C5: Jewelers' and Gemcutters' Guildhall

This ornate structure is the gathering place for one of the most self-important guilds in all the city. Though the makers of jewelry and cutters of gemstone have an amount of influence in the city befitting their status as wealthy citizens, and the guildmaster even serves as a city Director, the extent of ceremony at their hall can only be described as pompous.

The hall is first and foremost a fortress, sheltering the guild's vaults that might hold 1d100 x 1,000 gp worth of uncut gems. The guild's vaults are detailed in Ch8 FFF, as an adventure titled "The Heart of Al Rakim.

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But aside from the vault, the central meeting hall is gaudy in the extreme, with a riotous collection of rich draperies, elaborate tapestries, exotic carpets, and miscellaneous art work.

When the guild members meet, as they do on a weekly basis, each garbs himself in a huge cape, complete with puffy shoulder pads and a great crown, surmounted by antlers from the rarer types of herd animals.

These meetings, with members and escorts present, are riotous affairs with drinking and feasting and carousing lasting until well after midnight.

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C5: Jewelets’ and Gemcutters’ Guildhall. The Guild of Jewelers and Gemcutters has an ornate but fortresslike guildhall containing several vaults holding vast wealth in cut and uncut gems. The guild prides itself on its defenses, which are believed to be extremely good. Magical and mechanical traps and alarms are known to be in use here, tested on a random basis by trustworthy adventurers hired by the guild. The guild also prides itself on the expense of its furnishings, and it is indeed one of the gaudiest and most overdecorated places in the city. The guild makes a huge profit on the gems and jewelry it exports.

The old guildmaster retired several years ago and was replaced by his daughter, Gerda Hollardel [CN hf T3; hp 11; Int 17, Cha 16]. Now 34, Gerda is popular despite the fact that she doesn’t take advice from anyone; her business sense is good, if conservative. Like her father once was, Gerda is a member of the Directing Oligarchy.

DM's Notes: Gerda is secretly a low-level member of the Thieves’ Guild, something her father doesn’t know. She has a long personal relationship with another Director, Detnen Nathane [N hm T8; hp 30; Dex 15, Int 16, Cha 15; many magical items], who himself is a mid-level member of the Thieves’ Guild as well as a member of the Union of Merchants and Traders.

Gerda’s father, Bodmi, is a close friend of Nerof Gasgal and Org Nenshen. The Thieves’ Guild had an understanding with this guild that it not break in and steal its goods, in return for which Bodmi provided details on some guildmembers’ shops, which were then robbed. This worked well until a jeweler and his family were murdered during a robbery in the Artisans’ Quarter in 589 Cy, and the City Watch found a map of the shop on the thief it arrested later. Anguished, Bodmi retired abruptly, though he was not implicated in the robbery, and his daughter was quickly elected.

This did not end the intrigue between the two guilds. The old system continues of supplying information on guildmembers’ shops to the thieves. Additionally, Gerda and Dernen have quietly begun to redirect some shipments of cut gems to agents of the Thieves’ Guild, giving the appearance that the gems were lost to highway bandits or other problems. if this came to light, it would cause enormous conflict in the Guild of Jewelers and Gemeutters, destroy its reputation, and bring the City Watch in with both feet.