A11: Halmaster’s Hall

A11: Halmaster’s Hall. This large four-story building is owned by a man who is at once a member of the city’s Directing Oligarchy, a high-ranking official in the Union of Merchants and Traders, and a currently inactive member of the Thieves’ Guild: Carmen Halmaster [IN hm T8; hp 25; Int 17, Cha 15; many magical items]. Halmaster got his start in the smuggling trade, and he is very familiar with the Wild Coast’s towns and personalities as a result.

In the last decade, Halmaster’s wool-sales business took off to such an extent that he had little time for more traditional thieving activities — he was getting far wealthier in safer ways. Following an assassination attempt in 589 cy, Halmaster developed an incurable nervous tremor from the poison used against him; he walks with a cane (MV 6) and has difficulty holding things. His mind is still sharp, however.

Halmaster’s Hall, as this building is called, is effectively the center of the cloth trade in Greyhawk, as Halmaster has so many deals and agreements with other local cloth and clothing merchants. Halmaster is behind some of the recent fashion crazes that have taken over the city.

This hall also has the meeting rooms for the Guild of Clothworkers, made up of the city’s weavers, tailors, seamstresses, dyers, curtain makers, yarn-spinners, hatters, and so forth. This new guild was formed in the late 580s. Carmen Halmaster has cultivated good relations with this guild, which has difficulty standing up to him on issues, Members of this guild and their shops ate scattered all across the Artisans’ and Foreign Quarters; they have no guildmaster, instead being governed by an elected committee with a representative from each trade in this all-encompassing group. Young women convicted of minor crimes are often sent to work with reputable clothworkers, but they are worked hard for long hours at no pay.

From Adventure Begins

DM's Notes: Diviner wizards and priests have determined that Carmen Halmaster was the target of a plot hatched by an evil religious cult in the city. Which group performed the deed and what its motives and goals were are unknown at present. This news has not been released to the public; the murder attempt has been minimized by the Oligarchy; Nerof Gasgal has been said to be the target of the attacks, and Halmaster jokes about it. The would-be assassin was captured by Halmaster’s bodyguards, but he died in custody before anything could be learned from him. The man’s mind could not be read, his spirit could not be contacted after his death, and he said nothing to give a clue about himself or his mission. The body is being held by the Thieves’ Guild in hopes of finding magical means to divine more about him. Halmaster is very paranoid now and has a special fear and hatred of unfamiliar priests; he also avoids being around strangers.

Halmaster sometimes hires highly recommended and reliable messengers to carry his instructions to his trading agents in other cities and towns, particularly Dyvers, Safeton, Narwell, Hardby, and Radigast City (in the County of Urnst). A Thieves’ Guild member in good standing could get such a mission. However, there is a real possibility that the guild itself has been infiltrated on some level by evil cults, and the group that attacked Halmaster might go after his messengers.

As a side note, Halmaster is intrigued by the qualities of the wool of certain species of giant mountain goats found in the Abbor-Alz and Cairn Hills near the Duchy of Urnst. He wants to hire a reliable group to retrieve a dozen or so live and healthy specimens for breeding; the pay is generous. This area is known to harbor bandits, orcs, wyverns, rocs, griffons, and more. The long-lost Silver Metal Cairn is thought by some to have been in this area, too.