House Stormweather

House Stormweather

Personages

Patriarch: Galthus "Thunderlungs" Stormweather Consort: Allyl Stormweather (f) Heir: Melgil Stormweather (secondborn son) Membership (Nobles): 13 Predominant Faith: Auril, Umberlee, Talos

Faction Details

Common Descriptors: Callous, daring, driven Primary Classes: Fighter, ranger, cleric (Auril, Umberlee, Talos), sorcerer (Storm) Alignments: CN, N, CE

Faction Ranks

• 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 2. 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. • Matriarch/Patriarch: Rank 3. You are the acknowledged and legal head of the household.

Interests

Trade & Interests: Shipping, naval exploration Holdings: Waterdeep

History

Ethnicity: Illuskan Founded: 1251 DR Previous Eras: 1354 DR

One of the old reliable shipping families of Waterdeep, the Stormweathers are arguably stronger than they've ever been. Known for their casual cruelty (to one another and to their many rivals), the Stormweathers know how to ride the line between outright violence and the gentility expected of Waterdeep's nobility. Still, when away from Waterdeep, their captains are known to be particularly vicious and underhanded against rivals, and some even suspect that the Stormweathers help fund pirates to use against those rivals.

Indeed, the recent news that Galthus's oldest daughter Jendra was no longer heir caused all manner of raised eyebrows. The family claims she has eschewed her name and sought her own way in the world, but some wonder if she hasn't gone off to indulge in her very publicly acknowledge vicious nature by becoming a pirate. The ship she "stole" from the family was one that had just been refit and painted in a scheme unlike the usual House colors; more than one gossip claims that Jendra Stormweather is now a pirate queen hunting the House's rivals directly on the Sea of Swords.

Members of the Family

• Lord Galthus Stormweather: Patriarch (Renown 10) • 63 years. Old and ill-tempered, Galthus rules his House with a surprisingly loose grip. This is no relief to his family, though: all the Stormweathers know that they are expected to not just do as he wants, but to anticipate those expectations. Failure to do so is viciously punished. In particular, the fleet admirals of his family he gives a great deal of rope with which to strangle themselves; by this point, however, these fleet admirals understand what is expected of them, and they deliver success and wealth, first and foremost.
• Allyl Stormweather: Consort (Renown 3) • 57 years. A quiet and elegant lady, people were surprised when Allyl Estelmer married the all-but-wild young Galthus, then merely the captain of the Winterstorm. Though her family was concerned for her safety, it is believed that Allyl is the only person Galthus would never raise a hand to of all his kin. Some suggest that she is his only true love; others suggest it is she who pulls his puppet strings. In truth, Allyl arrived at her wedding with a single book from her family's extensive library: Ten Thousand Venoms and Poisons, one of the most extensive treatises on poisons, so dangerous that it is forbidden by the Lords to own it. She explained that if he raised his hand to her even once, it had best be to murder her, because if he left her alive, she would introduce him to five of her favorite entries in this book. Family lore has that he fell immediately in love with her and her vicious streak then; true or not, she has certainly never borne the marks of his wrath as so many of his kin have in the past.
• Melgil Stormweather: Heir, secondborn son (Renown xx) • 31 years. Not much of a sailor – a fact that has earned him his father's ire and violence more than once over the years – Melgil has more than made up for this lack in himself by becoming the shrewdest businessman in the House. He has slowly taken on the scut work of running House Stormweather's finances over the years, up to and including notes of its illegal undertakings, so that he is now an extremely dangerous man for Galthus to strike out at. Reportedly, this has not earned him his father's ire; instead, when his son calmly told him this, he reportedly told him "And now finally, you have earned your father's love and respect." Lord Galthus proved the claim when he named Melgil his heir after Jendra's flight from Waterdeep.

Holdings

• Resources Limit: If necessary, House Stormweather could probably generate about 31,000 gp in liquid coin and valuables within a month.

The Stormtower

Saerdoun Street, North Ward

A great iron fence surrounds the Stormtower, topped with the curving wave-and-ship of the House's heraldry. The gardens are lavish, with climbing vines along the fence that block most views within it.

• Stormtower Hall: The great Stormtower proper juts out into the court in which the villa sits, and stands some five stories tall. The tower proper houses the Lord and his immediate family, with its ground floor operating as a chamber where the head-of-house receives visitors and does business. The rest of the hall is some three stories in height, with extensive social event space, as well as kitchens and household dining hall on the first floor, a library and conservatory along with apartments on the second, and a vast profusion of household dwelling spaces on the third floor. There is also a large cellars, with household utility and servant dwellings.
• The Fleet Dowage: The fleet dowage is given over wholly to the fleet admirals of House Stormweather's shipping and exploration fleets. A two-story structure, it is divided into six total dwelling-spaces. It has a very basic set of kitchens in its cellars, for those who choose to eat in-house, but most of the family who dwell here still take meals in Stormtower Hall.
• The Garden Retreat: One of the original Stormweather lords was said to have no patience for children, so he had the Garden Retreat built. Today, the two-story structure is used for older members of the family who require a bit more peace and gentle surroundings, as well as those mothers in their pregnancies or with very young children. No one is required to retreat here during these times, but household tradition has evolved such that many of the House's women look forward to the quiet peace away from Old Thunderlungs' seemingly incessant yelling and storming about. The first floor's apartments include spaces meant to be easier on old bodies, plus a kitchens and dining space, while the second floor is divided into apartments for pregnant women and nursery space.

Known Faction Perks

Scions and agents of House Stormweather in good standing might receive the following benefits:

• Living Quarters: Renown 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: Renown 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).
• Business Opportunities: Renown 3+. Lynchpins to the House'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): Renown 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.
• Wealth of the House: Renown 10. The patriarch of the House is in total control of the House's finances and various holdings, established by the laws of Waterdeep.