Clan Ghost Bear Facts

Demographics , society , Leaders and possessions.

Clan Ghost Bear

    The Strana Mechty ghost bear is a patient predator that waits hours, even days, buried in the snow, for its prey to come into view.  When the moment is right, the massive animal strikes with such lightning speed and strength that the naked eye can barely see the ghost bear at all.  The surface of the snow settles again with only a faint bloodstain as evidence of the fierce and deadly battle.

    Like its namesake, Clan Ghost Bear is a conservative hunter.  Never hasty, the prevailing Ghost Bear ethos is "wait and see."  When the Bear finally moves, the results are swift and often extreme.  Once the Bear has chosen its target, nothing can stand in its way.  Such is the Way of our Clan.

"This report contains the true account f the Ghost Bears' long journey, from strength to strength despite the constant predation of our neighbors.  Following in the footsteps of our founders, our Clan has stayed its course, and despite temporary setbacks, none can dispute our success.  May the following words be received by our enemies and allies alike in the spirit intended.  In the future, perhaps other Clans will learn to practice the wise teachings of Tseng and Jorgensson."

Society

    Hard work and dedication are cornerstones of Ghost Bear daily life. Though these value are typical of the Clans, family has a unique meaning to this Clan founded by a married couple.  In their years as the Ghost Bears' first Khans, Tseng and Jorgensson imparted to their initial forty warriors a sense of camaraderie and fellowship.  To them, the Clan was a family, and the father of that family was the Khan.

    As the years passed, those first warriors passed this sense of pride and belonging to those under their command.  The intensity of the relationship faded as the Clan grew, but the general sense remained.  Ghost Bear warriors maintain tight bonds with their trothkin and starmates.  True friendship among them is widespread, and some even say love is common among the ranks (although the Bears deny this).

    In the civilian castes, where families are common in other Clans, the concept is far closer to the Inner Sphere norm than in other Clans.  Children generally stay with their parents rather than being raised in community crèches.  In most cases, this means the crèches are more like day care than permanent homes for the children, and the parents take care of their own children as much as they can while still performing their duties for the Clan.

Military

    The Ghost Bear Touman centers on strength and speed, employing 'Mechs with powerful arrays of weapons, often to the point where armor and heat sinks are compromised.  The use fast 'Mechs such as Fire Moth to deploy their significant force of Elementals, the largest of any Clan.  In fact, the Ghost Bears have deployed an entire Galaxy consisting solely of Elementals.  Generally, Ghost Bear clusters consist of two trinaries of 'Mechs, on trinary of Elementals and a mixed Nova or either 'Mechs and Elementals or 'Mechs and AeroSpace fighters.

    Ghost Bear training is harsh and especially physical.  All warriors undergo personal combat training, and it is interesting to note that Clan Ghost Bear never adopted the aerospace pilot genotype for its pilots, instead using what other Clans would consider MechWarrior stock for that role.  Many suspect the Bears made this move not only because of their famous reluctance to adopt nw methods, but also because the pilot genotype makes for poor hand to hand combatants.

Allies and Enemies

    The Bears are a powerful but moderate Clan, and as such offend few and have worked alongside almost every Clan over the years.  However, the only Clan that could be termed a true ally is Snow Raven, who have worked with the Ghost Bears periodically for the last hundred years.  The Ghost Bears' comparatively weak aerospace force is complemented nicely by the Ravens, who benefit from the Bear's exceptional Elemental force in battles where the two work together.

    A powerful Clan always attracts rivals, and the Ghost Bears are no exception.  Topping the list are the Hell's Horses, who have had a long running border disputes with the Ghost Bears. One such conflict in the Golden Century resulted in the death of Kilbourne Jorgensson, arguably the most popular Ghost Bear Khan in history.  The Ghost Bears have held a simmering hatred of the Horses ever since.

    Also on less than sterling terms with the Bears are the Steel Vipers, with whom they just never got along, and Clan Wolf.  The Wolf Clan enmity dates back to the Annihilation of Clan Wolverine and the fact that the Ghost Bears were denied the right to participate in the trial. The Bears let a Wolverine unit slip past them in spite, and have regretted it ever since.  the scar of that incident is borne to this date by all Ghost Bear warriors, who also harbor a long standing grudge against the Wolf Clan for failing in the honor of fully destroying the Wolverines when they had the chance.

Possessions

Worlds: 43 (Clan space: 1 shared world.  Inner Sphere: 42)

Before their relocation to the Inner Sphere, the Ghost Bears held considerable territory in Clan space.  However, they now maintain only their enclave on Arcadia and the traditional posting at Strana Mechty; their remaining holdings were ceded to allies or lost to Trials of Possessions.  All other Ghost Bear troops and civilians have been relocated to their Inner Sphere occupation zone, which has been named the Ghost Bear Dominion.  The Ghost Bears recently captured the Inner Sphere worlds of Leoben, Skandia and Radstadt in Trials of Possession against Clan Wolf.

This map shows the Ghost Bear Dominion without the three planets which were captured in the Trial of Possession against Clan Wolf. So it is valid from the Battle of Tukayyid(3052) up to 3061 , the year in which the T.o.P. was holded.

Strategic analyse

As the Ghost Bears revealed their movement to the Inner Sphere along with the announcement to have become a Warden Clan they dramatcially changed the power balance in the Clan occupation zones.

The Ghost Bears launched several attacks on the Wolves' OZ and captured six worlds. Vladimir Ward, Khan of Clan Wolf then gave 3 world in his OZ to the Hell's Horses to gain assistance and to create a buffer zone between his worlds and the Ghost Bear Dominion. 

This latest hostillity can be interpreted as a result of the Trial of Refusal which ended the clan invasion. The Wolves claimed that this result did not apply to their clan which would mean they could continue the invasion.

Right now the situation in the OZ is static as the Wolves as well as the Jade Falcons are too weak to successfully continue the invasion. The Wolves would risc an attack by the Ghost Bears so their attention is more likely turned to GB. The Jade Falcons are bound by the Trial of Refusal anyways.

With the Trial of Refusal and the situation in the OZ the near future of the Clans can only be guessed.