Flamepunk: The Hadar Families

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"You are a liar!" Jamil shouted, his face turning beet red with anger, "you gave Bushra your word and then went ahead and stole her ird!"

"And you are blowing smoke," Saif replied calmly, inspecting his manicured nails. "The little flamer is the one who abandoned me."

"Gentlemen," the Mubesha interrupted quietly, raising one scarred hand in a calming gesture, "You will control your tempers in my bayt. We Hadar are honorable, regardless of family; there will be no Burnout displays here."

"Saif is my khamsa, and you are no cousin of mine, Jamil Abdukrahman," the elderly Mubesha continued calmly, apparently indifferent to the hot glares being shot the young man's way from around the room. "You are here under the protection of my diyafa, but considering the enmity between our two goum, no one here questions your sharaf hamasa." The Mubesha leaned forward slightly and continued in an, if possible, calmer tone. "But these are serious insults and grave accusations you make against a member of the Rizwaan tribe."

"I beg forgiveness Mubesha," Jamil replied more calmly with a slight bow that allowed his rune tattoos to peek over the collar of his shirt, "but the insults made against my goum are equally grave. As you know, a woman's ird is not her virginity, but a matter of her word of honor, a measure of her trustworthiness." The Mubesha nodded gravely, motioning again for him to continue.

"I am here to formally accuse Saif Waseemah, khamsa to the Rizwaan goum of taking the ird of my sister, Bushra Abdukrahman, given in good faith, and then falsely accusing her of unfaithfulness." An angry murmur swirled around the smoky room.

The Mubesha remained silent for nearly a minute and then spoke. "We are the Hadar; we are ibn amm. Our ways are simple: 'I against my brothers, I and my brothers against my cousins, I and my brothers and my cousins against the world.' " The observers scattered around the room nodded, Jamil with them. This was the very basis of Hadar life. "What separates us from the world is our honor. It is what makes us Hadar and not just petty thieves. Although it angers me to pay even the slightest attention to these rumors from an enemy about my cousin, ird is a matter of honor. If the accusations are true, then Saif has acted dishonorably, and can no longer claim the honorable protection of my diyafa." Saif stirred silently in his chair, suddenly not so sure of the outcome. "Since there is no evidence to support either side, simply each one's word, I declare bisha'a."

The room broke into sudden commotion at the Mubesha's decision. Bisha'a, or the Ordeal by Fire, was the traditional Hadar method for detecting liars. A large iron ladle, called a tassa bil basha, was heated in coals and both claimants were asked to lick the ladle three times. The Mubesha counted a short pause on the ritual kombolói beads, and then inspected both party's tongues. Tradition held that a liar's mouth went dry, so whichever person's tongue was most badly burned was considered the liar.

"I accept the wise decision of the Mubesha," Jamil declared after only a short pause, confidentially staring across the room Saif.

"I-I-I-I r-r-refuse," stammered a suddenly badly sweating Saif, unable to meet Jamil's eyes, "I-I-I will ac-ac-accept whatever p-p-punishment the Mubesha d-d-decrees." Traditionally, bisha'a was voluntary, but if one side refused he was automatically considered guilty.

"Very well," the Mubesha murmured. "Jamil Abdukrahman, I formally declare Saif Waseemah a liar and further declare your sister Bushra's ird to be intact. She is to be considered honorable by all Hadar unless she proves herself not so at a later time. However, we will punish Saif as a private family matter; there will be no attempts to punish him from your tribe. Is this acceptable to you?" Jamil paused, obviously torn between two emotions.

"I will accept your ruling, wise Mubesha," he replied with a sigh. "I suspect my goum would feel the same, and my Mubesha would probably make the same decision. For myself, I will not seek further revenge against Saif, but if word gets back to my khamsa he was punished lightly, I can not be held accountable for their actions." The Mubesha nodded. "Then with that I will impose on your diyafa no longer. You have been a gracious host, Sanura Rizwaan."

The elderly woman in expensive business robes watched impassively as the young man walked out of her "tent," just the back room of a high-class restaurant really, but tradition had to be maintained. If only my children were more like that brave young man, she thought sadly, this unending turf war might be over by now. Well, I suppose it's never too late to start. She turned her attention back to her sister's rather pale excuse for a son.

"Saif Waseemah," she started, as emotionless as a Church Templar, "you have intentionally attempted to dishonor another Hadar, and by doing so," and getting caught, you twit "lost your own sharaf." Her voice rose toward boiling. "To make matters worse, now all the ibn amm will know that a member of the Rizwaan goum was without honor." Her voice burned as hot as one of the Guild's furnaces. "And finally, you tried to take away a young girl's ird, why, because she wouldn't go down on you?!? Hadar women own all property in our society, but only if their word of honor is unquestioned! If a woman is unfaithful in bed, how can her goum trust her with their wealth?" she spat at him. "I am only Mubesha today because your ird-less mother conceived you while she claimed to be faithful to another. I can see we have a unique opportunity to prevent your line's dum from infecting our tribe any longer. Who knows, perhaps its lack will even keep you out of trouble."

She beckoned to her tattooed Hadarram sons with a badly scarred hand as Saif's eyes went wide with understanding. "Emascualte him." --originally written by Daneel--

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The Hadar

The Hadar are a loose confederation of crime families whose power rivals that of the Guilds. With fingers in every pie and at every level of society, they are dealers in sin and blood without equal. The Hadar tattoo themselves with images of black flames; it is whispered that they have made pacts with dark elemental lords, who grant them the power to douse flames and shatter lights.

"The Hadar" is the collective name for a group of powerful families who are one of the supreme military forces on (Name of World). The Hadar are involved in society at many levels, and find themselves coming into conflict with the Church and the Guilds. Hadar enterprises are frequently street-level, but they are by no means "common crooks" or unsophisticated thugs.

Hadar Culture

Honor among the Hadar

There is a saying that there is no honor among thieves, but rest assured this quaint idiom would be entirely foreign to the Hadar.

The central pillars of Hadar belief is honor, known as ird (for women) and sharaf (for men). There are distinctions between these two, most notably the fact that a woman's ird, once lost, can never be regained. Since women own all property within Hadar society, as long as their ird is intact, the loss of ird can pitch an entire family group onto the street. By contrast, a man's sharaf can be lost and regained. In both cases, Hadar's honor is her unquestioned word and unimpeachable integrity, the promise that when she says a thing will be done, it is done.

Honor is so essential to the way of Hadar life that no insult is greater than impugning the honor of another Hadar. In a sense, the denigration of one's honor is worse than murder: a Hadar without honor is no Hadar, and when his flame goes out, he will be spat upon by his mother and sisters, and forgotten.

On the other hand, the Hadar rarely expect non-Hadar to understand, much less adhere to, their unique code. The word of an outsider is worth only as much as they can provide to back it up. It is the rare person who has earned the respect of a Hadar to the point that their word is good enough.

Conflicts of Honor

Since Hadar families are often in conflict with each other, it is inevitable that one Hadar will insult the honor of another. In most cases, questions of honor are settled in the old-fashioned way, by fists, feet, and blades. A savage beating, or even a murder, is by no means an unusual event among the Hadar.

The problem with such a rigid code of honor is that such exchanges, between two individuals, can quickly cascade into a blood feud between Families. The Hadar have, over the millennia, recognized that it was not always in the best interest of the Families to allow such endless feuding to continue to the detriment of the Hadar people. Avenging one's honor is one thing, but to act like blood-crazed savages is unbecoming. Thus, for those Hadar who seek it - or are forced to seek it by family - there exist a set of traditions and customs to resolve disputes and questions of honor among the Families.

Such arbitrations are handled by Family elders, and their word is law. If both parties accept the final ruling of the elders, then the conflict is over. However, it is the right of the parties to the dispute to singly or together refuse to accept a ruling from the elders. In such a case, the parties must undergo a trial. This trial may be an ordeal - usually painful, such as the bisha'a lie detection test - that both parties must undergo and be judged on; it may be a formal trial wherein witnesses and testimony are presented; or, in some cases, it is a simple duel. The most painful ordeals and duels are reserved for the most grievous conflicts.

Hadar Organization

Though individual Hadar may operate independently while engaging in their criminal enterprises, the structure of the Hadar society is as follows.

The Families

The true power behind the Hadar, and the feudal lords of all who serve them. Some Families are truly caring for their communities, while others seek only power and influence. The Families are interlinked by a byzantine web of contracts, marriages, and debts, and so rarely go to war against each other. It is not uncommon for Family members to hold ranks in the Guilds or in the Church, allowing Hadar influence a foothold in those organizations.

Families are organized into a hierarchy.

Bayt

The smallest family unit is the bayt, or "tent," harkening back to the Hadar's days as a nomadic culture. In the past, a Tent might be a few adults and children, but at this time, a Tent can be a rather large or extended family. In all cases, however, the Tent has a matriarch heading the family.

Goum

This is an extended grouping of bayts linked together by marriage or common ancestry.

Ibn amm

These are also known as "descent groups," and are formed by the 3 to 5 generations of cousins, nieces, and nephews of a goum.

Hadar Shadows

The Hadar Shadows are expertly-trained warriors who specialize in the use of smokecraft to accomplish their goals. They can bend smoke to their will, using it to create confusion, poison their enemies, and extinguish flame-based weaponry.

Hadar Ashwalkers

"You must be talking about the Ashwalkers, what they call their Hadarram. I don't really know how they do what they do, but they say that the Ashwalkers can somehow harness an inner flame. Even without brands or fireware, they can still manifest many similar abilities. Any blazer along the Wick or down in the Embers can score a set of flamebound knuckles or a firetongue, but Ashwalkers have been seen to catch blasts of flame with their bare hands and hurl it back at their attackers or mold the flame into a sort of lance or whip to lay waste to everyone around them. They can run across flying sparks. I've even heard rumors about real masters being able to sheath their whole bodies with a solid fiery aura that lets them stand toe to toe with an infernal engine."

The Hadar Ashwalkers are paragons of inner discipline, and have harnessed the very flame of their soul as a weapon and as a guardian. They can project searing heat from their bodies, see into the infrared, and guard themselves from the effects of fire. Together with the Shadows, they are the elite soldiers of the Hadar.

Life and Death among the Hadar

Benefits

• Family: everyone fears the Hadar; they are a family. Hurt one, and they are all after you. Join a Hadar family, and know they have your back. Also, respect; you have the flashy clothes, the hottest new mounts, and you move to the front of the line at restaurants and clubs.

Drawbacks

• The other families: it's a tough life, constantly getting blood revenge. After you're seen enough violence, it can be tough to remember the original reason why you're fighting; the flame Rage shades everything red. Also, loyalty only goes up the chain; you're expected to do what you're told. You steal what they tell you to steal, you threaten who they tell you to threaten, and you kill who they tell you to kill. And Flame forbid you get romantically involved with someone who's not family.

Powers

• The Hadar are masters of rune tattoo binding. No one else has your speed and reaction time with flame; bindstones and prayers deal with forces outside yourself, but your flame is a part of who you are, and you use it as instinctively as another walks.

Hadar Termination

• Blood in, blood out. You're in the Family for life ... literally. And sometimes you just Burnout.

Flamepunks

• They may copy Hadar rune tattoos as rune scars without fear of reprisals, but the secret of how to apply rune tattoos is kept among the highest ranks of the Families. Generally, rune scars aren't as powerful or versatile as rune tattoos, and much more painful to get, and much more prone to Rage and Burnout. The Hadar view 'punks as raw street trash, without their sense of belonging, history or family.