The Clay Family

"Where you stand, I stand"

The Family Words

History

An Excerpt from City of the Future: A People's History of New Lamberton by Kristof Namsouh

Reader, so much of the history in this series seems to have some sort of tragedy. I am happy to say, that the rise of the Clay family isn't one of those stories. it is a story of perseverance and heroism. *As a quick aside, it is my journalistic duty to inform you that I am quite friendly with the Clays from when I traveled with one of their bands during my days as a Bard*. Now onto the story! As many of you know, following the Violet Dawn, there was bedlam in the streets of Lamberton for some time. A short-lived period in which the maintenance and protection of Lamberton fell to the wayside while the Blue Core was in a state of crisis, spread far too thin and with the chain of command in disarray. Crime ran rampant, increasing drastically the closer one got to the chasm, the epicenter of the disaster. When it became apparent that The Parliament and Benyl could not divert adequate resources to the city center, Romuloin Clay and his band of retired Mercenaries took it upon themselves to fill the void through whatever means necessary. A practical dwarf, Romuloin does not mince words and lets his actions speak louder than words. The only promise he made was simple, and I am directly quoting, "When me men take to your roods, dey wehl never be a fucking crime evah again." (Dear reader, I think it's important to capture his pronunciation and verbiage exactly). Oh my, did Romuloin keep to his word, although some will disagree with his methods. To ensure the safety of the streets that he started policing only got safer, he instituted a strict zero-tolerance policy for any crime and desertion from his city watch. This included the execution of all criminals, even the petty ones, and more or less anyone that deserted (although after the first 10 or so desertions, this policy was distinctly no longer needed according to sources). It took only a few weeks before large swathes of the city were under Romuloin's control. As time passed though, and the seat of government's attention returned to the city Romuloin's newly formed group became key purveyors of protection and mercenary work in Lamberton, under the umbrella of Slowhand's Wall. Since then, Romuloin has returned to retirement and passed the mantle onto his son, Fortren, a young aspiring adventurer who returned home following the Violet Dawn when Romuloin and his band took to the streets. Fortren is not as rough around the edges as his father. Despite that, since assuming the mantle, Forten has largely succeeded in meeting the standard left by Romuloin. At the behest of The Parliament and supposedly following a long conversation with Benyl, Forten founded Blackheart's Band, a private mercenary company that is highly selective and highly sought after. With Benyl's blessing, Fortren has close ties to The Blue Core and his mercenaries are often deputized and hired out to The Blue Core for more dangerous operations inside of Lamberton, Ordeg as a whole, and even some more secret operations throughout Stolaria. With this renown came an opportunity for the Clay family. The Clays have lived in Lamberton for a very long time, and while in recent decades much of the family had taken to adventuring, they were some of the most renowned blacksmiths one could hire Lamberton, their success even went to the far corners of Stolaria as a whole. Members of his family have traveled the world and learned the various arts of blacksmithing from all corners of the world. Fortren, more enterprise minded than his father, opened up many equipment shops and industrial forges in Lamberton and is now the foremost provider of equipment and material known for its durability in the city. Collectively, the smith shops are known as Larksbur's forge. For reasons unknown to the populace, usually credited to the skills learned by his family throughout their travels, no one's equipment is quite as good as the ones found at Larksbur's. In interviews with Fortren, he will often give credit to his family members but notably will also give credit to his worship of the Forge Loa.