Shihyr Malkron (shee-heer mal-kron)
"The clan lord is very displeased with you. He says you can pay him back the gold with your fingers. The going price is 100 gold for each one. Now about that debt of yours..."
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Culture and cultural heritage
The Shihyr Malkron's patron cult is the Coinbearers Court, a cruel slaving guild that mistreats and humiliates their slaves. During traditional tokage celebrations, they serve in various competitions and fights for their masters.
As the name Shihyr Malkron illicits fear in the ears of many, to bear a lineage to this terrifying clan is to accept the responsibility for the power one posseses because of it. To bear a debt of one's own instead of having others in debt is seen as a sign of weakness. Power and control are important aspects of this clan's heritage.
Shared customary codes and values
The Shihyr Malkron are a clan of tokage who trace their ancestry to the ship-building maritime merchants of early tokage history. They have a focus on gold and collecting debts, making up the majority of underworld organizations within the Drylands. Shihyr Malkron operate on a close-knit family structure, led by several clan lords who compete with one another operating the world's illicit trade routes. Several criminal syndicates work together to collaborate and establish backroom deals with important figures across the world of Ardras.
Average technological level
What the Shihyr Malkron lack in magitek, they make up for in a enormous black market of magical artifacts and goods. The Shihyr Malkron are also known to trade in information, and sell secrets, spies, and mercenaries at a high premium.
Common Etiquette rules
The clan members of Shihyr Malkron dominate the regions of the southern Drylands, they maintain a stranglehold on small villages in The Maw of Dragarn and Stand Stone Islands, demanding tribute.
Shihyr Malkron take what they want when they want it. They care little for proper mannerisms and etiquette. Powerful connections for some allow these nefarious lizardmen to walk as freemen even in the lands of Aristolia and Lithos.
Common Dress code
Powerful and influential tokage enjoy wearing expensive clothing from far-off lands, most notably the finer wear of Aristolian aristocrats. Those without such means wear simpler outfits of leather and linen.
Art & Architecture
The Shihyr Malkron have an eye for rare paintings, valuable artifacts, and obscure carpentry; their Shrgalas are often adorned with all manner of trophies and long-lost treasures. Unique sandstone and blackstone buildings are built in cities such as Dunegate and Shimmering Bay with iconography dating back thousands of years. These residencies were once palaces built for the ancient Byblosi Archaeum rulers, but were overtaken by the Shihyr Malkron in the Era of Dusk.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
The women of Shihyr Malkron have often been described as vanity personified, often caring for little else other than pampering the reflection in the mirror. Some say they do this because their gruff husbands do not give them enough love, though this is often considered gossip to those who know better than to run their lips.
Shihyr Malkron men don't focus too much on their appearance, as their grim visage adds to their prestige. Of course, this doesn't mean they don't enjoy adorning themselves with gleaming jewelery and gold to show off to their courts.
Gender Ideals
Shihyr Malkron men have a penchant for exotic oils and perfumes, often decorating themselves in gorgeous rings, amulets, and other jewelry. They are expected of course, to provide an income for those who rely on them, such as concubines, underlings, mercenaries, their courts, servants, and more.
Shihyr Malkron women, at least those with influence and power, also enjoy gold and jewelery, and are often in charge of guarding treasure hoards. They are more ferocious and agile than their male counterparts.
Courtship Ideals
Unlike most other Tokage, the Shihyr arrange their marriages, often by sharp tongued clan lords bargaining in power fueds. This kind of coupling is non-negotiable, and to refuse is to risk execution by the clan lord.
Lesser families are not beholden to these rules however, and often anybody able to get through the thick outer skin of a gruff or vain member of the Shihyr Malkron are deserving of recognition.
Relationship Ideals
The Shihyr Malkron clan guards many secrets and populate many dark alleyways; in their risk-filled world, a perfect partner is one who would die for the other, to do any less invites betrayal.
Major organizations
By far the most nefarious of all the clans, they operate an underground black market that stretches far across the Drylands and beyond.
Encompassed species
Related Organizations