Editing The Blood Scandal

'''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 afterward.<ref name=TC:WOKp73,74>''The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky'', p. 73, 74 - "Clan Coyote, History"</ref><ref name=FM:WCp42,43>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 42, 43 - "The Blood Scandal"</ref>

==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 [[Crusader]]s.  Their philosophical opponents were the [[Warden]]s; Clansmen who maintained that [[Nicholas Kerensky|Kerensky's]] vision for the [[Clan]]s was that of protectors who should watch over the misguided citizens of the former Star League.<ref>''The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky'', p. 64, 65 - "Politics"</ref>

==Coyote's Situation==
[[Clan Coyote]] was deeply 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 now not-named in her Clan) was ousted as [[saKhan]] in favor of a Warden, she then turned 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]].<ref name=TC:WOKp73,74/><ref name=FM:WCp42,43/> 

[[Carson Graves]], saKhan of [[Clan Star Adder]], pledged his support to the not-named Coyote warrior against the Wardens of her Clan.  But in reality he was setting up all of Clan Coyote to be Absorbed, planning to use his inside information on the Coyotes' internal political strife to convince the Grand Council to grant the Star Adders the rights to [[Trial of Absorption|Absorption]] of the politically fractured Clan.<ref name=TC:WOKp73,74/><ref name=FM:WCp42,43/>

==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 presented the evidence gathered against the guilty parties and then demanded their immediate [[Trial of Annihilation|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 voted overwhelmingly in favor of their Khan's demands for this most-severe 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.<ref name=FM:WCp42,43/>  

The following Bloodname Houses were affected by Khan Tatiana Steele's ruling:


* [[Christofferson (Bloodname)|Christofferson]]
* [[Gruber (Bloodname)|Gruber]]
* [[Kautz (Bloodname)|Kautz]]
* [[Kielman (Bloodname)|Kielman]]
* [[Masino (Bloodname)|Masino]]
* [[Rosanske (Bloodname)|Rosanske]]
* [[Smith (Bloodname)|Smith]]
* [[Tangen (Bloodname)|Tangen]]


The warriors of these Bloodname Houses who had fought and died for their Clan during the past were still remembered and would remain so, as would their deeds and sacrifices. But the living traitors would all be stricken from Coyote Clan history, and all of their genetic legacies ended by the ruling of Khan Tatiana Steele.<ref name=FM:WCp42,43/>  

When Star Adder Khan [[Eamon Phoushath]] learned of his saKhan's perfidious actions, he challenged him to a [[Trial of Grievance]].  After defeating Graves, Khan Phoushath stripped him of rank and status beforehanding him and his legacy over to Khan Steele of the Coyotes.  At a Coyote Clan Council, Khan Steele executed Carson Graves and destroyed his legacy.  She then demanded that the Star Adders Annihilate the entire Graves Bloodline as punishment, something that Khan Phoushath would pragmatically refuse to do.<ref name=FM:CCp113>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 113 - "Change in the Wind"</ref>

==Legacy and Redemption==
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.<ref name=FM:WCp42,43/>

For over 100 years the eight [[Bloodname]] Houses remained dormant under the Reaving order of Khan Steele.  But after the events of the [[Wars of Reaving]] and the caste uprisings spurred on by [[the Society]], Clan Coyote found itself critically short on untainted Bloodlines for a time.  At some point Khan [[Leo Koga]] would lift the Reavings on these largely untainted and sealed heritages.<ref>''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 164 - "Founders Future: Clan Coyote"</ref>  Some would even remain exclusive to the Coyotes.<ref>''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 194 - "Bloodnames of the Homeworld Clans, Coyote"</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==See Also==
*[[Clan Coyote]]
*[[Tatiana Steele]]
*[[Gunnar Koga]]
*[[Leo Koga]]
*[[Clan Star Adder]]
*[[Eamon Phoushath]]
*[[Carson Graves]]
*[[List of Bloodnames]]

==Bibliography==
* ''[[The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Crusader Clans]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Warden Clans]]''
* ''[[The Wars of Reaving]]''

[[Category: Rebellions]]
[[Category: Political Events]]