Editing Constans Cluff

{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = Constans Cluff.jpg
| caption             = Constans Cluff
| name                = 
| birthdate           = [[3047]]<ref name=TWORp185,186/>
| died                = [[3075]]<ref name=TWORp185,186/>
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[Clan Blood Spirit]]
| rank                = [[saKhan of Clan Blood Spirit|saKhan]]
| title               =
| position            =
| profession          = [[Elemental]]
| parents             = 
| siblings            = 
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
}}
'''Constans Cluff''' was an [[Elemental]] warrior of [[Clan Blood Spirit]] who would go on to become their [[Loremaster]], and later was elected [[saKhan]] during the [[Wars of Reaving]].<ref name=TWORp185,186>''The Wars of Reaving'', pp. 185–186: "Constans Cluff"</ref>

==History==
Said to be typical of Blood Spirit Elementals, Constans Cluff was known for his courageous leadership in battle, as well as his fighting abilities.  Described as fastidious to the point of obsessive-compulsive behaviors, Cluff was famous within his [[Clan]] for his widely-varying tastes in personal grooming, primarily focused on his hair.  Said to be the one luxury he enjoyed, the Blood Spirits also knew that to insult a new hair style of his was to incite a [[Trial of Grievance]].  He was known to possess an eidetic memory and a keen attention to detail.  His cybernetic arm - a legacy of the battlefields of [[York (Clan planet)|York]] - would also become an object of his focus; he was said to have spent a great deal of time keeping it in superb working order.<ref name=TWORp185,186/>  

===Spirit Adder Ordeals===
Coming of age during the bitter fighting with [[Clan Star Adder]] on York in the mid- and late 3060s, Constans Cluff faced a live [[Trial of Position]] in [[3066]] to determine his status as an officer in the [[Clan Blood Spirit Touman|Clan Blood Spirit ''touman'']]. During a pitched battle with the hated Star Adders near the Spirit capital of New Tara, Cluff took down two Adder [[Corona]]s. The second kill was in spectacular fashion, losing his claw arm in the bowels of his enemy, just as he delivered the death blow from his arm laser. Instead of a biologically grown replacement arm, Cluff opted for a cybernetic replacement.  The artificial limb is said to be of no hindrance to the Elemental, who was still more than capable of bringing his accustomed level of violence to the enemies of the Blood Spirits.<ref name=TWORp185,186/>

===Spirit Loremaster===
By [[3070]], Cluff  held the rank of [[Star Colonel]], in command of the [[2nd Spirit Chasseurs (Clan Blood Spirit)|Second Spirit Chasseurs]]. His was the lone Elemental [[Star]] in his [[Cluster]], known for dropping in first and taking a position, waiting for the mostly [[ProtoMech]] unit to catch up and consolidate ground.<ref name=TWORp185,186/>   

At about this time, they were ordered along with [[Omega Galaxy (Clan Blood Spirit)|Omega Galaxy]] to [[Barcella]] in order to aid their allies, [[Clan Fire Mandrill]]. The Mandrills had recently taken control of a [[Clan Diamond Shark]] holding as part of a deal for transportation assets, but had found themselves beset by [[Clan Ice Hellion]]. SaKhan [[Troy Boques]] and Loremaster [[Bayle Campbell]] were the Blood Spirit commanders. Immediately, they had their hands full with the assaulting Ice Hellions. Loremaster Campbell lost his life leading his troops in a rearguard action, though the Spirits and Mandrills eventually claimed victory.  After the battle, Cluff was elected to the post left vacant by the charismatic Loremaster's death.<ref name=TWORp185,186/><ref name=TWORp54>''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 54: "Fuel for the Blood Feud"</ref>

===SaKhan and Fall of York===
In early [[3072]], [[Khan]] [[Karianna Schmitt]] was removed from the office due to suffering a broken back during a losing engagement with [[Clan Ghost Bear]] over [[Arcadia (Clan System)|Arcadia]].  Troy Boques was elevated to Khan, with Loremaster Cluff ascending to saKhan.   While Schmitt recovered from her wounds, she warned the new Khans that because York was relatively untouched by the recent chaos unleashed on the [[Clan Homeworlds]] by [[the Society]], a reborn [[Clan Burrock]] and other forces, it would become a prime target by their enemies.  Her prediction was soon manifested, as the Star Adders returned to York with a true vengeance. After crippling the lone Blood Spirit [[WarShip]], the ''[[Aegis (WarShip class)|Aegis]]'' class ''CBS Exsanguine'', Star Adder [[Dropship]]s poured onto the planet.  But instead of delivering a fresh invasion force, all Star Adder troops at the lone Adder enclave filed onto the waiting Dropships, departing York in haste. An [[Orbital Bombardment (CCG - Counterstrike)|orbital bombardment]] soon began that would last for the next twenty-two days, leaving York on the edge of habitability, with a nuclear winter setting in due to the dust raised in the devastation.<ref name=TWORp185,186/><ref name=TWORp104,105>''The Wars of Reaving'', pp. 104–105: "The Fall of York"</ref>

===The Wars of Reaving===
Among saKhan Cluff's duties were leading forward attacks to secure enclaves for the Blood Spirits, while requisitioning any ''[[isorla]]'' for use on the colony worlds at [[Colleen]]. After wiping out the remaining colony of Star Adders on [[Eden]] later in [[3072]], [[Omicron Provisional Galaxy (Clan Blood Spirit)|Omicron Galaxy]] linked up with saKhan Cluff and the remnants of Omega at Arcadia's zenith jump point. After several probing raids, it was realized that the enclaves were deserted. Taking as much ''isorla'' as possible, saKhan Cluff and his group were ordered to [[Albion (Clan System)|Albion]] to better secure their new holdings on that world.  To their surprise, a [[Clan Cloud Cobra]] naval patrol greeted them in space above Albion.  SaKhan Cluff made contact with the commander of the Cobra vessels and negotiated a small [[Star]]-on-Star Trial for safe passage to the surface, and winning the Trial against their now distant former allies.<ref name=TWORp123,124>''The Wars of Reaving'', pp. 123–124: "The Defamation of Albion"</ref>  

Once down, the Blood Spirits moved on the enclave of Indicass Beta in force, surprising and destroying much of the Star Adder's [[1114th Gatekeeper (Clan Star Adder)|1114th Gatekeeper Cluster]] as targets of opportunity along the way.  Launching an attack on neighboring Indicass Alpha, resistance was much greater.  The Star Adders [[286th Adder Sentinels (Clan Star Adder)|286th Adder Sentinels]] gave ground only after a block-by-block fight that included thousands of armed civilians and a surprise flanking maneuver by the [[343rd Adder Sentinels (Clan Star Adder)|343rd Sentinels]], but soon had drawn the Blood Spirit's [[22nd Blood Cavalry]] and [[21st Crimson Guards (Clan Blood Spirit)|Twenty-first Crimson Guard]] far enough into the city to spring their trap.  Explosions ripped through a large part of the city, burying the Crimson Guards and causing the death of at least 7,000 civilians in the vicinity.  During the fighting withdrawal that soon began, saKhan Cluff was knocked unconscious.  [[Galaxy Commander]] [[Darrin Keller]] took charge of the situation, organizing the retreat while facing a desperate Adder press.  The Galaxy commander was nearly killed in an [[aerospace fighter]] strike on his command star, though he would make it off world.  Once back on board the ''Exsanguine'' with the rest of the survivors of Omicron and Omega, Keller ordered the orbital bombardment of the two colonies, wiping them from the face of Albion.  When saKhan Cluff regained consciousness, he took grave exception to the orders to use naval bombardment.  In a [[Trial of Refusal]] over the incident, he is said to have almost killed Darrin Keller in an unaugmented duel while still aboard the ''Exsanguine''.<ref name=TWORp185,186/><ref name=TWORp123,124/>

===Death Over Circe===
During the [[Trial of Annihilation]] against [[Clan Steel Viper]] in [[3075]], a large Blood Spirit force was sent to the world of Circe under the command of saKhan Cluff.  Unfortunately, previously unknown ground batteries opened up, ripping into the [[DropShip]]s carrying the forces, killing all aboard.  Clan Blood Spirit legend said that Cluff and his Elementals refused to go down with the burning DropShips, jumping free of the wreckage, only to burn up upon reentry to the atmosphere of Circe.<ref name=TWORp185,186/><ref>''The Wars of Reaving'', pp. 149–150: "Viper's End"</ref><ref>''The Wars of Reaving'', pp. 150–151: "Focused Aggression"</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[The Wars of Reaving]]''

[[Category:Clan Blood Spirit Characters|Cluff, Constans]]
[[Category:Loremasters|Cluff, Constans]]
[[Category:SaKhans|Cluff, Constans]]