(05-29-2014, 12:55 PM)TheLastCandle Wrote: There is precious little lore to speak of, beyond the fact that they are Matriarchal and tend to live in groupings of a few families. Some Keepers in the Shroud have had various run-ins with the Wood Wailers (as some of them may or may not be poachers) and the Ixal. Aside from that, I think most Keeper RPers pretty much agree that any differences in players' interpretation of what little lore does exist go straight into the "well, in my clan we.." bucket.
There's a very old thread in which Keeper roleplayers shared details about their characters' clans, here. Hope this helps!
I would like to point out that the link TheLastCandle gave you is a good example of how different players interpret the possibilities of how Keeper groups could be run, but it is -way- outdated. Also, all of it is pretty much entirely player-made.
I assume you've read the Keeper lore here?
http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/wiki/index....:Miqo%27te
This is also a helpful video on Miqo'te lore, and does have some interesting little tidbits about Keepers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-P3vV6z4Jg
((Warning! Info below contains minor spoilers about the Archery quest line.))
In-game example of Keeper groups would be the Coeurlclaw Poachers, Raptor Poachers and Pawah Majuuk's group that you learn a bit about in the Archery quest line. The Archery quest line has a lot of little hints about Keeper lore such as a hint that short-bow archery is time-honored tradition for Keepers, some Gridanian people (likely some Wildwood Elezen) think of Keepers as "savages" which suggests a disdain for some kind of lifestyle. Some Keepers have an interesting accent while some do not. Wood Wailers are brutally harsh on poachers, and there is one Keeper NPC in one quest that says she was poaching to feed her starving family. I took screen shots of pretty much all the dialogue from the archery quest line so I can prove everything I have written.
While I don't remember if the lore specifically states that Keepers are only traditionally found in the Black Shroud, that is highly likely the case since the vast majority of Keeper NPCs are found in Black Shroud and Gridania. South Shroud is a place with a lot of Keeper poachers, and where most of the archery quest line takes place. East Shroud has another small poacher group called the Raptors.
However, it is hinted that not all traditional Keepers are poachers. Leih Alipoh of the Archer's guild is said to not be a Gridanian at birth. She mentions growing up in a small farming village where she learned a traditional family archery.
It should also be noted that there are plenty of Keepers in the ranks of the Wood Wailers and Twin Adder. However, they do not seem to follow any Keeper traditions, but rather, they do follow Gridanian traditions.
