House Avenstar
An ancient elven noble house with roots in Kyonin, today House Avenstar is but one third of Scion Lady Dyrianna’s power base, along with the Courtesans’ Guild and Absalom’s cult of Calistria. Once enslaved, Lady Dyrianna first achieved a high rank in the cult of the Savored Sting, and then used her position as high hetaera of Calistria to achieve leadership of both the Courtesans’ Guild (where she’s guildmistress) and House Avenstar.
Over the years, Lady Dyrianna has blended these three groups into a single, harmonious whole—still three distinct organizations, but with a great deal of overlap. Most of the elves in House Avenstar worship Calistria and progress through her mysteries. In turn, many Calistrians practice their goddess’s sacred calling under the auspices of the Courtesans’ Guild, combining business, pleasure, and worship into one hallowed whole. Many of the Courtesans’ Guild’s members have likewise found legal and social protection under House Avenstar’s outstretched wings, with quite a few being adopted into the house. While members of one of Dyrianna’s organizations usually aren’t a part of all three, her operation tends to function as an elegant whole, with mystical, political, and economic faces.
It’s also the most effective spy network in Absalom. While many outsiders tend to focus on the lustful aspect of Calistria (which is important, as many worshippers will note), the goddess is also the patron of guile and deception. Dyrianna receives information from her courtesans, House Avenstar’s political contacts, professional spies and investigators who serve the Savored Sting, and the divinations and scryings of Calistria’s high clergy, including Dyrianna’s old mentor and friend Sarielle Avirzaden.
Typically, the house would then sell or pass along their information to whomever they judged should receive it, carefully staying neutral in Absalom’s politics. Recent events have forced Dyrianna to throw her lot in with the Citizens’ League, however. Lady Darchana’s New Absalom proposes to ban Norgorber’s faith in the city, and while Dyrianna has no particular love for the masked god, she fears that Calistria would be next on the list—a goddess of trickery and vengeance tends to make people uncomfortable, and Calistrian companions make easy targets for supposedly “moral” reforms. Still, Dyrianna has kept her support quiet, letting others take the lead while she maintains her connections to other factions.
Over the years, Lady Dyrianna has blended these three groups into a single, harmonious whole—still three distinct organizations, but with a great deal of overlap. Most of the elves in House Avenstar worship Calistria and progress through her mysteries. In turn, many Calistrians practice their goddess’s sacred calling under the auspices of the Courtesans’ Guild, combining business, pleasure, and worship into one hallowed whole. Many of the Courtesans’ Guild’s members have likewise found legal and social protection under House Avenstar’s outstretched wings, with quite a few being adopted into the house. While members of one of Dyrianna’s organizations usually aren’t a part of all three, her operation tends to function as an elegant whole, with mystical, political, and economic faces.
It’s also the most effective spy network in Absalom. While many outsiders tend to focus on the lustful aspect of Calistria (which is important, as many worshippers will note), the goddess is also the patron of guile and deception. Dyrianna receives information from her courtesans, House Avenstar’s political contacts, professional spies and investigators who serve the Savored Sting, and the divinations and scryings of Calistria’s high clergy, including Dyrianna’s old mentor and friend Sarielle Avirzaden.
Typically, the house would then sell or pass along their information to whomever they judged should receive it, carefully staying neutral in Absalom’s politics. Recent events have forced Dyrianna to throw her lot in with the Citizens’ League, however. Lady Darchana’s New Absalom proposes to ban Norgorber’s faith in the city, and while Dyrianna has no particular love for the masked god, she fears that Calistria would be next on the list—a goddess of trickery and vengeance tends to make people uncomfortable, and Calistrian companions make easy targets for supposedly “moral” reforms. Still, Dyrianna has kept her support quiet, letting others take the lead while she maintains her connections to other factions.
Type
Geopolitical, Great house
Leader Title
Family Leader
Location
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