The early years of the settlement known as Hopeful, or Gatesville to the oppressors from Rapskatoon on Shell, were lean and hard years and few believed the small outpost would survive. The First strife and long winters reduced not only the population but also the hardiness and health of that dwindling folk.
In the years of expansion and at times wealth that followed there was great expansion of both borders and population. And while many husbands died young from their toils and hardship there seemed to be a trend of strong women leading families and outliving spouses.
Today a great number of the inhabitants of Gatesville can trace their lineage back to one of these grand women and it is not uncommon for townsfolk to declare this relationship as surname, with “son of,” “grandson of,” or the briefer “Goodson”or “Oft” followed by the first name or names of the lady associated with their lineage following. Brevity has led to many shortenings of name as well with family members keeping, or speaking, only the first syllable of the mother’s name so that names like Oftmar or Okor for grandchildren or children of Mavartha or Kora respectively would not be out of place.
These are not exclusively rich or grand families, but rather a local point of pride that a soul was sired by the legendary women who nurtured the town back to health with their own blood, sweat, tears, and kin.
Kora
Kora Delk Is the last living Town Mother. She was married three times, outliving all three of her husbands. She was first wed to Tagerty Sul in an arrangement between their fathers during the long winters in an effort to consolidate their land holdings east Plick’s Rise. While Kora and Tagerty would have a young daughter in the waning years of the cold fate would see Borch Delk, as well as Carver Sul and his son pass before the end of those fell years, and Kora found herself the heiress to quite a large farmstead producing rotating cole crops as well as beans peas and lentils.
What Kora truly craved however was the rich flavor of Pecans and she secured a claim to some of the best when she married Brice Murklin who owned the orchards across the lane from Kora. The couple expanded their orchards and their “crop of 55” trees tower almost as high as Plick’s Rise and still bear fruit every other year. These large and savory treats are sought after even in Raspkatoon on Shell. Brice took ill during the middling strife and although he hung on for another decade all knew that Kora ran the show at the Delk/Murklin farms. The couple had eight children together and their progeny represent the bulk of Kora’s clan.
In Kora’s later years she wed a third time for pure love and pleasure. Mimuke Tu was but a horsehand of the Poliver family and though Kora had ten years on him the two were smitten and inseparable. The two had no children together but the many grandchildren of the Clan have fond memories of Mimuke as he was oft there to assist in their spoiling and Restday adventures under the towing limbs of Orchard trees on the banks of The Egg River.
After Mimuke’s death at her side a few years back, Kora has claimed she will not take another. She continues to oversee the farmstead and is considered a wise and important member of the Eastern farm community and Hopeful at large.
Berthod
Lady Berthod is known for living two very distinct lives in the town of hopeful. From a young age she found herself doing what she could to survive. While some may call it a profession of ill repute, Berthod’s reputation was never deemed lacking, even if her use of Dainty Salve and Sheepskin were.
She had three children in her difficult but vibrant youth to fathers unknown to this day. Their progeny oft dub themselves Bastards of Berthod and wear the name with a pride that in many cultures may seem at odds with polite society, but Hopeful has it’s own norms.
Berthod’s life changed significantly when she caught the eye of Hagen Middlecurp, a wealthy merchant and heir to the Midlecurp family fortune. While Hagen’s confidants and friends attempted to dissuade him the strange times of the mid century seemed no place for such reservation in the face of love and the two were wed.
They spent the next two decades filling Middlecurp Manor with children and mirth and Hagan even embraced Berthod’s previous children and made them welcome in the home.
The couple passed within months of each other early in the Shadowed strife but their home is active as ever. While years and use have dulled and dented the Manor’s regal and historic brilliance, the family would have it remembered that Berthod herself always preferred the lived in charm of a house well used.
Quillnine
Quillnine Stax was born to a Barmaid at The Ox on Hill in Old Hopeful. Her father was believed to be Killwood Stax but he would never publicly accept responsibility for the child. Rumor had it that the guild itself likely paid some form of due to the young mother to try to dissuade her public tirades on the subject. This did not stop her from giving the Stax name to her child.
Quillnine came of age in the early era of the excavation of sleepy valley. In those wild years, as the hills was delved and evils awakened and put down, there seemed an endless torrent of strong diggers, suave swordsmen, corruptible young holy men, and wealthy foreman in the taming of the hill and Quillnine officially or unofficially wed men without count. The temple of Neeseekus is very vague in the stipulations of marriage.
While men came and went from her life, the children always stayed with Quillnine. As the valley floor became cleared local business began to suffer at the lack of workers passing through. Quillnine wisely used this lull to purchase at very little cost the local Inn. She had realized that the largest expense of such an establishment was in labor and that she had aplenty. Her many children helped keep and staff the famous Beds Under Crimson Shingle. The inn continues to be famous for its hospitality and its location off the beaten path of the town at large has its advantages for many a traveler.
Tillie and Hel
Tillie Klee nee Tasker was a seamstress of old Hopeful of some renown. She was well known for tight stitches and taught her craft to many young folk of the town. She married Kol Klee, a merchant of Raspkatoon that had been a client (as even the strange technology of the metal city could not match her handiwork) and for a time the two lived in peace upon the shell. However, his untimely death and the prejudices of the Citydwellers found Tille and her children facing expulsion from the city.
To avoid scandal or the potential of exile to the Cess, Tillie called upon the Town council of Gatesville for help. It was here that she first met Hel Sadigon.
Hel was a sellsword turned politician. She and her husband Morgnine Sandigon had helped fight off the First Strife even as her second child grew in her womb. Mognine had fallen in a battle with Fell Apes in that cruel decade, but the town never forgot the debt to both he and Hel. Morgnine received a statue on the green and Hel received a spot on the council and a nice house on Fimen’s Road.
Hel offered to allow Tille to live with her and her two children as they were both widowed mothers. Many a rumor will reset the time line and meander the moment of their first love from a scandalous “before they endeavoured together to murder their husbands,” to a romantic, “at first sight in the council chamber,” to a well worn and likely true, “over the course of years and companionship experienced in tiers and waves upon which few could fully entertain the true depth.”
Whatever the case, Tille and Hel were as good as wed and their brethren often refer to them in the same breath and take both as the combined surname Tylahel. After all their time together inhabited a span decades longer than their time with either husband in days of old.
Mavartha
Mavartha Arrow never married nor had children of her own but that did not keep her from being a grand matriarch of Hopeful. Mavartha’s orphanage was home to many a refugee child. The original orphanage was a longhouse near Bridge Gate that now houses the Kettle and Flog Public House. During The Boom Mavartha relocated the house to an old manor home on the northern prairies just southwest of the point where the Hilldraught crosses the North Road.
Mavartha was known both for her strength in defense of her wards as well as her strict but caring methods of upbringing. “A swat from Mavartha” is still used as an expression for a stinging but necessary rebuke.
The orphanage continues operation to this day despite Mavartha’s passing and many townfolk are proud to claim her as marm.
Pelma
Pelma Dayg was born to traveling merchants that sought refuge in Hopeful early in the town’s existence. She married Sonj Kipland, an early founder of the town, and together they ran Kipland’s Dry Goods.
Their shop and warehouse were destroyed by fire but such was the goodwill they hard garnered in their early dealings with the community that two new buildings were raised on the site. Through hard work the couple created a strong business but rather than putting that money into luxury and relaxation, perhaps taking on a manor upon Einhurst row, they instead reinvested in the ventures of others supporting merchants from abroad and creating a safe place for them to conduct business. Thus The Trader’s Village was born near the center of Hopeful.
Pelma made her mark on the collective concious of the city through her giving and huumble ways. Friends and friends of freinds of Pelma’s children were well looked after as her own and it was often said that the Kipland’s would have owned a quarter of the wealth of town if they hadn’t already given half of it away. This has led to many a hanger on and aquaintance claiming kinship to Pelma due to proximity. Most agree Pelma would never have disputed this, as she had a great love for all the refugees of Hopefully.
While the couple has long since passed their many children are woven into the families in all areas of Hopeful, some even finding their way into the high society of Raspkatoon. Today the two warehouses still stand but have been rebranded Kiplands’s Biergarten. The family trust owns all the land of the Traders Village including the lease for the great tent that houses Delicov’s circus and the warehouses on the west bank of the Egg.
Haucumgalium 