The Great Unification
"The Time of Clans"
This is where the changelings went from being nomadic couples to allied groups of one singular race.
~Clan Mating Rituals~
Much like before,females would choose their mate. The main difference is that females had a harder time staking a territory for a male to come find. As changelings began getting chased from their temporary settlements by other races, they had to become less territorial as individuals. If s changeling came upon an already established clan they tended to join it. Once joined, they would find a mate within the ranks. Males had to prove themselves through combat, just like before, but it was normally established that the highest ranking Aquarius had to bless the union of the two. Also, though it was uncommon, it was acceptable for a changeling to choose a mate of the same sex when in natural form. This was accepted because a changeling can morph into any gender out of natural form which meant that a male and male could have a child as long as one was the opposite mating gender when morphed. But as the natural form is much more intimate this tends to be less common solely based on logistics.
~Growing Years~
There were two very different ways a changeling could grow up during the Time of Clans. Those who were able to be switched, and those who had to be poorly raised by changeling parents. The ones who were fortunate enough to be switched with another race had a much better time at learning assimilation skills. Assimilation is vital to changeling survival, as it allows them to hide in plain sight. Being able to assimilate means that a changeling can fight a creature of the said race and understand their weaknesses as their own to better defend themselves. Changeling children who were switched tended to be welcomed into the communities more commonly during this era than before, but there were still many who did not. They would be taught the ways of that society in a way that changelings could not from the outside. Due to assimilation, changeling children tended to learn fighting skills and become natural leaders within the chosen society.
Like most changelings, after hitting puberty the changelings would feel a need for adventure and were very likely to leave the society that raised them and join a clan. At this point, a changeling would be taught about changeling culture, and how to be their natural selves in ways they could not within their birth society. They tended to be in charge of teaching the clan the assimilation skills they had learned, especially to those of younger age who could not be switched.
This brings us to life for changeling offspring who were not switched. They had a harder time, and tended to gain forms of monsters and more animalistic species. These children would have a strong understanding of what it meant to be a changeling, but were not very diplomatic with other societies due to being raised by changeling parents. Who may or may not have been raised by changelings themselves. By the time they reached adventure age they tended to have no idea how to assimilate, minus the older switched changelings teaching them second-handed. This meant they were tended to be stuck where they were, and had less skills in leadership as their counterparts.
~Historical Documentation~
This is the time period where changeling clans held strong together. They compromised only to send some changeling babies to be switched with a haven society, while others had to be raised by their changeling parents. In the Clans, changelings would work together as one to both find a proper outside society to send their children to, and to attempt to join the neighboring community themselves to teach their children how to morph properly if need be. The children who were able to be switched with the society always came back with better wit and combat skills than those who had to be raised solely by the changeling clan. This is where the birth signs became more than just a placement stuck at birth. Changeling their faith in the star signs and organized their people by a rank based on skill. The more skilled, intelligent, and experienced changelings tended to be placed the head of the clan. During this they took their belief of Capricorns as being fool-hearted, and lower blood, to mean they had more brawn than brains. These lower “ranks” were the ones who would protect and feed the clan, as they normally had less assimilation skills, but were able to morph perfectly fine to hunt and fight. They were put under four groups as such: Capricorn, Sagittarius, Scorpio, and Libra. Capricorn were the lowest in the Clans, and were thought to have to be looked after and lead the most. But as Clans had already started to have the “it takes a village” mentality, they treated the four lowest groups as equals. Scorpio were easily able to be part of the Mid “ranks” and were thought of as a cusp rank. They had more intelligence than Capricorns, but were also less physically strong as a Capricorn. They tended to be more curious, and interested in way to better the clan as a whole.
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This brings us to how Mid “ranks”, Virgo, Leo, Cancer, and Gemini, came to be. Mid ranks were curious and were less skilled in combat, but had huge skills in strategy and problem solving. Higher ranks tended to come to mid-ranks for advice to better lead the clan. The Mid ranks tended to keep documents of the plants and animals of every territory they would stay in. Many became healers or or documented the stars as sky-watchers. They were often the second hand to the high “ranks”.
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As high “ranks”, Taurus, Aries, Pisces, Aquarius, they tended to be children who came to the clan later in their lives as returnees from the neighboring race society. They came back with the knowledge of what it was like to be different, and many had this feeling of acceptance as they would return to their home clan. Many became leaders, taking advice from members of the clan who had much more knowledge on changelingways than they did. However, their superior skills in assimilation tended to make them leaders. They tended to be intelligent, combat-ready, and understanding to the idea that they were powerful enough to either bring up or destroy their clan. Without the help of every member they were but a force with nothing to give force to. There seemed to be many clans that, after growing large, had excellent Aquarius leaders who came up with the idea of creating true alliances with their neighboring societies. It is unknown if this was because of feeling a heart tugged in two directions or a way to ensure the race’s survival. Either way, many large clans created true contracts with the haven societies to switch children without fear and to allow both children to learn from the other’s culture and society. The haven societies who agreed to join with the Changelings became known as Tribes.
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A legend told throughout the tribes is about a Changeling by the name of Gründer. (Founder). He was an Aquarius rank born during the star sign of Leo who made contracts with not one, but multiple haven societies, and created the largest tribe to this day. These haven societies included ((5 races who give the Okay to be apart of this)).He had held a huge celebration known as The First Sterne to welcome all races to his tribe. It was a unification and event like no other. All of the societies in the contract were invited to a 3 day celebration that brought in 6 trials. One trial for each race in the contract. It would start at dawn each day and a feast would be held every sunset. All who participated in what became known as the Trials of Sterne gained a bead that signified that the member of the race had been welcomed into the Grundar tribe as an honorary member despite not being a changeling by birth. From this day forward any clan in contract with a neighboring race would hold a duplicate ceremony every year between the Months of December and January. The time was chosen for two reasons: it signified the ending of one time and the beginning of a new, but also an anniversary where changelings not only defeated the odds against them in survival, but also triumphed in a way no race had before. This also became known as the Second Unification.