I am collecting info on the Torenescus for my next scenario. K:KoA has the family tree, although it does not point out who is alive and who is not. Do you know any references in canon/fanon that might help? Especially about the status of Stephanos (who was briefly mentioned in B6), his parents (Alive or not? Note that if Pavel is alive, he or Stephanos would be the next in line after Boris ) and Nicola (youngest sibling of late Christoph. She is presumably the same Nicola who is married to Yarol?). Pavel's wife "Ordana Dracul" sounds exotic. Dracul is a very Traladaran name, but Ordana refers to nature cults? Might there be some kind of scandal?
I guess the Minrothaddan Ebonovs are not mentioned anywhere else?
What about the reason George Torenescu's line has ended up as the dominant one? The "2 other siblings" are presumably dead, but when did they die? The rebellion of 970+ does not fit the timeline that well. It would not work well to have two additional branches of the clan alive or fighting over leadership, especially as they both would be elder than the dominant branch. This might give us the opportunity to develop a nasty secret for Clan Torenescu. (See below.)
We also need a reason why Samuas Torenescu's line is not dominant. The Torenescu-Ebonov marriage might be a good hint. Perhaps there was some infighting within the clan around 950 or so, after Emmet Torenescu passed on, and George Torenescu managed to gain the upper hand by marrying money.
Samuas manoeuvred his daughter into marrying the leader of the Marilenev clan, but this branch of the family was dragged down by the botched Marilenev rebellion and Ivan's demise. (I follow GP in naming Ivan the leader of the Marilenev during that time, which would make Valor, Madga's late husband, perhaps the son of Ivan?)
Edit: K:KoA 76 mentions that Samuas was killed by a runaway coach. This might have happened some time after the rebellion, when George's line was already dominant. Question is, was he killed by the Radus, as K:KoA subtly implies, or was he whacked by one of his relatives?
I also want to incorporate Sir Sergei from the Glantri Gazetteer. Since he is supposed to be a cousin of Boris (and thus of Christoph, Pavel and Nicola), he must descend from one of the unnamed siblings. Gaz 2 mentions that Sir Sergei had to leave the country due to some "shady dealings", and that Boris helped him to get the ambassadorial position. So perhaps there is a whole disenfranchised branch of the clan, who derive from the unnamed siblings? They are part of the clan, but they have no hope of ruling it - which would give Sir Sergei's aspirations some background. Note that these people cannot be total outcasts, since as one Sergei would have been hard to get named as ambassador. So perhaps the two siblings have produced number of "lesser" clansmen whose life is always shadowed by the old taint of their fathers, but who still form the backbone of the clan.
"The Forbidden Love", a secret known to few but rumoured by many
by Ville LähdeThis all happened during the years of the great Emmet Torenescu, who had inherited a rich and powerful clan from his father Samuil and ruled over it with a strong hand. He had fathered four sons, Samuas, Dragos, Gavril and George. The three eldest had already married with spouses from respectable stock, although Samuas's choice of a foreign wife, of Hattian descent what's more, arouse suspicion. The twin sons Dragos and Gavril had both married into Traladaran families of good standing. Young George had yet not found time for such things, as he was deeply involved in family businesses overseas.
Dragos and Gavril had nearly identical houses constructed in the traditional clan enclave on the Hill area. During those sad days when Samuas and his wife grieved over several miscarriages (Katherine was their only surviving child and her life would be forever encumbered by the shadow of unnamed brothers), Dragos and Gavril fathered many sons and daughters. Old Emmet could rest assured that his clan would be continued, and everyone assumed that the next leader would be chosen from the stock of either of the twins - although some feared that this might bring discord into the family, and prayed that Samuas would father a son...
This was not to be, and to this day Torenescus bow their heads in shame over the coming dark events. It all began with a young woman who had once caught the eye of Gavril, but nothing else than some reckless dancing and groping during a festival had followed. The maiden however, would not let such promise of wealth and grandeur slip through her fingers, and for months on end she would harass and ambush Gavril wherever he went. In the end she embarked on a desperate scheme: she disguised herself as a servant girl, bought her way into Gavril's mansion and tried to storm his bedchambers in a fit of passion. Gavril's wife was once again pregnant, and the girl knew she would not sleep with her husband in such condition. But instead of her lover she found an empty bedchamber, a hidden corridor and a secret underground chamber between the houses of the twins. And what she saw sent her in a fit of rage.
Such things are not tolerated by Immortal-fearing Traladara even today, although Thyatian depravities have began to corrupt our people after the Invasion. In those days it was unthinkable to see such acts between men, Traladaran above all, and brothers by Immortals! The would-be lover, mad with love, envy and disgust, alerted the whole household, and the dark secret of the twins was revealed to the whole clan.
Emmet's heart was broken, and he was forced to punish his sons harshly. Their families were removed from the line of succession, and both brothers were locked in the towers of their mansions. Many people say that this alone would have sufficed to take old Emmet to his grave, but the lovestruck brothers, in their final act of desperation, twisted the knife. In a cold Kaldmont night in 950 by the Thyatian reckoning Dragos and Gavril jumped from their twin towers, strong ropes tied around their necks. As their necks snapped and their broken bodies swung on the ropes, it was as if silent burial bells had chimed over the Torenescu Hill.
So it was that Emmet died in desperation that winter, leaving his sons Samuas and George fight over the leadership of the clan. As Samuas sought alliance with the Marilenev Clan, young George found stronger allies and better fortunes overseas, bringing foreign blood and the spirit of new politics into our once-proud house. Some say this was what saved us during the time of the Rebellion, as Samuas's line was extinguished, and Young George, now himself an old man, cleverly manoeuvred his eldest son and thus his whole clan, into the heart of the new Karameikan polity. The sons and daughters of Dragos and Gavril, more numerous than those of Samuas and George, yet without the possibility of rulership as long as these dark memories remain alive, were left in their shadow.