Elias Crichell

Khan Elias Crichell

Elias Crichell (29?? – 2 January, 3058) was the Khan of Clan Jade Falcon during the Clan Invasion, and was nicknamed the "Jade Hawk" amongst his warriors. He briefly became ilKhan before his death at the hands of Vlad Ward. He was replaced by Marthe Pryde.

Early Career and Clan Invasion

Little is known of Crichell's life prior to the Clan Invasion, except for the fact that he had already been the Kahn of the Jade Falcons for some time. He was known to have presided over the trials of Aidan, Joanna and Ter Roshak in the conspiracy to conceal Aidan's identity. After a guilty verdict and a successful Trial of Refusal by the defendants, Aidan would ultimately go on to win the "Pryde" Bloodname.

Throughout most of the Clan Invasion, the Jade Falcons proved unstoppable. Though Crichell's strength was not as a warrior, he was an excellent clan politician and was able to resolve the logistical difficulties the Falcons experienced fairly quickly.

As senior Kahn, Crichell developed a reputation for successfully blaming his junior saKahn for any and all setbacks. This included the debacle of Twycross in 3050, the first defeat the Clans had suffered at the hands of Inner Sphere soldiers. This led to the removal of saKhan Timur Malthus and the disgrace of the entire Malthus bloodline. Vandervahn Chistu would take his place. Throughout his tenure, Crichell was perfectly willing to allow his saKahns to handle day to day details of the Clan's plans, knowing it would insulate him from the stench of failure.

The Battle of Tukayyid was a tremendous setback to the clans, but Crichell and Chistu successfully began rebuilding their Touman, with greater speed than most other invading clans. In 3054, he ordered an invasion of the world of Morges, which was ultimately turned back by FC troops with support from Wolf's Dragoons.

The Refusal War

Never content with the Treaty of Tukayyid, Crichell and his fellow Crusaders trumped up charges to remove Ulric Kerensky from office as ilKhan in 3057. Though successful, Ulric declared a Trial of Refusal, bidding the entire Wolf Clan touman in the attempt. The Refusal War, conducted primarily by Chistu, had different goals for each side. The Wolves were determined to damage the Falcons to the point they could no longer continue the invasion. The Falcons sought to make the Wolves over-extend themselves, and to cripple and destroy their leadership. To that end, the Falcons repeatedly sent second-line units against the front-line Wolf clusters. Predictably, the second-line units were destroyed but the constant campaign did, in fact, wear down the front line Wolf troops. Natasha Kerensky was killed on Twycross, while Ulric was killed in an ambush by Chistu on Sudeten. Phalan Kell took two Galaxies and left for the Inner Sphere. He and the Kell Hounds defeated the Falcons sent after them on Morges, and eventually formed Clan Wolf-in-Exile.

Crichell initially planned to absorb the entire remaining Wolf Clan into the Jade Falcons. However, when Vlad emerged from the rubble on Sudeten with the evidence that Chistu had killed Ulric dishonorably, Crichell finally saw his chance to remove a potential threat. Vlad defeated and killed Chistu in single combat, and the Wolves remained independent of the Falcons, albeit they were renamed Clan Jade Wolf.

ilKhan and Death

On January 2, 3058, Crichell, with Marthe Pryde as his new saKahn, was voted ilKhan of the Clans. Immediately following his election, Vlad Ward of Clan Jade Wolf challenged him to meet in a Trial of Grievance. Chance determined the combat would be hand-to-hand, and the young Vlad easily killed Crichell in single combat. Thus, the Jade Wolves returned to simply being called the Wolf Clan. Marthe Pryde would succeed Crichell as Khan of the Jade Falcons, while Lincoln Osis would eventually succeed him as ilKhan.

Battlemechs

Crichell was known to pilot a Thor Omnimech during the invasion.

Notes

• It was indicated from a conversation between Elias and Vandervahn Chistu that he had intimate knowledge of the Red Corsair affair, to the point where he insisted that Chistu not even mention her.

Bibliography

• The Falcon and the Wolf scenario pack (1995)
• Malicious Intent, Michael A. Stackpole (1996)
• Bred for War, Michael A. Stackpole (1995)
• Bloodname (novel)
• Jade Falcon Sourcebook