The Black Claw

The Black Claw is the name given to multiple Shamanic organisations most often devoted primarily to prejudice and violence against Zealots. Following the legacy of the original Black Claw, which was a secret police force that operated in the Shaman Kingdom, numerous small and unrelated organisations have beared this name throughout the last tens of millions of years, the most well-known of which existed in the Zelenay Galaxy.

Early History
The original Black Claw was founded during the days of the Shaman Kingdom, primarily as a defense from hostile covert activity from competing superpowers of the day, particularly the Dzeerazza Empire. It was a covert organisation itself tasked with the hunting down and killing of anti-Shaman extremists and foreign spies. In these days, the Zealotic religion had not been founded, however, so it cannot be assumed that the Black Claw had always been anti-Zealotic, as modern popular opinion suggests.

Following the Shaman Kingdom's collapse, many of the splinter-factions that continued to be Shamanic would continue to maintain their own, albeit smaller Black Claws, including the "Shamastic Empire" that would later become the Shamasty. When Zealotism came into contact with Shamanism, it became widely regarded as a direct counter to Shamanic belief, and so, the Black Claws would focus on eliminating Zealotic missionaries and believers, becoming more of an inquisition in many Shamanic empires. It is believed by scholars that these changes led to the worship of the God That Will Come as the main god of the Shamanic pantheon, a belief which is continued to be held to this day. After some time, Shamanism became less prominent due to Zealotic influence, and many Black Claws dwindled in power and numbers, before finally becoming disbanded one by one. However, the Black Claw's legacy has continued even to the time of the Alliance Of Order.

During The A.O.O
Later on, at a time closely preceding the Squin's arrival to space, one in a series of attempts from across the known universe to restore the Black Claw was founded by a poorly-known race from the Zelenay Galaxy that had converted to extremist Shamanism at some unknown point. Although still not as active as the original Black Claw, they were the most influential attempt at a revival yet, although this particular iteration's Shamanic values were heavily distorted, and the group worshipped "Blackclaw", which appears to have been an idealised version of the God Who Will Come. They made multiple incursions upon Zealots native to the galaxy, often raiding Zealotic empires such as the Nigonokoo. The success of this particular Black Claw can be attributed to it's brief membership in the Alliance Of Order, which brought it to limited international prominence and allowed them to participate in the First A.O.O Civil War.

However, their membership in the A.O.O also brought them out of their isolation, and made them discover mainstream Shamanic thought, causing a civil war among the Black Claw resulting in their reformation into a Shamanic organisation. This Black Claw did not maintain membership in the Alliance Of Order, but it continued to remain influential in the Zelenay and Andromeda Galaxies for hundreds of years. Even after this one's collapse at some point after the fall of the A.O.O, there have been a number of smaller Black Claws founded across the Local Group in particular, their legacy surviving time and wars, even the Forgotten War.

50 Million Years Later
By the time that the empires of the days of the A.O.O returned in a distant future, the Black Claw's legacy had diminished almost entirely, but there were still a few small, isolated groups in at least the Zelenay Galaxy, and the remnants of a number of settlements from Black Claws both old and new that have died off completely. Few empires had interest in these bases, due to their hidden, remote locations and lack of useful technologies, but a bipedal species known as the Dakiiriri encountered one of these settlements, and would become Shamanic as a result. They would go on to unite what remains of the Zelenay Galaxy under a single empire.

Structure
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