The Clan MacLear is a EverQuest guild dedicated to Halas and their kinsmen.  Our purpose is to enrich the fame and fortune of the Clan to defend Halas from the dangers of Norrath and to offer service to make the world of Norrath a better place to adventure.   We do this by knitting the loyalties and strengths of our individual members into something larger than themselves, the Clan MacLear.  We honor the gods of Justice, Valor,  and War above all others.  We also pay homage to the primal forces of nature: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air.

    Our guild is based on the premise that the Clan MacLear is a large extended family founded by Lord Lear and the people that he led from another Time/Place (see History of the Clan MacLear).  Over time, the Clan has "adopted" members of other races as they were stranded in Halas, came to the Clan for help, aided the Clan in some way, or otherwise positively interacted with the Clan through in-character means.

    As we value Justice, we live by a set of laws.   To enforce these laws and to protect our weaker members from criminals we have a rank structure.

Clan MacLear Laws

1. Obey and respect the officers and leaders of the Clan.  (See Ranks and Titles)   The Chieftess and the High Council have the power to banish a member and it is their duty to use it when a member dishonors Halas and the Clan.  (OOC: this means if you are consistently out of role, being a pest to others and just generally being a pain in the neck you will be removed from the guild)

2. Conduct yourself in a way that brings Honor to the Clan.   A MacLear does not complain of hardship.  A MacLear does not leave his comrades in danger unless they have granted leave. A MacLear does not speak ill of another MacLear in public except in formal complaint to the Chieftess or member of the High Council. All MacLears may petition the Chieftess or any member of the High Council concerning the behavior of another member of the Clan.

3. No MacLear will associate themselves with followers of the Twisted One.  These are those who speak evilly and plot against virtue and honor to destroy the unity of MacLear.   Any MacLear seen defending one of these Followers of the Twisted One will be put to Trial before the Council and may be banished without notice by the Chieftess.

4. It is every MacLears' duty to instantly obey the Chieftess and protect the Chieftess from harm in Warfare.

5. A MacLear Shaman must strive to learn new Secrets and Items of Lore and to inform the High Council so that they may be recorded in the Twisted Tome to the greater power of the Clan.

6. Out of Character Laws:

• Honorary Member: These are not members, but wish to have their relationship with our guild recognized in a formal way.  Honorary members are accepted into the guild by invitation only.  They do not receive voting rights in the guild, but their opinions are considered and they are always welcomed.   They cannot carry guild rank like regular members, but should occasionally group with members or contribute to the Clan in some way.
• Alignment: All members must be Neutral or Good. Necromancers, death knights, dark elves, iksar and other things of evil intent are not accepted.
• Any Character sold or allowed use by another player will be considered to have immediately resigned from the Clan unless prior permission has been given by the Chieftess. Readmission of the Character will require two members to sponsor the Character of Kin level or higher and be subject to the judgment of the Chieftess. Any officer allowing another player to play his or her character shall be banned immediately unless permission has been given from the Chieftess.
• We are not here to kill dragons and collect loot. If you want a guild for the purposes of empowering your character's statistics, look elsewhere. If you want people to group with, chat with, and you like to roleplay as barbaric (ruggedly neutral) then you're a shoe-in. A clan is only as good as it's members so if thing go south, look in the mirror.

Clan MacLear Ranks and Titles

Chief and The High Council
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Thane
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Guardian
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Noble
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Kinsman / Kinswoman
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Lad / Lass

The Chief (Art by Nosferum):
There is only one Chief.  This person is said to be the spiritual descendant of Lord Lear and has the mandate of the gods to lead Lear's people.  Only the Chief may Banish a Council Person from the Clan.  The Chief may overrule all but a Unanimous vote of The High Council.

The High Council :
All members of the High Council serve at the pleasure of the Chieftess who may remove them without cause. In Matters of Council, the Council Person's word is second only to the Chieftess.  A Council Person may Admit petitioners into the Clan after permission has been granted by the Chieftess or by unanimous vote of the Council.  They may also Banish members from the Clan with a majority vote.  The Council may enact Laws by Majority vote.

Thane :
Thanes have the right to be leaders of a Sept (a sub-division of the Clan) and may be given lordship over a zone or zones by the Chieftess. Thanes are appointed and serve at the pleasure of the Chieftess.

Noble :
A Noble is a Kinsman or Kinswoman who has proved his or her strength and courage by achieving four hands of ability, completing the Quest of Fire to the satisfaction of the Chieftess or the Council and been appointed as such.  A Noble is rarely denied audience with the Chieftess or with the High Council and is normally given a position of authority in the Sept.

Kinsman / Kinswoman :
A Kinsman or Kinswoman is a Lad or Lass who is a member in good standing of a Sept,  has completed the Quest of Stones and has reached two hands of ability as well as received the endorsement of his or her Thane.  A Kinsman or Kinswoman must wait their turn at Council meetings and is sometimes visited by the attentions of the Chieftess.  A Kinsman or Kinswoman may view the Twisted Tome. Kin may only be removed from the Clan by the Chieftess for high crimes against the Clan and the name MacLear.

Lad / Lass :
A Lad or Lass is one who has sworn fealty to the Chieftess of the Clan MacLear and been accepted to probationary membership in the Clan by the Chieftess or her appointed officer.  A Thane, subject to appeal to the Chieftess, may remove a Lad or Lass from the guild without formal process. Each should have a designated Thane who is responsible for the training and promotion of the Lad/Lass.

The Language

Since our inception well before the time of Norrath, we have incorporated basic components of the Scottish Gaelic language (Gaidhlig) into our common vocabulary. It is recommended-- though not enforced-- to use this language in your every day experience in-game. This helps immerse you and those around you (in-guild and not) in the idea that we are what we say we are. Below are some of the more common examples, and last is a link to the Siol Lear site that gives an even more in-depth look at the language, it's real history, and a few more phrases and terms. Note: we also use a very small amount of Latin.

Failte - "Welcome"
Oidhce mhath - "Good-bye"
Laird - (our reference to Tormod)
Ciamar a tha thu? - "How are you?"
Mi faultich thu co saor neach - "I salute you as a free man"
Spectamur Agendo - (our motto) "Let us be judged by our actions"

More Gaidhlig

The Clan MacLear Counting System ("Hands")

Due to the constant battle to survive in Everfrost, there is not much time to educate those who have not been chosen as shaman.  The warriors and rogues would not be able to understand how to gather enough spears and arrows for battle or how to estimate the size of an enemy force is the High Council did not give them the "Hands" system.  This is "Hands."  See and Remember.

1 hand is 5 fingers. 2 hands is double that many fingers.   Thus if an enemy has 2 hands of warriors and the MacLears have only 1 hand of warriors.  We must be very clever or the enemy may defeat our warriors.

If there are more than 10 hands of something, a warrior should find a shaman to help count the thing.