What Is the Covenant of the Kraken?
Right now it is mostly a cooperative collective of Steampunk interested performance artists from all walks and styles. We share ideas about projects we are working on to ask for feedback and ideas and/or to offer opportunities to join the project if it needs more people than the one's arranging it have on hand. We also contact members of this collective first when recruiting talent for a new show or event before going elsewhere.
The only two rules are to play well with others and to protect the artistic and/or intellectual property and confidentiality of unfinished projects shared with one another. Groups or individuals are totally autonomous, but if they do not follow the two rules above, we ask them to disengage from the collective and not use it's label.
If on the other hand groups want to join more directly with ours in terms of fictional backstories written collaboratively, using our backstory fiction, act as allied groups at events or even pretending to be part of the same militarized time traveling privateer organization (the fictional Covenant of the Kraken) at events, then we discuss the best way to arrange that and give them help and support. Regardless, we are always here to offer advice and suggest effective organizational methods if requested.
When Ramon and I were first getting involved in the steampunk scene we were literally the only people in the DFW area we knew of. We wanted a way to connect with others, meet up at events out of town, make friends and share ideas. We looked far and wide and didn’t find any groups that were publicly open to recruiting/accepting new members (at least if they were out there we didn’t locate them or they weren‘t advertising). Our idea was set up a networking group of friends and adventurers that was open to other “loners” or family groups joining. Covenant of the Kraken is a confederation of Time-Traveling Privateers. Members can join as individuals, form their own “ship” or group, or ask to join an existing group that is already set up. As time-travelers you can customize your own storyline and met up with the rest of us for social or steampunk events. We also allow people to join on a temporary basis for specific meetings/missions if they want to participate in a particular project, event, or “story line” as one of our allies. IE if Airship ______ (whatever name) wanted to do a joint project with us where we did a dramatic and/or comedic skit in a show or at a convention about how their airship helped us attack a British Fleet during the Opium wars (They would be described as an allied or mercenary unit, but the individuals would be working with our Covenant of the Kraken performance art network for the purpose of booking the performance). We do have some simple rules : play fair with others and be respectful of others (including differences in culture, beliefs, religion, politics, dietary restrictions, etc.) After all, we’re here to have fun and you wouldn‘t want to get keelhauled, would you? (Look it up, it‘s a interesting, but rarely used historical form of ship board discipline.)
Interested parties can write up info on their character, vessel (airship, seafaring vessel, steam powered gypsy wagon- what ever you fancy), history and specifications. We encourage creativity, vision, inspiration, and historical fiction. Naturally, geographic location, personal preference and shared interests/activities will steer some people to specific groups.
Radha Narasimhan, V Adm. Covenant of the Kraken
Kali’s Hourglass- Flagship of Covenant of the Kraken
There are so many airships out there we wanted to do something different for variety’s sake so our flagship vessel, Kali’s Hourglass is a sailing vessel, not an airship. Our flagship vessel is family friendly (2 families already with kids) and is a shaping up to be a steampunk performance art group. Some of our focuses include role playing, costume design, dancing, and creative writing. Crew interests include historical costumes, anthropology, archaeology, ancient weapons and military history. Our own style tends to be somewhere at the intersection of post-apocalyptic meets military with a bit of curry spice thrown in, but other groups can determine their own styles as they see fit. We also explore steam punk attire/storylines from less expected realms such as India, China, and Native America. We are active in the local steam punk events to the degree possible and the members of our flagship all have a strong personal commitment to “steam punk lifestyle and philosophy” such as abandoning the modern plastic, disposable lifestyle, with fashions changing every few months in exchange for items of permanence, quality, and inspiration. On the fun side of things, we also have a tendency towards wild fashions and dance (good for those missions requiring disguise!), prompting the slightly exaggerated rumor that love for dancing and Kraken Rum is a prerequisite for membership in Kali’s Hourglass. The truth is that tea totalers are also welcome and we are not really heavy drinkers, just fans of really good rum, but the dance part, well that may not be so exaggerated, but drummers and persons that just like to come along for the fun of it are always welcome at a dance. Members of Kali’s Hourglass are currently working with Carnevale of Creatures to create a Steampunk Venetian Carnival show. We are always working on new tactile projects and love acquiring new/old/recycled/upcycled weapons and gadgets- one of our latest projects involves armor from the scales of one of the last living dragons (we tried to save it but were unsuccessful- but, we did succeed in tracking down the parties ultimately responsible for it’s death and deal with them- storyline to follow as Admiral Ramon has the time to update his journals!). There is more detailed info about our ship on Kali’s Hourglass pages on facebook on Steampunk Empire. We keep a land base in Irving, TX and use Kraken Aethers (our private transport airships) to move between land bases, but at heart we love the open seas.
Vice-Admiral Srimati Radha NarasimhanKali's Hourglass, Covenant of the Kraken
