Houses

Rezah

Rank	18
Allies	The Bard's Guild; The Temple of Sune; The Dove's Guild
Enemies
Head	Calliarn Rezah

Known for a lavish lifestyle and fantastic entertainments, House Rezah isconsidered to be the Athkatlan House least interested in, or capable of, political maneuvering. Of course, as the saying goes, nothing in Athkatla has less than three true natures: the one shown to Family, the one in the Guild, and the one in the Temple.

The House's Temple associations appear to be loose. Some members, most notably those connected to the Bardic College or Guild, are prominent followers of Lathander and Milil, while most others pay homage to Sune. The Beautiful Lady has a lovely shrine within the grounds of Rezah House and Her clerics are often honored guests at House events. There appears to be little true fervor in their worship as a whole, and clerical vestments are virtually unknown at family gatherings.

Their Guild nature is somewhat removed. The Rezah family has limited direct ties to the inner workings of the major guilds, though they are major investors in many of the guilds, including most prominently the Teamsters, Mages, Jewelers and Shipbuilders Guilds. They've come into these shrewd investments by trading their one commodity: themselves. Members of this family are universally considered to be some of the most handsome and charming individuals in Athkatla, and many Houses have been willing to provide huge dowries in exchange for marriage with an attractive son or daughter.

That said, Rezah's Family nature is close. They take care of their own, and each child is taught some skill that they can use no matter what happens in their lives. Many times, these skills will be of a creative nature, and a number of bards can trace ties to this House, as can many members of the Dove's Guild according to rumor, but every member of the House is educated in the subjects for which they are best suited. Family members are also expected to help in this by using their influence within the Houses into which they marry to aid each other and the House overall.

This brings up the Fourth Nature, since, as one bard noted, the Fourth Face of Athkatla is the one shown only in the dark. Rezah's fourth face is a careful web of family loyalty woven through most of the great Houses, and just about every one of the Guilds, of Athkatla. Rezahns don't forget who they are, not to the fifth generation, and each is carefully taught to honor the sacrifice of whichever ancestor left the love and care of family to give them the position they currently hold. This debt can be brought to them at any time, by any other member of the family, no matter how removed, and it must be paid, else the rest of the family will turn on them to destroy the dissent within their ranks. Aid can be provided in cash, influence, or any other means necessary to improve the supplicant's position. The last big
favor called in for the family was in the Year of the Wave (1364), when the Mage's School was asked to assist a young cousin in a difficult situation. Since then its been more a matter of out-decorating other Houses during the Winter Festival and getting first crack at the Jeweler's Guild Spring line than making difficult requests of the bloodline.

The current Head of the House, Calliaran Rezah, is the darling of the Athkatlan social scene, known for her wit and flamboyant red-headed beauty, as well as being able to throw huge entertainments with a day's notice and still get the cream of the social crop to show, not to mention having the most popular bards and Dove's Guild members at her beck and call. She has been romantically linked by persistent rumor to Master Adam de la Halle of the Bardic College, though she is said to be seriously considering any number of marriage offers from highly placed House and Guild members. Her last major coup was the marriage of her younger brother, Sialis, several years ago to a Guildmaster of the Merchant Seaman's Guild, and she is known to be in negotiation with what rumors say are two very powerful Houses (though of course no one says just which two) who are vying for the hand of her next younger sister, Trelyrian, a delicate strawberry blonde girl barely out of school, but said to have the face of a celestial, the voice of a siren, and the temper of a dove. Calli is known to have a fondness for her lovely sister, and is said to be holding out for a high price for any marriage; rumor even gives her setting quests for the Houses to seek fantastic objects of power or beauty to ease her heart at the loss of her friend and sibling, though that may be only bardic fantasy.