A9 Velysin Manor

A Portrait of Nobility in the High Quarter of Verbobonc

Velysin Manor sits like a stone ship in a sea of cobbles where four streets meet at the center of the High Quarter. Unlike the inward-facing, fortified estates of many old houses, the Velysins have thrown their gates wide: a broad arch opens onto a paved entrance yard where carriages circulate, messengers dash, and supplicants wait beneath awnings for a word with Lord Helvar or his stewards.

House Velysin rose from river-trade and grain-brokering on the Velverdyva, and their manor reflects that mercantile soul. Half of the complex is elegant residence, half is counting-house, meeting hall, and secure vault for contracts and collateral. Nobles may sneer at “coin-lords,” yet few turn down an invitation to dine or negotiate here.

The mood here is brisk and urbane. Nobles arrive in fine coaches; guildmasters come on foot with retainers; farmers and caravan factors wait under awnings, clutching purses and letters of introduction. Where Sarcina Manor is all glittering court, Velysin Manor is the city’s open ledger.

Approaching Velysin Manor

Appearance & Atmosphere

From the street, Velysin Manor is all clean lines and deliberate display. A low, handsome wall of pale stone curves around the crossroads, embracing a triangular forecourt. Iron gates wrought in the shape of twining river reeds stand open by day, flanked by lanterns and the Velysin arms: a river barge under a rising sun above crossed keys.

The main house is three stories of cream stone and red-tiled roofs, with tall arched windows and balconies that overlook the busy yard. A short, square tower rises over the corner nearest the Business Quarter, its upper level a lantern-lit watch room from which Lord Helvar’s clerks can see far down both trade streets leading into the square.

Key Areas

The Grand Entrance Yard (Crossroads Court)
A broad, triangular court with room for multiple coaches to maneuver. Stone benches and awnings line the walls; a central cistern-fountain bears the Velysin arms, its water kept clear and cold as a quiet courtesy to hot and dusty visitors. A small shrine-niche to Zilchus, god of wealth and business, is set near the main doors—more practical than pious.

Public Exchange Hall
Just beyond the great doors lies a high-ceilinged hall paneled in dark wood, lined with clerk-stations and small tables. Here contracts are read, loans negotiated, grain futures argued, and disputes mediated. A public audience with Lord Helvar is rare; most petitioners deal with his senior factors, who carry almost as much weight in matters of trade.

Residential Wing
Closing off the rear of the court, this quieter section of the house holds the family’s private apartments, dining rooms, and gardens on an interior terrace. Here, Lord Claviger’s wife Lady Ysandre, their children, and a scattering of Velysin cousins maintain a genteel noble life: music in the evenings, small dinners with selected guests, and carefully curated salons where politics is discussed in softer tones than in the hall.

The Ledger Tower
The square corner tower is both symbol and strongroom. Its lower levels house fireproof vaults for coin, gems, and collateral; the upper floors hold ledgers, maps, and sealed contract-scrolls. Access is by stair guarded at all times, and any scribe allowed above the first level is known by name to the household guards. Rumors insist that secret ledgers—those that record loans to dubious clients or bribes to foreign agents—are kept in a hidden room behind the tower’s chimney.

Rear Service Lane & Stables
Though the main yard is public-facing, deliveries and less savory business come and go through a narrower lane at the back, where stablehands, porters, and hired muscle keep a lower profile. It is here that wagons heavy with chests are unloaded at night, and where adventurers in need of quiet employment are sometimes met away from watching eyes.

Velysin Public Exchange Hall by 3orcs

Security & Influence

House Velysin employs a well-drilled corps of house guards in blue-and-gold, cross-trained as caravan escorts and bodyguards. The entrance yard is never without at least a half-dozen mailed figures at ease beside the gate.

Discreet magical protections ward the vaults and tower—alarm glyphs, sigils against fire and theft, and at least one bound unseen servant that reports any tampering with ledger-chests.

Politically, the Velysins sit at a careful center:

• friendly with House Sarcina (who need their coin),
• cautiously supportive of Viscount Wilfrick’s stability,
• wary of any faction—secular or ecclesiastical—that threatens trade.

They maintain warm ties with guilds in the Business Quarter, particularly the moneylenders, chandlers, and grain factors.

Military Readiness and Strategic Importance

Defense and Surveillance

• Militia Organization: Lord Claviger Velysin, leveraging his extensive military background, stands ready to organize his militia at a moment's notice in defense of the city.
• Magical Advancements: The estate is equipped with magic alarms, communication, and scrying capabilities, facilitated by a select group of mages under the city's employ, ensuring a swift response to any threat.

The Mounted Borderers

• Elite Force: The frequent presence of the Mounted Borderers within the guesthouses highlights the strategic and personal ties between Lord Velysin and this elite force, hand-picked by the Viscount to patrol the Verbobonc, Viscounty.

Adventure Hooks

• Debts and Shadows: A minor noble or guild factor who owes House Velysin a crippling amount hires the PCs to locate leverage on Claviger—or to steal or alter a specific ledger entry in the tower before a due date comes.
• The Quiet Backer: The party’s latest patron—perhaps a merchant in the Business Quarter or a ship captain on the Velverdyva—reveals that their funds actually come from House Velysin. Lord Claviger requests a private meeting at the manor, offering richer backing in return for a “small” investigative favor regarding rumors of cult money moving through lesser lenders.
• Crossroads Intrigue: During a busy afternoon at the crossroads, a carriage crashes in the entrance yard and a dying messenger thrusts a sealed packet into a PC’s hands, whispering, “For Lord Velysin—no one else.” Do they deliver it, open it, or discover who wanted it intercepted?
• Grain and Treason: Strange fluctuations in grain prices hint at someone manipulating the market in anticipation of war or famine. Claviger suspects outside interference—perhaps even Temple of Elemental Evil sympathizers—and quietly hires the PCs to follow the coin through the Business Quarter and beyond.