Arrbi Betna
Marauder
Introduction
It's no lie that we've not been having our most active seasons lately. Until this invasion, the most we'd see is someone going off to mine beskar within the faction and make their armor before dashing off into the sunset to go play a Mandalorian mercenary for another group. We've been active enough to avoid the Admin Axe when it comes to major factions and, sure, we've been hugely active in this invasion and the prep leading up to it, including the ~30 hour dominion of Taris a few days before the battle of Wayland.
The problem is we face the same question after Wayland as we normally do after a spike of activity: What happens now? Talks of invasions happen, discussions of skirmishes are tossed back and forth, and dominions are sometimes started to try and expand the borders. Unfortunately, many times these plans fall short. In two cases of dominions, it took months to complete despite all the proper planning and a set storyline. No one person or group is to blame, but rather perhaps we've beaten this particular path down to the point that we've worn ruts in the dirt from armored boots.
So, we have two options, I feel. The first is to go back to the way we've always done things. We fight, we do the invasion thing, the fighting ends, and despite our best intentions we go back to a quite murmur in the background. The second is, to put it bluntly, to try something new and unusual. Hence my proposal...
Raiding
Raids! And lots of them. The Mandalorians in the past were raiders and were renowned for hitting targets without fear or failure. In fact, even the concepts from the Real World for the Mandalorians are based on raiders. The most easily recognizable two are the Celts and the Norse. For this, we'll focus more on the Norse.
The Norse, also known as the Vikings, were famous raiders known throughout history for their infamous raids and the plundering of large swaths of Europe using their skill at arms as well as both their skill on the sea and with shipbuilding. They were also known as time went on for their diverse peoples, skilled craftsmanship, and unique culture. In fact, much of the Mandalorian culture can be traced to the Vikings in many ways if you think on it. Mandalorians detest uncleanliness and cowardly behavior. The Vikings believed that only the brave found their version of heaven and were actually quite concerned for their own cleanliness and appearances as well.
My proposal is this: We focus on raiding. We swap our cultural outlook towards a raider perspective. This does a number of things for us. Primarily, it gives us the chance at a constant state of PvP that many of our writers enjoy. As we would have a great many raiding targets, the PvP would rarely grow stale as opponents would change as quickly as raid targets do.
Second, it allows us to further grow ourselves not just as a warrior culture, but also as a trading one. It's no secret we have writers more focused on business or character development. This gives them a chance to enjoy their style of writing, too, by interacting with writers from other factions when it comes time to sell or trade what we take or even to help injured Mando'ade returning from that massive raid on Teta or Geonosis last week.
Thirdly, it helps us develop as a faction. It's no secret that many dislike fighting with the Mandalorians. Why? We're a little territorial on the OOC. IC, makes sense. OOC, we're a little attached. A raiding culture doesn't need a presence on the map to stand out and respects no borders of those who do. Long story short, with this new path the map no longer matters aside from the fun of harassing Tefka on a monthly basis.
Now, I know the next question is something akin to "why stay a major faction, then?" The answer? It serves as the edge of our empire and the borders from which other factions, companies, and individuals can come to trade, buy, and sell with our economies. Also, it shows other factions something very important:
Here there be Mandos.
The shift to a raider culture would also include shifting to a more rustic and basic concept for the Mandos. More homesteads, more clan homes. Less city folk and more bonfires, hunting, and drinking in bars of timber and wooden floors. We'd pay more homage to the old ways rather than bow down to the waves of technology in the galaxy. Why? We're the Mandalorians. We can survive on the bare basics where others can't. Jedi and Sith complain of tents and lack of caviar. We're swapping war stories around a campfire while eating field rations.
I mentioned something in the earlier statement on how the Vikings used their prowess on the waves and with ships to make their mark in history and so I have taken the liberty of doing the same for us. I've designed a ship that can literally be made by anyone, at any time, with the practical materials on hand. The official military use ones are blinged out, sure, but take those away and you still have a great raiding ship capable of being built in an IC month or three with a small clan working at a steady pace. Here's the best part: want the top of the line ship for yourself? The thing can be upgraded. You can literally have the top of the line version with a little time and a little effort to become the greatest raider you can be. The sky is the limit and with this ship we can all make a name for ourselves.
The Witches
The Witches of Dathomir have never been hugely active within the Mandalorian faction. The reasons for this are simple. Half of the reason is that those writers often have Mando characters and when the faction needs writers, they contribute with those characters instead. The other half is because they're more or less stationary on their homeworld due to a dislike of technology and a fair amount of distancing from both sides. The best way I can put it is something akin to "Oh, the Witches of Dathomir? They're over there on Dathomir... we don't go there."
This new culture and even religion gives the Witches a way to spin themselves in a new light and become highly active within our own faction. The ancient Norse had a small population of wise women and witches scattered around their lands called Volar. These women were unmarried and carried out the duties of priestesses, healers, miracle workers, and even seers or soothsayers. Generally, they were believed to possess supernatural powers and because of the respect the Norse had for them, they were more or less allowed to roam the land freely and unharmed.
The Witches have supernatural powers that aren't replicated anywhere else in canon and are more in tune with nature than most other Force sensitive groups or cults. The Witches can easily fulfill the duties and roles of wise women and soothsayers.
This allows us two opportunities. Primarily, it gives the Mandalorian and Witch writers a chance to interact with each other and write together as Mandalorian warriors seek the advice of Witch seers or Dathomiran soothsayers and priestesses attend to Mando warlords or communities to utilize their powers and gifts. Second, it allows the Witches the ability to leave their planet. Captain Larraq has offered to create a line of bioships available to the Witches who are adverse to technology. With these ships, they may now travel. With such travel, they may visit Mandalorian worlds. As they would have the role of oracles and the like within the Mandalorian culture, they could feasibly travel freely and as they wish. All in all, it promotes freedom and activity for both Mandalorians and Witches. It's a win-win scenario.
Conclusion
So that's the pitch. A bit long winded and looking a little like one of Larraq's ship subs, but that's the proposal. A new path, a new identity both building off the old and merged with the original concepts of the early mandalorians. Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Concerns?
