The Collective Summary
To the casual observer, Keldan and Irvlor Avdaris are like any other Thormenalan merchants. Like many of their fellow merchants, they have a lucrative business centered in Orvlaan on the Thormenalan coast.
Their merchant ships ply the trade routes of the Shining sea from Zenvot in Traazor all the way to Phraxazar in Symidia. Laden with the most unique goods available in any country the Avdaris brothers bring those goods to eager buyers in exotic ports of call.
Yet when Keldan and Irvlor are home they are highly sought after by the elites of Thormenal. Their companionship is in great demand in Orvlaan and in other cities of Thormenal. Many other merchants scratch their heads at this behavior, mostly in jealousy, as they can not figure out why the brothers have such high social standing amongst the social and political elite.
Merchants are well respected in Thormenal of course. Children the Kingdom over dream of selling goods to waiting throngs and pocketing large sums of money in return. For many, it is a dream fulfilled in adulthood, just like it was for Keldan and Irvlor. Merchants in Thormenal, however, sit squarely in the social strata just below the political and monied elite. There has long been an invisible line that is rarely crossed between these two social groups. For those in the middle classes of Thormenalan society, Merchants are clearly the cream of the crop, embodying the pragmatic ideals of the Thormenalan people. To the ruling elite, however, merchants are still the working class. The socially and politically powerful eschew them.
The Avdaris twins seemed to have breached that barrier, much to the chagrin of many of their colleagues. The jealousy of other merchants over the Avdaris twins and their social networks have prompted Keldan and Irvlor to travel in the presence of a bodyguard.
The twins are not only great merchants but also collectors of the strange and exotic. While most merchants are more than content to stay in their home port and oversee their vast operations the twins have always had the peculiarity of going to where the business is rather than sending someone in their stead. You are just as likely to see the brothers in Tehradim or Palantis as you are their hometown of Orvlaan. They rarely stay in port to do their business, instead hiring talented people to do so.
The twins, always curious and forever impetuous, find themselves on every adventure they can attach themselves to: The more reckless and foolhardy an adventure the better.
As a result of their exploration Keldan and Irvlor have put together quite a collection of rare and valuable antiquities. Their collection can be found on the bottom level of their offices and warehouses near the docks at Orvlaan.
The brothers have named this menagerie of unique and rare items from around the world “The Collective.” Here a discerning buyer can find rare weapons and ancient scrolls. The uniquely mundane sit side-by-side with one-of-a-kind magic items. There are very few collections so carefully curated in all the world.
Their collection is itself something that attracts the attention of the elite. It practically advertises that the Avdaris twins are more than capable of obtaining rare and valuable items. These items are social standing amongst the well to do in Orvlaan, and for a price the rarest of goods can be funneled to the right buyer.
There is one other thing that makes the brothers so popular. For those that know, they know. For those that don’t, they will never understand it.
The truth is the brothers have been very careful in cultivating friends in all the right places as they built their merchant empire. And they do it with food. There is no one in the world that doesn’t appreciate good food. The brothers themselves are very fond of fine dining and have always considered themselves to be excellent cooks. They share this love of good food with others at their villa outside of Orvlaan.
As the brothers have travelled, they have been exposed and introduced to all kinds of local cooking. Keldan and Irvlor, being the men they are, are always on the lookout for exotic spices, ingredients, and recipes that they can take back to their home and use.
To be invited to an Avdaris brothers dinner party at their villa outside of Orvlaan is to savor dishes never tasted before; to sample new flavors and foods that one may never have the chance to taste again.
Keldan and Irvlor make it a habit to host one dinner a month in their villa while they are in their home port. The invitation list for these dinners is short and consists of only the most wealthy and influential in all of Thormenal. Visiting dignitaries and merchants from other kingdoms find their way to the table as well.
And so the brothers: merchants extraordinaire, collectors of rare and valuable antiquities, and purveyors of the finest goods; have risen above the level of the average merchant and hold superstar status amongst Thormenal’s rich and powerful.
Dinners at the Avdaris Villa are events and last from early evening until well after the new day has begun. Those who attend the dinners are treated with the best of entertainment, usually a bard or poet from whatever kingdom their meal hails from. The food is brought out in five courses and savored slowly with the best wines or local alcohol appropriate for the meal. The food is enjoyed amongst brilliant stories about the brothers’ finds from the food’s country of origin. The brothers spare no detail in trying to recreate an incredible meal from far away places.
In the end, though, what does it return to the brothers? Is it all an elaborate act, meant to cultivate customers from among the upper social strata of Orvlaan?
The answer can be found on the road through town that the brothers take each morning between their villa and their offices at the docks. Here an eye that is focused will find the food leftover from the night’s festivities given to strangers met along the road. Here an attuned ear can hear the music of last night’s bard ringing out for all to enjoy. Here you will find Keldan and Irvlor giving away for free that which they had spent so much on to bring together for their audience of last evening.
And there on that road is the secret of the Avdaris brothers and their “collective” revealed.
Keldan and Irvlor are merchants, and successful ones at that. They are adventurous and sometimes foolhardy. But once, not so long ago, they played in those very streets that they take a carriage through now.
Once, not too long ago, a kind and caring person took a chance on two rough and tumble young men she found having “adventures” on the docks and brought them into the world of the merchant.
This life changing event and it’s lessons are not lost on the Avdaris brothers, who seek to carry on that same charitable work that so powerfully saved them years ago.
To do that work, they have built the most unique and successful merchant enterprise in all of Orvlaan. Their work spans the worlds of the haves and the have nots, the well-to-do and the pauper.
And they are just getting started.
