B17 House of Publius Naso
The House of Publius Naso is the urban stronghold of a long-entrenched landowning family whose wealth flows from vast country estates and grain-rich farmlands outside Verbobonc. B17 House of Publius Naso
In the city, the Naso residence serves three purposes:
- Counting-house for agricultural imports pouring in from their estates.
- Political headquarters for Sir Publius’s hard-line, anti-gnome faction in the Council.
- Fortress of wealth, guarded by steel, magic, and a young but deadly dragonne that claims the upper floor as its personal hunting ground. B17 House of Publius Naso
Where nearby merchant houses show some blend of cultures, Naso’s estate is purposefully devoid of gnomish influence, mimicking the latest “pure” Greyhawk City fashions as a statement of human dominance. B17 House of Publius Naso
First Impression
Through a high window you glimpse shelves of ledgers and a wall-sized map of the countryside, marked with pins and colored ribbons—someone’s idea of how the world ought to be organized.
History & Lore
The Naso family has held land in the Verbobonc region for generations, their fortunes built on grain, livestock, and tenant farmers, not trade caravans. B17 House of Publius Naso
As the Free Alliance of the Kron Hills grew in confidence—consolidating gnome-run mines and markets in Greenway Valley—the Naso family began to see gnomish autonomy as a direct challenge to their own expansion. Free Alliance of the Kron Hills
Sir Publius has become the most visible voice of that resentment:
- He sits on The Council of Lords of Verbobonc, using his position to push policies that constrain gnomish trade and mining rights, particularly around the Krogan gem fields.
- He has helped orchestrate public demonstrations and “concerned citizen” gatherings aimed at undermining support for Prince Jimm Pithriggen and other gnome leaders in Verbobonc.
Behind his rhetoric lies a simple motive: coveting gnome-held land and mines along the Greenway. If the Free Alliance’s autonomy can be broken, Naso expects to be among the first to receive new grants of territory.
Location & Exterior
The House of Publius Naso stands on a prime corner of the Business Quarter, just far enough from the market square to avoid the press of commoners, but close enough for grain wagons and estate factors to come and go all day. B17 House of Publius Naso
- Structure: A tall, two-story manor with a steeply peaked slate roof, flanked by narrow chimneys and ornamented in the contemporary Greyhawk City style—lots of clean lines, tall mullioned windows, and understated stone carvings of laurel wreaths and ploughs. B17 House of Publius Naso
- Street Front:
- A short flight of dressed stone steps leads up to polished double doors of dark oak bound with brass.
- Windows on the ground floor are narrow and barred, more like an upscale counting-house than a welcoming home.
- The only splash of color is the Naso crest over the door: a golden sheaf of wheat on green, wreathed by a pair of crossed keys—symbolizing grain and control.
By deliberate design, there is no gnomish ornament here—no mixed motifs, no joint heraldry with gnome clans—only a human lord’s vision of a properly ordered city.
Interior Layout
Ground Floor – Offices & Public Face
The lower level of the house functions as a miniature estate office and political war-room. B17 House of Publius Naso
Key areas:
- Reception Hall
- Marble tile in green and cream, hung with maps of Naso lands and framed “charters” proving ancient rights.
- A liveried major-domo greets visitors, assesses their worth, and decides if Sir Publius is “receiving.”
- Grain Office & Counting Room
- Long tables with ledgers, abacuses, and seal-boxes; clerks track the flow of farm goods from the countryside into Verbobonc, and the coin flowing back out. B17 House of Publius Naso
- A wall map showing gnome-held mines and trade routes in the Kron Hills, marked in red ink—an obsession for Sir Publius.
- Council Study
- Shelves of law books, copies of recent senate and council proceedings, drafts of petitions and proposed regulations targeting tariffs, mining rights, and caravan permits—most aimed at curbing gnome influence.
- Here Publius hosts private meetings with like-minded lords, arguing for “firm human stewardship” over the Kron Hills.
Upper Floor – Private Quarters & Dragonne Lair
The second floor belongs almost entirely to Sir Publius and his family—and to the dragonne he has set to guard his hoard. B17 House of Publius Naso
Areas include:
- Family Apartments
- Luxurious but stiff: heavy drapes, portraiture of stern ancestors, imported Greyhawk furnishings.
- A private shrine nook to a respectable human deity (Pelor, Rao, or similar), used mostly for show; religion here is a tool, not a comfort. B17 House of Publius Naso
- Treasure Room & Document Vault
- Reinforced iron-bound door, subtle arcane sigils, and a permanent alarm glyph linked to a bell in Publius’s bedchamber.
- Chests of coin, heirloom jewelry, land grants, and contracts—including speculative drafts for annexed gnome territories.
- Dragonne Chamber
- Publius’s proudest—and most dangerous—investment: a young dragonne he has purchased and is training to patrol the upper floor. B17 House of Publius Naso
- The beast considers the entire second story its territory; the treasure room in particular is its “den.”
- Servants avoid this level after dark unless summoned; claw marks and gouged paneling betray “training mishaps.” B17 House of Publius Naso
Security & Defenses
Sir Publius is fully aware that his politics make him hated in some quarters and valuable in others. He has layered defenses accordingly. B17 House of Publius Naso
- Mundane Security
- 6–10 house guards on rotation, well-paid and loyal; at least two always posted at the front door.
- Night patrols through the yard and alley; standing orders to report any gnome loiterers or “Kron sympathizers.”
- Magical Precautions
- Discreet alarm and glyph wards on the vault and upper hallway.
- Trusted hedge-wizards or hireling mages occasionally employed during sensitive meetings.
- The Dragonne
- Kept upstairs, it already treats the upper floor as its lair and will attack intruders savagely, especially anyone who smells of caves or gemstones—associations Publius encourages by feeding it gnome-mined goods and spoils. B17 House of Publius Naso
- Publius dreams of using the dragonne in some future action against gnomes—he simply hasn’t found the right pretext yet.
Political Relationships
With the Council & Viscount
Sir Publius serves in the City Council / Lords’ Senate, using his seat to:
- Oppose initiatives favorable to the Free Alliance of the Kron Hills, such as trade protections or shared patrols.
- Push for tighter control over mining rights and caravan routes through the Greenway Valley, disguising land-grabs as “security measures.”
The Viscount, anxious to maintain a tense peace with the gnomes, often finds Publius’s agitation inconvenient, though he cannot ignore the support the Naso name commands among more conservative rural lords.
With the Gnomes & the Free Alliance
To gnomes of the Kron Hills, Publius Naso is a symbol of everything they fear from Verbobonc—annexation, exploitation, and human arrogance. Free Alliance of the Kron Hills.
- Prince Jimm Pithriggen views him as a dangerous agitator whose rhetoric makes reconciliation harder; Naso frames Jimm’s diplomacy as “gnomish meddling in proper human governance.”
- Jeet Jimbleclap, as Guardian of the Gnomes and defender of their autonomy, considers Naso a potential architect of future conflict, and watches his doings closely through Gnomesberg contacts.
Adventure Hooks
- A Gnome in Chains
Rumors reach Prince Jimm and Jeet that a gnome caravan factor has vanished after delivering a petition to the Council. Tracking the trail leads to Naso’s house, where the gnome is being held in secret to force concessions over disputed mines. PCs may be tasked to infiltrate the manor and extract the prisoner before the dragonne or wards catch them. - Dragonne on a Leash
Publius quietly seeks mercenaries willing to train and field-test his dragonne outside the city—officially as “estate security,” unofficially as a trial for future anti-gnome operations. PCs may be hired for the job, only to discover where the beast is really meant to be used. - The Annexation Papers
A draft charter proposing annexation of certain Free Alliance territories goes missing from Naso’s study—stolen by a worried clerk or gnome agent. Publius suspects the PCs and sends guards after them, while Prince Jimm desperately wants those papers turned into leverage against the annexation bloc. - Demonstration Day
Sir Publius organizes a “peaceful” demonstration in the plaza, whipping up the crowd against gnomish “ungratefulness.” PCs may be hired by Jimm, Jeet, or the Vigil Wardens to keep the crowd from becoming a pogrom—and the House of Naso becomes a backdrop for tense negotiations, speeches, or street clashes. - Stealing the Map
The giant wall map in Naso’s grain office contains meticulous notes on gnome mines, caravans, and patrol gaps—information that, in the right hands, could defend the Free Alliance or doom it. Prince Jimm or Jeet asks the PCs to infiltrate the manor, copy or steal the map, and then decide: public exposure, surgical sabotage, or quiet leverage.
Dragonne Defenses
Show SpoilerVerbobonc Locations Referenced by Type
“I bear no ill will toward our gnomish neighbors, good sirs—only a firm conviction that the hills and mines they occupy would be governed more wisely in human hands.”
Type: Mansion / Villa
District: Business Quarter (B1–B30)
Owner: Sir Publius Naso, Lord of the Eastern Estates
Primary Factions: Human landed nobility, anti-gnome faction within the Council of Lords, opponents of the Free Alliance of the Kron Hills
House & Staff
DMs can populate the house with:
- Sir Publius Naso – stiff, sharp-tongued, convinced history will vindicate him.
- Lady Naso – more concerned with social standing and pious appearances than politics, but quietly unnerved by the dragonne upstairs.
- Heir or Nephew – a younger Naso (PC-age) who may either echo Publius’s views loudly or secretly question them.
- Seneschal / Major-domo – efficient, loyal, and well-paid; knows where every ledger and secret passage is.
- Clerks & Scribes – city-born functionaries who may privately disagree with their master’s politics, but enjoy the coin.
Rumors about Sir Publius Naso
- “Map of Stolen Hills”
“You’ve not seen his office wall then—great map of the Kron Hills, all stuck with pins and little colored ribbons. Man stares at it like a starving wolf at a sheepfold. Those lands aren’t his…but he means them to be.”
- “Dragon on the Second Floor”
“Servant told me there’s a lion-dragon thing keeps to the upper rooms—roars at night, rattles the shutters. Naso calls it ‘an investment in security.’ Gnomes call it a promise.”
- “Friend of No Gnome”
“When Prince Jimm speaks in council, Sir Publius counts every word like coin—and weighs it twice over. If Jimm says ‘peace,’ Publius hears ‘plots.’ He’d fence in all Gnomesberg if he thought he could get the votes.”
- “Bread and Chains”
“Oh aye, he gives alms—bread for widows, gruel for the poor—but listen to the prayers he tacks on at the end. All about ‘proper human stewardship’ and ‘keeping lesser folk in their place.’ Charity with a collar attached, that.”
- “The Demonstrations”
“Those ‘concerned farmers’ shouting about gnome miners in the square? Half of them draw wages off Naso’s estates. He doesn’t lift a finger himself, mind you—just lets other men’s throats carry his words.”
- “Closed Doors, Open Purse”
“They say if you want a law that pinches gnome trade, you don’t go to the temple or the market—you go knock on Publius Naso’s door after dark. Candle in the upper window means he’s buying friends again.”
- “Not a Fool, Worse”
“He’s no raving bigot, that’s the trouble. He’s clever. Polite. Smiles at gnomes in public, calls them ‘good neighbors’—then sends letters asking why they need mines at all when humans have ‘so much experience managing such things.’”
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