Lei (daughter) of the Family of Eagles of the Stormbringer Clan
Tau (son) of the Family of Kodiaks of the Earthmover Clan
Gia (daughter) of the Family of Elks of the Lightstriker Clan
Feron (son) of the Family of Lions of the Flamesparker Clan
Siro (son) of the Family of Orca of the Tidebearer Clan

These are the five Heirs to the five Head Families of the five Clans.  They meet, in secret, to see about ending the constant bickering between their Clans and to unite against the Cities, whom they see as a common enemy.  (except for Gia, who DOES want the Clans united, but doesn't see the Cities as an enemy, merely as a group of people who are going about things differently.  She keeps trying to persuade the others, and eventually succeeds some with Tau (who winds up thinking that the Citizens are just going about things The Wrong Way and need to be taught how to do it Right), but I'm not sure yet how well she succeeds with the others.  Probably not very well ^_^''''' )

Siro loves Feron and Feron loves Siro, but their Clans do not get along, and male-male relationships are looked down upon because they cannot produce children.
Feron is engaged to marry Lei, who has no affection (or animosity) toward him.  She makes a deal with him to let him take a lover (Siro) as long as he will extend the same courtesy to her if she should ever decide to do so.  Of course they will still have to do their "duty" and provide Heirs for both of their families.  What Siro is going to do about an Heir for HIS family is an entirely DIFFERENT question...and problem.
Gia is attracted to Tau, who falls in love with her, but she is also attracted to Paen of the Family of Moose (the Dark Family of her own Clan). 
Paen may or may not love Gia; it is uncertain.
Tau is expected to marry Vula of the Family of Brown Bears, although a marriage to Gia would be acceptable.  No one in his family thinks it'll happen though, and they are anxious to see him happily settled down (or at least settled down, period). 

Klaron is the son of a rich and powerful Citizen from M'k'nahk, and is studying to be a Fire Magician.  He happens to spy the Heir to the Hawk Family, Stormbringer Clan. He's instantly smitten, and he pursues her relentlessly until...she finally relents.
Back home, his parents catch wind of the smoldering looks passing between their son and a Clan member and want him HOME.  Like, YESTERDAY.
The night before he's to depart home, his lady love literally scales the walls to his bedroom and suggests they elope.  He thinks it's an excellent suggestion, but fearing heights, wants to sneak out of the Academy the NORMAL way, as opposed to the way she came.
As they're sneaking away, they pass the room of the [Head] of the Fire Academy, whom they catch in the act of stealing the Icon.  They don't know what it is, but they know it's bad.
He hears a sound and they take off.  He pursues them, never quite seeing who they are, but when the boy turns up missing the next day when his parents show up to claim him, the [Head]'s suspicions are confirmed.
The two go to the Stormbringer Clan and are told that they do not care about what the [Head] of the Fire Academy does with his time.  Naturally the pair cannot go to HIS parents, and the Stormbringers will not accept him, even in her company.  They view her as a traitor to family and Clan.  So the two run away again.
Now the other four Icons have disappeared (more on Icons below).  The compass jewel must be found and used to locate the Icons before the [Head] of the Fire Academy figures out how to combine their powers....
...and just how would he do that, you ask? Well, there's a temple, hidden in an underwater volcano at the bottom of a deep chasm in the ocean floor, covered with illusion, its entrance blocked by a boulder.  This means that there has to be a representative from each type of magic there (air to breathe underwater, illusions are made by bending light, and then water, earth, and fire are pretty obvious) in order to even FIND the temple, let alone get in.  Once inside, there is a large star-shaped pedestal that the five Icons need to sit upon, and then five Keys must be inserted into little "locks" just underneath each Icon's place on the pedestal.  The five Keys are the five insignia worn by the Head of each Clan, so this means that the representatives must be Clan members, or have the cooperation of the Clan, in order to combine the Icons powers. 
Once combined, the Icons will form a ball of energy that eventually solidifies into its own orb and statue-holder, in essence just one big Icon.  That Icon will be the whole of the power of Avyon, and he who controls the Ultimate Icon could control it all.

When eventually the five Clan Heirs and the five Academy magicians find the Temple of the Icons, after the baddie has turned off the Shield and basically dispelled everyone's powers- 

the compass jewel is inserted in the middle of the Altar, and the five Clan Heirs each pick up their respective Icon.  Everything seems fine until they each feel hot, incredibly hot.  
What has happened is they have each re-absorbed the powers of the Icons.  The Shield is not restored nor are the powers of the magicians, even after the Icons have been returned to their rightful places.  

The Icons are five orbs in five stands of different materials: gold, silver, wood, ceramic, and glass.  Each orb is a different color, filled with a red liquid which is actually blood.  Each orb carries the blood of the original "founder" of the different Clans.  They were gifts to the Academies back when the Clans and the non-Clan members got along.  The Icons are the source of ALL non-Clan magical power in Avyon, and so they remain as long as they remain in their sacred spots within each Academy building.  Removing them destroys the power of all Magicians of that type until such time as the Icon is restored to its rightful place.
To destroy the Icons, or to combine all five powers into one power overall, would also rob the Clans of their powers, but more importantly, it would lower the magical shield built around the Archipelago.  The [Head] of the Fire Academy wishes to do this because he believes that magic makes people lazy, too dependent upon it, and because he believes that magic corrupts one's soul eventually.  Depriving the Clans of their powers is the icing on the cake that he anticipates savoring.

The Avyon Archipelago is actually located on Earth, near Africa.  The islands once had extensive trade with African tribes and with the European mainland, and the Clans were always there and had always had magic.  
But the Dark Ages began, and the Heads of the Clans saw their people hunted and feared, burned for no reason.  They endured these conditions as best they could, but when the Age of Reason began to dawn, and magic itself was sneered and snorted at, they realized that there was a choice before them: to withdraw from this world or to join it and leave their magicks behind.  
On the advice of several prophets, at least one from each Clan, they chose the former.  They used their power to create the Shield and closed up the Archipelago from ALL human senses.  They erased its mention in the various countries' annals, and made it as though it had never existed.  Avyon was not "no longer" - it simply never had been.  And life could go on as normal.  
To reinforce their belief in the strength of magic, they gave the Icons to those who had no magic and taught them to wield spells. 

In order to get to the temple, the baddie kidnaps one member of each Clan's royal family (Gia's twin brother, Lei's cousin, Siro's best friend, Feron's mother, and Tau's nephew).  Once they help him gain access to the temple, he kills them.  

With all of this going on, there is also a female baddie (I really got to get these people some names...) who is the descendent of the original King of Avyon.  Back before the shield, Avyon was one country, not several, and it was ruled by one King.  She wants Avyon reunited under her rule, as a means of reclaiming her birthright.  Recognizing her need for an heir, and wanting Clan magicks to help her, she chooses Siro as her child's father.  She brainwashes him and sleeps with him.  She gives birth to a daughter and raises her to hate Siro, saying that her father ran out on her and didn't love her.  This'll cause problems when she eventually crosses paths with her Daddy...