Clan Matchmaker

In the decades before the Cobalt Protectorate developed a globe-spanning government and were ushered into modern telecommunication technologies by those who had from the thrall of the Chitiquish Consortium, the various Great Clans maintained alliances through a complex web of famillial ties. A given citizen would be strongly encouraged to find a spouse among members of a clan other than that of either parent to construct these ties, and clan dowries would serve to reinforce these relationships. Because of the great disances involved, as the clanholds might be spread across the face of Evermorn, finding a suitable outside partner with the right qualities to ensure a long-lasting, harmonious relationship could be difficult.
For this reason, a special class of diplomatic representatives, known as 'clan matchmakers,' would travel far and wide with lists of eligible batchelors and batchelorettes to foreign clan territories to arrange such connections. Equal parts psychologist and diplomat, these clan matchmakers would have to have a deep understanding of people and the sometimes byzantine nature of inter-clan ties and genealogy to ensure the success of their missions. Matchmakers would share notes with one another and played an important role in the geopolitics through the deals they would cut with powerful clan officials, their methods eventually contributing to the development of the Evermornan intelligence community.
In modern times, while some Evermornan communities still offer matchmaking services, this role has largely lost its official nature and was ultimately supplanted by personal ads, dating events and matchmaking services provided by commercial ventures, and, especially in modern times, non-sentient artificial intelligences implemented through extranet portals. Genealogical databases are still maintained in the form of vitreous vitae, which, in addition to tracing one's pedigree in terms of education, accomplishments, and affiliations, also trace one's familial connection to the original clans of Evermorn. The traditions of old have changed slightly in their intentions; whereas marrying outside of one's clan was once a political move as much as a romantic one, the practice is now used to help reduce consanguinity among isolated populations, especially space and planetary colonists.
Technology like genetic engineering and artificial wombs can be used to forcibly inject genetic diversity into a colony with a small population, but this is more complex, expensive, and ethically circumspect than simply continuing the old 'xeno-clan' marital practices the clan matchmakers once helped maintain. For this reason, some remote outposts of humanity still have a position for official clan matchmakers where HLAI or algorithms are not as available or well-trusted. On the other hand, outposts located on non-human worlds within the Periphery, such as Feldea and Lepidos, have largely eschewed such services altogether because the local populations offer ample suitable candidates with hundreds or thousands of years of genetic isolation from the core Protectorate populations.

Career

Qualifications

Clan matchmakers had to be well versed in genealogy, history, and the geopolitics of their time. Most matchmakers were multi-lingual extroverts and well-accustomed to life on the road, though it usually took an espcially picky or distasteful client to require travel beyond the next clanhold or two over. Especially as communications between clanholds were streamlined, clan matchmakers had to be good at fostering and maintaining social connections in regions they frequented, talents which could easily be rolled forward into subsequent careers in trade or espionage. Clan matchmakers could be either gender, but male and female matchmakers often approached the problem of finding suitable spouses from different angles.

Career Progression

If a clanhold had more than one community with more than one matchmaker, these matchmakers would often come together to form a matchmaking agency. The leadership structure of these agencies was often such that, the more seniority one accrued, the more matchmakers worked subordinate to them and the less they had to work in the field themselves. Otherwise, the trustworthiness of a clan matchmaker could simply be measured by the number and durability of the romantic relationships they had a hand in establishing.

Payment & Reimbursement

The services of a clan matchmaker were often paid for by the clients, the clients' parents, or their seconds. Half the payment would be given upfront and half upon completion; it was tradition at various points in the history of the Protectorate for the second half of the payment to be drawn from the clan dowry given as a part of the ensuing marriage. In some places, clan matchmakers - especially those working for agencies - would recieve a stipend from the clan government as a way of encouraging their work in forging ties with adverse clans. Yet another source of income came from courier work and the information trade, both of which were enabled by the clan matchmakers' itinerant lifestyles.

Operations

Tools

Before Evermornans developed digital technology, many matchmakers would carry files of edge-punched cards containing the qualities and pedigrees of those employing their services. Notches would be cut into some holes to indicate whether a candidate possessed certain qualities, including clan affiliation and various traits considered important to potential partners. By inserting a rod into one or more holes and shaking the stack, the files of candidates who matched the qualities indicated by the holes would fall out of the stack, effectively performing a boolean OR across the stack. Successive rounds of this operation could be used to whittle down a set of potential candidates until only one or a few remained. After digital computers were introduced, this whittling process was handed over to databases and, eventually, deep learning algorithms.