Rhodric Trelew

Rhodric Trelew was a Neveren merchant who amassed a significant fortune through his mercantile exploits. Following his untimely death in 1489 DR, his fortune was inherited by his son Victor, and later used to found and fund the Crimson Blades adventuring company.

Appearance

While in his younger years as a farmworker Rhodric was very athletic, he became increasingly overweight as he aged and found monetary success. Rhodric is usually remembered as a jolly, plump man of average height. His platinum blond hair was consistently neatly trimmed and combed, and his body was always well groomed. Despite his considerable affluence, Rhodric preferred to dress modestly, seeing himself as somewhat of a ‘man of the people’. This modesty was however not reflected in his lodgings or transportation, often shattering any perception of proletarianism on his part.

History

Unlike many prominent merchant families, who used previous generations’ funding to grow their fortunes, Rhodric was born as the second son of middling farmers around the Neverwinter area and spent his formative years toiling away in the fields. Following the eruption of Mount Hotenow in 1451, the Trelew family farm was utterly devastated and no longer workable. Rhodric elected to leave the farm with what little savings he had, hoping to see more of the world and bring some money home to his struggling family.
Rhodric made his first successful deal shortly after he left his family farm. He used nearly all his wages to purchase some fine exotic silks from a merchant heading towards the now-devastated Neverwinter, carted them by hand southwards into Helm's Hold, and sold them for a tidy profit. From there, he reinvested his money into new stock, as well as a draft horse and cart, and set off south. Over the following years, Rhodric travelled the length and breadth of the Sword Coast as well as some more far-flung locations around Faerun, always on the lookout for goods he could make a profit with.
While Rhodric rarely settled down in one place for long, he did feel a loyalty to his home country around Neverwinter, despite the city's years of turmoil. He elected to purchase and renovate a half-destroyed estate in the city's outskirts as his official residence, and hired a full staff to guard and maintain it at a time when employment in the area was scarce. Rhodric did not often visit the mansion, being too preoccupied with his mercantile pursuits, but it did become a permanent home to his young and beautiful wife, and later their son Victor.
Rhodric was well-renowned for his shrewd business sense, but was otherwise a very affable, jolly, and trusting person. Despite traveling so frequently, Rhodric made fast friends with many other successful merchants in Neverwinter and the wider Sword Coast area, and often invited them to his manor for days of festivities after particularly successful deals. While Rhodric was for the most part an absent father, when he was at home he doted on his son and lavished him with gifts. Rhodric was well-regarded among many in Neverwinter for his jolly and egalitarian nature.
Rhodric’s kindness and trustfulness in his personal life did not always produce positive results. One unsavoury aspect of Rhodric’s life was his many mistresses, which he often shared his home and his secrets with. When his first wife died under mysterious circumstances during one of his many absences, he married his favourite mistress less than a year later. His new wife was happy to indulge Rhodric while he was in Neverwinter, but otherwise spent her time leeching off his fortune. Rhodric’s long periods of absence from his son, followed by periods where he spoilt the boy immensely, taught the young Victor Amadeus Trelew to view his father – and most people, for that matter – as a tool for getting whatever he wanted. Consequently, while Rhodric had a great many friends, unbeknownst to him his family cared little for him.
For all his traveling, Rhodric met his demise at his own home, during a particularly large celebration following a particularly large profit. In the midst of the festivities, after several glasses of wine consumed in rapid succession, Rhodric collapsed unconscious and choked as his own vomit blocked his windpipe. His guests, assuming he had simply passed out from excessive alcohol consumption, continued with the celebration well into the night. It wasn’t until late in the following day, when the festivities had died down, that Rhodric’s death was noticed. While he of course had ample funds available to hire a cleric to resurrect him, neither his wife nor his young son had any incentive of doing so. Rhodric’s two legacies were his fortune and his son, and the latter spent the next several years frittering away the former.

Species

Human

Ethnicity

Illuskan

Life

1432 DR 1488 DR 56 years old

Birthplace

Near Neverwinter

Place of Death

Trelew Estate, Near Neverwinter

Children

• Victor Amadeus Trelew