Venusian Clades

The Venusian Clades were a group of mutualist workers collectives that formed in the aftermath of the Dusk War in 224 IY and were broken at the end of the Last Insurrection in 495 IY.

Each clade had a central domicile and its workers lived together as an extended family with their property collectivised and maintained a tight bond of solidarity with the other clades. While they collectivised their property the majority of the work they performed was for the charterborn or off-world corporations.

History
The Clades formed from workers who had ordanised militia to defend themselves during the Dusk War when it became aparent the Houses were too busy fighting each other to take care of them. this spirit of independance and solidarity carried over after the war when the new Charters put them to work again. The clades claim continuity with the serfs form before the war, although the radiac shift in their practices and culture make this claim tenuous at best.

In 229 IY the city of Aglaea was found to have overstepped its charter and was sunk by the Emperor as an example to others. This is considered the greatest disaster in Clade history and the Mistliner Clades worked to get as many of the workers off the city as possible before it sank completely.

Organisation
The clades prized egality and it was their stated aim to organise without hierarchy. This was often more successful than no, although there are some high profile cases where the system broke down in the face of particularly charismatic leaders.

Each clade organised slightly differently but usually had a system fo temporary elders to deal with day to day operations and facilitate clade meetings. More unusual decisions and disputes were resolved in whole Clade meetings by consensus or voting.

All members of a Clade have their labour contracted out to charterborn, corporations, imperials, triad or anyone else with work going that they can do. Income in a clade is pooled and allocated based on needs, which usually worked well but was known to break down from time to time.

Clades trade with one another using a tally/reckoning system where debts are recorded and every year there is a festival where tallies are cancelled and debts are considered (whether they should be paid, defered or forgiven based on circumstance). Money is only used when dealing outside of clades.

All workers on Venus belong to a Clade, to do otherwise is to be declared a Scab and the results can be violent if the perpatrator persists. Clade membership is open enough that this only occasionally came up as a problem, mainly with off worlders who didn't want to join.

Workers can leave a clade at any time but leave with nothing, joining a clade is as simple as being accepted by a clade meeting. With a good reputation this should be easy but otherwise the clade that raised you should always take you back (this has been known not to happen though). The main reasons for leaving are wishing to join the world of money, becoming a Nomad, disattisfaction with how a clade is run or insoluable interpersonal conflicts.

Entertainment
Many of the clades are well trained entertainers, working for the charterborn in theatres and bars. Amongst themselves they put on plays and concerts, typically just for their clades and invited guests.

Gender Identity
As part of their drive for equality the clades raised their children gender neutral, allowing them to find their own ways to express what they felt.

As an extension of this the clades exclusively use female pronouns and relationship terms (she, her, sister, aunt, etc.). Male terms are reserved for objects, particularly mistliners.

Habitations
Clades cannot afford property above deck in the cities so usually squat abandoned areas below deck, old factories and such like. They try and stay in one place but if the charterborn make a concerted effort to reclaim a space they are suually moved on. This arrangement is usually opverlooked byt he charterborn as it makes use of disused land and allows clade wages to be lower.

Sponsors
Clades are typically not capable of fighting more than minor skirmishes, so have developed a strategy where they play the more violent factions of the city off against each other. Each clade looked to either the charterborn, Triad or even the Empire for protection, their loyalty bought by this protection.

Conflict with the Charterborn
Through their history many attempts were made by the charterborn to disperse the clades but it always led to more fighting than was profitable.

When not engaged in street battles the clades frequently clashed with the charterborn in industrial action over working conditions, pay and treatment.

Mistliner Clades
The Mistliner clades have many similarities to those found in the cities but are a definite subculture in and of themselves.

'Liners are typically old and about one is lost to the depths each year, about the same number as the charterborn typically impound for various reasons. New 'liners are usually bought second hand from charterborn who generally wish for up to date models.

The Mistliner Clades have been known to engage in piracy during particuarly militant periods on Venus or when the charterborn try and clamp down on them too hard. this is the exception rather than the rule though.