Iron Hands Clan Lyann

[ninjaturtlethug]

Hey everyone, I haven't been able to find much time painting my army, so I decided to write some fan fiction on my Iron Hands clan. I'm pretty proud of it so far, I don't have much writing experience so if you find any grammar errors, or wording that doesn't sound right feel free to comment on it. I'll keep building on this as time goes by.

 

My goal was to blend in my story with the current fluff as much as possible, so if something contradicts any current fluff please let me know.

 

 

Iron Hands Clan Lyaan

 

Before Ferrus Manus arrived on Medusa, the planet was already in a constant state of gloom. There was no day and no night, rather a perpetual twilight created by a thick atmosphere that didn’t quite entirely blot out the sun. At this time Clan Lyaan was of the smallest and most insignificant of the clans that roamed Medusa. The clans at this time used their greater strength to gradually force Clan Lyaan to migrate towards the largest and most dangerous volcano on the planet, Mt. Dirrul. The area around the volcano was dangerous and food was even more scarce than the rest of the planet. While the rest of the planet had enough food to get by; Clan Lyaan had to constantly roam around and scrape for every meal they found. Life was hard for them.

 

Fortunes changed for the clan after the sky lit up one night and a meteor crashed into the ice pinnacle in the north; the geography and climate of the planet changed forever. Ash filled the sky, . The increased atmosphere released from this new plate activity was enough to kill all but the most hardy of food supplies. It didn’t take long for food all over the planet to become scarce. Clan Lyaan already knew how to survive in these conditions, while the other clans didn’t. Suddenly it was no longer a disadvantage to be located near the tectonically active volcano. The shock of the meteor had nearly destroyed the planet, and the landscape was now constantly changing shape. In fact, far from being a disadvantage, the impact of the meteor had opened a fissure deep into the terrain near Mt. Diirul, revealing an extremely useful metal that had never been seen before. Occasionally trading this metal for food and other resources, and using the metal to build advanced weaponry and defenses. The clan used their newly found advantage over the other clans to grow into the largest and most powerful on Medusa.

 

The metal was used in all kinds of ways; from weaponry to worship. It was lightweight, and several times stronger than any metal anyone on Medusa had ever come across before, but mining it, was an extremely difficult task. The metal was extremely deep, and the while the tectonic activity always brought new material to the mine, it also constantly collapsed the mine shafts, killing workers. With so much dependence on the metal, the clan came to worship it as a blessing from the gods, as they did the volcano, and the fissure leading from it. Supply of the metal would always replenish itself due to the volcanic activity, every plume of magma would spread this metal throughout the chasm.

 

The clan kept its grudges from generations of oppression from the other clans, and in return would not allow any of them to grow too powerful. Though the metal was highly in demand the clan kept most of it for themselves, only trading it when it was absolutely necessary. Raids were often attempted by the other clans to steal this precious metal, and find its source; but with superior defenses thanks to this metal they were almost always fended off. In some rare cases that opposing clans would work together to break through, they went home empty handed. The metal remained stored deep underground, and its secret was closely kept. The secret of where the metal came from was so important, that if a member of clan Lyaan found unworthy of living with the clan, they were executed mercilessly rather than banished. As time went on, the clan only became more and more ruthless.

 

Time went on and the economy grew, as workers dug the metal, they found new ways of using it, this in turn allowed them to excavate more metal. The clan continued to prosper, but remained isolated from the other clans, and their ruthlessness spread from being used primarily to guard their secret, to being intolerant of any acts of selfishness, until eventually evolving into a hatred of failure. Their society became very close knit with each other; soon, betrayal in clan Lyann was unheard of. People made decisions based on what was good for everyone, not just themselves. This commitment to each other, along with the actions of one man, was the only thing to save them from “It”.

 

A great metal wyrm manifested after a particularly large quake. Something had been disturbed deep inside medusa. The worm would often come to terrorize the clan, leaving behind destruction, and then move along elsewhere. Had the clan not developed such a strong culture, and had staying true to each other not been so firmly rooted in their behavior, the clan would surely have been destroyed. All they knew about the metal beast was that it lived deep inside the fissure, and time and time again warriors would head into the depths to seek it out. Many never made it back alive, of those that did, only a scant few ever saw the beast down there. And nobody ever caught a glimpse of where it stayed. Things looked grim, fortunately they found an answer.

 

A very young man found his way to their clan, he had always been curious about the volcano he could see just over the horizon, and one day set off for it, alone. He arrived at the tribe without a name, explaining to them that he never found the words that could describe who he was. The tribe was also astounded to learn that the man was only 14 years old, though he had a physique larger than any man the tribe had ever seen and was several times stronger than any other tribesman. Initially he was regarded with extreme suspicion, but it quickly became clear that he was special, that he was their only hope. Although he never swore loyalty to clan Lyaan, he eventually won over the tribes confidence and was officially accepted as a member of Clan Lyaan at the age of 16, as the only foreign person ever to be inducted.

The man knew he was special, and spent several years of his life with the clan, he learned about their past. He learned about their prior struggles with other clans and against the elements. He dreamed of uniting the clans, believing that through teamwork Asinroth would fall. He learned about the day of his arrival, and the changes it had on the planet. He learned about the change in fortunes Clan Lyaan had after words, while the other clans suddenly struggled to survive. Upon hearing of this he realized that unification of the clans would only weaken them as a whole; he needed to encourage their rivalries while encouraging them to work together when the need was great, this would keep them strong. He spent months on end tracking Asinroth, going from clan to clan earning their trust. Progress was slow, the man would spend weeks in the fissure trying to figure out where Asinroth lived, the beast had a clear advantage in the chasm, and had nearly killed him several times, but the man always managed to keep his wits about him and stay alive.

 

Finally after one particular trip to the fissure, he had found something. The clan never found out what he discovered down there, but whatever it was lead the man to the ancient Land of Shadows. When he returned days later, his hands were permanently covered in the very metal the clans had been mining for years. While fighting Asinroth, he had finally found the inspiration for his own name; Ferrus Mannus.

 

Upon Ferrus’ return from killing asinroth, he had been gifted with all kinds of great ideas, he taught the clans to use his knowledge, and innovation spread throughout the world, suddenly the clans were building machines out of their metal, and using the land as they had never before. The clans would always have to scrape together food, but there would never be a shortage of raw materials to build with. Clan Lyaan, and all of Medusa, had entered a golden age.