Families of Threshold

The family is the core social unit of Thresholder society. Originating from an early Dwarvish concept, families are not necessarily blood lineages. Families are generally defined by their patron spirit, an Astalian creature they have chosen to represent themselves as a unit and as members of Thresholder society, and by the main good they produce.
Families are generally led by one member, known as the eldarch; however, the specific role of the eldarch can vary from autocratic decision-maker to simply a name given to the eldest living member while the family makes decisions collectively.
Players and DMs who wish to create their own family to populate Threshold with are encouraged to add it to this spreadsheet, which is the most complete list of families. However, this article contains a list of some notable families.

List of Families

• The Driscoll family is a relatively small family composed mostly of humans. They chiefly grow sunflowers, as well as other decorative flowers in smaller quantities, and their patron is the rabbit. Although the Driscoll family is small in number, the members are very active in the Threshold social scene. The current eldarch is Eloise Driscoll, a human woman in her mid-50s. Eloise is known as very meticulous and traditional, but frequently organizes social events to which invitations are highly sought after. Her heir and only surviving child, Percival Driscoll, owns an apothecary in the City Proper.
• The Saab family is a very large family made up mostly of earth genasi. One of Threshold's largest families, it is estimated that almost a third of earth genasi Thresholders belong to the Saab family. The Saab family's patron is the starfish, and they are cattle farmers. The family is made up of three major subfamilies, focusing on different products derived from their cattle. The subfamily focusing on milk production is headed by Wahida Saab, who is also the current overall eldarch, and her wife Shahira Nejem-Saab. The subfamily focused on leather production is headed by Sadiq Nejem. The subfamily focused on meat production is headed by Ziad Amjad.
• The Shepard family is another large family made up of a variety of races, most commonly goblins, dwarves, drow, and tritons. They farm sheep and their patron spirit is the wolf. The current eldarch is Mansel Giles, a goblin man. Similarly to the Saab family, the Shepards are divided into three main subfamilies. The largest subfamily focuses on wool production and is headed by a triton woman named Miracle Ashton. The next largest subfamily focuses on milk production and is headed by a hill dwarf man named Brande Garrard. The smallest subfamily focuses on meat production and is headed by a drow named Athena Hampton.
• The Dracula family is a moderately sized family comprised primarily of drow. They are a particularly old family which does not follow strict blood lineages, but has a long and well-recorded history in the Gloom. They cultivate oyster mushrooms and take the bat as their patron spirit. The Dracula family is known to hate vampires, and fictionalized versions of some members are the primary characters of the popular Dhulwinian novel Dracula.
• The Jaskolski family is a sprawling family composed mostly of mountain dwarves, including direct descendants of several of the settlements that would go on to found Threshold. The family has a strong tradition of unity and collaboration, in line with traditional Dwarvish practices, and are best known for their proud celebration of Dwarvish culture and their extravagant, massive wedding celebrations. The Jaskolski family farms beets and their patron spirit is the worm. Their eldarch is simply the oldest living family member, and is currently Veche Jaskolski, who is over 400 years old.
• The Pompey family loosely follows several bloodlines of flood dwarves and goblins. They cultivate cattails, and their estate is known for being strangely shaped around the perimeter of a large lake. Their patron spirit is the goat. Today, the Pompey family is known for producing and attracting skilled law-minded individuals, ever since Eulalia Pompey, who was a member of the family, received renown in the legal field. Their current eldarch is a goblin woman named Miski Tupaq-Pompey.
• The Rose family is a relatively young family of humans. Their patron is the cat. Their official product is dandelions, but the family is better known as merchants and accountants, with a small branch of the family cultivating dandelions largely for making tea. Several other families hire the Rose family to manage their exports. The current eldarch, Casey Rose, is particularly opposed to smuggling, and refuses to do business with any ship known or suspected to engage in smuggling.
• The Tamandúa family is a family that operates as a small town, with their estate located in the forests on the southwestern edge of Threshold. Most members or residents are duergar, mountain dwarves, or stout halflings, with several other small races making up small but significant portions of the family and taller folk making up a small minority. Their patron is the anteater, and they tend pigs, primarily for farming truffles. The Tamandúa eldarch is elected to the position, which is generally referred to as alcalde by the family; the current eldarch is a duergar woman named Fidelia Basurto.
• Thresholders who are not a member of any social family are Untethered. Recent immigrants and sailors make up many Untethered Thresholders, though some people remain Untethered for generations. Thresholders may be Untethered because they maintain heritage from another region, for religious reasons (especially among the Handdarata), or for any number of personal reasons. Since family membership is not tracked by the Council of Threshold or even by all families, any legal benefits or drawbacks to belonging to a family are only on a family-to-family basis. Attitudes towards the Untethered vary widely; however, the vast majority of Thresholders do not have strong opinions on it and simply consider Untethered Thresholders to be another group of neighbors. Some consider the Untethered to be their own social family, usually with humanoids themselves as the patron spirit. Others consider the identity of Untethered to hinge on explicitly not being a family, and reject this interpretation.