Senators of Dalenden
Various powerful families control the nation of Dalenden via its Senate. One family member elected as senator until death. Family members jockey for the position when the senator dies. The current senators are:
Lodore Brathay
Lodore is known mostly for being the first Senator to openly allow captains of the Red Army into his private council. He also began to enforce the longstanding laws against mining the northern Dalackshire Mountains, protecting farmers. He is particularly interested in the exploration and development of the Lelldonis Forest.
Middle aged and suave, Lodore is a smooth deal-maker. He is rumored to fund expeditions by unsavory adventurers (moreso than usual, anyway) into Lelldonis, which his Shasta-based family, the Prestons, seeks to control.
Heathcliff Corday
As Senator, Heathcliff has as authored trade agreements/treaties with Nyissa and Kralld. The young spitfire of the assembly, Heathcliff will already be remembered by history. Dredging the river Bastara opened the way for trade for Bamphf and Shasta. His most radical proposal, however, is to not only have trade with Orrim, but the Red Army as well, with whom he wants to make a truce. When actually voting, however, he is a moderate who usually casts his vote wherever the majority is heading.
An impulsive younger man with black hair, Heathcliff is known for his smarts. He is rumored to have a large library of legend, scholarship and myth concerning the existence of elves. He pays no obvious homage to the gods. The Corday family seeks to expand their nation's borders into Orrim. The family's colors are green, brown and white.
Otram Corwalch
Known as the "bear of Corndell", Otram frequently follows fellow Senator Navarre's lead, as it is easier than not doing so in the long run. He's no fool though. Faced with the agricultural juggernaut of central Dalenden, he created the farm cooperative to compete with Philidor, banding his small farmers together to enable them to be competitive with the huge farms in the North, increasing his family's trade advantage. He could almost be termed a radical, as long as it's OK with Navarre. He seeks to boycott Orrite products, such as grain, and wants to raise an army to oppose the Red Army. To this end, he is rumored to often travel to Nyissa (where he has a harem) to organize resistance.
A big, red-haired man, Otram drinks heavily and, usually, in a loud, public manner. The Cornwall family dominates Corndell, with an envious eye on the farmlands of Asturia. The family colors are blue and white.
Marcus Fauntleroy
An average man, Marcus is nonetheless a shrewd statesman who, as Senator, has authored trade agreements/treatises with Nyissa and Kralld. He believes the best policy towards fighting piracy is to simply bribe them, and favors more open trade with Nyissa.
Average looking, Marcus is a shrewd, middled-aged man, often rumored to be a puppet to Nyissans or their drugs. The Fauntleroy family, based in Glencoe, seeks to make their blue and yellow standard the exclusive face of Dalenden trade with Nyissa.
Preston Keridwen
Representing the liberal left, Senator Keridwen has paid off pirates to keep Anden free for trade. He has given aid to the poor and diseased, and supports Asturian autonomy of for no other reason than that it's too much trouble for what it's worth to control it. He seeks recognition of Nyissa.
Generally regarded as a good man, Preston's age has taken away none of his strength, humor or generosity. Some rumors, however, give him illegitimate children, various drug addictions and a fondness for little girls. The Macsen family, Preston's kin, are recognized by their purple and green and seek to elevate their home city, Anden, above Brukenbrod in importance.
Riga Narbonne
Riga's original response to the Red threat was, "Let them have Asturia." His main concerns as a Senator are pirates and Nyissan trade, which he seems to be overly concerned with. He has organized government sponsored trade escorts to Nyissa and, like many, believes that normalized relations with Nyissa would benefit almost everyone.
As a short, shifty-eyed man with black hair and thin mustache, many find it easy to believe rumors painting Riga in a bad light, such as being a Nyissan sympathizer, pedophile or rapist. His reputation as a deal maker also has some believing that he is a poison importer. Like the families of several other senators, the Ullwalther family seeks to gain control of Nyissan trade. Their colors are burgundy and light blue.
As a Senator, "Navarre the black" demands law and order. He made Goodlen a trading power again by building a port and has been the driving force behind a number of mining laws. He has almost singlehandedly made the tri-city area a trade force again, and does not suffer "those lawless peasants" of Asturia to the east to live their backward superstitious lives. He strives for the elimination of Asturian autonomy, the extermination of pirates and closer trade with Lassadinya.
A stern, older man, Aachen is quiet, but doesn't miss much. Like his family that largely still favors aristocracy, he is somewhat old-fashioned. In spite of this, Aachen has been seen with prostitutes, offers private council to Nyissans in private councils and has sired illegitimate Nyissan children. The Navarre family hails from near Gloodlen, Simsburg, and can be recognized by their black and gold standard.
Algier Philidor
The absolute personification of practicality, Algier reworked the great northern road, making trade between Brukenbrod and Bamphf much easier. He also closed the central mountains to protect farmers. Under his guidance, the northern river towns have flourished, and he seeks to make them larger and more powerful. He has little use for the other Senators, save Corwalch, with whom he maintains a passing friendship of interest.
A middle-aged, quiet man, most consider Algier to be somewhat humorless. Though known not to drink, some rumors claim he has associated with some revolutionary-type writers and philosophers. As part of the Calouste family, Algier continues their aim of greater importance of the central Dalenden states that they call home.
Vacher Prancebody
An absolute dandy, Vacher lives for the cosmopolitan life of Brukenbrod, and has been called the "peacock". He is no wimp as a Senator, though, and has instituted the first state funded standing Navy, the first real threat to Kralld raiders or pirates ever. He has been responsible for negotiating trade with Nyissa, and favors recognizing it, which would obviously help trade.
Favoring expensive, ostentatious clothing, often in his family's trademark purple and gold, Vacher has blond hair and a large nose. Given his effeminate manner, it is no surprise that many rumors place him with young boys. Vacher was educated in Nyissa and is rumored to have consorted with the Silver Spider. Vacher's kin, the Sorbonne family, center in Brukenbrod, and are known to favor a return to aristocracy.
Quilliam Skil
It seems obvious to all that Senator Skil supports his lifestyle illicitly, but no one can ever peg how. He has passed exorbitant tariffs on the North Road, supported mining in supposed protected areas of the mountains, and created laws protecting indentured servitude. He seems largely interested in luxury, keeping the Red Army occupied somewhere else and reaping benefit without work.
The picture of excess, Quilliam is fat, lazy, shiftless, whiny, gaudy and garish. He once apologized only in saying, "My only sin was to have been born in the middle of nowhere." He is unconcerned with rumors connecting him with sexual deviance, female slavery, illegal mining, and payrolling pirates for personal gain. The Skillicorn family, with their red and yellow standard, seek to gain control of central Dalenden.
Horatio de Stael
An excessive braggart, yet generally fair man, Senator de Stael has supported laws protecting Asturia, what he calls "a country that lives by honor and virtue", and prohibiting abuse of the land and people therein. He also constructed ports on Lake Gledven, contributing to the tri-city importance. He now seeks to beat Lodore Brathay to gain control of the Lelldonis Forest.
Horatio is loud, haughty and fat, with a big bushy mustache. The rumor mill claims he is a bastard of Orrite origin, holds orgies at his homestead in eastern Dalenden, supports secret mining of the Dalackshire mountains and is a rapist. Some also view his support of Asturia as the Autun family's attempt to keep others out of Asturia long enough to secure exclusive trading rights for themselves. The family's standard features black and white checkers.
Steven of Sussex
The "jackal of Sussex" is a ruthless man. Vacher, a fellow Senator, is the first to have stood up to him in nearly two decades. But as twisted as he may be, he authored Dalenden's first ever treaty with Kralld, no easy task. Some say he intimidated them into it. He would rule with an iron gauntlet, creating orphanages and workhouses. He sees Nyissa as a source of resources that should be taken, for one does not bargain with a snake.
An old, bitter man, Steven is intimidating, temperamental and somewhat mad. Some rumors call him brutal rapist and murderer and some say he has participated in human sacrifice. He has managed to gather the lion's share of the trade rights in Brukenbrod under his black and red banner, furthering the Dascentius family's aim to control all trade in the Gulf of Grald.