Armenedes Patrician House - Estate branch

Note: The Armenedes family is split into two branches. One branch lives within Balic and owns several taverns and mansions, though a description of them is not included here. The other branch owns the estate to the west of the city, and they are described below.

The Grounds

The grounds of the Armenedes estate located almost twenty miles west of Balic on the south side of the road to the city. Rolling hills covered with vineyards and olive groves are protected by natural barriers which discourage trespassing. Crumbling ditches of limestone along the edges of the estate make entering the grounds discreetly from anywhere but the gate difficult.

The house itself is built on and into a hill near the southwestern area of the estate. A steep road ascends to a statue-lined portico. From the east-facing entrance, the house appears fairly small, but mostly-underground wings extend from the other three sides and make the house quite sizable. An expansive patio juts out over a rocky valley behind the house providing views of the grounds and, to the south, the blowing silt of the Estuary of the Forked Tongue. Across the valley, a tor of broken stone looms over the entire estate.

The tor, far from being a useless and ugly outcropping, is filled with gypsum, and this mineral is responsible for generating much of the wealth that the Armenedes. Used to create plaster for construction and murals, House Armenedes is the only nearby supplier of this valuable commodity. The rocky surface is covered with a crawling grape vine that is used to produce an excellent dry red wine that graces many of Balic's finer taverns. The family also owns a grove of olive trees that adorn the hillsides of most of the family's arable lands.

The interior of the house corresponds to the hills is built upon an inside. Numerous staircases link the tiered-levels together, and newcomers find the arrangement difficult to understand. The exterior rooms are well lit by sunlight, but interior rooms are lit by magical globes, a luxury well worth the cost to the wealthy patricians. The structure is built of pale yellow granite and white marble with numerous tapestries , as well as statues of Armenedes of long ago and present.

South of the family home, near the coast, are the workers' quarters. The Armenedes keep no slaves, a nod to House Wavir's distain for the practice, and instead employ salaried workers which they house on the grounds. Though low paid, the workers are free, and work six days a week with a day off to rest. Their tasks are difficult - some are gypsum miners, others pick olives and grapes, while others clean - but they enjoy a position envied by workers of other patricians houses.

Near the workers' quarters is the barrack. Housing the warriors that protect the family and their property, this small building houses two dozen warriors. In addition to patrolling the home and ground of the Armenedes, they also accompany the family to Balic when necessary. Each of the guards is trained with bows to in addition to a melee weapon of their choice, and their livery consists of blue vests and pants with yellow highlights.

The family

Zephedes (hm LN Psi Warrior 5 / Ari 7) is the current patriarch of the family. Thoughtful, conservative, and detail oriented, he runs the estate efficiently. While in his youth, he was extensively trained at the Cerebran, which served him well in his earlier days as an adventurer. His mental discipline and clarity continues serve him still as he deals with the political intrigues which face a Balican patrician. Zephedes has long White hair and a thin, wiry body kept strong with constant exercise.

Zephedes's wife Annida (hf LN Ari 9) is responsible for operating the family's wine business. The competition from other patrician vineyards makes profitability challenging, but she has been quite successful, especially considering the difficulty in making a wine from the temperamental grapes that grow on the estate. Like her husband, she is tall and lean build and possesses a reflective mindset, thinking deeply before committing her thoughts to words or actions.

Zephedes and Annida have four children, the most prominent being Zachtrus (N Psi Warrior 8.) Following in his father's footsteps, he has had an adventuresome youth, taking part in battles against raiders from west as well as exploring sand-covered ruins to the south. He was recently involved in a prank gone awry at a neighboring patrician house and his brother Kefestis (hm NE Ari 5 / Rog 2) is blackmailing Zachtrus in the hopes of ruining the older siblings position in the family.

Of the other two children, Eneesa (hm N Ari 5) is an accomplished musician who frequents the taverns owned by the branch of the Armenedes family in Balic. Vartest (hm LG Psi Warrior 6) has embraced the role of public servant and defender of Balic, often riding with patrols into the wastes to combat bandits.