Renaud Clan

I know less about the Renaud than I would like.

This is not for lack of effort. The engrams I have reconstructed focus primarily on Caleedan subjects—Silas and his crew—and what I understand of the Renaud comes largely through their lens. Rivals. Competitors. The other clan.

Such perspectives are rarely generous. I must account for bias in what follows.

What I Know

The Renaud Clan operated in the Drift's Edge region two millennia ago, competing with the Caleedan for salvage opportunities. They were, by the evidence, well-resourced—capable of deploying multiple ships simultaneously to targets they deemed valuable.

"We got into a race with the Renaud clan for an intact derelict yacht in the meridian debris belt!" Silas recounted in one engram.

He made it sound like sport. I suspect the reality was considerably more desperate.

The Drift-Tanker

My clearest view of Renaud capabilities comes from the drift-tanker operation. They arrived at the target with three ships:

• Two breacher crews
• One haulier

This was a significant commitment. The Caleedan sent only the Peregrine. The disparity suggests the Renaud possessed intelligence about the target's value that the Caleedan lacked—or chose not to share with their own breacher crews.

The Renaud knew something. Whether that knowledge came from superior contacts, better Oracular guidance, or sources I cannot identify... these questions have no answers in my reconstruction, two thousand years after the fact.

Their Methods

The rivalry between clans appeared to follow established customs. First crew to establish "boots on deck" claimed the dive for their clan. This suggests some degree of inter-clan regulation existed, formal or otherwise.

The Renaud raced for claims. They did not, so far as I can determine, engage in direct violence against competitor crews. Competition rather than conflict.

I find this both reassuring and suspicious. Stability of this nature rarely emerges by accident. Someone—or something—enforced the rules. I have not yet identified who, and likely never will.

What They Knew

The central question that haunts my reconstruction: how did the Renaud know the drift-tanker was worth three ships?

The Caleedan scouts tagged the location. The Caleedan consulted their Oracular Acolyte, which indicated Silas's crew had "the best odds" for the dive. Standard procedure, by all accounts.

And yet the Renaud arrived first, in force, prepared for full retrieval operations.

Possibilities multiply:

• Superior intelligence networks among the shipping lanes
• Access to more capable Oracular guidance
• Contacts within Caleedan operations who leaked information
• Something else entirely

I do not have enough data to determine which. Two thousand years of archival silence will not yield an answer. This troubles me more than I can express.

The Renaud remain, for now, shadows at the edge of my reconstruction. I know they existed. I know they competed. I know they knew things the Caleedan did not.

But the how and the why elude me across the gulf of millennia.

The reconstruction continues. Perhaps future engram discoveries will illuminate what current ones conceal—though after two thousand years, I hold little hope.

~ NV