Chapter 1

Samuelson Clans: Their History, Members, and Holdings

The Northern Clans

Samuelson Clan (North)

Crest/Colors: Silver crossed longswords beneath a black mountain on a sky blue field

History: Sigurd Samuelson, the first Samuelson to be ennobled, was a warlord of Emperors Josef III the Great and Alexander I the Uniter who was made Daimyo and given a small fortress deep in the Hildesberg Mountains of southwestern Zauberin for his efforts in the first of the final wars against the Kingdom of Vymar and the Vymarians' Uzra allies. Sigurd was called upon again years later when Alexander marched his armies to the foot of the Barrier Mountains intent upon invading Tazig-Lupiq and completing his conquest of the Xeuxondran Continent. Samuelson, a fierce warrior, brilliant tactician, and respected scholar of Tazig-Shah culture, saw this as the folly that it was. Upon nearing the Barrier Mountains, Sigurd dispatched a trusted retainer to the Fur Pass with a letter begging the Tazig-Shah commander of the pass' garrison to meet with him in the hopes that they could come up with a way to avert the bloody battle looming before them. Samuelson was shocked when his man returned with a cloaked and hooded Prince of the Lupiq Koenig. Prince Lunari had been sent to the Pass in the hopes that someone among the Humans would see the imminent invasion for what it was. Prince Lunari came with a proposal that would bring the two races of Tazig-Lupiq into the Imperial sphere while allowing them to maintain their autonomy. Upon hearing this, Sigurd Samuelson brought the proposal to the Emperor who gave it consideration and accepted it, completing the Empire of the Zauberin. For this, Sigurd Samuelson was made Shahriq Samuelson and given the entire Duchy of Hildesberg as his fief under the King of Zauberin. As time progressed, the descendants of Sigurd made alliances through marriage and trade with most of the wealthy and powerful families of the southwestern reaches of Zauberin. Within a century of the death of Sigurd Samuelson, the Samuelson Clan had brought enough families under its banner that they formalized their merger as a Tribe and began spreading south and west, crossing the borders of Jizhuan and Benetone, coming to own or control vast tracts of land and bringing many noble and powerful guild families within their Tribe. With the coming of the Terran Josef Samuelson, those families have come to realize their full power and potential and have begun working to expand and solidify that power even more. The title of Shahriq of Hildesberg was technically vacant for nearly twenty years at the death of Duke Bjorn Erik Samuelson II and his wife Duchess Hilda Gertastochter-Samuelson during a Jizhuanese raid into Zauberin during an uprising of the Jizhuanese against the Imperial government until Prince Regent Vladomir confirmed Josef Samuelson's ascension to the title as the "son" of Duke Bjorn Samuelson.

Members: The northern branch of the Samuelson clan is the largest in the Samuelson Tribe, though most of its members are not in the direct line of Sigurd Samuelson I and therefore not heirs to the title. Its most prominent members are the two clan leaders, Josef and Isolde Samuelson, and the twin children, Bjorn and Fiona, of Patriarch Josef Samuelson. Much of the rest of the Samuelson clan is very much anonymous and works behind the scenes to make sure the clan's affairs run smoothly as the Patriarch and Matriarch tend to the affairs of the Tribe as a whole, since they are also the Patriarch and Matriarch of the whole Samuelson Tribe. The Samuelson Clan can count nearly eight thousand people as members, though not all dwell with the clan as they are married to other clans or live or work outside of the Hildesberg Mountains.

Holdings: Technically, the Duchy of Hildesberg is the only land holding the Samuelson Clan has. Through marriages, purchase or leasing, war, or economic agreements, the Samuelson Clan controls the western half of continental Zauberin, the eastern half of Benetone, and the northern fourth of Jizhuan, as well as a small part of the tri-state border region of South Tariz and the New Nile River Valley in central Jizhuan.

Clancy Clan

Crest/Colors: Red knight chess piece under silver crossed swords on a black and white checkered field

History: The Clancy Clan is made up of members of the O'Seaghdha Clan who were married into the powerful Clancy military family from Ft. Tazig-Lupiq in southern Hildesberg and their offspring. The Patriarch, General Joseph Clancy, is the first patriarch of the family and is commander of the 3rd Imperial Light Cavalry Corps of the Imperial Army. He is one of the rising stars of the Imperial Army and is among the war leaders of the Samuelson Tribe, despite his Clan's new status and its small size.

Members: The Clancy Clan is the newest and one of the smallest clans of the Samuelson Tribe. Incorporated and formally welcomed into the Samuelson Tribe shortly after Samuelson Tribal Patriarch Joseph Samuelson's disappearance following the death of his wife Qina, the Clancy Clan is an offshoot of the O'Seaghdha Clan, one of the mountain clans of the northern Samuelsons. Having only about eight hundred members, the Clancy Clan is still one of the strongest, militarily, among the northern Clans due to the leadership of Imperial General Joseph Clancy and his sister, Colonel (retired-Zauberin Royal Guard) Jally Clancy, the clan's Patriarch and Matriarch. Among the other prominent Clancys are Janice and Janna Clancy, both nieces of Joseph Clancy, Humbert "Jolly" Clancy, battlemaster and Samuelson loremaster, and Francesca Machiavelli-Clancy, niece of the Duchess Nicca di Machiavelli and General Joseph Clancy.

Holdings: The Clancys are not of the nobility and, due to their close ties with the Imperial military and many of their members' military professions, they have few land holdings. Many of the female members who are not in the military or the Guild of Mercenaries are, however, very wealthy thanks in part to their membership in various guilds, especially the Guild of Merchants and the Guild of Vintners.

Eisenbaum Clan

Crest/Colors: A silver key over a tan scroll bearing the clan name on a brown field

History: The Eisenbaum Clan was first welcomed into the Samuelson Tribe when the second Duke of Hildesberg's fourth daughter eloped and married the heir of the merchant clan by the name of Eisenbaum. Having no recourse in breaking the marriage, Duke Sven Samuelson welcomed the small but wealthy family into his House and over time the Eisenbaum Patriarch took over managing the mining and lumber businesses that were part of the Duke of Hildesberg's income-producing ventures.

Members: The Eisenbaum Clan is the smallest northern Samuelson clan. Counting only three hundred twenty-two members, the Eisenbaums run the Duke of Hildesberg's lumber interests in the far northern reaches of the Hildesberg Mountains and keep an eye on the Dwarves who are the main source of labor and engineers for the mining interest in that region. The only well known and visible members of the Eisenbaum Clan are the leaders, Patriarch Cnute Eisenbaum and his great aunt, Matriarch Holly Eisenbaum-Hefron.

Holdings: Only Holly Eisenbaum-Hefron has title to any land holdings. As Dame Holly of Bludmont, Holly Eisenbaum-Hefron holds the title to the mountain known as Bludmont and the mineral riches beneath it.

Flynn-Samuelson Clan

Crest/Colors: Silver crossed cutlasses under a black battleship on a sky blue field

History: The Flynn-Samuelson Clan was the first sub-Clan of the convoluted Samuelson Family. Ozgard Samuelson, Sigurd Samuelson's second son, married the elderly Viscount of Port Hildebrandt's only remaining grandchild, Janet Leigh Flynn. Part of the betrothal agreement signed by the Viscount and the Duke was that Ozgard and all of his heirs would be considered a separate line from the Samuelson line, hence creating a new house to replace the dying House of Flynn. With the death of the Viscount Flynn, House Flynn-Samuelson was born and took over the Viscountcy of Port Hildebrandt. Of all of the Clans of the Samuelson Tribe, only the southern branch of the Samuelson Clan is closer by blood to the Duke of Hildesberg. In recent years, the Flynn-Samuelson heirs have found producing children difficult for unknown reasons. Upon the death of Viscount Ozgard XV, his nephew Janlee was installed as Viscount and ordered by the leaders of the Samuelson Tribe to cease his direct captaincy of his ship and any and all other activities which could get him killed before he could produce an heir.

Members: The Flynn-Samuelson Clan is almost extinct. Viscount Janlee Flynn-Samuelson is the last remaining member of the Flynn-Samuelson family. His recent betrothal to Princess Anastasia of Zauberin brings hope to the Samuelson leadership that they may hold onto the title of Viscount of Port Hildebrandt, but until he marries and Princess Anastasia bears an heir, Viscount Janlee remains the only member of this clan.

Holdings: As holders of the title of Viscount of Port Hildebrandt, the Flynn-Samuelson Clan controls the large and lucrative fief of Port Hildebrandt under the Duke of Hildesberg and the King of Zauberin. The Flynn-Samuelsons also own a large tract of land on the other side of the Benetone border, which they rent out to Uzra Su-Tazi herders, and a large fishing and merchant marine fleet which has often been accused of piracy by the Jizhuanese government.

Hammarstahl Clan

Crest/Colors: A black hammer resting on a silver anvil on a rust field

History: The first Hammarstahl to enter the Hildesberg region was a young, itinerant smith who came west from the Neu Bayreuth region, nearly three hundred years ago, looking for a better opportunity. Ingmar Hammarstahl was traveling with a caravan on its way to Port Hildebrandt and Vyanisar when it was attacked by highwaymen in the hills to the south of House Raven. Most of the caravan was wiped out, but the young smith, the merchant's eldest daughter, her infant son, and a lone guard managed to flee and hide in the sparse woods the caravan track wound through. Several days later a Krieger patrol found the survivors and brought them to Lord Krieger who gave them sanctuary. Young Hammarstahl stayed and earned a place in the household of the lord and a year later married the merchant's daughter. Four months later the young couple had a son who later married into the Krieger Clan. This Hammarstahl, Erich by name, became the first Patriarch of the Hammarstahl Clan and he and his heirs have maintained their relationship with the Krieger Clan ever since.

Members: The Hammarstahl Clan is one of several clans within the Samuelson Tribe that come within the sphere of a specific family and are not seen by many outside of that family. The Hammarstahl family has intermarried with the Krieger Clan for several generations and was invited into the Samuelson Tribe by the Krieger Patriarch. Most of the Hammarstahl Clan's fifteen hundred members live in and around House Raven, the Krieger stronghold in the southern Saibh Hills. Gustav Hammarstahl, the Patriarch of the Clan, is the Mastersmith for House Krieger and most of the rest of his clan is engaged by the Guild of Mercenaries in one way or another. The only other member of the family of note is Masterhealer Brynhilde Hammarstahl, the Matriarch of the Clan and Gustav's paternal aunt.

Holdings: The Hammarstahl Clan has no land Holdings due to its place within House Raven.

Hecatean Clan

Crest/Colors: Crossed silver torches with red flames on a midnight blue field with silver stars at the corners

History: The Hecateans were much persecuted by the Imperial government during the last years of Emperor Josef the Eternal's reign and his successor, Josef VI, continued his policies of intolerance towards religious minority groups such as the Hecateans. As such, the Hecateans took to wandering the Kingdom of Zauberin and the border regions of the Kingdom's neighbors. In the fall of 546 P. Z., Aspaar the Wise led the Hecateans south into the Hildesberg Mountains in the hope of getting to Port Hildebrandt and buying passage for the entire group to the north. Aspaar believed they might find the barren country in northern South Tariz more welcoming. They were almost halfway through the mountains when an early blizzard began dumping massive amounts of snow on the mountains. This storm was the outrider of what would eventually be called the White Death throughout the eastern Empire. Nearing death from the cold, the more powerful members of the group began using their power to keep their comrades alive long enough to reach some kind of shelter. Sensing this power, one in a long line of Merlin Merlinsohns came to inspect the intruders on his lands. Seeing their plight and sensing their power, the Merlinsohn Patriarch led the group back to his clan's stronghold. From that point on, the Hecateans became the allies of the Merlinsohns and after nearly fifty years of their sons and daughters marrying into the various Samuelson Clans, the Duke of Hildesberg invited the Hecateans to join the Tribe as its own Clan. Accepting, the Hecateans still remained within the orbit of the Merlinsohn Clan.

Members: The Hecatean Clan, like the Hammarstahl Clan, comes within the sphere of a single Samuelson Clan, the Merlinsohns. Unlike most Clans, Hecatean is not a family name but more a description of the first members of the clan. Made up of witches and sorcerers of significant strength, the Hecateans were a cult who worshipped the ancient Terran Goddess Hecate. The only members widely known outside of the Clan and the Merlinsohn House are the Patriarch, Lore the Bloodkin, and the Matriarch, Vesta the Hedgewitch.

Holdings: The Hecateans were granted a small valley not far from the tower complex of the Merlinsohn Clan in which they built their own complex. Over the years the Hecateans built more and more of their complex underground to accommodate their Clan's growth, eventually connecting their home with that of the Merlinsohns' through a series of tunnels and rooms carved out of the mountain that stands between the two clans.

Hoth Clan

Crest/Colors: Silver dagger diagonal on a black field

History: The only thing known about the history of the Hoth Clan is that they were recognized as a separate clan within the Samuelson Tribe nearly four hundred years ago when Oleg, the third son of Duke Sigurd III of Hildesberg, married the infamous assassin Lykor "the Whisper" Hoth's eldest daughter shortly after the Duke's suspicious death. Aside from that, little is known about the activities of the individual members of the Hoth Clan other than the Patriarch and Matriarch, who seem to function as the front man and woman of the family.

Members: Little is known about the Hoth Clan other than that it is one of the smaller clans and that its members are all connected to the Guild of the Dark in one way or another. The Patriarch, Hesperus Hoth, was once the Guildmaster of the Guild of the Dark in Port Hildebrandt and the Matriarch, his sister Anuisa Hoth, is currently the appointed proxy for Guildmaster Canus Felidaesbane on the Council of Masters in Daanzuu.

Holdings: Nothing is known about the wealth or poverty of the Hoth Clan.

Igomer Clan

Crest/Colors: Rearing white horse on green ground and blue-green sky

History: The Igomer Clan was among the founders of the city that has sprung up around the Imperial stronghold now known as Ft. Tazig-Lupiq when the Imperial Army granted them permission to establish the town in the year 104 P. Z. When the first Samuelson Duke of Hildesberg arrived, a century and a half later, he became friends with the patriarch of the extended clan before Sigurd Samuelson ventured into the Hildesberg Mountains. Subsequently, when he was looking for a suitable husband for his fifth and last daughter, Isobella, Sigurd Samuelson approached his old friend Janus Igomer for suggestions. Janus's eldest son was also trying to match his son with a suitable bride and the two patriarchs agreed that they would form a union between their families. When Sigurd's daughter married Janus' granddaughter, the Igomer Clan was welcomed into the House of Samuelson. Since then, the Igomer Clan has handled much of the Dukes of Hildesberg's livestock business in the northwest and southeast regions of Hildesberg.

Members: The Igomer Clan is one of several clans involved in the breeding and raising of livestock in the northwestern and southeastern sections of Hildesberg. The Igomers raise horses and drachtnar on lands they lease directly from the Duke of Hildesberg north of Ft Tazig-Lupiq. All of their members are involved with the various industries which spring from the raising of livestock. Patriarch Jan Igomer is a mastersmith and his cousin Matriarch Konstanta Igomer is a masterhealer, both prominent members of the guild community in the city of Tazig-Lupiq which surrounds the fortress of the same name. Various other members of the Igomer Clan are also high-ranking guildsmen in Tazig-Lupiq (the city, not the nation), including Jakob Igomer, Guildmaster of the Guild of Livestock Owners, and Kayla Igomer-Johanssen, Guildmistress of the Guild of Saddlers.

Holdings: The Igomer Clan leases large tracts of Duchy Land from the Duke of Hildesberg and own and lease several other parcels of land between Ft. Tazig-Lupiq and Port Zauberin.

Izyaslav Clan

Crest/Colors: Silver citadel on a blue-green field with the family motto "Strength lies in foundations" on a white scroll above the citadel

History: The Izyaslav Clan was one of four families settled by the King of Zauberin in Hildesberg when they arrived from Terra as part of a large group of mostly Slavic refugees. Once settle, the Izyaslavs turned their attention to building a new life in their new home. To that end, they approached the Duke of Hildesberg with plans of a fortress which could be used as a central meeting place for his, by then, extended family. Upon seeing the plans drafted by the two eldest sons of the Izyaslav Clan, Duke Sigurd III commissioned the Izyaslavs and their fellow refugees to build the stronghold. Upon its completion many years later, the Duke brought the heads of each of the four clans to Neu Pfalia to be knighted by the King for their work. For his own part, the Duke gave each of the four families the fiefs of four small towns whose lands neighbor each other along the Port Hildebrandt-Uzria Su-Tazi Highway. The Izyaslav Clan was formally welcomed into the Samuelson Tribe after several marriages between various clans of the Samuelson Tribe and the sons and daughters of the first Lord of Gondusburg.

Members: Sir Oleksy Izyaslav and Dame Helga Izyaslav are the Patriarch and Matriarch of the small family who are mainly occupied in the affairs of running Fief Gondusburg and servicing the heavy merchant caravan traffic that travels along the highway in the Spring and Summer months. Only the Gondusburg heir, Oleg, and his elder twin sister, Olga, are of any prominence within the clan as they are both powerful mages who serve as Deputy Lords Wizard for the Duchy of Hildesberg to Lord Wizard Merlin Merlinsohn XX.

Holdings: The Izyaslav Clan holds the title of the Gondusburg fiefdom, a small estate which includes the trade town of Gondusburg and small tracts of grazing land that they rent to local herders.

Kerrigan Clan

Crest/Colors: Silver quill and ink pot on an emerald field

History: The Kerrigan Clan is an offshoot of the O'Ciaragain mountain clan. A hundred years after the mountain clans' arrival, the youngest son and daughter of the O'Ciaragain Clan's Patriarch left the Hildesberg Mountains for the Zauberin capital at Neu Pfalia. There they entered the Royal University together, met their spouses, and married. Several years later, tired of the malignant atmosphere that had crept into the once vibrant city, Sean and Aisling both decided to move back to Hildesberg. Uprooting their families, they moved to Port Hildebrandt and set up their own academy to teach the children of the burgeoning middle class of the port city. In doing so, they were disowned by their Patriarch and Matriarch against the wishes of the Duke of Hildesberg who then created a new clan, Kerrigan, and admitted them into the Samuelson Tribe. The Kerrigan Clan is still one of the smaller clans in the north, with only a little over three hundred seventy-five members; almost all of them are either academics, sailors, or members of the Viscount of Port Hildebrandt's household in one role or another.

Members: Sean Kerrigan III is the most prominent member of the Kerrigan Clan as he is currently the Dean of the College of Wizardry at the Royal University in Neu Pfalia. The only other prominent members of the clan are all staff or faculty at the Port Hildebrandt Academy, including Patriarch Zack Kerrigan (Dean), Matriarch Melony Kerrigan-Smith (Chair of the Department of Wizardry), and Aisling Kerrigan-Clancy (Chief of Staff).

Holdings: Only Melony Kerrigan-Smith has any land holdings aside from the city lot that the Port Hildebrandt Academy is located on. Through inheritance from her husband, the Matriarch is the Dowager Daimyo of Vequoisia, a small estate on the Benetone side of the border on the outskirts of Port Hildebrandt. Upon her eldest son's reaching the age of his majority and marrying, he will take over the title of Daimyo.

Konstantinoff Clan

Crest/Colors: Crossed silver woodsman axes over a white fox on a pine green field

History: The Konstantinoff Clan arrived on Xeuxondra with a large group of mainly Slavic peoples bent on finding a life away from the persecution they had known back on Terra due to their various magical gifts. Upon their arrival, the King of Zauberin moved four large families into the Hildesberg Duchy to be resettled. When they were approached by the Izyaslav Clan with the plans for a stronghold for the Duke of Hildesberg, the Konstantinoffs agreed to aid in the construction of the fortress. Upon its completion, the heads of the four families were knighted by the King of Zauberin on the request of the Duke. Duke Sigurd III also gave the Konstantinoffs the title and lands of New Kiev, a small town and its surrounding woodlands, as the Daimyo of New Kiev. As a result of the Konstantinoffs' intermarriage with the Igomers, Hammarstahls, and Eisembaums over the years, the Clan was welcomed into the Samuelson Tribe only a few decades after their Patriarch's knighting.

Members: Although many of the Konstantinoff Clan are involved with the affairs of Fief New Kiev, there are several families within the clan that are much involved with the various guilds that have chapterhouses in New Kiev, including the Guild of Furriers and Trappers, the Guild of Merchants, the Guild of Farmers, and the Guild of Carpenters. As such, many of the individual nuclear families of the clan have elders that are high-ranking guildsmen and women. Aside from Daimyo Konstantine Konstantinoff XVII and his wife Markaesse, there are seventeen masterguildsmen and eighty-four who hold the rank of adept within the guilds of New Kiev, Gondusburg, and New Bohemia. The Konstantinoffs are a well-known and popular House within the greater Hildesberg region and several of their kinsmen are advisors to various politicians and bureaucrats in New Pfalia.

Holdings: The Konstantinoff Clan holds the title to the fiefdom of New Kiev as well as owning several large farms on the borderlands of Benetone and Zauberin.

Krieger Clan

Crest/Colors: A raven clutching a silver battle-axe, wings spread with a rayed sun behind its head, on a dark green field

History: Gondar Krieger, a mercenary warlord of great repute during the conquests of the Emperors Jan I, Josef III the Great, and Alexander I the Uniter, first came to the greater Hildesberg region after the final defeat of the Kingdom of Vymar late in the third century P. Z. He was given the title of Viscount and the estates that surrounded a massive fortress that perched atop a craggy bluff in the Saibh Hills. He chose as his crest that of a raven and the fortress was ever after called House Raven. During the reign of the second Viscount of Raven, the Duke of Hildesberg, in a move still counted as among one of the shrewdest in a long line of shrewd alliances by the Dukes of Hildesberg, married his eldest daughter to the heir of the Krieger Clan, facilitating the merger of the two powerful families. The Dukes of Hildesberg would begin running their most promising warriors through House Raven as a training facility, one that would only get better when the Krieger Clan concluded an alliance of their own with the Dukes of House di Machiavelli upon the ascension of the third Viscount of Raven. A few centuries later, during the time of the Armaconi Exile when the Emperor forced the Royal Family of Zauberin to flee to Armacon, the heirs of the Krieger Clan were given the Lord Generalship of the 9th Imperial District, a former title of the House of Hildebrand. This would make the Krieger Clan the fourth most powerful clan within the Samuelson Tribe, behind only the two Samuelson branches (North and South), and the Viscounts of Flynn-Samuelson.

Members: Aside from the Viscount and Viscountess of Raven, Nikita and Denise Krieger, who are also the Patriarch and Matriarch of the Krieger Clan, there are several members of the clan who are very prominent figures not only within the Samuelson Tribe, but within the Royal and Imperial political sphere of Zauberin. Lord General Albion Krieger, eldest son of Nikita Krieger and his first wife, Hannah Galrett-Krieger, is the Lord General of the 9th Imperial District and one of the five masters who lead the five battalions of House Machiavelli's mercenary army. Silesian Krieger, more infamous than prominent, is a master in the Guild of Mercenaries, a retired officer of unknown rank in Imperial Military Intelligence, and an agent of the Ministry of Defense. Battlemaster Jürgen Krieger-Samuelson, grandson of Samuelson Tribe Matriarch Isolde Samuelson and nephew of Viscount Nikita Krieger, is the Commandant of House Raven and overall field commander of the regiment which House Raven can field from amongst its trainees and instructors. Most of the rest of the Krieger Clan is either members of the Guild of Mercenaries and involved in their recruiting, training, arming, and fielding nearly one thousand mercenaries as caravan guards, bodyguards, men-at-arms, trackers, bounty hunters, and swords-for-hire, or busy running the Raven Fief and its business and military affairs.

Holdings: The Krieger Clan holds the title to the Viscountcy of Raven which is a vast parcel of land in the Saibh Hills, most of which is unsuitable for anything but mineral prospecting, fur trapping, drachtnar raising, or training soldiers. As the Krieger Clan is almost entirely made up of mercenaries and their supporting personnel, the Viscount of Raven makes most of his money by hiring out his people as mercenaries in one capacity or another. There are a few silver mines on the Raven estate, a couple of drachtnar ranches, and several dozen licensed fur trappers, but little else.

Logan Clan

Crest/Colors: Sky blue and black field edged in silver and separated by jagged white diagonal line

History: The Logan Clan joined the Samuelson Tribe by accident. A young man of excellent education was hired to tutor the daughter of the Samuelson Matriarch, a young woman by the name of Jane being groomed to take over the Matriarchy of the Clan, and someday the Tribe. The young man was doing such a good job that the Patriarch, the Duke of Hildesberg and uncle of the girl, asked the young man if he knew of another tutor of his skill. The young man, Brion Logan, named his sister Xania. Xania Logan came to tutor the heir of the Duchy of Hildesberg, a young warrior with little interest in scholarship and thusly unable to read or write, despite his advanced age of twenty-six at the time. Whilst Brion tutored a very innocent Lady Jane Samuelson and Xania schooled the barbaric Halvorth Samuelson, both became the objects of lust and affection to their students. Though both could see what was happening, neither could think of a way out of their obligations to the Patriarch and Matriarch of the powerful Samuelson House. As time passed, Xania began to see past the uncouth and martial exterior of Halvorth, falling in love with the older man. Because the Duke did not wish to be at odds with his own heir, and not having another suitable candidate, he consented to the wishes of the pair and allowed them to marry. Seeing what had happened to her brother's son, the Matriarch began paying closer attention to the tutor of her daughter. She soon noticed the girl's infatuation with her tutor and the young man could hardly ignore the comeliness of his student, despite his plain attempts to put off the girl in fear of reprisals should he be caught ogling the Duke's niece. The young woman was canny, however, and on a day when the clan had planned an outing to a neighboring clan, the girl feigned illness and was left behind with an older aunt to chaperone the girl and her tutor. When the aged aunt drifted off to sleep shortly after the family left, young Jane made up a breakfast tray for Brion, slipping a lust draught into his morning juice, and quietly left the tray on his bedside table. Leaving as quietly, Jane waited outside for the sounds of the young man's feast and opened to the door to catch him bare-chested and gulping the juice. As soon as the man's eyes saw young Jane, he dropped the cup and raced over to her, catching her up in an embrace, unaware that young Jane had timed the affair to take place while she was fertile. Upon the family's return the next day, they found the couple in young Brion's bed, nude and with the evidence of their ardor plain. Jane's father and brothers, enraged by the deflowering of their future Matriarch, set upon the sage with the intent of beating him to death. Ignoring her own nakedness, Jane threw herself upon him, declaring that they would be killing the father of her child. The violence ceased and Brion was locked up until Jane began showing her condition several weeks later, when the couple was wed against the groom's weak protests. With two members of the Logan Clan espoused to the two heirs of the Samuelson Tribe, the Logans were invited to attend the Samuelson fete that year and they were given entry into the extended Samuelson family.