Use this page to discuss your family, and when you've reached a consensus, please write a brief description that addresses the following areas (you don't necessarily have to answer every single question - they're just sparks so that you know some of what I'm looking for. You also don't have to answer *just* these questions, if you have other things that are important that I neglected to mention, please feel free to address those as well). You may describe your family and answer these questions in any manner you wish — through prose, geneologies, artwork, whatever strikes your fancy. Be creative!
1. Family structure: Who is related to who? By marriage? By blood? By adoption?
As of now, the first family member we know of is Roland of Doerstadt (last name to be determined, or voted on?). Roland is son of Gantt and brother of Lome, brother-in-law of Verbes, and weird uncle to Narsereg and Loren. He has a dog, Dog.
We also know of Verbes, son-in-law to Gantt, brother-in-law to Lome and Roland, husband to Gantt's youngest child Analia who has since run off.
Generation 1
Gantt [Buck] — [Buck's wife]
Generation 2
Roland [Jordan], Lome [Tessa] — Margim Carver, Analia — Verbes [Ryan]
Generation 3 & Pets
Narsereg [Peter], Laurina Lond [Kathryn], Dog [Jordan's dog], Zasz [Jacob]
Obviously Nars and Lore are children of Lome and Margim.
2. Intrafamilial interaction: How does your family interact with other members of the family? Do you all get along? Are there frequent arguments? Has one of your family members been disowned/banished? What family values do you have? What sort of conversations do you have when you sit down for a family meal (assuming that you do, in fact, sit down for a family meal).
Roland is a peace-loving sort of man, gentle by nature. He talks of nature, the stars, food, and family. As far as he knows, he hasn't been banished. He enjoys his time with his wife, and, having no children of his own, spoils Loren and Narsereg.
Verbes is very devoted to his in-laws. He is quiet and not all that personable on the face of it but they have come to see his better qualities and his loyalty and accept him. They enjoy listening to his flute-playing, though he is rarely willing to perform for others; and he has given music lessons to Loren and Narsereg. He sometimes holds family members to unreasonable standards of conduct, which is annoying to them, but he is getting better about it.
Lome scolds Roland for his extravagant treatment of Loren and Narsereg, but a gleam in her eye suggests that she really doesn't mind. She speaks little and smiles much, though in a reserved, almost sad way. She is patient with the other family members, and firm with her children. She works hard, and often seems too tired to participate much in conversation.
Lore is a very quiet member of the family. She pops up from time to time in one of her uncles' homes, ready for a music lesson or a discussion, and that is how they know she likes them. She doesn't talk much at dinner, though she shows up at one of the houses most days, unlike her brother. She loves her family very much, and though quiet, could be a bit of a firebrand beneath the exterior.
Nars is not quiet when around the rest of the family - he is bold to talk, and enjoys hanging around other people. Everyone understands he's an energetic 14-year old, and they either put up with his excited nature, or enjoy it. He's quite accepting of his family, never having known or wished for anything else, with special affection for his mother, and Uncle Roland (or just "Uncle" often, to Verbes' occasional disappointment, who only gets Uncle Verbes).
3. Interpersonal interaction: How does your family interact with others? Do people generally like your family? What annoying quirks/habits/traditions does your family have that people dislike?
Roland is respected as a tradesman, and is a member in good standing of the Woodworker's Guild (Doerstadt chapter #24). His matter-of-fact manner has put off a few of his would-be clientele, but his skill is not in question.
Lome interacts very little with people in general. Most of her contact with the outside world occurs in her butcher's shop, but even there she is not one for chatting with the customers. She hands them their neatly rolled pakages of meat with a sweet, innocent smile that doesn't seem to quite fit a butcher, and responds politely and simply to their conversation, but you couldn't say she is talkative by any stretch of the imagination. Many people think her odd, though in a harmless, amusing kind of way.
Verbes is also fairly unsocial. He has little contact, apart from the professional, with anyone but his family and his apprentice. He is considered unpleasant but competent, and he is respected, though not terribly liked.
No one outside of the family knows a whole lot about the children, given Narsereg's tendency to spend time in the forest and Lore's to stand hidden or walk silently wherever she goes. They seem to be rather odd, though certainly not rude, by normal standards. Narsereg actually has a couple friends when he is spending free time in the city - their time mostly seems to involve playing games in the streets and mock swordfights (although the one time they wanted to use metal swords, Nars steadfastly refused).
4. Societal Position: Is your family well off? Poor? Middle-class? Are you working to improve your status, or are you content with your position in life?
We're middle-class all the way, and Roland for one is not looking to join the circle of nouveau-riche hoity-toity folks who think their money makes up for their bad taste. Lome has struggled a bit since the loss of Margim, but with the income from her butcher's shop and a little help from Roland she is able to keep a comfortable home and take care of her children and father. Verbes does fine for himself. He is not rich, but he is not poor, and makes a point to give of what he has to the support of his family and to charity.
5. Racial Position: If there are any weird and quirky racial incongruicies, please explain how these arose. Are they a point of tension or amusement in your family?
Roland's hoping to be human. :-) I suppose this depends somewhat on [Buck], and he's not known to be… human… very often. Roland may have to settle for half-elf.
Verbes is basically human though his family traditions have some elvish influences so it is possible he may be 1/8th elvish or so.
Lome's mixed ancestry is fairly apparent. Her slight build, pointed ears and large, deep green eyes all betray the elven blood in her veins, while her height and strength clearly mark her as a child of mankind.
Lore is quite short— just about the height of a large male halfling, so it seems that her father gave her a bit of halfling blood.
No one doubts that the elven side of Nars is there, due to all his time in the forest, but for some reason he claims to know exactly his mixed racial descent. Some think he is just making it up, others point to his wisdom about so many other parts of people.
6. Physical Location: Does the entire family live in the same house? Same neighborhood? Same city district? How long have you lived there? What brought you to settle in Doerstadt in the first place? Please indicate positions on the map for your house(s) or state(s) of residence.
Roland, his wife Gertie, and Dog live in a house above his shop, just west of point "D" on the map, south of the Grand Plaza.
Verbes has an instrument shop a few streets southeast of point "D" in the marketplace district, near to the entertainment districts so as to be convenient for purchases by performers at (or, more often, aspirants to) the Senexene. He lives in the old family house a few hairs northeast of point "E."
Edited by Roland 5/2/07. Feel free to change even what I've described, if you have your own ideas of how our family works.
Edited by Verbes 5/3: slight edits to Roland's comments, though no changes in substance. A few additional ideas. Feel free to alter.
Edited by Lome 5/20/07.
Edited by Lome 5/23/07: Hi Peter and Kathryn… I was bored, and so I decided to name my children. Feel free to change the names if there are others you prefer. "Narsereg" means "Fireblood" in Elvish, and "Laurina Lond" means "Golden Haven".
Edited by Lore 5/31/07: I stuck with Tessa's name, but gave Miss Laurina Lond a nickname, Lore, which should be easier for general usage.
Edited by Nars 6/2/07: I edited some stuff about myself…
Edited by Verbes 6/4/07: Verbes is not actually prejudiced against halflings. It simply happens that he hasn't liked very many of the ones he has met. Lore's stature has never bothered him at all. Also adjusted my housing situation.