House Adarbrent
House Adarbrent
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"Weigh the anchors and 'furl the sails - a whole horizon awaits us!"
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Personages
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| xxx: xxxx Consort: xxx Heir: xxx Membership (Nobles): xx Predominant Faith: Valkur |
Faction Details
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| Common Descriptors: Curious, courageous, wanderlust Primary Classes: Ranger, fighter, rogue Alignments: LG, NG, CG |
Faction Ranks
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| • Favored: Rank 1. You are a favored member of the House. If you are a scion of the House, you have pleased the patriarch sufficiently to gain his notice. If you are an agent or retainer of the House, your efforts to aid the House have gone well-noted. • Lynchpin: Rank 3. You are given a position of some responsibility in the House's operations. If you are a scion of the House, the patriarch considers you one of the favored scions of the House, and consults with you on matters of House importance. If you are an agent or retainer, your contributions and skills in service of the House have won you a position of no small regard and respect in the patriarch's eyes - although that may earn you the jealousy of his blood kin who are less favored than you. |
Interests
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| Trade & Interests: Shipping, cartography, exploration Holdings: Waterdeep |
History
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| Ethnicity: Chondathan Founded: 1317 DR |
One of the youngest of Waterdeep's noble Houses, House Adarbrent was once a marvel - in a port city full of merchants, the Adarbrent merchant fleet was second to none, and third only to the Watermen and Guard for sheer size. The Adarbrents were explorers, first and foremost, and theirs was not just wanderlust. Exploration burned in Adarbrent veins, and they turned those fires into profit as well, offering not just mercantile shipping services but also having a hand in cartography and exploration (both a'sea and on land). The first Lord Adarbrent transformed the Adarbrent Shipping Company into House Adarbrent within a single generation, a feat almost unheard of.
The tragedies of the late 1300s and early 1400s devastated the family's fortunes, however, starting with the Deepwater War. The oceanic invasion destroyed a great many Adarbrent fleets, and then the strange circumstances in Maztica ravaged the coffers even more. Entire branches of the family disappeared during these events, as many went down with ships or vanished with the New World, never to be heard from again.
Faction
A house of wanderers and travelers, with interests in shipping, navigation, cartography, and exploration.
Overview
Explorers of every stripe, from those who lead deadly expeditions into uncharted lands to the master cartographers that record and reveal the findings of those expeditions, the Adarbrents dare where few do. While the Adarbrent love of exploration is first and foremost to them, their explorations and wealthy lifestyle is supported by their shipping business.
Goals and Philosophy
Unlike many Waterdhavian Houses, the Adarbrents' dreams take them beyond Waterdeep's walls - and indeed beyond the horizon. The Adarbrents favor those who dare much, especially if they do not wait for others' permission before undertaking their feats of daring. The Adarbrents are goodly folk, though, and there is no room in the House for those whose daring is not tempered by compassion and mercy.
Activities
House Adarbrent is involved in multiple shipping concerns, as well as a variety of cartographical investments; several of the House hold prominent positions in the Surveyors', Map, and Chartmakers' Guild (and to a lesser extent, the Master Mariners' Guild). As much as half of the House is away from Waterdeep at any one time, so many of its members are the masters of fleets or important mercantile or exploration vessels. House Adarbrent is also involved with the Horizon Armada, a league of ship-ownder among the city's nobility who manage the sea lanes, coordinate fleets, and commission maritime maps, based out of the Horizon Sails building in the Dock Ward.
Quests undertaken by agents of House Adarbrent might include the following:
- Accompany an Adarbrent ship on a journey through dangerous locations.
- Find and recover a wrecked ship and her crew.
- Lead an expedition along a previously unknown route or a previous unknown location.
Perks
Scions and agents of House Adarbrent in good standing might receive the following benefits:
- Living Quarters: Rank 1+. Those in good standing with the House are given quarters within the House's Waterdhavian villa appropriate to their role in the House.
- Living Expenses/Salaries: Rank 1+. Those in good standing with the House also receive a stipend of 1gp plus 5sp per day per point of Rank. This is not actual cash, but simply familial credit towards payment of Lifestyle costs. This stacks with the same kind of familial credit received from the Waterdhavian Noble Background (see Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide).
- Oft at Sea: Rank 2+. An Adarbrent of this renown has been at sea often enough to learn to make themselves useful while there, gaining a free Navigator's Tools or Vehicle (Sailing Ship) Tool Proficiency.
- Business Opportunities: Rank 3+. Lynchpins to House Adarbrent's operations receive access to a variety of business opportunities within the House's money-making endeavors. This is handled as "Running a Business" in downtime months. This does not incur a business expense, but if too many of the character rolls results that end in a loss of money, he can and will find his Rank in the House reduced.
- Heir or Consort (Title): Rank 3+. The holder of one of the legal titles Heir of House and Consort of House, as recorded with the city of Waterdeep, is entitled to an additional 2gp per day in familial credit, per the "Living Expenses/Salaries" entry above. The heir is also accorded certain privileges within the legal system of Waterdeep, including the ability to speak on behalf of his House in some legal proceedings and the like.
- Ship's Captain (Title): Rank 4+. Those with the inclination toward doing so may be made the captain of one of the Adarbrent ships, as a test for future possible leadership within the House. They become the master of one of the Adarbrent ships, with a full ship and crew ready and able to do their bidding - though they are not free to do as they like, for the captains answer to the House's Fleet Masters.
- An Available Ship: Rank 5+. Those in very good standing with the House can call upon the services of one of the House's ships. Ideally, a tenday is required before doing so, to make sure the ship isn't needed for any House business, but a ship can be called upon in emergency purposes within a number of hours equal to (11 - your Rank), though this does negatively impact the House's finances.
- Fleet Master (Title): Rank 7+. There are four who hold this title in House Adarbrent, one for each of the Adarbrent fleets.
- Wealth of the House: Rank 10. The patriarch of the House is in total control of the House's finances and various holdings, established by the laws of Waterdeep.
History
- 1311 DR: Adarbrent Shipping Company comes to Waterdeep from Cormyr, when Royus is but 3 years of age.
- 1314 DR: In a joint expedition with House Zulpair, the Adarbrent Shipping Company discovers an island with an abandoned dwarven mine. The dwarves were slaughtered by monsters, but after a harrowing time securing the site, the Adarbrents and Zulpairs recovered an incredible wealth of rubies. On the return voyage, the Zulpair ships attempted to seize the Adarbrent gemstones and sink their ships, but the Adarbrents escaped and quickly returned to sanctuary in Waterdeep.
- 1315 DR: After an extensive investigation, House Zulpair is fined and the captain of its island expedition imprisoned for their attempted piracy of the Adarbrent ships. Jarlinn Adarbrent begs the Lords' Court to defer both punishments, insisting that the attacks by monsters and privation from lack of food and sleep had made everyone on edge. After some deliberation, the Lords agreed, and House Zulpair was cleared of punishment but not charges. The Adarbrent name is at the forefront of all of society's topic of talk for the next several years.
- 1317 DR: The Adarbrents are ennobled as a full Waterdhavian House.
- 1352 DR: A terrible storm does terrible damage to one of the Adarbrent fleets, killing Yhaeren, his wife Vondel, and Missyndra's husband Aykeros.
- 1365 DR: House Adarbrent, along with a number of other Waterdhavian interests, journey to Maztica, but are turned away from New Amn by the Lord-Governor. The Waterdhavians depart and establish a colony, New Waterdeep.
- 1369 DR: The family's fleets suffer incredible losses during the Deepwater War. The House was forced to borrow heavily from Fayd yn Sarsor al-Nisr, the father-in-law of an Adarbrent daughter (Syllia). Through this toe-hold, the cabal known as the Rundeen began to infiltrate and take over House Adarbrent, giving them a hold in Waterdeep. Only Syllia's membership in the Harpers prevented this, though it ruined her family.
Members of the Family
Main Branch
| xxx PMatriarch (Rank 10) • xx years xxx | |
| xxx Consort (Rank xx) • xx years xxx |
Previous Generations
Holdings
- Resources Limit: If necessary, House Adarbrent could probably generate about 45,000 gp in liquid coin and valuables within a month, or about 15,000 gp within a tenday.
House Estate
South Copper Street, North Ward, Waterdeep
House Adarbrent's estate is the southernmost noble estate in Waterdeep, right at the very edge of the North Ward - a testament to the relative youth of the Adarbrent ennoblement. Nonetheless the Adarbrent rubies have purchases a great deal of luxury here, and it shows.
- Rubycliff House: This three-story study in opulence was the first purchase the Adarbrents made, even before they were ennobled (but definitely as they had already begun trying to become so). Rubycliff's first floor is made up of primarily public rooms, with a small garden-facing suite for elderly House members for whom stairs are too difficult. The floor above has the various apartments and private living spaces of the main branch of the Adarbrent family, and the top floor is a series of lord-and-lady suites, nursery, and the like for the direct use of the Lord of the House's immediate family.
- The Second House: Named so for its purchase right after the Adarbrent ennoblement, the three-story Second House was originally used as living quarters. Today is houses a handful of offices, primarily those of the Lord and the four Fleet Masters of the House, with a very public street-access facade. The ground floor houses the Lord's office and public meeting and waiting space for visitors, as well as the great Chart Room of House Adarbrent, and each floor above that is divided into two suites of offices for the Fleet Masters.
- Wavewidow's Tower: A tall four-story tower constructed by Royus' mother when his father passed away, the Wavewidow's Tower sits in the middle of the fine Adarbrent gardens, surrounded by trees. Its ground floor is the family chapel to Valkur, with ample space for worship and small apartments for visiting priests who might call on the Adarbrents seeking shelter. Above that are two rooms of "mourning apartments" - suites of rooms that Adarbrent nobles traditionally retreat from the world into at the deaths of their spouses. Finally, the last floor stands quite tall by itself and is entirely glassed in, providing an excellent view of the surrounding city. It is just tall enough and angled just right to be able to see half of the harbor, and the spyglasses there can be used to get a closer look at ships coming into port.
- Highsails House: The four floors of the Highsails House provide living spaces for those Adarbrent nobles who do not dwell in the Rubycliff House proper. It has a single galleries great hall centrally located on the first floor, flanked by small apartment suites that are traditionally given over to newly-weds in the family, though one is currently resided in by Chenta, who has difficulty with stairs. Haless, Foman, and Foman's family live on the second floor, with Ondran's family on the third, and Ruulado, Missyndra, and Missyndra's family on the fourth. These upper floors are all divided into living spaces that are clearly noble in appointment if not necessarily size.
Retainers
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Iolrath Marfander Butler of Rubycliff House (Rank 5) • 64 years Distinguished and unflappable, the half-elven Iolrath has been a servant for House Adarbrent for longer than they have been ennobled in Waterdeep. Iolrath maintains exquisite order in the house and ensures that everything that needs to go on behind the scenes does so outside of the view of the family he serves. For their part, the Adarbrents consider him not-quite-family - all of them have grown up with him, and many nights Lord Royus and he sit up after everyone else has gone to bed and the two talk, exchanging advice. |
The Adarbrent Fleets
House Adarbrent maintains four distinct fleets, each headed up by its own Fleet Master, who answer only to the Patriarch of the House.
- The First Mercantile Fleet: Ruullado Adarbrent, Fleet Master. The most profitable of the Adarbrent fleets, the First Mercentile deals with "heavy coin" projects - those projects requiring more than one ship, or singular ships carrying very expensive cargos. The First Mercantile is made up of the finest ships in the Adarbrent fleets: heavy, combat-capable, and fine to look at, as these are the ships put to the service of royalty, nobility, and the very wealthiest of merchants.
- The Second Mercantile Fleet: Haless Adarbrent, Fleet Master. While not as grand as the First Mercantile, the Second Mercantile Fleet is larger, almost by double the ships. These ships tend to operate singly or in small groups (usually no more than two or three). They are the faster merchant sloops, and those whose main security lies in how little they carry at once, how few of them there are at a single time, and how maneuverable each such ship is. Their cargos are usually smaller and worth less, though still profitable as each such ship will often carry the cargoes of multiple clients at once.
- The Exploration Fleet: Shooral Adarbrent, Fleet Master. The Exploration Fleet was a dream of Royus', and it has been in existence for a little over a decade. Quite a small fleet, the ships of the Exploration Fleet carry cartographers and explorers, rangers and survivalists who find new and unexplored areas to uncover, examine, and commit to chart and map. In recent years, the Exploration Fleet has been divided between in-land sites in the Moonshaes and some of the coastal expanses of Chult, but rumor says that the fleet has a new and exciting target.
- The Auxiliary Fleet: Ondran Adarbrent, Fleet Master. Ondran's fleet's purpose is simple: they assist any of the other fleets as they are needed. Composed primarily of fighting ships, the Auxiliary Fleet assigns its ships in groups of paired ships to particularly lucrative voyages with the Mercantile Fleets, or when the Exploration Fleet is going into particularly dangerous waters.
Rumors About House Adarbrent
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