#darklanders

Dear Caste Castigator,

As many ideas do—be they dangerous or benign—it began as innocent curiosity. Every generation inevitably asks itself the same question: “What is my purpose? For what reason was I created? What part do I have to play, in our society?” Our alt-modes are important to us, and throughout history, many have looked to our forms for the answer. “Why do I turn into this, and not that? If I was designed this way, then what for?” And as we find that our own bodies have precious few answers to give us, we turn to those around us: “Why are there more cars than particle accelerators?” At the dawn of our civilisation, even my siblings wondered about these mysteries.

It was during the rise of Nova Prime, in response to the war of the Primes, that these philosophical questions morphed into the ideology of Functionism. Nova Prime decided that the tribes had gone astray—that each had their own divine purpose to fulfill, which they had forsaken. He recruited twelve bots—one from each of the original tribes, excepting Onyx's—who formed a council to comprehend and expand this list of functions, forming the first Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy.

Having arrived at what they believed to be a complete set of categories, they thus set out to fit the planet’s population into these categories. At its basis, this meant that Solus’ followers were assigned to work in the forges; Alpha Trion’s followers to the archives; the Darklanders to the barracks. Few at the time considered this societal structure to be asserted unnaturally. Rather, it was seen as codifying the existing cultures of the tribes, unifying them in its view of Cybertron as a single people collectively working to a divine mandate. The dissenting voice of the Beasts was easy to disregard, given their defeat at the Citadel of Light, and most abandoned Nova’s society to live in the wilderness.

As the Golden Age continued, the Taxonomy grew more and more complicated. The original set of castes was expanded, coinciding with the introduction of ratioism: the more unique your alternate mode, the more important you were believed to be. Castes believed to be “important for society” were heavily subdivided into hyperspecialized classes, allowing the Prime and his followers to be seen as blessed. Meanwhile, laborers remained in larger, more generalized castes, where they were treated as interchangeable.

Naturally there were objections to this—but with the weapons held by the newly-formed military classes, the rebellion was halted in its tracks, and society was forced to accept the caste system wholly, even as it grew ever more byzantine and oppressive.

The devout followers of Prima, the Houses of Light divided themselves under given surnames, many of which are still prominent in Cybertronian society today, including House Pax, House Ambus and House Maximus. The Houses of Light were often in stories portrayed as less of a tribe and more an order of gallant knights, and are to this day seen as keeps of order, hosting the largest number of Convoys from their lineage.

Considered a tribe of barbarians and conquerors by the history books, the Darklanders were those that followed Megatronus, taking their name from the wild and then untamed regions of Cybertron that they resided in. It is said that the surviving Darklanders thrived after the Schism, forming under warlords to try and rule what remained of the then scorched planet.

The followers of Onyx Prime, the members of the Flock sought to spread their wings out into the cosmos and create new homes for themselves. They believed in finding that balance between the organic and the technological, and unlike others would rather live alongside the organic nature of their adopted homeworlds. While isolation has lead some descended warlords such as Gigatron, Yharon and Dragotron to see a bestial superiority, it is known that Onyx always advocated a way of collaboration.

A tribe that focused on both smithing and artistry, it is said that this tribe were taught by Solus to see the beauty in all things. Contributing to Solus’ work on the Primal Amory, the Radiant Forges departed Cybertron completely on the advent of the Schism, seeking to avoid conflict and preserving their culture in honour of Solus, as well as hiding as many of the weapons they were responsible for. While they were only remembered only by name and relics for many eons, the emergence of Caminus lead to a resurgence of their culture.

Those that followed Amalgus Prime were said to be those that believed that transformation was the most fundamental function of their being. It is said that all natural triple changers were descended from the people of the Enigmakind, with rumours spreading some of their kind had evolved to have even more mode. None of the Enigmakind, however, could ever truly guess the depths of their leader’s obsession with form and transformation, nor the steps they would take to affirm this.

Said to be the forebearers of the minicon race, the people who followed Micronus Prime were said to be the earliest to sprout the irregular abilities that would come to be known as “Talents”. The Micron Arms were firms believers in unity and that they were stronger together, a statement attested to by entries that say the people of the Micron Arms were even able to bolster the powers of their allies with the abilities.

The servants of Liege Maximo, it is said that many of those that joined this tribe were manipulated by Liege or his acolytes, fed lies to buy their loyalty to them. While in most cases this would make the tribe fragile, Liege’s mastery of the spoken tongue allowed the tribe to remain intact, at least until he vanished into the Dark Ages.

Knowledge and Wisdom is true power, especially to the followers of Alpha Trion. They were said to be seekers of great knowledge, believing that everything has future consequences. Every event recorded in detail, giving Cybertronians a vast degree of information on the past that not even the smartest races of the galaxy can hope to have. It is said that the Dark Age that came after the Schism, before Knight Convoy uncovered the Matrix, is the one blank mark of the Lorekeepers’ records, and they hope one day to change that.

One of the least well understood of the Thirteen Tribes, Gestalta followed the teachings of Nexus Prime, said to act as middlemen between the different tribes to maintain stability and foster unity. With the recent rediscovery of combiner technology, some are beginning to suspect the name Gestalta and their interest in unity had a double meaning.

One might call the Adherents of the Moment less of a tribe and more of a group of people who like to chill around each other. While not directly lead by Alchemist Prime, the Adherents of the Moment follow his way of taking each day as it comes and enjoying every moment you get. As a result, they kept their hand clean during the schism and spread out amongst the stars, creating their own little communities away from the conflict.

The followers of Vector Prime are those so dedicated to their leader that when Vector disappeared into the temporal wilds, they patiently waited for his return. While some members of the tribe await his return so that they may learn from his knowledge from the future, others wish to ensure that the flow of history is not disrupted, though as the days turn into years, and the years turn into millennia with no sign of Vector, few continue this once sacred duty.

Lifegivers is perhaps too narrow of a descriptor for the ambitions that flow from the tribe of Quintessa Prime. They seek not only to create new life, but also to constantly build and improve upon it, as well as existing life. An eternal quest to bring everything to its quintessential self. A general disregard for time honored traditions in the face of advancement and evolution puts them at odds with the more fundamentalist tribes.