Ballestros Banking House
The Ballestros Banking House is one of the most respected and best preserved elven banking families in Emicara. They have been intimately involved with the affairs of the Jakonian Empire for centuries, and have historically placed much stock in the rising star of that human empire and tied themselves to its outcomes. The Ballestros have recently shifted focus away from the Empire, instead basing their main operations in the city of Augustin, and outsiders suggest that this is a clear indicator that the high elves have begun to lose confidence in the viability of the Jakonians as a human nation beyond the present.
Structure
The Ballestros Banking House is operated and managed by the Elder Directors, a group of elves who are aged over six hundred years. They have been making the decisions for the family for generations, and anyone part of the family and over that age is allowed to participate. As the family has been in operation for nearly a full one thousand years, there are numerous off branches, and all get a say in operations. Leadership is determined by age and the eldest of children are the ones who inherit their parents' holdings. All finances obtained, however, are typically held in a vault in each location, and tallied by the Elder Directors at the end of each year.
Assets
The Ballestros possess some of the greatest wealth of any organization in Emicara. Treasures dating back centuries fill their halls, vaults, and homes, and the members of the house want for nothing. These funds have been reinvested into branch houses in nearly every nation in Emicara, and they possess branch banks in every capital city with the exception of Druksgrad. Most major cities and even some large towns have branches of their own, all of which remain in communication via magical means when contact is required. In all there are over sixty different branch offices of the Ballestros Banking House within Emicara.
The vaults of the Ballestros are incredibly well protected, which has led them to their side operations outside of banking. This includes the organization of mercenary outfits and adventuring parties. They often come into conflict with the Kiralyno dwarves in this respect, who have forbidden the Ballestros from practicing this element of their business in Kiralynan territory. These mercenaries include either active muscle for nobility, or retired adventurers seeking a life of ease as guards. These individuals are incredibly well paid and thus inherently loyal, as the Ballestros offer lifelong compensation to an adventurer's loved ones if they die pursuing the goals or protecting the interests of House Ballestros.
History
Ballestros is obviously not the original name of the family of high elves that formed the banking house. Their family name has been lost to the knowledge of most people, kept a secret by the eldest of the Ballestros Directors. Even some of the Directors are no longer aware of the original family name, as Ballestros was selected by the founders of the family to appeal more to the humans of the rising Jakonian Empire. Arriving in the Fruitlands was a culture shock to the elves, and initially they were threatened with slavery and a position as a lower class minority, but they had one key bargaining chip: the collected wealth accumulated by the refugees from the Feywild. This wealth allowed the Ballestros and other high elves to establish themselves as a source of finance and money, and much of the new world's economy was built upon the lucre of the high elves.
In the centuries that followed, the Ballestros were closely involved with the rise of the Jakonian Empire, and made many of their great advances in finance through supporting the humans' imperial efforts. This granted their family a strong position in the Fruitlands and allowed the high elves to thrive and avoid second-class citizen status as the empire surged forward. Even when the empire began to decline, the Ballestros prospered, encouraging rapprochement with the wayward provinces and nations, in order to protect their banks abroad. These efforts were a bit too successful, as the Ballestros began encountering growing hostility starting in the tenth century, from all classes of humans. The Fruitlands became more dominated by the Church of the One Sun and human supremacists and the Ballestros looked for a way out.
An up and coming member of the house found an exit strategy, having learned of Augustin plots to gain independence from the Empire. Secretly, slowly, and under the cover of darkness, the family moved the majority of its Fruitlands wealth and family assets to the city of Augustin, and began establishing their new headquarters within. The House has continued to prosper in Augustin, which they have found amenable to their requests and politics, and they have even established a near puppet as the Crowned Mayor, giving them full control of the young nation's future.
The Rock of Finance
Founding Date
152 AF
Type
Geopolitical, Great house
Demonym
Ballestros
Family Leader
Location
Notable Members
Comments