother. Her favorite playmate, however, is her older sister, Sahalie Tainn -- that they aren't actually related by blood means absolutely nothing to Marina. Hal is her sister. There is no two ways around it. When running from Oak Tree Bend, there is nothing more important to her than staying with her mother, brother, and her sister. Family is all you got in times like these.
As far as anyone knows, Marina has stayed with Spieden and the Blackfish at the coast.
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Mako and his sister Marina were born to Spieden Coho when she lead Oak Tree Bend, sired by an unknown loner of a father. Following his mother's loss of leadership and subsequent mental breakdown, he followed his family to Whitestone Monadnock and lived there for a short time before they all relocated to his mother's birthplace on the coast. Mako lived with the Blackfish for a year before growing curious about Relic Lore and returning.
Mako now lives at Driftwood Surge.
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RE: The Coho Clan - Spieden - Sep 09, 2016
[dohtml]Other Generations
Info here
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