"We are Clan Snow Raven. We survive in the field of naval warfare. We make use of neglected opportunities, creating advantages where others see none. We are the shades of the night, we are the shadows in the fire-light. Make them bleed, make them burn. For lightening fast hatred flash, and scorcheth man to blood and ash. Honor bound and duty told, ever watching ever bold. Our path is our own, our future unfolds. Patience is our strength. " ----ilKhan 3055

Clan Lore

--Background
Though not the strongest of the Clans, the Snow Ravens are acknowledged as having the best aerospace corps and the largest fleet facilities in known space. Twice in the early history of this Clan, they were nearly destroyed. Once during Operation Klondike and again when the Not-Named Clan destroyed the Snow Ravens capital city. From this came a Clan whose mastery of aerospace is unparalleled in Clan history.

--Founding
The Snow Ravens were founded by Stephen McKenna, a former air wing commander, and Joyce Merrell, formerly of the 183rd Royal Mechanized Infantry Division. Though the two were able commanders who respected each others abilities, they could not decide on the necessary training and organizational procedures their Clan would need. As a result, the Snow Ravens were the last Clan to be deemed combat-ready prior to Operation Klondike.

The Snow Ravens were assigned to assault the planet Circe, along with the Not-Named Clan. Their assignment to neutralize several fortresses went as planned, but casualties were extremely high. The only bright spot in the campaign was the performance of the Clan's aerospace Stars. The Snow Ravens blamed the Not-Named Clan for their high losses during the campaign, including the death of saKhan Merrell, ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky absolved the Not-Named Clan of any misconduct.

The only advantage the Snow Ravens had was in the strength of its aerospace pilots. While the other Clans built up their ground forces, the Snow Ravens concentrated on Trials of Possession for aerospace facilities and related industries. They won possession of the largest aerospace and starcraft production sites. The other Clans belatedly realized that the Snow Ravens were intent on monopolizing space travel. Their realization came too late as the Raven had already won control of the primary construction and repair docks. The Snow Ravens' stranglehold on space facilities prevented other Clans from building up their naval fleets. This would serve the Snow Ravens greatly in the centuries to come.

--Dehra Dun
In 2853, the Not-Named Clan disputed a Snow Raven Trial of Possession for a Brian Cache located in their territory. The Grand Council upheld the Snow Raven's victory, but the Not-Named Clan's Khans abruptly declared their Clan independent of the others. The Raven forces on Circe moved to protect their people but were repelled by the Not-Named Clan's forces. The Not-Named Clan then launched a massive attack on the Snow Raven's cities on Circe, destroying everything in their path. The Not-Named Clan then drove towards the Snow Raven capital city of Dehra Dun. For reasons still unknown, the Not-Named Clan detonated a nuclear device which not only destroyed the city and its inhabitants, but it also incinerated the Ravens' genetic repository.

ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky then declared a Trial of Annihilation against the Not-Named Clan. Clan Wolf won the honor of destroying the Not-Named Clan. The following battles were remarkably savage on both sides. Eventually, the Not-Named Clan's warriors were killed and their lower castes absorbed into the Wolves.

--The Golden Century
The devastation wrought by the Not-Named Clan took the Snow Ravens many years to recover from. Their Khans became masters of political compromise, trading manufacturing capacity for materials needed to ensure the Clan's survival. All the while, the Snow Ravens built up their naval forces, amassing a fleet of nearly forty warships along with dozens of JumpShips and DropShips. The Snow Ravens quickly realized their excess fleet capacity could be rented out to the other Clans for substantial profit.

It was during this time that several momentous events that helped shape the Snow Ravens and several other Clans. First, the Snow Raven enclaves on Hellgate, one of the Clan's primary food suppliers and sources of germanium, came under intense attacks by Clan Steel Viper. The Ravens fought well, but were eventually forced to completely abandon the colony and all its resources to the Vipers. This began a fierce hatred for the Steel Vipers.

Next, Clan Blood Spirit, long known for its isolationism, approached the Snow Ravens with a unique opportunity. The Blood Spirits agreed to secretly transfer three of the remaining warships in exchange for a Galaxy's worth of second-line 'Mechs. The deal allowed the battered Spirit Touman to rebuild at relatively little cost, while the Raven fleet increased the size of its warfleet. Although the transfer was successfully completed forty years ago, the two Clans have kept open friendly lines of communication.

The Snow Ravens were also responsible for one of the more dynamic changes any Clan has undergone. In the 2980s, the Snow Ravens suffered a number of setbacks at the hands of Clan Sea Fox. Khan Liam Howe, furious at the losses, took it upon himself to have his scientist caste create a genetically altered shark that would be the deadliest creature in the ocean.

When newly elected Sea Fox Damon Clarke went to offer tribute to the sea foxes, he and his entourage were surprised to see a sea fox killed by a previously unknown aquatic predator. Khan Clarke dispatched a Point of Elementals to capture one of the creatures. The Sea Fox scientists dubbed the creature the diamond shark for the rigid spines on its flanks. Further investigation showed that the growing diamond shark population would render the sea fox extinct. Faced with the losses of his Clan's totem, Khan Clarke made the unheard of decision to rename his Clan. He also decided, due to the scope of the decision, to allow members of the Clan to vote on the proposed name change. Several within his Clan protested the decision, but Khan Clarke swept aside all dissenters. In 2985, Clan Sea Fox was no more. There was only Clan Diamond Shark.

Khan Howe, enraged at how his plan had been foiled, inadvertently revealed his part in the destruction of the sea fox. He was quickly challenged by saKhan Niamh Sukhanov and killed in a Circle of Equals. The Snow Ravens demanded a Trial of Refusal over the name change, but was badly beaten by the Sea Fox forces. The Snow Ravens have sought rapprochement with the Diamond Sharks, but they have refused the offers, instead consistently besting the Ravens in numerous commercial ventures.

--Revival
During the debate which became known as the Dragoon Compromise, the Snow Ravens voted along with the Wardens although many within the Clan were devout Crusaders. When the Outbound Light arrived in Clan space in 3048, the Snow Ravens were in no condition to participate in the Trials that followed. Clan Coyote had sought to regain a measure of its depleted strength by staging a number of Trials against the Snow Ravens. The fighting left both Clans too weak to battle for a slot in the invasion force.

The Snow Ravens, however, were able to contract portions of their fleet to the invading Clans in exchange for resources from captured Inner Sphere worlds. This agreement greatly enriched the Clan while expending minimal resources. Falcon Khan Elias Crichell attempted to win over Raven Khan Lynn McKenna by offering her prime Falcon genetic legacies as well as the world Hellgate, which the Falcons had recently won from the Steel Vipers in exchange for extending the Jade Falcon's warship contract to ten years. Though many within the Clan Council protested the agreement, the Raven Khans convinced them of the need for honoring the contract. The contract became a moot point when the Falcons later abrogated it when they interfered in House McKenna politics.

--Death of a Clan
The Snow Ravens stood apart from the other home Clans when Ice Hellion Khan Asa Taney tried to bring about the "Home Clan" coalition. Fortunately, the Khans of Clans Jade Falcon and Wolf turned Khan Taney's ploy against him. By hinting that only warriors fighting with the invading Clans would ever see the Inner Sphere, Khan Vladimir Ward initiated the "Harvest Wars." These batchalls resulted in large numbers of warriors from various Clans pitting themselves against the Jade Falcons and Wolves. Both Clans gained numerous experienced warriors to flesh out their weakened Toumans. The Snow Ravens quickly ended all Trials with the two Clans after losing two full Clusters. At the conclusion of the Trials, the invading Clans began planning to renew offensive operations against the Inner Sphere.

The Inner Sphere invasion of the Smoke Jaguar Occupation Zone stunned the Clans. The subsequent routing of all Clan Smoke Jaguar forces forced the Clans to put a halt to all invasion planning as they waited to see the outcome of the fighting. The assault on Huntress by Task Force Serpent further shocked the Clans. Never had anyone ever wage this type of total warfare against the Clans. The destruction of the Smoke Jaguar warrior caste repulsed many Khans, who viewed this level of warfare as being beyond the pale even for the "barbaric" Inner Sphere.

The arrival of the Star League Defense Force, led by Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht and Prince Victor Ian Steiner-Davion, on Strana Mechty set the ground for the Great Refusal. Prince Victor declared a Trial of Refusal over the invasion. The Warden Clans, led by Clan Ghost Bear who switched allegiance to the Warden cause, refused to participate in the battle. The eight remaining Crusader Clans each sent two Stars to battle against a company of Inner Sphere forces from each of the participating realms. The Trial went well for the Star League forces. Only Clans Star Adder and Jade Falcon won a victory, while Clan Wolf accepted a draw. The Star League won the other five battles. The invasion was now over.

--Recent Events
The Snow Raven's losses during the Harvest War were quickly compensated when the Raven Khans learned that Clan Ghost Bear was moving its entire population to its holdings in the Inner Sphere. In return for the Snow Raven's assisting in converting two Leviathan-class warships into heavy transports, the Ghost Bears gifted the Ravens with their resource rich asteroid field holdings and much of the world Bearclaw. Although Clan Hell's Horses also laid claim to portions of that world, the Snow Raven forces were able to hold on to the world. Snow Raven warships also assisted Clan Nova Cat in evacuating its remaining civilian population to the Inner Sphere after the Grand Council Abjured it for its defection to the Star League. Again, the Snow Ravens claimed much of the Nova Cats enclaves as well as the former Smoke Jaguar holdings on Homer