The Blood Scandal
Sarna News
The Blood Scandal was an incident that occurred within the ranks of Clan Coyote, some time after 2976, during the Political Century. Involving rebellious political elements aligned with the Crusader movement, and aided by certain high-ranking officials of Clan Star Adder, the Blood Scandal would set the Coyotes firmly on the Warden path and engender great enmity between the Coyotes and the Star Adders for many years.[1][2]
Contents
The Great Debaters
During the Political Century, the debate over returning to the Inner Sphere was on the tip of nearly every Clansman's tongue. Those who wanted to return to the Inner Sphere to conquer it and restore the Star League were called Crusaders. Their philosophical opponents were the Wardens; Clansmen who maintained that Kerensky's vision for the Clans was that of protectors who should watch over the misguided citizens of the former Star League.[3]
Coyote's Situation
Clan Coyote was divided from early on. Nearly even counts of Wardens and Crusaders could be found in their ranks. But when a politically powerful Crusader-minded warrior (who is not-named in her Clan) was ousted as saKhan in favor of a Warden, she would turn on her Clan's leadership, plotting to supplant them. She would lead a coalition of eight Crusader-dominated Coyote Bloodname Houses to conspire with her, going so far as to court Crusader-aligned aid from outside her Clan.[1][2]
Carson Graves, saKhan of Clan Star Adder, would pledge support to the not-named Coyote warrior against the Wardens of her Clan. But in reality he was setting all of Clan Coyote up to be Absorbed, planning to use his inside information on the Coyote's internal political strife to convince the Grand Council to grant the Star Adders the rights to Absorption against Clan Coyote.[1][2]
Treason's Bloody Cost
Coyote Khan Tatiana Steele would not remain ignorant of this situation in her ranks for very long. Through her vast network of political contacts she learned about the particulars of this conspiracy against her, and the greater dangers it posed to her Clan. Calling an emergency Clan Council session with 30 leaders of loyal Bloodname Houses, she would present the evidence gathered against the guilty parties and then demanded their immediate Annihilation on the grounds of Treason. With the majority of Coyote Crusaders implicated in the conspiracy and therefore ineligible to vote on the matter, the Coyote Council would vote overwhelmingly in favor of their Khan's demands for punishment of the traitors. Nearly 2,000 warriors and offspring of the eight guilty Bloodname Houses were put to death in order to cleanse the taint of their treason against the Coyotes. Khan Steele would also call down a Reaving upon each of the eight Bloodname Houses, effectively annihilating them.[2]
The following Bloodname Houses were effected by Khan Tatiana Steele's ruling:
- Christofferson
- Gruber
- Kautz
- Kielman
- Masina
- Rosanske
- Smith
- Tangen
The warriors of these Bloodname Houses who had fought and died for their Clan in the past would be remembered, as would their deeds and sacrifices be remembered. But the traitors would be stricken from history, and of their genetic lines ended by the ruling of Khan Tatiana Steele.[2]
When Star Adder Khan Eamon Phoushath learned of his saKhan's perfidious actions, he would challenge him to a Trial of Grievance. After defeating Graves, Khan Phoushath would strip him of rank and status before handing him and his legacy over to Khan Steele of the Coyotes. At a Coyote Clan Council, Khan Steele would execute Carson Graves and destroy his legacy. She would then demand that the Star Adders Annihilate the entire Graves Bloodline, something that Khan Phoushath would flatly refuse to do.[4]
Legacy
After the conclusion of this incident, Clan Coyote would be wholly unified in their dedication to the Warden cause, though diminished as their numbers were. This incident would also be the spark to the Coyote-Star Adder feud that has raged on and off for decades.[2]