House of Shom

Shom may be the oldest trading house in the Tyr region, with a history that stretches back for over a thousand years. The house's origins are shrouded in mystery and legend, but Nibenay's historians are certain that until eight centuries ago, Shom was a tiny house with a few secure trade routes and little ambition. It was when a young merchant named Kys came to power after the unexplained deaths of both his grandfather and mother that House Shom began to grow in size and influence. Kys waged an aggressive trade war against both House Wavir in Balic and House Inika in neighboring Gulg. First Shom wrested the vital copper and kank nectar routes between Gulg and Ledopolus from Inika, then it established a caravan route between Nibenay, Raam, and Draj, bringing much needed hempen rope and ceramics to its home city. Shom's profits quadrupled within months. Shom's success did not go unnoticed; rival houses banded together to destroy the interloper. Kys had taken the precaution of securing the services of a tribe of thrikreen warriors, who agreed to guard Shom caravans in exchange for the lives of any attackers, whom they considered "prey”. When a party of House Vordon's raiders attacked a Shom caravan, the mantis warriors caught them completely by surprise, and only a handful of the raiders returned to tell the story. This marked the beginning of a long relationship between House Shom and the thri-kreen, one that endured until recently. Kys's ability to attract unusual allies did not end with the thri-kreen. On more than one occasion, a raiding tribe was horrified to discover that the lightly armed Shom scouts swaddled in burnooses and hoods were actually belgoi in disguise. To this day, belgoi are sometimes employed by House Shom, an unpleasant surprise for those who attack Shom's caravans. It is not known how Shom maintains friendly relations with these hostile creatures. Shom's successes continued as decades stretched into centuries. Profits from trade in rope, grains, water, obsidian, and precious metals brought prosperity to Kys' descendants. Unfortunately, they also brought decadence and a love of luxury. Members of the Shom family spent less and less time actually managing the house's affairs, leaving such mundane matters to trusted agents. Family members preferred to remain in the padded, silken confines of their vast mansions and isolated villas. Inevitably, as time went by, those trusted agents became less and less trustworthy, realizing that their distant masters cared only that acceptable profits continue to roll in. Nowadays, as the house's fortunes wane and its rulers grow more isolated, some claim that House Shom's masters have become sorcerer-kings themselves, in all but name. Today, few people can claim to have seen a member of the Shom family. They keep to their palaces, emerging only in heavily curtained palanquins to observe the gladiatorial games, or to attend the elaborate balls staged by Nibenay's nobles. 

Assets House Shom's assets are truly impressive. Unfortunately, much of the house's wealth is tied up in massive mansions and extravagant art treasures. The actual volume of trade the house engages in has shrunk steadily over the past few decades. Shom exports obsidian, rice, water, and wood from the Crescent Forest, as well as a host of minor products, such as weapons and works of art. Major trade routes carry goods to Urik, Raam, Draj, and Tyr. Pressure from the oba of Gulg, whose rivalry with the Shadow King of Nibenay has intensified in recent years, has forced House Shom out of the lucrative spice and gold trades to the south. It is an indication of how far the house has fallen that Shom's leaders seem to care little about the loss of such valuable routes. A few of Shom's younger members have realized the dire straits their house is in, and they have begun to move to counteract this peril. Most observers consider these moves too little and too late, but in the world of trade, anything is possible.

Caravans

Shom caravans once ranged far and wide across the Tyr region. Today, perhaps 20 caravans fly Shom's white dragonflies; these numbers decline each year. A typical Shom caravan is large and slow moving, burdened by far more troops than it really needs, and numerous employees who, despite impressive-sounding titles ("Master of Slaves and Cargoes”, "Assistant to the Second Master of Trade Relations”, "Undersecretary in Charge of Water Consumption”, etc.), do little more than take up valuable cargo space. Such a caravan employs 20 to 50 kank- or crodlu mounted outriders, (who usually stick close to the main body of the caravan, thus defeating their purpose), as many as 150 leather-armored infantry, up to ten halfgiants, and up to 20 mul gladiators who serve as guards for any family members or senior agents with the caravan. Family members rarely accompany caravans, but when they do, it is in a private mekillot wagon with extensive facilities. Facilities While Shom maintains vast holdings in Tyr, Raam, and Draj, and the house's palaces within Nibenay itself are second only to the Shadow King's, many of the house's outposts and villas have been sold to maintain Shom's masters in their accustomed lifestyle. Typical outposts feature rather spartan quarters for the mercenary guards and outrageously extravagant quarters for the family member or agent assigned to command. Several notable family holdings follow.

Fort Melidor: 60 employees, 150 slaves. Supply point located near Lost Oasis. Melidor is more a resort for Shom family members than an actual fortress. Overstaffed and richly provided with slaves, Melidor costs far more to maintain than the slow trickle of Shom caravans can justify. Most of the time, the fort sits idle, waiting for family members to visit.

Fort Inix: 75 employees, 200 slaves. Supply and storage point located at oasis 30 miles east of Nibenay. Inix is another example of Shom's inefficiency. While this fort is still maintained and richly supplied, it serves no useful purpose, as all major caravan routes in this area vanished years ago. Inix is sometimes raided by slaves from Salt View or by various desert tribes, but in general it is a dull place.

Fort Sunset: 25 employees. This tiny outpost in the shelter of the Ringing Mountains was where Jebea Shom was sent by his sister, who hoped that he would simply disappear. The outpost is quite impoverished, but it occasionally services a Shom caravan or fights off an attack by gith.

Cromlin: Trade village, 300 citizens. Located on the shore of the Sea of Silt, 30 miles west of Giustenal, this village still does substantial business and is one of Shom's few profitable operations. Cromlin serves as a trading city for nomadic tribes. It also maintains facilities for the repair and storage of silt skimmers, which many trading houses use to cut across the sea and reduce travel time between Nibenay and Raam.

Troops

Shom maintains over 2,000 permanent troops throughout the region. Most of these have no real purpose and simply sit idle, collecting pay, gambling, and getting into drunken brawls. All sorts of warriors find employment with Shom, from light halfling scouts to armored giants. Several tribes of thri-kreen continue to receive payment from Shom, serving the house when called upon. These troops occupy fortresses, outposts, or barracks in various cities. Each garrison has a different organizational system; the administrative problems caused by this cost the family even more.

More than any other house, Shom depends on agents and hirelings for its survival. Since Giovvo and the other members of the Shom family are loathe to even acknowledge the need for profit and mercantile practices, what remains of House Shom's once-vast influence is in the hands of the few agents who retain a shred of loyalty. Even these few are motivated by greed, but they realize that House Shom's demise will deprive them of their jobs. Current hirelings are extremely jealous of their positions, and thus they are unfriendly to new employees. For their part, agents only rarely allow hirelings to rise through the ranks to the position of agent. For this reason, there is a great deal of intrigue and double-dealing among the employees of House Shom. While pay is extremely good, those lucky (or unlucky) enough to gain employment with House Shom should treat their new house like a dark hole filled with poisonous and extremely hostile snakes. Presently, House Shom has few openings. When hiring does take place, warriors and clerics are most commonly employed. Psionicists are frowned upon because Shom's agents are paranoid, distrusting anyone who might be able to discern their secrets. Shom has few qualms about hiring defilers, but they are hired only on a short-term basis. Despite its diminished status, Shom maintains good relations with several tribes of thri-kreen, as well as numerous belgoi raiders. Those who attack Shom caravans or outposts occasionally find themselves confronted by unexpected hordes of mantis warriors or belgoi in disguise. Characters who encounter House Shom will almost never see family members (with the possible exception of Jebea), as they prefer to remain in their palaces squandering the family's vast wealth. Day-to-day management of Shom's affairs is left to agents, most of whom are corrupt and jealous of their positions. It is unlikely that such individuals will hire competent underlings, for fear that they will be outshone and lose status. Reform-minded agents, including the small but growing handful who follow Jebea, may hire player characters, hoping to fill the ranks of hirelings with intelligent, useful individuals. Pay is excellent (up to double normal rates), but new hirelings should guard their backs constantly, given the paranoid nature of other agents and hirelings. Characters may encounter Jebea himself, who may recruit them into his reform efforts. On the other hand, Temmnya may use her wiles to attract chaotic or evil characters to her cause and to subvert Jebea and his followers. 

House Shom generally does not deign to acknowledge that any other merchant houses even exist; their attitude toward the mighty sorcerer-kings is only slightly better. This does not make House Shom very popular with the other houses, who have lined up to get a piece of the house's empire when it finally collapses. Aggressive houses, particularly the militaristic House Stel, have engaged in an active campaign of raiding and disruption of Shom's routes between Nibenay and Raam. Once more, the masters of House Shom seem unconcerned, moving only slowly and ponderously to counter the threat. The vast wealth at the house's disposal, as well as the contacts it still maintains with thri-kreen raiders, are now being channeled into defending the house against its enemies. Even so, it may be too late, for Shom's income has dipped sharply over the past few decades, perhaps to levels too low to recover from. Outsiders dealing with Shom usually have an easy time if they have enough cash for bribes. Shom agents can be persuaded to almost any course with enough ceramic pieces, although reform-minded agents respond to attempted bribes with disdain or even violence.