Karianna Schmitt

Karianna Schmitt (born 3026 - died 3075) was the Khan of [[Clan Blood Spirit] during the Operation Revival era. She served as Khan for many years afterward, until a catastrophic injury suffered in battle against Clan Ghost Bear forced her from office. Schmitt recovered from her wounds over the course of the next three years, later continuing her career as a warrior in her struggling Clan. The Blood Spirits elected her to the position of saKhan during the years prior to her death over the world of New Kent in the Wars of Reaving.

Biography

Said to possess an eerie likeness of her great progenitor, Clan Blood Spirit founding Khan Colleen Schmitt, Karianna Schmitt is described as being over six feet in height with long blonde hair. Her face is described in terms of cold and ice, hiding a pronounced ruthless streak that is said to run deep even by the standards of her contemporaries. Tactical brilliance and a short temper were also traits that she shared with her great ancestor, but her greater plans often failed, consequently leaving her Clan in increasingly worse strategic predicaments. Karianna Schmitt also possessed the tremendous hate for the other Clans passed on to each new generation of Blood Spirits, and was convinced of the superiority of the Blood Spirits' ways over those of rest of the Clans. Driven by a powerful will that would one day see her rise from a near-death injury to return to her place as a warrior and a leader within the Blood Spirits, Schmitt was regarded as her Clan's most dynamic Khan.

Spirits, Burrocks and the Adders

The Blood Spirits had for so long isolated themselves from the rest of Clan society that when Clan Star Adder brought charges of dealings with the Dark Caste against Clan Burrock in the Grand Council in 3059, the sudden appearance of both Blood Spirit Khans without direct orders that they must attend came as a shock to many. Khan Schmitt and saKhan Daryl Keller would both cast their votes in support of the Absorption of Clan Burrock, not wasting the chance to see their most hated enemies destroyed. But when the Rights to Absorption were granted to Clan Star Adder, the Blood Spirits once more felt betrayed by their Clan brethren.

Instead of standing back to observe while the powerful Star Adders Absorbed the Burrocks, Khan Schmitt took unilateral action at the urging of her Loremaster, Bayle Campbell, as well as others within her Clan. Mobilizing over 70% of the Clan Blood Spirit Touman, Khan Schmitt ordered attacks on Albion, Dagda and Priori (as well as attacks on two other planets), hoping to capitalize on the fighting and chaos of the Trial to make gains. The plan relied upon a hatred that the Blood Spirits perceived between the Clans, counting on it to allow them to win any three-Clan battles. Only in the crucible of battle would the flaws in this thinking become apparent. The fighting on Priori ended with the death of saKhan Keller and the destruction of the Spirit's Beta Galaxy, with only a fraction of the units sent escaping off-world. On Albion, the destruction was much worse. Three more Blood Spirit Galaxies were destroyed, with Burrock and Adder forces ceasing their fight with each other for long enough to repel the Blood Spirit interlopers.

In the end, the Spirits fled back to York after losing nearly five Galaxies in the failed offensive. Khan Schmitt vowed to avenge herself upon the Adders for Absorbing their enemy, easily transferring her deep hatred for the Burrocks to the Star Adders. She next called for a vote in the Blood Spirit Clan Council to further withdraw from Clan society. The Spirits voted to release their holdings on the Pentagon World of Arcadia, cutting all ties with the other Clans, and evicting Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Snow Raven from enclaves on York in the process. The Blood Spirits chose to retain the ilChis to Clan Fire Mandrill and the Snow Ravens, their trade agreement with Clan Diamond Shark, and their enclave on Strana Mechty, which Khan Schmitt was not prepared to leave solely in the hands of those whom she viewed as traitors to Kerensky's Vision.

Rebuilding and Adder Woes

During the years after the failed Burrock Absorption assaults - and the Blood Spirit's bitter loss in the Great Refusal - Khan Schmitt would continue to reach out to potential allies as her Clan rebuilt its shattered Touman in a new era. After productive talks with Clan Cloud Cobra, an ilChi, Carmen Zadok, was assigned to attend to Blood Spirit/Cloud Cobra relations, signalling a new ally and possibly a new source of intelligence, according to rumor.

As the Blood Spirit's Touman recovered, Khan Schmitt ordered an assault on Arcadia, aimed at regaining the territories lost in their voluntary withdrawal. Omicron Galaxy was initially given the honor of this attack, but became bogged down when the Star Adder's Epsilon Galaxy melted into the background to carry out hit-and-run tactics. A year of fighting later, Khan Schmitt angrily assigned Upsilon Galaxy to reinforce their position. This distraction played into the patient hands of Star Adder Khan Cassius N'Buta, who had sworn revenge for the loss of Adder warriors due to the Blood Spirit's interference in the Burrock Absorption. With two Blood Spirit Galaxies tied up on Arcadia, he sent the young Galaxy Commander Stanislov N'Buta and the Adder's Beta Galaxy to York in August of 3064, where they successfully took control of the southern portion of the continent of Boques.

Though Khan Schmitt would rage at this loss and others, years of attacks were unable to dislodge the invaders from their foothold. Khan Schmitt would continue to keep her forces as much on the offensive at possible. During an engagement in space above York, a Star Adder Vincent Mk 32 WarShip, the Vritra, was surrounded and destroyed by the three WarShips of the Blood Spirit fleet, a small but important victory for the Spirits. In 3067, Khan Schmitt had ordered another attack on Arcadia, and had also arranged to strike the Adders on Tathis alongside forces from Clan Fire Mandrill. The former secured a little more of their former enclave, while the later also did damage to the Star Adders, but at disastrous cost to both attacking Clans.

Importantly, it was during this time that two Blood Spirit merchant vessels broke off from their fleet for an important mission. Both had been sent to explore several uncharted systems. Around one star, dubbed Colleen, two worlds were found in orbit. Named Haven and Honor, these two planets had enough resources for a low level of self-sufficiency, and yet were beyond the view of the other Clans. In quiet earnest, colonies on both planets were built up, in the hopes that they would one day help to tip the scales against the Star Adders on York.

Bibliography

• Field Manual: Crusader Clans
• Field Manual: Updates
• The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky
• The Wars of Reaving