Cubi Clans and their Leaders

[Cedarpaw]

Hello, everyone... I've been lurking and reading DMFA off and on since sometime between 2003 and 2005, and I just now registered for the forum. I was catching up on some of the comic since I've been gone for a little while, and I've got some unresolved questions about Cubi and their clans, and how that works. So... here we go!

* How do clan leaders become clan leaders? Do they just gain a lot of descendents or a lot of power and ascend? Do they have to have other redeeming qualities? What happens when a Cubi clan leader is an all-around jerk, do their clan members just convert to other clans, etc?

* Dragons and Fae exist somewhat outside of the dimension of Furrae. They're only there because it's somewhat of a backwater dimension, and it won't mess up the grand scheme of things if Furrae breaks. This was mentioned when Jyrras visits the Fae ... (area? space? dimension?) ... with Mab. How did this affect the Dragon-Cubi war?

* How did the Dragon-Cubi war get started? I know Cyra was trying to become guardian of the biggest city around at the time and accidentally turned the whole thing to glass when she overthrew the dragon guardian. How did the other clans get drawn in? Obviously things did not go well for the Cubi, and since each Cubi is less powerful than Angels or Demons... what did the other Creatures do during the war?

* What or who is Macha's clan? What emotions do they gravitate towards? They're mentioned here: http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Ab_020.php

* Cubi can convert to other clans, as seen here: http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Ab_057.php
Why don't some Cubi convert to Fa'lina's clan? Or do they require a living descendant to do that? Why not use a clan leader's avatar for the conversion ritual? If cubi are masters of shapeshifting, couldn't a clan leader create an avatar with the ability to reproduce or maybe use one of Jyrras' patches or something? (I used to be a Mason Beekin on Furcadia, and I used to frequent Lost Lake back in the day, so I know that patches in the comic are a thinly-veiled reference to patches in the game.)

* Cubi, when born to other cubi, become a part of the bigger clan. Wouldn't that eventually mean that several clans have been slowly bred out of existence for millennia? If Dan, from clan Cyra, with two members, had kids with a member of Dimanika's clan (88 members), their children would all be Dimanika's. To perpetuate his clan, Dan needs to find converts, breed with a regular fur, or ... well... inbreeding. What's to prevent same-clan inbreeding, as it seems like that would be a *big* problem?

* As mentioned here: http://www.missmab.com/graphics/C_March.jpg Dragons are arrogant, powerful, and love to cheat. Even Demons, which are more powerful than Cubi, will not challenge a dragon guardian. If she was already a clan leader, why would Cyra do that? What's the motivation?

[Tapewolf]

Some of these answers may be wrong since I'm not Amber, but as I understand it:

* There are apparently several mechanisms for ascension, and AFAIK it was considerably easier to achieve in times gone by.  As I understand it the process is very, very risky and fatal if it goes wrong.  There have only been something like 200 clan leaders in the entire history of the race, which is 100'000 years.
I have heard that the process can be fairly gradual with 'Cubi who are already very powerful, or it can be done suddenly and violently, which may have destructive side-effects.  As for jerk clan leaders, Piflak states that totalitarian clans usually break down with the members rebelling against the leader (apparently this is why Zezzuva destroyed her sister).

* Regarding the war, Amber mentioned that it would have happened anyway, but the Cyra event greatly accelerated the process.  I have no idea to what extent the war affected the other races, aside from that fact that there seems to be a huge amount of black propaganda about 'Cubi.  It is entirely possible that the war was secret and manifested itself to the other races only as the occasional city being destroyed and people who turned out to be 'Cubi being randomly assassinated and murdered...

* AFAIK, conversion between clans has the same requirements as being 'Cubified.  Your target clan has to have a Tri-wing, and you have to have a child with one of their members (Tri-winged clan leaders being sterile).

* In-breeding is probably a matter of clan laws and common sense.  I don't know to what extent it is a problem for Creatures when they have less reliance on normal genetics, but yes, someone like Destania would want to take up with a Being or a 'Cubi from a less powerful clan if their aim was to rebuild their own clan.


EDIT:  If you haven't already done so, I recommend checking out the Clan Leader Questions thread:
http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php/topic,8656.0.html

[Amber Williams]

Hello, everyone... I've been lurking and reading DMFA off and on since sometime between 2003 and 2005, and I just now registered for the forum. I was catching up on some of the comic since I've been gone for a little while, and I've got some unresolved questions about Cubi and their clans, and how that works. So... here we go!

Oh boy!

* How do clan leaders become clan leaders? Do they just gain a lot of descendents or a lot of power and ascend? Do they have to have other redeeming qualities? What happens when a Cubi clan leader is an all-around jerk, do their clan members just convert to other clans, etc?

It varies from clan leader to clan leader. Sometimes the title is passed down from a former clan leader to a new one (Fa'Lina became a clan leader through this method) sometimes it involves a incredibly dramatic event (Cyra)  sometimes it's a mystery to everyone. (Owona)    Generally speaking though, it takes a special type of mentality to want to become a clan leader since in most cases being one from scratch is a risky process.  Being willing to die for the sake of giving members of your family an improved life usually makes for clan leaders that think of their clan.  And as Tape mentioned, being a jerk has it's own risks.

* Dragons and Fae exist somewhat outside of the dimension of Furrae. They're only there because it's somewhat of a backwater dimension, and it won't mess up the grand scheme of things if Furrae breaks. This was mentioned when Jyrras visits the Fae ... (area? space? dimension?) ... with Mab. How did this affect the Dragon-Cubi war?

It had no affect at all. 

* How did the Dragon-Cubi war get started? I know Cyra was trying to become guardian of the biggest city around at the time and accidentally turned the whole thing to glass when she overthrew the dragon guardian. How did the other clans get drawn in? Obviously things did not go well for the Cubi, and since each Cubi is less powerful than Angels or Demons... what did the other Creatures do during the war?

It really depends on which side you ask.  There is a lot of pointing and "they started it" going on. 

* What or who is Macha's clan? What emotions do they gravitate towards? They're mentioned here: http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Ab_020.php

Just another clan. There are actually quite a few clans that don't have clan leaders floating around.  Truth be told the non-clan leader'd Cubi outnumber the clan leader'd Cubi by a vast amount.

* Cubi can convert to other clans, as seen here: http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Ab_057.php
Why don't some Cubi convert to Fa'lina's clan? Or do they require a living descendant to do that? Why not use a clan leader's avatar for the conversion ritual? If cubi are masters of shapeshifting, couldn't a clan leader create an avatar with the ability to reproduce or maybe use one of Jyrras' patches or something? (I used to be a Mason Beekin on Furcadia, and I used to frequent Lost Lake back in the day, so I know that patches in the comic are a thinly-veiled reference to patches in the game.)

Clan leader's when they become clan leaders basically become something else that is more magic than organic. One of the results of this is the clan leader becomes sterile.   Jyrras patches work similar to shapeshifting in that they can change the aesthetic but it doesn't change the internal chemistry.  Much like a Cubi who is male cannot make themselves truly female via shapeshifting, a Clan leader can't  simply shift themselves a working pair of ovaries.

* Cubi, when born to other cubi, become a part of the bigger clan. Wouldn't that eventually mean that several clans have been slowly bred out of existence for millennia? If Dan, from clan Cyra, with two members, had kids with a member of Dimanika's clan (88 members), their children would all be Dimanika's. To perpetuate his clan, Dan needs to find converts, breed with a regular fur, or ... well... inbreeding. What's to prevent same-clan inbreeding, as it seems like that would be a *big* problem?

Most Cubi actually are more than ok with the practice of having offspring with non-Cubi.  That said, power is not necessarily based on number of members.  For example Piflak is probably one of the most powerful Cubi Clans despite her numbers being much smaller than most clans with leaders. 

* As mentioned here: http://www.missmab.com/graphics/C_March.jpg Dragons are arrogant, powerful, and love to cheat. Even Demons, which are more powerful than Cubi, will not challenge a dragon guardian. If she was already a clan leader, why would Cyra do that? What's the motivation?

Cyra wasn't a clan leader at the time.  I'm sure what Cyra did was considered rather ballsy and quite the gambit.  But the motivation to take on a dragon guardian was to likely be an incredibly powerful clan leader and had it gone just as planned would have likely set her and her clan up in a position of comfort and power for generations and then some.


And that's it from me.  I'm planning to ignore this thread so I'd recommend not asking any questions in my direction since I wont see em.

[Ignuus66]

And that's it from me.  I'm planning to ignore this thread so I'd recommend not asking any questions in my direction since I wont see em.

I have so many questions left D=

[Arcblade]

Questions are like hydras.  For every answer you get, two questions spring up. 

Just be glad Amber answered some of them.  She's not required to do so, and if she answered all the questions people ask her on the forums, she'd never get any comics done. 

[Azlan]

I have so many questions left D=

Life is full of mystery, what fun is it to have all the answers? 

[Ignuus66]

Life is full of mystery, what fun is it to have all the answers? 

none.
that's why I love science! solving questions is fun 

[Viking ZX]

I for one am just impressed and glad she came out to answer them. Go Amber!

[Cedarpaw]

> I for one am just impressed and glad she came out to answer them. Go Amber!

Me too; holy smokes. I feel lucky.  

> * AFAIK, conversion between clans has the same requirements as being 'Cubified.  Your target clan has to have a Tri-wing, and you have to have a child with one of their members (Tri-winged clan leaders being sterile).

Somehow I'm not sure about that. Note that Fa'lina says that four members survived the fall of Siar's clan, and by the next morning there were only two. Sel and her son convert to Seme's clan... likely within a day, since the third survivor commits suicide and Aniz is the only one left. It seems likely to me that Seme, being Siar's lover, extended welcome somehow to the survivors of Siar's fallen clan and they accepted. Either that or both Sel and her son had existing children with cubi of Siar's clan, which is also possible... I'd imagine both clans were pretty close if their clan leaders were lovers.

Also makes me wonder if there are other large groups of leaderless cubi, beyond the scope of the Academy? The Academy itself seems to serve as a refuge, I wonder if Fa'lina or another clan leader has considered creating a city of refuge to complement the Academy?

[Ignuus66]

I for one am just impressed and glad she came out to answer them. Go Amber!

yeah mee too
Amber: best comic drawer that I "met" (figuratively speaking) ever, and unlike other comic drawers, replies to reader/viewer questions.
http://missmab.com/Comics/Vol_1210.php
 

[Tapewolf]

Somehow I'm not sure about that. Note that Fa'lina says that four members survived the fall of Siar's clan, and by the next morning there were only two. Sel and her son convert to Seme's clan...

Sel's husband was of Seme's clan.  At the time that they were intending to convert anyway, but after the massacre they did so immediately.

If you're curious:
http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php/topic,6085.msg281729.html#msg281729

Also makes me wonder if there are other large groups of leaderless cubi, beyond the scope of the Academy? The Academy itself seems to serve as a refuge, I wonder if Fa'lina or another clan leader has considered creating a city of refuge to complement the Academy?

AFAIK the Academy is the single largest collection of 'Cubi in the world at this time.