I've recently begun writing a novel based on a D&D campaign I was lucky enough to take part in over the last few years, and doing so has involved revisiting the worldbuilding of the DM who ran the campaign. One very rich element of his setting is that most civilizations, particularly the elves and orcs who were featured in the campaign, are very detailed in terms of leadership and clans. In the process of writing the (as of this article's writing) most recent chapter, I got to really dig into the orcish clans, their leaders, and how they are all specialized. It inspired me--I realized that despite the years of development I've put into my world, I've never really gotten into the specifics of how people organize themselves into factions. That seems like a sad oversight now, and so this will be the first in an eight-part series of guides to the major clans of each cultural group. Let us begin with one of my human groups: the Daltoners, sun-worshiping extremists who have always aimed to colonize Evanoch and spread their way of life.
In this series of guides, the general organization will explain the overall role of the clans in the profile as well as the clans themselves--who runs them, their history, and how they function in the world. These will be partially constructed in order to give more life and detail to my world, but as always, the more important aim is to provide the world with jumping-off points. What I mean is this: should a group of Daltoners appear in a game I'm running, I'll have a reference point to do something detailed in the moment without having to improvise entire structures on the spot. Let's imagine that I'm DMing, and a group of Daltoners becomes a part of the story. Before this clan guide, I would be forced to generalize about the worldviews of Daltoners at large. But with this clan guide, I'll have a more rich and varied take on what makes Daltoners a broader but also diverse group, and I'll have this more detailed information to improvise based on in the moment, freeing me up to make stronger and more specific stories based on a foundation. This is, to me, the point of worldbuilding--to provide a framework for improvisation with details that can inspire further details as they impact the story. So without further ado, let's get started.
In Daltoner society, two things rule the social world: money and religion. The power of financial capital is great, so merchants tend to be among the most highly regarded among Daltoners. And at the same time, religious faith is an important marker of social prestige--the more standing a Daltoner holds in the Dalton Church of Pelor, the more impressive they are considered to be. As a result, the leading clans among Daltoners tend to have extreme levels of money and/or religious status. This means that the Daltoner clans which hold the most power tend to be merchant houses, religious factions, or a combination of the two. Daltoner society dictates that people pay respect and homage to their "social betters," so these clans have not only tangible power in society (controlling resources and church status), but also social standing that gives them the ability to dictate the ways everyday people live their lives. The following Daltoner clans are considered the most notable and also most powerful groups in Daltoner society.
The Laurentius Clan
The current leaders of the Laurentius clan are a group of three brothers: Terrence, Davis, and Jonathan. Considered by most to be the most important clan in Daltoner society, the trio of brothers together represent essentially all of the core values of Daltoners. Terrence is a very wealthy merchant, heir and primary owner of the Laurentius Trading Company; the company began as a logging company in the early days of New Dalton many generations when the land that the city lies on was still a dense forest, but over the years has grown to include most common goods, most notably earthenware, furniture, and textiles. Under Terrence's guidance, the Laurentius Trading Company has developed a monopoly over these three industries, where when he took the helm of the company, it was merely a major competitor in those fields. Terrence is credited with being cutthroat and uncompromising, which are seen as assets in Daltoner society. Davis is a mid-ranking religious official within the Dalton Church of Pelor, and his work to enrich the church financially has meant a large increase of missionaries, the domain which he has specialized in. Davis's reign as the chief executor of missionary work has seen a near tripling of the number of those proselytizing abroad, and he is especially respected for insisting the missionaries be trained with arms and armor; Daltoners believe this to be a wise choice so that missionaries can defend themselves, though outsiders argue that in effect, these missionaries are able to brutally force people to convert through violence. Jonathan is renowned for his combination of Daltoner values--he began a company that produces religious goods such as prayer candles, holy symbols, and home altars. His company, Pelor's Will, was started with a loan from his brother Terrence, and with Davis's help, the company became the only officially-endorsed producer of religious goods with the Dalton Church of Pelor. Jonathan is a role model among the poor of New Dalton, who look to his ingenuity and principles as inspiration for a better life. Together, the Laurentius brothers are considered the leading family among Daltoners and paragons of their society's values.
Past generations of the Laurentius family are no less respected or important to society. The first Laurentius to rise to fame was ancestor Jacob Laurentius, an immigrant to Evanoch on the first ship to arrive from the island of Dalton. Jacob was a commoner during the journey, but an act of bravery (rescuing a drowning woman who fell overboard) made him a celebrated member of the voyage, and he was among the first to be given a leadership position when the vessel landed. He leveraged this position and some shadily-procured property rights into the funds to found the Laurentius Trading Company. In later generations, descendant Roger Laurentius constructed a factory that turned the company's raw materials into produced goods. Roger was known for hiring from the Dalton Church of Pelor's most devout members, giving the company a reputation as trustworthy. Later down the line, Edgar Laurentius borrowed funds to build additional outlets for the Laurentius Trading Company, making it the most well-known in New Dalton. Edgar paid back the loan he took in full within two years, and within two more, had doubled profits by underselling competitors and then raising prices when nearby competitors went out of business. In the more recent past, Leonard Laurentius, who had lost out on ownership of the company to his older brother, entered the Dalton Church of Pelor as an initiate and quickly rose to the position of Chancellor. Leonard, the great-grandfather of the current day Laurentius brothers, used his power within the Church to negotiate for an expansion of Church interests in the lands beyond New Dalton; their already expansive efforts for proselytizing saw a new dimension under Leonard, who took to adapting outsider religious beliefs to fit in with Dalton Church of Pelor teachings (which would then be adjusted further and further until they were genuine to the Church). The next two generations of the Laurentius family continued this legacy until the current golden age for the clan.
In its current iteration, the Laurentius family's power is wide and well-known. It is considered a reasonable aspiration to obtain a loan from Terrence Laurentius for a business--what is less known is that Laurentius tends to offer only steep interest rates on loans, and that he often steals business ideas from people to use them for his own. More often, though, Terrence adopts the strategy of offering a loan, helping to start a business, and then buying out the business when the high interest payments become too much for the aspiring entrepreneur. Nevertheless, the Daltoner value on ruthlessness makes Terrence seem to be a force which is admired. Meanwhile, Davis is not quite highly enough ranked in the Church to be seen as a full religious leader, but his alignment with the Laurentius family means that his religious status has been exaggerated. His position within the Church does, however, cast a certain favorable light on the rest of the family's deeds. At the same time, Pelor's Will has established itself as a divinely-blessed endeavor; Jonathan's work has been instrumental in supplying Davis's missionaries with materials for their work across the continent. Together, the current Laurentius brothers and their forebears make the family the ultimate in social prestige. In truth, they are neither the richest nor most faithful of New Dalton's people, but the combination of their domains has meant that the Laurentius family has obtained an image of a model clan among Daltoners. Young children in New Dalton are often told to aspire to be like the Laurentius family, and Davis is currently working on a manner of boot camp for rising leaders in the city.
The Alterman Clan
This family has adopted a strategy which few other Daltoner clans have--marriage meant to consolidate power. The prime leader of the Daltoner Church of Pelor is Gareth Hannibal, a brutal and conniving leader who controls the political leader of the city, Torvald Gorp. But Hannibal relies heavily on a cache of advisors, and the Alterman clan makes up three of his five chief advisors. Hannibal's right hand man, Gregor Alterman, is the second-in-command of the Church--his rise to prominence involved a suspicious set of mysterious deaths of those ahead of him in the chain of command, and his collection of highly-trained bodyguards are intended to protect him from a similar fate. Gregor is largely responsible for the consolidation of Church power in New Dalton as opposed to the home island of Dalton, where the Church began. Gregor was behind several small coups which collectively amounted to Hannibal's amassing enough power to overshadow the Church in Dalton. Gregor's brother-in-law, Seamus Pottsfield, also has Hannibal's ear in his capacity as Speaker for the Sun, a prophet-like position in which Seamus interprets scripture for Hannibal. Seamus's interpretations often hold that the Dalton Church of Pelor must resist changes from the outside world, digging further and further into obscure passages that cast Daltoners as victims and martyrs of a sinful world. With Seamus's help, Hannibal has shifted the Church's focus towards a more militant stance that has mobilized thousands of everyday people into fighting for Church agendas. Not to be forgotten is the other brother-in-law, Ned Lionel, whose role in Hannibal's council can be summarized as a secretive keeper of religious law. Ned's work with Hannibal has seen several important changes to Church actions--cementing Church power over that of the municipal government, directing capital city funds toward erecting new temples, and completing new editions of the Dalton Church of Pelor's holy texts. Ned's agenda is broad, but it largely aims to control the populace of both New Dalton and Dalton through religious rules which are punishable with heavy consequences, often execution in grisly ways. Together, the modern Alterman clan oversees the broad strokes and fine details of religious life in New Dalton's highly spiritual way of life.
The Alterman clan was not historically a power player in the New Dalton scene until several generations ago. Bosco Alterman, the great-great-grandfather of Gregor Alterman, was by all regards a rather kind man; he rose to a high rank in the Dalton Church of Pelor, but he was held back by his adherence to a gentleness that marked him as not cunning enough to be socially prominent Daltoner. Nevertheless, Bosco was something of a folk hero among the common people of New Dalton, someone who would appropriate Church funds for the building of orphanages and kitchens meant to tend to the poor. Scholars today estimate that Bosco was treated as a mascot by the Church, leveraging his reputation as a saintly man into opportunities to minister to the poor. Bosco's sons and sons-in-law used his status to obtain positions of power within the Church, opting for more conventionally Daltoner approaches to status, such as using their opportunities within the Church for personal power and the advancement of Church aims. Alterman's descendants recognized the opportunity for continued power and, through marriage, brought in religious leaders who also wished to cash in on Bosco's reputation. Gregor's father, Deacon Alterman, was the most notable of these, arranging marriages for his four sisters to important Church leaders, which laid the foundation for the current council domination of the Alterman family. It is worth noting that Deacon's own work left an important mark--his work as a council leader meant the transformed the council from a series of yes-men into a collection of people with their own competing and collaborating agendas, and he systemically crushed any resistance to his and his clan's goals through a combination of power plays that shaped the council into a largely family business. The Alterman clan is by and large the most powerful family in New Dalton in terms of religious life, making them the de facto most powerful family in terms of their effect on everyday people.
Every Daltoner knows the Alterman men by name. The most devout among Daltoners look to Gregor Alterman, Seamus Pottsfield, and Ned Lionel as beacons of hope in a dark world, men whose vision and principles are guiding lights for a better future. This has become so exaggerated an effect that many religious devotees in New Dalton wear emblems of Pelor himself, pendants and bracelets of Gareth Hannibal, and other insignias with the Alterman clan's crest (a shining ray of sun on a city) or even simply the names "Gregor, Seamus, and Ned." Worth noting is the fact that the council itself has encouraged this iconography. More broadly, though, the Alterman clan has publicly made itself available as an audience for religious issues. This means that Daltoners with questions and problems of faith can go directly to the Alterman men for help and interpretation of religious texts, which is something that highly ranking officials in the Church have historically not offered. In turn, this has meant that the Alterman clan has had the ability to shape religious doctrine directly to the people. The interpretations of scripture that the Altermans put forward to common people are usually spread by those seeking advice, giving amplification to the family's beliefs and agendas. It has not been entirely uncommon for families situated in the Church to attain multiple positions within its leadership, but these families have often been prone to infighting, whereas the Altermans have traditionally collaborated to keep and expand their influence in ways that strengthen their grip on Daltoner society. Together, the Alterman clan has given itself the rare opportunity to dominate the spiritual world of a civilization without taking direct control of supreme leadership while still remaining trusted allies of the supreme leader himself. To further develop this hold, Ned has recently begun overseeing an official Alterman family edition of holy texts, and close consideration of these interpretations show that they overtly support Hannibal while still placing a spotlight on the Altermans themselves as true disciples of what Pelor intends rather than direct leaders, which has meant that the common people have reasons to idolize the Alterman clan rather than Hannibal himself. The other two council members at Hannibal's side have warned the supreme leader of this, but Hannibal has generally trusted the Altermans historically.
The Silverson Clan
The Silversons are considered to be an upstart clan among Daltoners. Only two generations old, the Silverson clan currently consists of a pair of cousins, Paul Silverson and Eric Silverson, who are descended from the same grandfather, Alistair. Paul Silverson is the magnate of the Waving Grain Company, an agricultural conglomerate of farms and production companies that specialize in agricultural tools. The Waving Grain line of products, which features plows, scythes, shovels, and simple tools, caters to farmers across the Daltoner empire in Evanoch. Most of their designs are modified versions of inventions from other cultures, but the improvements made by Waving Grain are largely considered to be very useful and even clever adaptations. Under Paul's direction, Waving Grain has helped to give a foundation to the rise in productivity of Daltoner agriculture, which has in turn helped to feed an expanding population of previously hungry Daltoners. Paul Silverson is viewed by many as a benefactor whose work has meant an improvement in the quality of life of Daltoners, although a larger share of the increased output of Daltoner farms has been sold to foreign powers rather than directed to Daltoner families. Waving Grain obtains most of its raw materials for products from a Silverson-owned mining interest which is operated by a trust in the Silverson name. Eric Silverson, meanwhile, operates a smithing company called The Sun's Shield. This company mass-produces weaponry and armor in two main lines of production. One of these lines is fairly cheaply-made items aimed at the common person--simple blades, basic armors, and especially a wide variety of shields, which tend to be of higher quality than the rest of their wares. The other line of products is much higher-end, produced by a fairly vast network of contract-working smiths according to a set of specific blueprints. These higher-quality arms and armor are sold directly to the Dalton Church of Pelor for use by the imperial army, an incredibly fearsome military which the Church has been building over the last several centuries to replace the decimated troops lost in the initial attempt to colonize Evanoch. These two massive companies, both of which entail considerable smithing technology and resources, have made the Silverson Clan one of the most intimidating and notable merchant houses in New Dalton.
The true beginning of the Silverson clan was not Alistair Silverson, who was a simple miner. Alistair toiled in the smithy of a more established smith as an apprentice for most of his life. Late in Alistair's life, the smith for whom he apprenticed died, and Alistair began to teach his son, Bertram, the various tricks of the trade of smithing. Alistair died not many years later, still a poor man, but Bertram had higher aspirations than operating a smithy. He sold the smithy and used the funds he obtained to buy a share in a mining operation with the intention of getting more reliable and cheaper access to raw materials. He then used his modest profits from the mining operation and formed a small smithing company, Silverson Metalworks, bringing in a team of other smiths to train as his own employees. Within a few years, Bertram had enough money to begin buying out the other interests in his mining company, and within a decade, he was the controlling owner of the company, which he renamed Silverson Mines--the same mining interest owned by the trust he formed in his family name that supplies the current branch of the Silverson clan's companies. In his old age, he entrusted his business interests to his son Paul and his nephew Eric, who then formed their own branches of the company to further specialize their products. Bertram formally retired, but continued to be heavily involved in the budding new parts of his company; he officially split Silverson Metalworks between his heirs on his deathbed, allowing them full domain to expand as they saw fit. The story goes that Bertram spoke to both Paul and Eric on his deathbed, directly them to keep the business in the family and to expand their companies as much as possible. In that interest, Paul and Eric quickly married and began to produce heirs of their own; today, Paul has seven children, and Eric has nine, and all of their sons have been given formal training as smiths so that they can continue to devise new ways to continue the family trade. Paul's eldest son, Vick, has shown promise as a metalworker specifically in the field of construction, and Eric's second son, William, is currently in the process of establishing a new company which produces mining equipment.
The Silversons are seen by many Daltoners as a tale not only of rags-to-riches, but also as an example of the kinds of dividends that ingenuity, risk-taking, and family loyalty can pay. Several prominent books have been published on the topic of Silverson business practices, which the Silversons have openly embraced--they believe that the trade-off of people knowing that what they are up to is more than made up for by the fame and notoriety it will bring, which has in many ways helped to further raise the profile of Paul and Eric's companies. But even moreso than that, the Silversons are viewed as a model family unit. In Daltoner culture, one's immediate family is considered their greatest resource and foundation for stability and happiness; by expanding that family unit to include more extended family, the Silversons have helped to revolutionize the ways that Daltoners view their families. In the last generation of Silversons, Daltoner culture has begun to embrace a wider concept of what family is. Increasingly, Daltoners look to their extended family for support, and more importantly, to offer it. In the past, having a rich uncle meant little to a Daltoner aside from a constant source of envy, but in the modern day, having a wealthy family member can mean the possibility of financial success for oneself. Helping an extended family member is now viewed as an investment--the possibility of beginning one's own family dynasty has been redefined to include the entire family tree rather than simply one's own children. This more broad approach to building the success of one's family has meant that many lower class families have been able to reach a middle class standard of living. There has been a backlash to this movement, though--a sizable portion of the population of New Dalton preaches that extended family and even one's own children can be drains on a person's time, attention, and wealth, and that trying to pull up one's extended family is akin to a drowning man sinking under due to trying to save another drowning man. Nevertheless, the Silversons are a key economic force in New Dalton whose family model has become increasingly relevant in the modern age, and reaching out to the Silversons for advice and economic opportunity is a not-uncommon strategy for Daltoner families looking to improve their lot in life.
The Trombull Clan
The Trombull family is one of the widest-spread families in the Daltoner empire going back many generations. Most recently, Laurence Trombull's branch of the family had been the most highly ranked and respected of Daltoner families, being the royal family of the city of Talon Gorge, which was founded over a century ago by Daltoner settler Jack Trombull. That lineage of Trombulls ruled for many years until the recent crumbling of the monarchy following the assassination Laurence Trombull preceding the civil war that replaced the Talon Gorge government with a democratic council this year [this civil war constituted the first major campaign I ran in Evanoch]. Now that the Trombull monarchy has fallen, however, several important Trombulls remain. Unlike other clans which are centered in New Dalton, the Trombull clan is widely spread across the continent. In New Dalton itself, Marcus Trombull presides over an important regional governorship, placing him in municipal power over approximately one-third of the New Dalton population. He is known as a benevolent if erratic ruler, prone to paranoia about those who may vie for his seat even before his cousin Laurence was assassinated; since then, he has succumbed to vivid imaginings of plots against him and become a recluse. Beyond New Dalton, other Trombulls have attained important positions of power. Hector Trombull is the political leader of the city of Dozain, an important settlement on the Oldoff River in the northeast of Evanoch--in his position there, he has increased trade with New Dalton and other cities in the Big Nine, leading to the prosperity of Dozain's citizens. Aaron Trombull is the founder of a major temple of Pelor in the city of Ringsdale, where a flock of new Daltoners have migrated in the last several years. Lindon Trombull is a significant playwright and curator of the arts in the northwest city of Finiel; under Lindon's arts programs, Daltoner culture has become more accepted in the city, and new works about Daltoners have been commissioned from significant artists from other cultures. And in the southwestern city of Phinol, Derek Trombull has built a small empire of healing centers which charge only nominal fees for the healing of outsiders and free healing for Daltoners. The prestige of the Trombull clan means that very few members of the family are unable to achieve at least some notoriety in their chosen fields, and the name Trombull carries heavy social weight among Daltoners everywhere.
About 25 years after the arrival of the first ship from Dalton, the first Trombull of note made his name. Richter Trombull, only a child when he arrived on Evanoch, was dissatisfied in his late twenties by the way that Daltoner society seemed to reward only the most established of people, and he set out with his wife, son, and daughter for what Daltoners called the frontier (and Evanoch's peoples called home). Richter worked as a tinker, occasionally selling wares and mostly fixing broken items for those in the towns he visited. He traveled the northeast of Evanoch for nearly a decade before settling down on a trade route and opening a small shop, The Tinker's Home. Slowly, other travelers joined Richter there, and shortly after Richter's death, the town incorporated itself as Such, now a major city between the metropolises of Talon Gorge and Vestry. Richter's son, Foster, became the first political leader of Such while operating an expanded version of The Tinker's Home, which had by then become a flourishing general store. In subsequent generations, the Trombull family followed a sort of pattern: one of the Trombulls would carry on the family business, and the others would travel Evanoch, joining cities or establishing their own. Legend has it that a full half of the cities in the northeast quarter of Evanoch were founded by Trombulls, many of whom moved on from the settlements they built to try their luck in other places. By the year 4500 (just over two centuries ago), Trombulls were embedded across Evanoch, mostly in the northeast. Around this time, George Trombull did what few of his family had ever done and returned to New Dalton, this time with the wealth and status that his ancestor Richter had lacked. George quickly established himself as a trade leader in the vein of Richter, opening a chain of general stores across the capital city. George considered this a revenge for his ancestor, whose story had been carried down through the generations. Today, more than twenty The Tinker's Home general stores dot New Dalton, and the Trombulls alive in the city today still regard themselves as outsiders to the Daltoner way of life--they are not known for religious devotion or for ruthless trade practices, instead proud to be the branch of the Daltoner empire that is accepted by outsiders and even celebrated as contributors to Evanoch as a whole. Marcus Trombull, the notable governor in New Dalton, is a direct descendant of George's.
The legacy of the Trombulls is both complex and ever-changing. Because of the great number of Trombulls around Evanoch, it is impossible to judge the family as one uniform unit, and because they so frequently begin new ventures and communities, there is always something new to consider. A few things generally hold true, though. Staunchly traditional Daltoners tend to judge the Trombulls as dissidents, people who have turned their back not only on the capital city and Daltoner settlements at large, but also as social outcasts--few Trombulls embrace the strictures of the Dalton Church of Pelor or the often cutthroat politics of Daltoners. This has meant that while Trombulls are held at arm's length by Daltoners at large, they are also a beacon to free-thinking Daltoners who question the severe methods and beliefs of their society. Trombull clan members are not seen as a safe harbor for dissidents by those who oppose Daltoner values, but outsiders do largely consider them to be approachable, reasonable, and by some, "the good Daltoners." And at the same time, there are many Daltoners who see the example of the Trombulls as an alternate route to prosperity. Daltoner society teaches that adherence to the rules of Daltoner culture is the pious and right path to success, but the Trombull clan is living evidence to the contrary. Daltoners who feel, like Richter Trombull before them, that their society is unfair can look to the Trombulls as common people who used good sense and fairness along with an independent spirit to craft a future for themselves. This has classically meant that the Trombulls are approached by people looking to start something entirely their own without turning their back on Daltoner society as a whole, and most Trombulls are absolutely willing to at least hear these people out, if not outright support them in their pursuits. If any Daltoner clan has a reputation for lending genuine help to anyone who needs it, the Trombulls are that clan. Still, the Trombulls recognize their precarious position in this reputation--if they lean too far into Daltoner values, they sacrifice their independence, and yet, if they resist Daltoner society too much, they will be ostracized, losing out on not only their own opportunities, but also casting a negative light on other Trombulls. In effect, the Trombull clan must perform a delicate dance, doing what they think is best based on the situation rather than a set of principles.
The Hanson Clan
To most Daltoners, the Hanson clan seems to be an upright if somewhat secretive family, led by businessman Samuel and his son Edgar, who helps to run their construction company, Building By the Sun. The Hansons are known as a new addition to the most prominent circle of Daltoners--Samuel and Edgar only entered the elite of New Dalton sixteen years ago. But this clan is more than what it seems. Behind closed doors, Samuel and Edgar make few decisions themselves; their wives, Harriet and Priscilla respectively, dictate nearly every business decision that the father-son team make. Harriet and Priscilla know that Daltoner society shuns women being in positions of power, and they married Samuel and Edgar within a few weeks of each other. Samuel and Edgar are simple men without much intelligence, and Harriet and Priscilla are subtle and careful enough to make the men feel as though they are making the decisions for themselves. Beyond this, there are two vital things that Samuel and Edgar do not know. Firstly, Harriet and Priscilla are in fact lovers, hiding their lesbian relationship by carrying on private lives that are concealed by their public ones. Secondly, Harriet and Priscilla are firmly opposed to the Dalton Church of Pelor and Daltoner values, and they operate the business so that they can secretly build safehouses for other dissidents. Using this cover, Harriet and Priscilla have for the duration of their marriages used Samuel and Edgar as puppets to run a large-scale refugee-sheltering operation. These women had attempted to quietly conduct their work for refugees from the New Dalton government without the help of husbands as a cover, but found themselves the object of a huge number of roadblocks; they opted instead to swindle the Hanson men seventeen years ago and guide them in order to have the secrecy they required. Posing as devout Pelorites and dutiful wives, Harriet and Priscilla have saved hundreds of targets of the New Dalton government and Dalton Church of Pelor by using Building By the Sun safehouses and funds to hide them and then smuggle them away to distant cities, setting these dissidents up for new lives abroad. Practically no one in New Dalton knows the truth about the Hanson clan, but in dissident circles, Harriet and Priscilla are regarded as guardian angels with the ability to save those who run afoul of New Dalton's elites. Only Harriet and Priscilla know the full truth of their work and identities, using aliases in the capital's underworld (Shadow and Cloud, respectively) to protect their existences.
The Hanson clan, as mentioned above, is a very recent addition to New Dalton's social world. Prior to Harriet and Priscilla's intervention, the Hanson men were modestly successful carpenters. They worked on a small set of tasks, mostly building furniture and occasionally erecting barns and sheds. Samuel did not come from a wealthy family--his father before him was a potter, and his grandfather had been a farmer. The Hanson name was not known by most, and neither Samuel nor Edgar aspired to much beyond subsistence and recovering from the death of Samuel's first wife, who had died in childbirth delivering Edgar. After careful scouting, Harriet and Priscilla, who had been together for eight years before they found the Hansons, decided that Samuel and Edgar were the ideal pair for their scheme. The women had scouted for candidates for their plan for almost two years before finding the Hansons, and they acted quickly. Harriet, the older of the women, played out devotion to Samuel, and Priscilla pretended to fall for Edgar at first sight, not letting on that she knew Harriet at all. Samuel and Edgar fell for the ruse, and upon the second wedding, Harriet and Priscilla began to gradually and subtly guide the men's business decisions via suggestion and arranging apparent fortunate coincidences that presented themselves to the Hanson men. Within a year, their new company (Harriet and Priscilla's idea) Building By the Sun was founded, and the women began to orchestrate the second phase of their plan: gaining financial stability and success. Within another two years, Building By the Sun was a major player in the world of construction, and when the following year, the company obtained a contract to build a new neighborhood on the northern edge of New Dalton, the company became a household name. The final stage of the plan commenced: Harriet and Priscilla began to use their influence, funds, and hidden housing to help refugees, all without alerting Samuel and Edgar. For the last thirteen years, they have operated silently and without detection, carrying on their relationship in secret, expanding the construction company, and assisting dissidents across the capital.
The Hansons remain a mystery to Daltoners at large. Their sudden rise to prominence is often explained as savvy and very lucky decision-making, at least until meeting Samuel and Edgar, at which point luck is the main factor attributed to their success. Many who know the Hansons believe that some manner of backroom deal was made in order to secure them the housing contract, or at least that the Hansons are being manipulated by city planners. There is no small amount of resentment for the Hansons for this reason--they do not seem clever or ruthlessness enough to have managed their success, nor do they possess the societal values or religious fervor to be respectable. But none can deny the financial success of the Hansons; Building By the Sun homes are finely made (due to Harriet and Priscilla's suggested designs), widely spread (most of the recent additions to the city are Hanson-made), and affordable without seeming cheap (a business decision made by Harriet and Priscilla intended to generate reliable profits for their private enterprise). In fact, a wave of rebuilding and repairs across the now-aging city have been contracted to the Hansons, securing a profitable future for the clan. The only concern that supporters have for the Hansons is their heirs--neither Harriet nor Priscilla have had any children in their long-standing marriages, and rumors have spread that they are both infertile. Meanwhile, dissidents in New Dalton and outsiders beyond the city who know the women by their aliases tend to know only that they are a shadowy hand that helps those in need who are being targeted by the monstrous Daltoner government and Church, and that alone is enough to earn them respect, not to mention the daring that it takes to operate an organization like theirs in constant danger of being discovered by authorities who would surely execute them. As for Harriet and Priscilla, they are entirely and unendingly devoted to their mission--they accept that there are huge risks in what they do, but they also know that the job needs to be done by someone, and so they take it on.
And there you have it--a guide to the five most notable clans in Daltoner society. As you can see, these range from those who embrace typical Daltoner values in a variety of ways to those who go their own way. In game, this will allow me to do some really interesting work that was previously impossible; one incredibly important thing this article forced me to do was confront that there are dissident Daltoners. Before, I had always presented them as uniformly evil, socially repressive monsters with little in the way of redeeming qualities. But now, I've tried to vary that and give it some depth, resulting in an expansion to previous campaign lore, a clan of traveling Daltoners, and an interesting opposition to that Daltoner stereotype that I had crafted for myself. Just by taking the time to do some worldbuilding in a new direction, I have a much fuller understanding of my own world, and more importantly, a lot of possibilities when it comes to in-the-moment decisions about gameplay. I always recommend doing this--giving yourself the opportunity to expand your options--and I have here more proof of why you should do it.
That's all for now. Coming soon: guides to clans amongst the Faninites, dwarves, and orcs. Until next time, happy gaming!
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