[hider=Reiner Van Zielennemer]

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Name: Reiner Van Zielennemer (Zee-len-nay-mare)

Titles: High Magistrate of the United Creditors Guild of Lagebanken, and Lord Duke of the House Zielennemer, nicknamed "The Bear"

Description: A patriarchal figure in his forties, stout in stature and homely by most standards. He wears a bushy beard that seems to swallow the rest of his face, though his bulbous nose and sharp hazel eyes stand out, giving him a bear-like presence. Dresses almost exclusively in black and silver-hemmed tunics of a minimalist style, but with an admitted fondness for silver jewellery which ranges from bracelets, to necklaces, earrings, and cufflinks.  

Claimant: While the UCGL actually holds accounts under both claimants, behind closed doors Reiner is backing Anyamara, because he understands that any formidable shake-up of the status quo puts his business at risk. The debts he is owed from several of the most powerful houses would not be able to be paid if they were dissolved in a revolution, violent or otherwise. In private, he does wonder at the economic implications of the Great Houses losing power to the middle classes, and if his House alone might be able to eke out a successful tranche in a new dynasty.
In summary, a casual observer would think that the Zielennemers are neutral in the power struggle, but insiders know his allegiances lie with Anyamara. Unbeknownst to any but himself, Reiner remains unsure that his position is the right one.

House Info: House Zielennemer’s coat of arms appears as follows; A sable field argent pale. Charged with proper bear rampant dexter, and sinister or skull. Three vert stars charged on the pale. Their house motto is “All Debts Must Be Paid.”  

Reputation: Known to be a shrewd man of financial cunning, never letting a red cent slip out from under his fingers, a miser with most but generous to his friends. Cut-throat to those who cross him, though it is generally understood that he never wields the cutting implement himself. Startlingly well-connected through his various investments and without a doubt the architect of far too much human misery, not that the gentry, good and great, would care about that sort of thing. 

Ambitions: Control over Adanion’s Royal Treasury and eventual acquisition of monetary authority throughout the realm. Reiner looks to a future where his family controls the kingdom not through steel, but silver, and he is very willing to play the long game to achieve a subtle but infinitely profitable grasp on the strings of power.

Aptitudes: An accomplished mathematician, able to calculate complex sums on the spot, and keep track of tallies up to and including his bank’s ledgers mentally. While his rough appearance and imposing physicality are intimidating, he is not an exceptional martial artist, relying exclusively on his ability to manipulate others to defend him. Second only to his skill with numbers, Reiner has extensive competence and experience in the field of diplomacy, or as it’s more properly known, wholesale corruption. Be it bribes, blackmail, or outright piracy, no scheme to make a profit is beneath the Bear. 

Vulnerabilities: Reiner treats people like figures on a page, to be moved as he so chooses, and he expects that every person’s greed is as all-consuming as his own. Acts of charity, self-sabotage, or goodhearted well wishes all come across as false-faced, unexpected, or simply inscrutable to the man. He is also a chronic smoker, and this vice has impacted his health, though he would be the last person to let this be apparent. He holds little interest in physical intimacy, and it is a closely guarded secret that all three of his children were begotten by house servants, quietly executed in the hours after each child’s birth. This distaste for intimacy is such that he abhors being touched, even by his wife and servants. This revulsion has led him to attend to his own affairs when he rises from and returns to bed. 

Additional Info: Originally from the Wildwood, the Zielennemers came to the Crownmark in slave carts, a past they would quickly seek to destroy, and which at present is anything but common knowledge. Over the course of generations, the family toiled their way out of indentured servitude to become free serfs. As the Royal Treasury began sponsoring various independent banks in order to shore up the realm’s tax bases, one Zielennemer, Reiner’s great-grandfather had the fortune of working under one such bank. Studious years of work coupled with a rumoured special relationship with the Head Banker led Willem Zielennemer to become his successor. As Head of the Bruinor Bank, he then spear-headed an ambitious move to confederate the various independent banks, each headquartered in a different region, and this organization grew into what is known today as the United Creditors Guild of Lagebanken.

Domain Info: The United Creditors Guild of Lagebanken, with branches in the Mistlands, Frostmark, Westmarch, Crownmark, Arbormark, the Stormlands, and Wildwood.

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[hider=The Silvermark]

Domain Name: The United Creditors Guild of Lagebanken, informally referred to as “The Silvermark”

Domain Summary: Adanion’s entire breadth could be considered part of the Guild’s domain, as far as good silver is traded, there will be an interested party connected to the Guild. However, it is generally held that the major spheres of influence of the Silvermark comprise the major cities where its branches are located, with the most influential of these being the Central Branch Bank located in Adanion’s capital. The lesser parts of the Silvermark are the trade caravans which stretch throughout Adanion between these nodes at large cities, paid for by the Guild. House Zielennemer itself also has numerous holdings in various assets across Adanion, such as privately owned mines, fisheries, and lumberyards. 

Major Holdings: The Silvermark’s reaches extend from the lowest marsh to the highest peak, but it is at its core, an urban realm. The major holdings are; Bruinor Bank in Capital City, Blitzschein Bank in Steinbach, Nevezeniya Bank in Silver City, Cufarinundat Bank in Julechton and … (waiting for other major cities to be named)

Reputation: The domain is known for its overwhelming wealth, second only to House Loyce and the Royal Treasury proper, and there are even rumours that that claim has its detractors. The personal estates of House Zielennemer and its confederated Houses comprise a miniscule physical territory, so it is also known as the smallest part of the realm. Despite this, the people who live under the Silvermark are known to be exceptionally loyal, brilliant, and ruthless in their exacting of unpaid debts. In many ways, the long shadow of the Silvermark touches every other part of Adanion, but whether that shadow is a shelter or a hidden blade depends on one thing; whether you have silver.

Wealth: The enormous wealth of the Silvermark comes from the United Creditors Guild, consisting of every major bank in Adanion, all of which are tasked with tax collection, money-lending, and sponsoring both military and commercial enterprises. Wherever the Silvermark’s coinage is spent, every effort is made to recover it, with interest. Only recently in the wake of the Mad King’s sudden passing has the Silvermark endeavoured to extend its influence beyond the strictly monetary, beginning to buy up private resources and the equipment needed to extract it. 

Strength: While the Silvermark is in a prime position to afford as many mercenary companies as it could ever need, Reiner forbids the use of such forces. Instead, the military strength of Zielennemer is comprised of their tax-collectors, a force of private soldiers trained to the elite standards of the Royal Guard. Indeed, many Royal Guards retire into the Silvermark’s service, and serve as the training instructors for fresh recruits into the Tax Collection Division, or “Silverhawks” as they’re sometimes known, an emblem adopted by the very first cohort. Despite the quality of the troops, as Reiner is wont to say, “if you need to send more than one taxman, you’ve got a rebellion on your hands.” Consequently, the Silvermark’s forces are the smallest in Adanion, of an even number with the most elite forces in House Loyce. It is also heavily rumoured that a close group of Silverhawks, the oldest and hardest, serve the direct will of Reiner Van Zielennemer himself. Such rumours are wholly unsubstantiated, and yet the common folk still chatter about figures moving in the shadows, sporting green stars on their pauldrons, making people disappear into the night.

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