Families
There are 11 active families in the game, sheilds for 30 and names for 41. Each family has a leader and all but two have gems.
It is not clear why the additional families were not included in the game. In all of the PC scenarios I've played, I've never been able to
Lankshire
Family
Eselred
Adryl
Karla
Elford
Gem
Dragon
About
The Lankshire family, and in preticulear King Eselred, is the antagonist of the game's story. They hold the crowd, which gives them the Fire Dragon.
The Lankshire family has some powerful people-- Geolug, Colin, Griff and Regis are among the best characters in the game. They make formatable enmeys when on the war path and don't hesitate to attack a weaker neighbor.
The King, however, is in all scenarios the worst ranking character in the game. His war power is never above 40, making him an the weakest enmey to confront. This fact would almost make taking out the Lankshire family easy if it were not for two facts. The king usually makes Londre (22) his home-- Londre is the best defensable provenance in the game. And one usually has to go through other provenance to get to Londre. Nonetheless, the best stratagy for taking down the Lankshire family is to always attack the provenance currently inhabited by the king.
Blanche
Family
Erin
Karl
Pender
Anselm
Arkin
Gem
Zendor
About
The Blanche family is the easiest to play in the game. This should be the family of choice for anyone just getting started. The family has Zendor, the most useful Gem in the game. And the family usually has some very strong characters.
In Terian's War, the Blanche family also gets Skulryk.
Lyle
Family
Ander
Wolfen
Keyla
Randal
Gem
Pluvius
About
The Lyle family is almost as powerful as the Blanche family. Ander, their leader, is one of the best characters in the game. They also have Wolfen, a strong war leader. Keyla also has decent war power and good charm, and Seth has is strong politically.
Pluvius is the Lyle gem and has as much strenth as the Fire Dragon. The drawback is Pluvius can only move 2 spaces per round. Nonetheless, Pluvius is very useful on the battle field because of his strength and range attack. In Terian's War, the Lyle family also gets Chylla.
Coryll
Family
Lars
Gem
Empyron
About
The Coryll family disapears after Erin and Ander and their leader, Lars, does not apear in the game again. Erven joins the Molbrew and then disapears. Since Erin and Ander is the eariest campain, we can only assume the worst for this family.
They start off well situated, on the south west corner of Ishmera. Coryll lacks a strong war leader, being the strongest being Lars himself with a war power value of 72. Erven has alright charm, but Eustace is weak in all catagories.
Playing as Coryll will be more of a chalange due to the lack of a strong war power character. Playing this family requires waiting to build up strength before being able to make a move.
Chrysalis
Family
Garth
Elgis
Sarthe
Gem
Chylla
About
The Chrysalis family is one of the hardest to play in the game. There is only one scenario where Chrysalis is a playable option, Erin and Ander. Although the family survives to Flax's Shame, only the computer plays them.
Garth is a weak character. His highest attribute is war power, but it's only 67. His political ability and rather low--the lowest for a leader aside from Eselred.
Playing as Chrysalis requires a lot of planning.
Flax
Family
Erik
Elias
Gem
Scylla
About
The Flax family orignally starts off in Linden (24) and Belgam (27) in Erin and Ander. They end up in Ashlan (25), Penzan (26) and Belgam (27) in the Flax's Shame scenario. They are probably the reason the Coryll family has been wiped out.
The Flax family is replaced in the Gemfire scenario by the Tudoria family. Since the Tudoria family also have Scylla and Eric is gone, it can be assumed there was a change in leadership. Durring Terian's War .
Leander
Fuster
Skulryk
Tate
Family
Terian
Bryan
Anise
Galford
Gem
Empyron
About
The Tate family forms after Erin and Ander. Terian is orignally a member of the Lankshire family. He has broken away and took an empty province next to him. He is pushed into Cardyf (14) by Terian's War and by Gemfire has taken Attley (23) and Linden (24).
The Tate family inherits Empyron after the Coryll family falls.
Tordin
Family
Erven
Alex
Gweyn
About
Erven is orignally a member of the Molbrew family. They disapear after Flax's Shame and the Tordin family apears. They take lands in the south belonging to Lankshire.
Eadric
Loryn
Other families not used
Suprissing to me was the existance of 41 families-- 30 of who have Coat of Arms. As setup, Gemfire only uses 11 families. These other families can only be found if you tweak the game.
Little else is known about these families, such as who the leaders are or where they would typically reside. Using the scenario editor, these extra families can be enabled.
Holly
Harold
La Forte
Fouche
Woode
Halford
Randall
Barkeley
Roos
Schoffe
Harwood
Greystoke
Aslea
Penbroke
Harris
Nale
Douglas
Branford
Wenrock
The following families exist in name alone-- there are no Coat of Arms for them.
Ashley
Burgundy
Audley
Bourchier
Cromwell
Markham
Rivers
Astley
Hamilton
Ferris
Lynotte