Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Barachiel 02-06-05, 05:38 PM	According to the ECS, House Phiarlan is based out of Sharn. However, the Sharn sourcebook as far as I've been able to find, even using Keith Baker's Indices up on his website, doesn't mention where their enclave is, and only mentions a couple of theatres they work in, and one NPC that isn't the house head or even appears to be directly connected to the house. I'm wondering, is this an oversight on my part, accidentally omitted from the book, or something completely different. One of my PCs is Favored of House Phiarlan and I was hoping for more info on their operations in Sharn, and I'm feeling very disappointed. On the other hand, I'm positively giddy over the House Phiarlan articles in Dragonshards. :)
syndalis 02-06-05, 09:15 PM	Well, their base of operations was actually in Cyre. It was noted that all of the head members of the house were mysteriously absent from their house at the time of the Mourning... mayhaps they knew more than they are letting on ;). Now they ARE stationed in Sharn, but it is not their old seat of power, nor is it very well established (I believe). Give it a few years, and they will be a force to be reckoned with in the city of towers.
Barachiel 02-06-05, 10:49 PM	Its already been a couple of years since the disaster and an intellige... i mean entertainment guild would have a new base set up, even if it wasn't up to the standards of their old one. They had to have some kind of guildhouse in Sharn beforehand. It would have been nice to know where to find them. It wouldn't have bothered me, but they made such prominent notice of Cannith, Lyrandar, Kundarak. If it had been a house with only a token presence, I could have understood it, but Phiarlan was almost completely neglected, yet according to the ECS, the Baron of the House moved her operation there.
N'wah 02-06-05, 10:52 PM	Not only that, but Phiarlan struck me as something of a loose heirarchy anyway. After all, you don't just go knock on the door of the Phiarlan enclave and say, "Tell me all of King Boranel's dirty little secrets! I COMMAND YOU!" They just laugh at me when I do it. Chances are, an invitation to a night at the opera finds you sitting next to Joe Schmo d'Phiarlan, who drops a small sealed envelope containing transcripts of various secret underhanded dealings involving Boranel. As you look up from your blackmail papers, you find the seat next to you filled by a elderly noble who swears he's been there the whole time. I've got a PC with ties to House Phiarlan (and Thuranni, for that matter- interesting backstory) in my upcoming group, and I'm planning on having most information regarding House matters passed between himself and his mentor over tea at his mentor's domicile- make it a very casual setting, despite the secrets that could topple nations being passed back and forth like a plate of sweet rolls. It should be fun to roleplay.
Barachiel 02-06-05, 10:57 PM	If that were the case, thats fine, but I would like to have at least seen the Baron's residence listed somewhere, even if it was GM-Only Knowledge.
Zorloff 02-07-05, 01:42 PM	From today's Dragonshard: "The house has many enclaves, but the most significant are the Five Demesnes. Many consider the primary enclave to be the Demesne of Shadow in Sharn, which Baron Elvinor Elorrenthi d'Phiarlan oversees. However, the known enclaves serve as the centers of Phiarlan's artistic endeavors. No one knows where the Serpentine Table (the espionage arm of the house) has its base of operations -- this is a mystery for the DM to decide" Where it is located in Sharn and the Baron's stats must be left to you, the GM. ...or perhaps the next DS will cover this? Z