House Swann
Historical Overview
Founding
Early Prominere whaling was a family affair, with individual families or groups of close neighbors setting their small boats out to sea upon the spotting of a whale. As whaling was formalized and large ships were crewed, there was an added risk. The investments needed to train, equip, and construct whaling ships and train their crews meant that more money would be lost upon a disaster than with a small vessel. Thus, whalers needed to be insured."Early Promineres saw the sea as an enemy. It made the low-lying land into salty marshes useless for farming, it swamped the fishers' small craft, and the waves tore away attempts to expand the city. To kill whales was not only crucial for the city's survival, but a way to strike back at an all-encompassing ocean trying to swallow the town." - Isobard Quickquill, Whale Whale Whale, What Have We Here?In came a family of enterprising merchants, who resided near Swan Pond in what is now Banksdale. This family, which had some preexisting wealth from exporting the limited whaling products of the city at that time, began lending to new whaling vessels. For a percent of profits, the family from Swan Pond would assist in getting the ship and crew started with an investment.
Insurance
As whaling got more formalized as an industry, the Pike & Sons Co. began gathering up family-based whaling ships under the leadership of their Lances. While these families of prominent whalers were loyal to House Pike, they felt some attachment to those who helped them get on their feet, as well as owing them a portion of profits. House Pike saw this as competition, and needed to reduce the percent of income going from their company to the Swan family. Coming to an agreement with the family, the Pikes lobbied House Prominere to create House Swann, for their services to the city's growing industry. In exchange, the Swanns would cancel their contracts with the Pike-allied ships. Instead, they began insuring the vessels against loss, in agreement with House Pike. Moving into the insurance business was a high-risk high-reward decision, but with the assistance of the Pikes, the Swanns formally created the Merchants' & Traders' Trust. This moved both the whaling and transport aspects of industry in the Prominade into the hands of only two families, further preventing any up-and-comers from the Seaside."They hated that the water was bluer and cleaner here, that our flags were richer and more vibrant, that our people were friendlier and wealthier. They hated that we were different." - Girolamo Pisano, Follow the WindsAround this time, the Swanns had a niche relationship with the Seaside, the working-class half of the Promenade. Products of the Landside, and without the deep roots in the whaling community of the Pikes, the Swanns were hardly known outside of those to whom they lent money. This was excepting the insulated and immigrant-based neighborhood of Calettina. As exporters, the Swanns were one of the few groups in the Promenade with positive connections to the Litoric Islands, and thus little prejudice towards the Islanders of Calettina.
The Exchange
Insuring vessels against losses to whales and the sea; merchants to losses to bandits and the general difficulty of getting product to and from the Prominade; and the families of workers against death in the dangerous industries of the Seaside was not enough for the industrious Swanns. A few decades after their consolidation, in concert with House Pike, the Swanns opened the Exchange."Those with whom I spoke before taking the ship from Meridia to The Promenade seemed to be under the impression the merchants at the Exchange were Cothrum himself. Never have I heard more pompous words with less actual meaning than here." - Isobard Quickquill, Decadence of the Upper HalfThe Exchange was an innovative concept in Anhara at the time, and put House Swann on the map nationally. The Exchange started as the headquarters of the M&T Trust, after it outgrew the Banksdale neighborhood. The Promenade was a busy port, independent of the whaling industry, given its proximity to both the eastern half of Anhara and the Litoric Islands. Merchants congregated here, and with the booming economy of the city at the time, there was an excess of money ready to be invested. This investing began taking place in the new M&T Trust building, where merchants gathered to share information, and the money-flush residents of the Landside listened closely for what products would see higher demand. The Exchange began dealing in currency exchanges, commodity price listings, insurance, and investment in nascent companies and merchants.
The Waterspout War
In 42AM, tension over a number of issues came to a head between Anhara and the Litoric Islands, and war was declared. While most of the fighting in the Waterspout War took place west of the Promenade, as a coastal and sailing-based city it was on high alert against the world's foremost naval power. A constant guard of the city was organized, and Calettina fell under immediate suspicion as a source of spies and traitors. The neighborhood was shut off from the city and the Calettini faced sweeping legal restrictions."Lord Prominere has issued a writ, ordering the city guard to isolate the leeches of Calettina, lest they spy for the enemy." - Podspot Herald, 42AMGiven their connections to the Litoric Islands and relatively recent ascension to noble house status, the Swanns went out of their way to commit to the war effort. While the Promenade only saw naval combat off of their coasts, much of the increase in guards around the city was handled by the Swanns. The Swanns also led much of the search and rescue for sailors adrift in the water off the Prominere coast following frequent naval battles. This put them in a unique position for defending Calettina from their potential doom. In 43AM, midway through the war, the neighborhood was suspected of harboring surviving Islanders from a naval battle off the coast. Outside the gates of the neighborhood gathered a mob of Seasiders, who with the indifferent city guards looking on, began trying to force their way into Calettina. As this siege was ongoing, Girolamo Pisano, the Calettini founder of the Exchange, made a desperate plea to the advisory council of the Lord Prominere, and failed to gain an audience with the sheltered lord himself. Instead, he turned to the young Lord Gilbert I Swann, deferential to this old friend of his father. Given that the Calettini had been assisting them with recovering stranded sailors, the Swanns knew the neighborhood was actually nursing Anharan sailors back to health, rather than Islanders. Gathering their increased number of guards, they approached the neighborhood. At the head of the Swann force, Gilbert and Pisano dispersed the crowd about Calettina. For their actions, he and the Swanns earned great acclaim within the neighborhood itself, but not in the greater Seaside.
Banking
Around 200AM the Swanns came into conflict with House Semillon , the major house in charge of the Vinelands. Controllers of the Bank of Anhara, the Semillons saw the M&T Trust's growth in ports along the northern Anharan coast as a threat. Attempting to uphold an early Anharan law designating the Bank of Anhara as the government's only banking option, the Semillons sued the Swanns in the Court of Mediation."The Honorable Windston Silver of Meridia has ruled in favor of House Swann, finding M&T Trust does not violate the Bank of Anhara monopoly legislation, a truly just ruling indeed." - Podspot HeraldThe court ruled in favor of House Swann, based on the wording of the antiquated law on monopolies, and blew the market for banking wide open. From this point forward, M&T Trust was established not only as the premier bank of House Prominere's territory, but a popular bank and exchange for the growing, un-landed, middle classes of Anhara. This brush with one of the great houses was dangerous and saw the Swanns suffer economic repercussions in any city with Semillon influence. With their victory in court in hand, the Swanns chose to make a strategic retreat and turned insular, consolidating power in cities in which they were the dominant bank, and risking little further conflict.
The Crest of House Pike: From "Introduction to Houses Within the Land of Anhara"
Founding Date
498AR
Type
Geopolitical, Great house
Capital
Leader Title
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
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