House Crownrood
Crownrood
This is one of about two dozen wealthy but quiet and low-profile minor Nobility of Cormyr, which to a Dungeon Master might be collectively called the “Readily Deployables.”
Meaning, there’s not a lot of published Realmslore about them, so you can make them what you need them to be for the unfolding stories in your Realms campaign. (Bearing in mind that they have to be low-profile and not holding important official posts in the country, or be politically prominent, or we’d have heard about them already.)
However, if they’re just a name, devoid of any lore, using them entails almost as much work as using, say, the Cormaerils or the Illances.
So here’s a noble house to play with, literally.
House Crownrood was ennobled by King Rhigaerd Obarskyr II in 1324 DR for “loyal and exemplary services to the Crown” which really meant sponsoring food and clothing drives for the poor in Suzail and environs during the lean harvest years of 1222 and 1323, and diplomatically quelling disputes among nobles so they would support the Obarskyrs instead of fomenting treason and cooperating with Sembian interests who wanted to “buy in” to much of the realm east of the Wyvernflow, and so covertly control it (notably, sending its food harvests east to be sold in Sembia, and letting Cormyreans starve as food prices rose sharply in the Forest Kingdom, along with real food scarcity).
Like all ennoblements in this Rhigaerd’s reign and onwards to now, inheritance in House Crownrood is by the eldest surviving legitimate heir, regardless of gender. (In the Realms, by the way, “rood” means neither a crucifix nor a measure of land size, it means either “of the land” or “keeper of the rules.”)
The first Lord Crownrood, who “earned the Crown’s pleasure” and got his noble status “for him and his heirs and descendants henceforth” was Alaskus, son of Ralaraskus (who was an infamous roisterer in his day, who fathered bastard sons and daughters by the dozens).
By contrast, Alaskus, one of two legitimate children of Ralaraskus, both sons (the other, Nevren, died of a fall from a horse in his youth), was a lawful, bookish, stay-at-home ‘respectable’ sort, who over time became a shrewd judge of character and developed his acting skills; a born diplomat. King Rhigaerd came to trust him, and to use him often as an unofficial, unpaid “Crown envoy and advocate among the nobles,” and he was happy to be so.
His wife, Lady Pelarla, was a fussy but private woman devoted to cleanliness, tidiness, good order, and tending a good reputation.
She also happily designed the family blazon, which The Heralds accepted at first pass: a black (silhouette) spiked crown of five equal points, all of them being swordblades thrice as tall as the width of the crown, on a white field. The family uses it to this day, with the motto: “Finding New Ways.”
Pelarla was well-read, enjoyed philosophy, and designed her own gowns, mantles, and Cloaks. She outlived Alaskus, remaining sharp-witted and shrewd until her deathbed day, and bore him four children, a son and three daughters, eldest to youngest: Borlays (“BORE-laze”), Taneera (“Tah-NEER-ah”), Sarlys (“SAR-lees”), and Anamaetha (“An-ah-MAY-thah”).
Sarlys and Anamaetha were slender, sturdy, middling-height, vivacious women who became wasp-tongued, clever, wealthy in their own rights through work and investments, and never married. Sarlys preferred women to men. She joined the Harpers, slipping away from Cormyr for adventures from time to time and ending up with many trophies and friends to drink with, and Anamaetha preferred no one at all to her spellbooks, and ended her days contentedly as a reader of torrid romance chapbooks and a minor mage whom the War Wizards kept a close eye on but never saw anything suspicious—beyond a habit of casting spells for free, for her friends.
The son and heir, Borlays, became a noted rider and hunter, often seen at royal hunts and practising with his bow (though he never mastered archery beyond an “hit that wagon-width door” accuracy), befriended many but was a “quiet sidesword” rather than the boisterous “life of every revel,” and in time became head of the house, the second Lord Crownrood.
His wife Alaethe (“Al-LAYTH”) was a quiet, nice gardener and scholar who was always sickly, and died in childbirth failing to give Borlays a daughter, but not before she’d borne and raised a son, Valrikh (who in time became the third Lord Crownrood). Borlays was an unambitious, generous man who parlayed the family’s modest holdings (three ordinary homes; he rented out two of them) in Suzail into one better home west of the Royal Palace [=Castle Obarskyr], and farms northeast of Kallamarn, to which he moved and contentedly lived out his days as “a country lord.”
After Alaeth’s death, Borlays’ eldest sister Taneera became his chatelaine and ran his household, “with an iron fist and a sharp steel tongue and mind” as the family likes to say. Her shrewd crop choices and provender and herb sales into Sembian markets made the family wealthy, and they have never wanted for coin since. Taneera never wed, but there were many rumors of her being a “close” friend to Duke Bhereu Ammaeth and even privately hosting King Azoun IV a time or three. She lived to be almost a hundred summers old, becoming gaunt-thin but never slowing in her daily duties of running the household.
By then, Borlays was in the family crypt at Roodhills (the much-enlarged rural seat of the family) and the moody, sarcastic, handsome but hard to like Valrikh was Lord Crownrood, and running through the family wealth at a great rate with his gambling and his ill-advised investments. He ran with a “fast crowd” of young noble poseurs (devoted to pranks, vandalism, hunting, riding, and wenching), but Taneera behind closed doors nigh-forced him to marry one of his conquests, the malleable and timid noblewoman Malaerra (“Mah-LAIR-ah”) Rallyhorn (a “fourth daughter”) and produce an heir and a spare with her. So when Valrikh trusted the wrong smuggler to make him rich quick, and regrettably drowned in the harbor of Marsember with paralyzing poison in his veins thanks to three daggers that had somehow found their ways hilt-deep between several of his fingers, son Melder (a Rallyhorn family given name) and his younger brother Alaskus could carry on the family name, with Malaerra doing her best to school and guide them. Melder was bright, had iron self control, and became an increasingly good actor, successfully deceiving his mother as to who was behind the “accident” involving a heavy chair and the grand flight of stairs in the main hall of Roodhills that cost Alaskus his life.
By 1476 DR, she was in the family crypt too (certain former family servants have their suspicions about Melder’s possible hand in getting her there), leaving Melder free to forge his own life. Handsome but mistrusted by most nobles of Cormyr, poorer than he wanted to be and regarded as an “impoverished country noble” in the Royal Court and by his fellow peers, he set out to quietly enrich himself and become an important behind-the-scenes noble.
He wasted no time, marrying Ralavauntra Emmarask (born 1457 DR) to raise his standing (by associating himself with a senior, trusted noble house seen as fair and loyal across the realm) and having three children with her in as many years, then leaving her to raise them at Roodhills with hired tutors while he relocated to Suzail and set about investing in every shady venture out of Marsember, Westgate, Teziir, and Sembia that he thought had good chances of succeeding without evoking the immediate wrath of the Crown or the War Wizards. He had good judgment, and was an accomplished schemer and lawbreaker who’d been contemplating small, sly treasons when we see him in my novel BURY ELMINSTER DEEP, even before Manshoon took over his mind.
Melder didn’t survive long, as Manshoon mind-controlled him into doing rash mischief that led some fellow traitors in Suzail to silence him permanently (and make his body vanish) before he could do something that would expose them clearly so their hides could be nailed to a handy wall by Crown agents.
Which left Ralavauntra—a wise, swift-witted spitfire of dark-haired good looks and great connections—alone to raise her children in the later 1480s: three daughters, eldest to youngest: Tasheera (born 1477 DR), Pelarla (born 1478 DR), and Glaraema (born 1479 DR).
Ralavauntra has her suspicions about her husband’s activities, and has quietly turned to the War Wizards to make her loyalty clear and to gain their assistance in raising her daughters “right” and well-regarded by the War Wizards and the Crown. They have leaped at this access and cooperation, which means the Crownroods are now among the most watched but at the same time most trusted and likely to be covertly aided (sometimes without their noticing it) of all noble houses in the realm right now.
Ralavauntra is buxom, starting to feel her age and slow down, and is devoted to making her daughters individuals she can be really proud of, and Roodhills a vast sward of farms and woodlots where tenants live very well, in newly-built or refurbished cottages, and House Crownrood sponsors local crafters and shops to make sure life is good. Which has made her more loved than any Crownroods have been (though arguably, Taneera was more publicly respected). She’s quiet and kind rather than pushy or manipulative, and has learned far more patience than most nobles.
So right now, she’s Dowager Lady Crownrood, and still the daily real head of the family, as Tasheera has no intention at all of having any sort of power struggle with the mother she so loves and still takes almost daily guidance from.
Tasheera is officially Lady Crownrood, head of the house, but wants to dodge being a ‘respectable, staid matriarch’ for as long as she possibly can. She prefers to try her hand at everything while she can, to discover what she’s best at and what she’d better hire servants to do for her. So far, she’s learned she’s very good with figures and bookkeeping, pretty good at spotting trends and foreseeing consequences and shifts in markets, and that she hates dancing and emptyhead chatter and—especially—catty gossip. Innately practical, she can see swiftly what needs to be done, and figure out quickly how things work, or if there’s deception going on or something she’s not seeing (or that isn’t there to see).
Tasheera is tall but slender, almost mannish rather than curvaceous, though her face is strikingly feminine and beautiful. She has raven-black, long glossy hair and fierce brows, over deep blue eyes, and a lilting voice; she’s a superb singer and mimic. She’s also good enough at acting, and has paid enough attention to the nobles she’s met, that she can act like an imperious, utterly self-confident senior noble and someone in command—entirely concealing any fear or nervousness she may really be feeling.
Danger actually thrills her, though that doesn’t mean she leads recklessly into perilous situations. Rather, it means she won’t flee or fade-withdraw from trouble. She wants to “be and see,” not hear about important and exciting things afterwards.
Right now, she wants to experience all the world has to offer, so as to decide what to do with her life, because staying at home in Roodhills and playing “Lady of the Mansion” isn’t it. So she’s taking a look at all sorts of professions and crafts, and seeking “her road ahead,” and this may well include taking part in adventures to see more of the Realms and of herself. She can handle weapons but isn’t outstanding at it nor glories in weaponsplay.
She has a splendid wardrobe, and can dress any part, but doesn’t care about how she looks aside from what her looks can accomplish in a given situation. So she may dress alluringly to attract interest at a revel so she can get to talk to certain individuals of her choosing, or dress the mature noble matriarch to portray herself that way at Court or before Crown agents or War Wizards—and if they suggest a swift ride somewhere, may unconcernedly doff such garb to toss on riding leathers, even in front of an audience, to protect those garments.
(Unbeknownst to her, as it manifested after she was tested, she has the Gift: she can cast, wield, and craft arcane magic. And has a “wild talent” that she’s becoming aware of and experimenting with, that allows her to project a thought into nearby minds, communicating her presence and a desire, e.g. for someone to go away, or come to her, or bring a specific thing like a rope or food or a key. She’s also begun to be able to feel hostility towards her in beings she can look into the eyes of, seemingly without them becoming aware of her scrutiny. Also unbeknownst to her, doppelgangers can sense her stirring abilities, and will keep away from her as they see her as a threat they don’t understand.)
Pelarla is a long-curly-haired, acrobatic accomplished actress who can play the dignified or haughty noble to the hilt, but prefers to master the longsword and daggers, and learn all she can about trading and investments, as she hunts a suitable husband. Or wife, she doesn’t much mind—so long as she can find someone she can trust as a lifelong companion. They don’t have to be noble (she doesn’t much like what she’s seen thus far in the ranks of available nobles of her realm), but they do have to share her ambition to build an interesting life in which enough coin can be made to never go hungry or know real want, and to embark on new ventures when they arise. She loves Roodhills and Cormyr, but isn’t wedded to staying in either; if life leads her far, she’ll go. “The new” interests her, and forging her own life with her own place in the Realms, not inheriting and lazing her life away doing boring nothing. She finds the “social whirl” of noble revels tiresome at best, though she can easily act a role that makes her look and sound like she belongs and enjoys it all. If she encounters some far-traveled adventurer or trader who takes her seriously enough to talk candidly of distant places and doings in the Realms she hasn’t experienced yet, she will be very interested, every time.
(She lacks the Gift, and knows it, so one of her most secret pursuits is to amass magic items she can wear or readily carry, to make up for her lack of magic.) She’s become an expert climber, and is a very good seamstress, her sewing repairs being especially skillful.
Glaraema is a darkly beautiful, whimsical and impish flirt devoted to seeking adventure and a wealthy noble husband who’ll support her but not expect her to be faithful or his chatelaine (just as she won’t expect him to be faithful). She wants to see the Realms, get into all sorts of adventures, take lovers, and try many things, not settle into a life of routine in one place. As she puts it, “I want to DO things, and have colorful tales to tell!” (Which she plans to write down in her dotage, becoming a writer of chapbooks she’ll sekll—noble reputation be damned.)
She has little or no modesty, finds many things funny rather than insulting, and will try almost anything once. She began building a wardrobe of very daring clothing to provoke her mother and sisters, but abandoned doing so when she discovered none of them cared. (She’s matured out of such teasing wilfulness since then.)
She’ll eagerly join adventurers or assist them, though aside from being an expert rider, acrobatic climber, and superb writer, she hasn’t much in the way of skills. Yet. (Unbeknownst to her, because it manifested long after she was tested, she has the Gift: she can cast, wield, and craft arcane magic.)
So there you have it: a readily deployable minor noble house of Cormyr. I’d love to hear what they do in your Realms adventures.
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