Harvest Clan

From Historian Zelka, building upon the work of Zuebara Pulan in the book The Human Clans

With its origins in the war-torn pre-Empire times, Harvest Clan is a true outlier amongst the Human Clans, as its people are all strict pacifists who lead a largely vegetarian lifestyle. They are master farmers, who revere the earth itself, and the gods and goddesses of the hearth and of the harvest.

The founder of Harvest Clan was Mowra Erestaevan, a widowed peasant farmer with more than a dozen children. To her sorrow, her fields were ravaged and her husband killed during one of the many wars of the time. Denouncing war and swearing that none of her kin would ever be a party to such atrocities, she taught her children the value of peace, of caring for other people, and providing for themselves and others in need without harm to any living creature. Some became farmers, some became craftsman, others joined various peaceable Guilds to being their help to others.

Hearing of what Mowra had created and the values she espoused, other Humans, believing that her way of life would offer fulfillment, went to join her at her home far on the outer edges of the lands claimed by the Five Provinces. As time progressed, they developed into a good-sized, if extremely out of the way, farming community, and eventually, became known as the Harvest Clan.

The clan continues to put an emphasis on teaching and on learning crafts that would provide for the community and for others, such as farming, herb-growing, weaving, teaching, and healing. Hunting is always frowned upon, though it is sometimes necessary for survival. However, drawing swords against others of the mortal races, or participating (with the exception of healing the wounded of both sides) in warfare are both forbidden by the Clan.

To date, almost all the leaders of Harvest Clan have been female, in remembrance of Mowra and in reverence for the generative nature of women as illustrated in the act of childbearing.