Shard vs. Splinter

[Avarice]

The Splinters of Dusk, collectively called gekkonids, are made up of two sub-clans:

The Eventide (Shards) are the gekkonid thieves. The noble core of the Splinters of Dusk, they are observers and make for the financial backbone of the clan. Their role is constant over time, regardless of public interest in the clan, but considerably more passive.

The Morningtide (Splinters) are the gekkonid warriors. Entirely dependant in their craft upon the public interest in the clan's services, the Morningtide are the front lines, and largely what others associate with the Splinters of Dusk.

Shards

Pro

• Less OOC drama. Seriously. Thieving is an accepted practise in the city and the few people that take personal issue with getting coins stolen from them are unanimously considered kooks. And of course, less OOC drama means you can focus on the things that matter: Roleplay and having fun.
  
• You are free in your time schedule. Shardly activities can be done at any time. Drops (be they from clients or to Splinters) can be done by whatever Shard happens to be on. Thieving can be done whenever you have the AP.
  
• Application acceptance means you're in. Splinters need to pass the initiation ritual before they are accepted into the fold. Shards don't have that problem.

Contra

• You have much responsibility. The Eventide is the financial backbone of the clan. Your money is clan money, far more than that of the Morningtide. Also, historically, the Eventide is far less fickle than the Morningtide, making it a true stable core.
  
• Your personal expenses are limited. You have a monthly allowance that defines the limit of how much of your money you can invest in non-gekkonid purposes. The allowance stacks and doesn't expire, but even then you're expected to prioritise clan matters.
  
• Rank advancement is limited. You have to bind to a Splinter before you can advance in rank.

Splinters

Pro

• You can leave the clan without worrying about what you leave behind (or don't). The Morningtide is crafted in a way that allows you to leave without remorse if you've decided it's not for you. There's very little responsibility attached to being a Splinter: You do your hits and stock up occasionally, and that's it. That only marginally contributes to clan stability.
  
• You have financial freedom to do as you please. You don't have to document or justify your expenses, personal or otherwise.
  
• You rank by powers. Rather than having to meet a clan-specific requirement to advance in rank, as the Shards do (having to be bound to a Splinter), there's no prerequisite to advance in rank as a Splinter but for the powers you've acquired.

Contra

• Drama. There are players who will take you hitting them personally. You may get seriously harassed. Seriously, this is not for the fickle minded. You're expected to take the abuse. You can, however, rant to us in private. <3 We like it. (IC harrassment is more frequent, but should be easier to deal with.)
  
• When hits are on, you are expected to partake. That's (often) a fairly narrow timeframe. The powers that be (the Eclipsed folks) will get very cranky with you if you continually miss out on these. So you're expected to pay a lot more attention to the Splinters of Dusk community than a Shard would be.
  
• You're not joining the clan without first passing an initiation rite. If you're not willing to dedicate the required time and trust to the ritual, you're not getting anywhere near the member boards, sorry.