Regarding surnames

Noble houses and those descended from noble houses use a different naming scheme based on the two cultures that have combined together in Dyflin.

Nordic-descended houses tend to use patronyms and matronyms combined with clan affiliation, such as “<name>, son of <parent>, Clan <clan>” or “<name> daughter of <parent>, Clan <clan>”, though for newly elevated houses they may just use “<name>, of Clan <clan>”. Clan names originated from a primary ancestor, and typically end with “ung” or “ing”, meaning “those who are related”. This could be patrilineal or matrilineal depending on the prestige of the primary ancestor.
Example: Erik, son of Bjorn, Clan Leifung

Celtic-descended houses tend to use a similarly sourced clan name, but instead apply the “O’” prefix to the clan name, with no postfix applied.
Example: Cillian O’Connor

Most people in Dyflin do not use family names but have adopted a modern approach of using “dottir” and “son” added to the name of a parent (often the father, but can be the mother too, depending on prestige).
Example: Emil Gorundson

Faces

Stewart Berridge

British owner of many textile factories in Dublin.

Sean Blackstone

Leader of the crime family of the same name.

Jack Blackstone

Lieutenant of his father Sean, heir apparent, cold blooded killer.

Emil Blondel

Unscrupulous private eye who has an interest in talking to Alastar Gaffney.

  • Sleazy private eye
  • Kicked out of the Pinkertons for inattention to detail.
  • Aetheric: Faceless

Erin Fahey

Reporter covering the Suppression of Freedom of the Press and our contact/client. Works for the Dyflin Tribune.

Alastar Gaffney

Slight, black hair, sallow skin, speaks quickly. Has information Erin Fahey wants.

McGillis Family

Owners of The Rusty Spoon

Nan O’Connor

Witch o’ the wood, Ginny Greenteeth

Heddy “Blockhead” O’Malley

Enforcer for the Blackstones (second or third cousin of Maeve) His girlfriend recently broke up with him, and he tends to just want to get drunk on his free time. This hasn’t affected his performance yet.

Heddy is a average looking thin rail of a man with receding red hair, usually wearing black and grey tradesmen clothes, when he is not in stone form. When he changes to stone form his clothes shred as he grows to 7’ tall and over 500 pounds.

  • Stoneshifter enforcer for the Blackstones
  • Doesn’t get the respect he thinks he deserves

Aetheric: Stoneshifter

Stunt: Stoneshifter: Because I hit hard, I do 2 extra shifts on a successful Attack with my bare fists.

Stunt: Stoneshifter: Because I can change my entire body into stone, I am immune to blades and bullets from small arms, and get Armor: 2 against blunt force physical attacks (hammers, clubs, maces, etc). (Shifting from human to stone form as part of a successful Defend against any physical Attack means that he changes fast enough for this stunt to apply.)

Jarl Hafthor Thorsaet, son of Thorin

Pure-blood viking, patriarch of clan Thorsaet. Aetheric ability is super-strength, one of the leaders in the last war, destroying people with his bare hands. Cunning, but not super-intelligent. Well known. In his 40s. (Face of Suppression of Freedom of the Press.)

Rollo Thorsaet, son of Hafthor

Jarl Hafthor Thorsaet’s second son.

Astrid Thorsaet, daughter of Hafthor

Jarl Hafthor Thorsaet’s youngest daughter.

The White Rose

A mysterious individual (he or she?) who delivers pertinent information to commoner aetheric groups, chased by the nobility. Tradmark is a white rose, which makes it easy for copycats, complicating the difficulty of the nobility.

Copyright John Helmuth 2025