Role and Background:

Lord Tristram of Eldermark, at 42 years old, serves as the head of the House of Eldermark, a minor noble house specializing in mercantile trade and historical scholarship, guiding its fortunes from their estate on the Royal District’s eastern edge since its establishment. Born on Palesun 3, 2445, to a merchant family displaced from Markia, Tristram grew up trading goods along Lavonia’s nascent harbor routes, his keen mind for negotiation honed when he inherited the house after his father’s death. He expanded their trade in rare manuscripts, spices, and navigational charts, leveraging the water-powered press installed, while his leadership navigated the house through economic shifts and minor rivalries, cementing their niche despite lacking council recognition.
 

Appearance and Personality:

Tristram is a wiry man with sharp features, his fair skin weathered by years of work, and his dark brown hair streaked with gray he occasionally will dye to cover, tied back practically. He dresses in a brown and gold-trimmed tunic over a sturdy leather vest, a practical choice for trade dealings, with a bronze medallion—his house’s sigil—hanging from his neck, and carries a ledger tucked under his arm. His brown eyes gleam with shrewd intelligence, and a faint scar on his chin from a bartering dispute has long since been covered by his beard. Personality-wise, Tristram is calculating yet approachable, blending a merchant’s charm with a scholar’s curiosity, though his impatience with inefficiency can surface during tense negotiations, driving his relentless pursuit of profit and knowledge.
 

Skills and Assets:

Tristram excels in mercantile negotiation and historical analysis, his skills sharpened by years of bartering with harbor merchants and deciphering texts. His assets include the Eldermark Estate’s library tower, housing 200+ tomes, a water-powered press producing watermarked scrolls, and several trade wagon teams reinforced with segmental arches, guarded by retainers with flintlock pistols and crossbows. He oversees a stockpile of trade goods (spices, charts) and a collection of fine bronze medallions while the hidden vault beneath the library holds a fragmented Markian maps and possible artifacts, secured by a locked door and qanat-like tunnels.
 

Support and Interaction:

Tristram supports by offering bulk trade deals, contacts for rare and exotic goods, or historical insights, using his network to source information, and can provide access to the vault with proof of trust.