House Assumbar

House Assumbar

Personages

Patriarch: Halmor Assumbar Consort: Hera Assumbar Heir: Areen Assumbar (fourthborn son) Membership (Nobles): 36 Predominant Faith: Siamorphe

Faction Details

Common Descriptors: Arrogant, civic-minded, status-obsessed Primary Classes: Fighter, cleric (Siamorphe), paladin Alignments: LG, LN

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: Carpentry, designing exotic & splendid carriages Holdings: Waterdeep

History

Ethnicity: Tethyrian Founded: 1273 DR Previous Eras: 1354 DR

The Assumbars have only grown in power and number since the days of old Waterdeep, before the Spellplague. They yet maintain a chapel to Siamorphe, and by and large lead the cultus to the Waterdhavian deity. A family whose wealth and reputation is centered in carpentry and wainwright concerns, there is no greater acknowledged carriage-makers than House Assumbar in Faerûn. The family is known for its strict adherence to bloodline lineage concerns and to their faith in the goddess of nobility.

Members of the Family

• Lord Halmor Assumbar: Patriarch (Renown 10) • 51 years. Aggressive and quick to conflict, Lord Halmor is a well-known sight at Waterdhavian social engagements. He is a burly man with broad shoulders and thick belly, reddish-brown hair and flowing beard that he keeps styled and scented. Halmor maintains that his appetites for food, wine, and intimate company aren't decadence: they are the sign of burning, vital noble blood in his lineage, which always hungers and desires more. In someone else, this would be tiresome to say the least, but Lord Halmor is well loved by his peers for a single reason: he is quick to uphold any other noble's dignities and rights to respect from their inferiors. He is also a canny politician, with a great deal of pull among the bureaucracy of the city; it is said that he counts no less than three of the Masked Lords as his friends.
• Hera Assumbar: Consort (Renown 6) • 46 years. Tall, regal, and quiet, the contemplative Hera is a pillar of ice to her husband's ball of passionate fire. She is always immaculately presentable, with a preference for the fine understated classical styles of the past over chasing the phantoms of modern fashion. As beloved as Halmor is, Hera is regarded with both fear and a desire to please her, even by other nobles. She does not hesitate to pass judgment on those nobles who fail to live up to her strict views of noble dignity. Her presence at an event, particularly one in which she seems pleased, can do a great deal to elevate that House's standing in the Game; likewise, her attendance, and quick wordless departure often causes a mass exodus from the event, ruining the name of whoever set it up.
• Opyneth Manthar: Firstborn daughter (Renown –) • 27 years. The brilliant socialite Opyneth inherited a combination of her father's social acumen with her mother's stunning judgment, making her a deeply influential noblewoman. She is married to a Manthar scion. She and her mother frequently spend a great deal of time together.
• Dythra Estelmer: Secondborn daughter (Renown –) • 26 years. The scholarly Dythra married into House Estelmer, after meeting one of the Estelmber sons at a book auction. Dythra tends not to visit her family very often, joking that they never really noticed the quiet, mousy daughter in the past, so they doubtless haven't even really noticed that she's gone. She and Areen (whom she doted on when they were children) occasionally have meals together, however.
• Felsharr Talmost: Thirdborn daughter (Renown –) • 22 years. Fashion icon Felsharr married into House Talmost, who love dressing her as their premier example of their latest fashion. Felsharr visits occasionally, mostly preferring to spend time with her parents and siblings when they are at social events together.
• Areen Assumbar: Heir and fourthborn son (Renown 4) • 19 years. The fourth child of Hera and Halmor was finally a son, much to Halmor's joy. Areen's older sisters are all married off to other Houses. For his part, Areen is more like his mother than his father: he is quiet, contemplative, and attentive to the dignities and responsibilities of his lineage. He is also Called to Siamorphe as a cleric, and so tends to his duties to her shrine maintained on the family villa.

Holdings

• Resources Limit: If necessary, House Assumbar could probably generate about 36,000 gp in liquid coin and valuables within a month.

The House of Chalices (Villa)

Diamond Street, Sea Ward

The wall around the House of Chalices is a five-foot tall wall of pale blue-grey stone, with its top foot wrought of white stone chiseled with the House's chalice sigil into it, and gilded beneath a layer of glass. At night, magical illumination emanates from one out of every three of these chalices, bathing the street around the manor in pale gold-white light. It is said that these lights detach from the wall and chase anyone foolish enough to try and scale the wall.

• The House of Chalices: A grand old three-story manor house, the main Assumbar dwelling's first floor is nothing but social spaces, including the Gallery of Chalices (used to show off the family's collection of heirloom chalices wrought of precious metals and gems), a garden-facing ballroom, and various salons and dens, and an open space that is the upper vaults of the dining chamber, which lies in the cellars proper. The cellars are divided into three sections: the dining chamber, with connections to the kitchens and pantry cellars, a familial vault that can only be reached through an in-wall staircase from the patriarch's offices on the second floor, and a grand storage space from the servant back-halls. The second story has exalted apartments for the patriarch and his family, as well as offices and salons for same. The third story is divided into a variety of finely-decorated apartment chambers for other members of the family.
• Assumbar Manor: An old workshop space from the early days of the House's presence in Waterdeep, their business quickly outgrew the confines of this large single story building. It was then turned into ample housing for members of the family with lesser status within the family. It has a dining space and a few small salons, but by and large the family uses those social spaces in the House of Chalices. Basements have additional apartments for both members of the family and certain retainers, as well as a bakery and kitchen, with tunnels that lead into the cellars beneath the House of Chalices.
• The Shrine to Siamorphe: A two-story structure whose street-facing section boasts a grand shrine-chamber two full stories in height. The back half of the shrine's first floor is storage and meditation spaces, while the second floor has a choir loft that opens on the shrine, as well as a set of apartments for the shrine's main attendant. At current these opulent apartments are given over to Areen.
• Steward's Hall: A modest, single-story structure which contains the living quarters for the villa's servants and guards, as well as an office for the steward. Mundane business is always directed to the door that leads to the steward's office, for the Assumbars do not sully their hands with day to day nonsense.

Known Faction Perks

Scions and agents of House Assumbar 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.