A clan is a group of members united by kinship.
Gargoyle Clans
Gargoyle clans are a fairly loosely organized group of individuals who band together as a family. There are few named roles, which include the clan leader, the second in command, warriors, and rookery keepers. Gargoyle clans inhabit an area containing their rookery and protect it with their lives. Unlike most human clans, gargoyles raise their young communally, with each gargoyle hatchling belonging to the clan as a whole. As a result of the way gargoyles raise their young, gargoyles view one another as siblings and cousins, despite any lacking genetic connection. Not every gargoyle in a clan has a strong connection with all of its clan-mates, however, but actual outcasts are extraordinarily rare, as there is only one known exception.[1]
Known Clans
Lost Clans
We know of several clans that once existed, but have gone extinct. Goliath once said that at one point (probably while humans were still in the Stone Age) there were gargoyle clans all over the world. Gargoyles were the dominant species at that time, though it is unlikely their numbers ever equaled the current human population. It seems most, if not all, gargoyle clans were destroyed by humans one way or another. Following is a list of extinct clans. Note that as Goliath's comment indicates, this list is far from complete.
- The Wyvern Clan - Wyvern, Scotland - Destroyed in the Wyvern Massacre of 994.
- Demona's Clan - Scotland - A clan that formed sometime after 995 and was destroyed in 1057.
- The Wyvern Branch Clan - Scotland - A branch of the original Wyvern Clan. Destroyed between 988 and 997.
- The Scone Clan - Scone, Scotland - Destroyed by 1057 at the latest, and probably decades earlier.
- The Scattered Clan - Scotland. Formed around Demona from remnants of other lost clans.
- The Olympian Clan - Ancient Greece - Destroyed sometime before 1996, and probably centuries earlier.
- The Irish Clan - Ireland - Destroyed sometime between 10 AD and 1996
Living Clans
In 1993, shortly before Goliath's Clan was awakened there were only eight clans alive in the world. They are all quite old, and have managed to survive by hiding from humans, living in extremely remote locations, or forming solid bonds with human allies.
- The London Clan - London, England
- Clan Ishimura - Ishimura, Japan
- The Mayan Clan - ChacIxChel, Guatemala
- The Pukhan Clan - Pukhan, Korea
- The Xanadu Clan - Xanadu, China
- The Loch Ness Clan - Loch Ness, Scotland
- The New Olympian Clan - Mount Thanatos, New Olympus
- The Avalon Clan - Oberon's Palace, Avalon
The First New Clans
Between 1994 and 1996, two new clans would be founded. One was awakened from a magic spell that had left them sleeping for a thousand years, while the other was created through scientific cloning.
- The Manhattan Clan - New York, U.S.A.
- The Labyrinth Clan - New York, U.S.A
- Timedancing Clan - During Brooklyn's time travelling adventures, he formed a miniature clan which upon their return became part of the Manhattan Clan.
Later Clans
Sometime between 1996 and 2188, gargoyles from the ten existing clans (by 2188, collectively known as the Gargoyle Nation) will go on to form two new clans.
- The New Wyvern Clan - Wyvern, Scotland
- The Camelot Clan - New Camelot, Antarctica
After 2198, the Gargoyle Nation will create two new clans.
- The Liberty Clan - Queen Florence Island, Canada (not to be confused with the phony Queen Florence Island gargoyle clan Raven conjured to fool the Avalon travelers, who were in fact not gargoyles at all, only illusions)
- The Notre Dame Clan - Paris, France
As the years go by, one can assume that the gargoyle population will continue to climb and more clans will be formed, once again bringing about a time when gargoyle clans are found throughout the world.