Lotus Clan

The Lotus Clan is one of the four major clans of Battle Realms.

The Lotus, symbol of the Lotus Clan.

Description[]

Lotus clansmen are Yin followers with corruption as their symbol. They follow the Forbidden Path, which focuses on death and decay. Their religion centralizes around three ancient brothers, now long gone, who tended the Tree of Corruption.

The people of the Lotus are thin and pale in appearance, with generally little muscle or size to speak of. Bleached-white hair is universal; the Lotus clansmen bleach their hair as to frighten the more superstitious members of the Wolf Clan, as the barbaric Wolf clansmen associate pure white as a colour of divinity or great power, best represented in their reverence of their most valued artifact, the White Wolf's Skull.

The length of a soldier's hair indicates his rank - the longer the better. Their armor is shiny and metallic, dark and silver in color, but flimsy and actually less effective than the Dragon clan's samurai armor or the Wolf clan's shale plates. Weapons are equally thin and flimsy, but often magically touched and able to strike multiple opponents at once.

The Lotus clan's society has built its foundations on an odd religion that revolves around a nightmarish tree tended by three brothers. Each brother speaks for a different aspect of the tree - one brother the leaves, one the trunk, and one the blade that tends the tree's roots.

The clan suffers from a universal problem. They are being consumed from within by their own corrupting magics. The corruption attaches itself to human life, but can be temporarily contained in other vessels (such as the staves of the Unclean). Even the master warlocks can only contain their corruption for so long. Indeed, the very attacks of the Lotus clan's second-tier units are attempts to expel the corruption temporarily, maintaining just enough balance to keep the units alive until they can attempt to contain the corruption with stronger magics.

Physically weak but magically strong, alternately sycophantic and vengeful, the Lotus clan bows to the strong and rules the weak. Their ability to manipulate the superstitious Wolf clan has served them well. By raping the Wolf Clan's lands of all its best metals and minerals, the Lotus clan has become rich on the blood, sweat and tears of others.

History[]

Like the Serpent, the Lotus Clan was formed from the remnants of an older clan devastated by the Horde. Long, long ago, there lived a peaceful tribe of wizards and foresters who worshiped the gods of balance and nature as symbolized by a great towering tree. They seldom knew trouble, or dissent, save when a group of overzealous scholars delved too deeply into certain dark magics of rot and corruption, together called the Forbidden Path.

When the Horde came, all of that tribe died except for those few renegade wizards, whose knowledge of the Yin gave them a chance to flee as their brothers died. The wizards eventually reached the island of Battle Realms, and settled in the High Plateau, long known to be a place of strange energies. By that time they had formed themselves into a new clan, named for that intoxicating, perfumed blossom, the Lotus.

Free of all restriction, the twisted members of the Lotus Clan pursue the Forbidden Path in earnest, seeking to master death and corruption by immersing themselves in it. Their beliefs are a rotten parody of those of their forefathers - their tree is an unnatural nightmare, tended by undead, undying brothers. Their contempt for the nature-worshipping Wolf Clan may well have deep roots in their own history.

The leaders of this clan are ageless warlocks engaged in their own research, pursuing power-hungry machinations in their councils and shadowy alliances. Ethics are a mere joke to them; power and knowledge are their ideals, and the conquest of the other clans merely a means to that end. Decades spent manipulating and subjugating the Wolf and Serpent clans have left deep bad blood and tensions in the land.

Lotus Units[]

TIER 1

TIER 2

TIER 3

Warlock

TIER 4

Master Warlock

NON-TIER UNITS

Lotus Structures[]

Clan-specific Structures

Common Structures

Lotus Zen Masters[]

Zen Masters take on the role of heroes in their respective clans, and Lotus Zen Masters are no different. The are summoned through the keep by expending resources and Yin/Yang points. Below are the Zen Masters who call the Lotus their home.

Zymeth - Lord warlock and leader of clan Lotus, Zymeth's sphere of sorcery is weather. He blasts spheres of lightning onto his foes as a ranged attack, and can call heavy storms to his fields at the cost of much stamina. When raining, he calls lightning from the sky to sear his foes asunder while rice paddies regrow and regenerate faster.
Koril - The eldest of all warlocks, this swordsman can warp space itself, and with a wave of his hand he can teleport anywhere. He also uses his powers for defensive effects, as any archers or ranged attackers will become furious at the way he shimmers and diverts nearly all ranged attacks.
Issyl - Some may wonder why a young twelve year old boy sits at the Lotus high council, an evil grin playing across his mouth. None feel better when they learn that this is Issyl, master of time, who has aged backwards since an accident long ago. Swift, powerful, and unforgiving, he has the ability to increase the movement speed of his troops rapidly with his ability, called 'Haste', while mutilating his foes with his hourglass/weapon. He can also regenerate his flesh at an incredible rate.
Soban - Once dismissed as a mere tinkerer, this odd, quirky scientist has no equal in terms of brilliance. He creates animated golems, using them as workers and self-destructing bombs, convenient for crowd control and gathering.
The Three Dead Brothers (Lythis, Tausil and Sehk) - These three brothers are dead, yet their spirits somehow live on. It was they who once tended the Yin side of the Tree of Life, the Tree of Corruption. Lythis pruned the roots, Tausil guarded the trunk, and Sehk cut the leaves. They often return to give allies their blessings (battlegears), and may also suck out the energy of an enemy, sustaining their own stamina.
Yvaine (only available in the Battle Realms expansion "Winter of the Wolf") - Zymeth's mistress and lady of the shale mines, this old ice hag can freeze enemies with a gale of freezing air. Despite the fact that she looks frail, she can fend for herself, and has ranged prowess to match Arah and Longtooth.

Trivia[]

The lotus plant has thematic significance to the Lotus Clan:
- It is a flower that floats on water and exhibits a self-cleansing property called the lotus effect. This symbol of the Lotus Clan is ironic, considering the clan's theme of corruption.
- Also, the color of lotus flower's petals range from white to purple. These colors fit the Lotus Clan's visual theme: Lotus clansmen have pale skin and bleached hair, and purple is the Lotus Clan's official team color, as well the hue of their armor and building palette.
- In Buddhism, the lotus is a symbol of spiritual purity, described as growing from murky water but emerging untainted — a metaphor of achieving enlightenment in the world.
- This concept is inverted in the progression of Lotus unit training. A peasant is first indoctrinated into one of three spiritually perverse philosophies. The next step is his corruption manifesting as disease that must be constantly contained and repressed. The final steps consist of a rite of becoming a Warlock, with the ultimate end of turning into undead through duel of two Warlocks.
The Lotus Clan is likely inspired by the real-life Kirishitan — Japanese Christians who were either persecuted by Japanese rulers (Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Ieyasu Tokugawa) or received support (Oda Nobunaga, Otomo Sorin). This link is further evident based on Christian titles of some Lotus units: acolyte, disciple, brother, and warlocks (which historically meant an "oath-breaker", though later on a male practitioner of witchcraft).