The legacy of Marcus Karlson lived on through the work of his son Jamal, who championed the cause of the poor and downtrodden and became a devout worshipper of Braith, goddess of vengeance. His scuffles with Emperor Hector are well documented, as are his many disastrous romantic relationships.

His daughter Ishri Karlson became a much more formidable character than either her father or grandfather, largely through the founding of the Marcus Karlson College of Magic at the new Cambridge university, where magical learning was granted to students through generous bursaries paid for from fines. It was Ishri Karlson’s work which led to the massacres of the Peasants’ Rebellion being largely forgotten in favour of Marcus’s theoretical works, which even today are required reading for most students of history or philosophy.

Ishri Karlson has never yet been convicted of poisoning, despite a lot of her enemies dropping dead after consuming delicious sugar-laden treats.

“Aaaaaaaand… today’s contestant is the lovely Hussein Karlson, said to be a direct descendant of the famous philosopher and rabble-rouser who was murdered so brutally in the 12th century. Among the surprises we have in store for Hussein, who works in the Chemistry department of Oxford University, is that DNA sampling suggests he is not in any way related to Marcus Karlson – furthermore, that neither was his father, or his grandfather, nor any other member of his family! Digging up the bones thought to be those of Marcus Karlson himself, as well as those of his son Jamal, it appears that there was no biological link between the men. Was Jamal adopted, or was the notoriously beautiful but fickle Faridah unfaithful during her first marriage, as well as during her second, third, and fourth marriages – all much more widely documented. What do you think, Hussein?”

“Well, it appears to me that family is family, regardless of biological ties. Blood relationships are no stronger than bonds of love created from nurture, environment and shared experiences – it seems evident to me that had Marcus Karlson ever discovered Jamal was not his biological child, this would have made Jamal no less his son and no less loved.”