House Dupree

Noirlan's powerful merchant banking cartel

The Duprees are an eclectic family known to have extensive land holdings in the South Sea islands. As a vassal of the southern King Nikolos Kantara, the leader of the Duprees, Vantino Dupree, often refers to himself as “Duke” or “Prince,” a practice that the other members of the Crescent Chamber find unbearably pompous.

But the Duprees have reason for pride. In the last twenty years, none of the other “old” families of Noirlan (including Vidal, Chastain, Reynard, and Aubin) have seen such a rise in prosperity as the Duprees. Their success is partially based on military adventure. The recent wars of the Southern Kingdoms have provided the barons of Dupree with considerable plunder, including control of occupied sugar and coffee plantations. These holdings are operated by Vantino’s sons and daughters, who reign as local barons in House Dupree's overseas colonies. Control of these island plantations has given the Duprees a virtual monopoly over these commodities, which always demand high value in the lucrative markets of the Merikan Union.

The main sources of Dupree wealth lie in their successful banking operations. The Duprees are the only Noirlan family to successfully court favour from the Merikan Union's powerful Federal Bank and they alone have been able to secure access to significant treasury loans. The Duprees have used these low-interest loans to extend credit within the Norland Commonwealth at a considerable margin. Anyone who seeks access to ready funds in Union dollars must do business with the Duprees.

Vantino Dupree's sister Marie is a noted singer, who often performs shows at various clubs of the French District. Her son, Herschel Dupree, accompanied Orphea Chastain's Thorpe Expedition as a representative of the Dupree Holding Company, which loaned significant funds for the mission. Natalie instructed her son to deliver a letter to her brother Abner who has been stranded in Farport Outpost for nearly 20 years since the closing of the Silent Sea. When Herschel died on the Farport pier at the hands of Vrelland invaders, Edmund Andrew pledged to complete Herschel's personal mission.

For Prosperity Eternal

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