Some ideas about the Radus
by Ville LähdeAs GPs timeline shows, the Radu clan was already a powerful player in 612, as they led the civic revolt that ousted the unpopular Marilenev ban. The clan solidified its hold of the merchant guild in the coming centuries, ruling the two northeastern hills of the city and owning most of them. Their acts of charity, like digging the great irrigation channel during the Great Drought, and funding most of the City Wall construction, made them popular among the people. (With the exception of the tragedies during the Great Drought.)
The original Thyatian invasion hurt the clan badly, though. Although they managed to keep hold of the Stronghold hill, the vast number of new Thyatian merchants eroded much of their influence elsewhere. For a time it seemed that the Radu clan was fading into the mists of history. But Antonio Radu assumed leadership of the clan in the early decades of the Thyatian occupation, and his ruthless tactics and clever marriage with the daughter of a rich family, Dorisimo Calihar, saved the family. (Unbeknownst to most, he founded Veiled Society and used it to defend the family against the Thyatians.) Antonio “the Great” remains a powerful icon of the Traladaran spirit in the minds of many people.
Anton Radu assumed leadership of the clan (and the Society) in 960, and it was as if a bloodhound was released. After a string of suspicious beatings, deaths and “changes of heart”, it seemed as if the Radus were becoming the dominant faction. (Anton changed the Veiled Society from a self-defence force into a full-fledged criminal racket.) All that was changed by the arrival of Stefan Karameikos, though. Even though the Radus stayed away from the Rebellion, they lost more than the Torenescus, as much of their wealth was subjected to the Karameikan redistribution.
During the next three decades Anton and his close-knit family embarked on a slow and determined program of economic recovery and power-grabbing. The one weakness of the Radu Clan was its lack of relatives: Antonio had only two sons, and Cartha never married, and the brothers have virtually no other family aside from some distant relatives and relatives by marriage. (The unique strength is of course the existence of the Veiled Society.) Thus the nuclear Radu family has had to work hard without the support of an extended family. Anton is still known as a ruthless man, a virtual jackal, but the travails of 970 forced him into a more humane and patient strategy. (During these years the Veiled Society changed yet again, as it began to act in defence of Traladara in general, and included genuine protection in its protection rackets etc. This is part of Anton’s new political strategy. His aim is to gain a sufficient power base, and sympathies of extremist Traladara, so he can incite serious social unrest and move against his various enemies: the Torenescus, the Vorlois, and finally the Karameikan regime.