The Greshorio Family

Thanks to my good friend Weazel for crafting this amazing sigil.

You might hear peasants and common folks saying the contrary, but trust me on this. Do not, EVER, accept a favor from a Greshorio. You might find it tempting as they offer to solve nearly any of your problems but don't. You can never know what they will ask in return.

— Common sense among the Menicean nobility.

Loved by the poor and feared by the influent, the Greshorio family is the perfect example of how anyone with luck and cunning can become dominant in the Menicean society. They fell and rose stronger each time fate tried to tear them apart. Their doing weaved the rising of what became one of the greatest city of the continent.

History

Everything started with a somehow clumsy, kind of moneyed merchant's son that dreamt of a better life. After his father passed away, Orion Greshorio, later to be known as the ludicrous genius took the dangerous path of putting nearly all his fortune at the service of charity in hope to be remarked by the king.
Back at this time, becoming noble was not a hard task for anyone with enough resources. The royal family was seeking faithful, capable, and devoted subjects to help them build the new society after the Clan War. None of these qualities really shone enough for anyone to notice Orion after many tries. The only attention he ever got was mocking from actual nobles for the numerous attempts that made him look so desperate.
What finally gave him a chance to rise was an unfortunate epidemic in the Eastern Desert. That was, in fact, the first domino of a long line that would bring him everything he ever wanted. After a rough summer, a brutal and contagious glirsica made its way in the region and started decimating dozens of folks. The disease made its rounds in the Year 36 when the Eastern Desert was nothing but nomads wandering through the sands. Having nothing to trade, the inhabitants had nothing to rely on but pity. Lots of uncontaminated people reached out to the capital to warn and ask for help, and Orion was one of few to answer the call and funded a large part of the medicines' cost.

While the glirisca was quite common in the west of Menicea at this time, it never showed up in the desert before. They literally had nothing to use as medicine there, which explains why the epidemic did so many casualties.
What gati Glen Greshorio helped with was actually getting the plants from the west to the east fast enough so they can still be used to cure people. For the most critical patients, he offered them a ride to the capital so they can be treated in time.

— Ferik Cissa, historian

The whole disease took four years to be entirely stopped and cured. Orion also got infected and cured during his numerous travels to the east, which only improved the already great opinion locals had about him. The number of caravans traveling each week pushed the volunteers and merchants to pressure the crown to fund a decent road between the capital and the desert. Again, Orion gave a significant amount of money for someone of his status, and though he was no crucial stakeholder, it was enough to finally get him noticed.
After desert was out of harm's way, Orion was called at the royal court for his ennoblement. His devotion towards the deserts' people impressed the ruler, and thus, he was now the Kings' representative in the Eastern governance council. His new mission as Orion Glen Greshorio was to handle the commerce between the newly formed Irisport and the rest of Menicea. He who dreamt so much about having a calm and beautiful life in the capital was now the ruler of nowhere, known as the ludicrous genius in the district he wanted to live in.

Pressing luck

The few people that were close to Orion Greshorio at this time all described him as a depressed but friendly man to their descendants. His wife gave him two children, one of whom did not survive a smaller glirsica epidemic. He attended every council and reigned with care and attention over his people, but he was often seen drunk and arguing with other men. Desperately wanting to make Irisport big and prosper, he spent a lot of time traveling in the desert, scouting for any possible resource to exploit.
One day, out of nowhere, he found a small opening in the ground to what seemed to be a cave. After a few days to gather a proper trustful group and dig it open, they found a large cavity whose walls glowed yellow to the torches' flickering light. What followed was the first massive migration to Irisport as the first pieces of gold ore were pulled out the Desert's ground in year 81.
Orion passed away a few years after that, leaving his newborn noble family to his daughter Lysa Glen Greshorio.

Sturdy start

After the passing of Orion, Irisport blew up to be the second mining town in Menicea behind Silver-Dust. Aside from the Greshorios' gold mines, the influx of workers gave a fresh breath of air to the iron mines as well, in which the family invested too. Everyone had no choice but to respect and deal with the once-mocked rulers of the desert.
Thanks to her father's new rank, Lysa was granted solid teachings on how to lead and handle such an enterprise. She also had a sharper mind and knew who to trust and who to avoid.
The Greshorios had their own court at their recently built manor in the center of Irisport. The same phenomenon that occurred in the capital years ago was now happening here. A whole affluent district was slowly rising around the court.

Out of ideas

The population influx in Irisport stayed high for many decades before starting to slowly decline as the gold mines sank in year 122. The active region was going back to its initial state, and nothing that Tynn Glen Greshorio did seemed to matter. Wealthy nobles and merchants were leaving, poverty was increasing, and lots of people blamed him for that.
Overwhelmed by the events, his lack of effective decisions pushed King Theoris to add more seats in the Eastern council to tip the scale with his own nobles and find a good outcome to the crisis.
While the new council could not entirely fix the problem as gold mining seemed to belong in the past, they invested in iron mines. Back then, Irisport was less efficient than Silver-Dust in mining iron but considerably more accessible and closer. Avoiding the dangerous climb to the city in the mountains and its vast range of threats was enough for the merchants to trade a bit of quality against safety. Luckily for the Greshorios, they still owned most of the iron mines. Their income suffered from the loss of gold but remained consequent enough for them to stay powerful within the administration.

Humans arrival

Thirty years after the gold mines closed, Humans showed up at Irisport. After the chaos caused by the fact that Gérouns and Humans did not speak the same language and by the Meniceans' fear of the unknown, especially if it came from across the seas, the Greshorios were once more blessed with a capable heir.
Lion Glen Greshorio handled the city's transition in the best way possible. He foresaw the incoming new surge to Irisport and the probable interest of the crown in building their own ships, even if it meant denying old traditions. Thus, he made sure that all the iron needed for the boats and tools for the coming workers came from his mines, and that all the wood was imported by his company.

It was a strange move from Jenna Glen Greshorio to marry gati Glen Artif. Their family just had a scandal in Nelandra back then, and they were already seen as dangerous people by a lot.
I remember Lion very well, I doubt anyone could forget him. Unlike his grandson Vafrun, he did not seem to really care about us. He was helping, sure, but you could see the sparks of interest in his eyes. It wasn't pure compassion or love towards his people that pushed him to act like that, I'm pretty sure.

With the money he earned, he started offering help. He gave advice and money to the poor; favors and services to the rich. His wealth made him able to hire his own guard that made sure that his fellow bourgeois paid their debts. Thanks to his commercial relationships, he had a network robust enough to get in touch with nearly anybody on the continent. Slowly, he started offering "help" to people outside of the eastern desert as well, and the words "People always pay what they owe to Greshorios" started spreading. One way or another, getting helped by a Greshorio meant that you would have to help them later in return. You have to.
The Greshorios were stronger than they ever were, but Lion did not want to stop there. Irisport's growth into the first menicean port brought all kind of enemies and troubles. Lion wanted to have enough resources and influence so that no one could ever doubt of his family's power. He needed more than iron and heard that untouched gold deposits were spotted somewhere in the dangerous mountains between the Eastern Desert and the Swamps. After hiring the best sellswords in the city, he went scouting gold in the mountains with his son Rensar. Both came back a few days later, fatally injured, and passed away in the hours following their arrival at the city. The only things they found in the mountains were tiaplos herds and bandits.
Rensar was 23 and left his wife, his 10 years old son Vafrun Glen Greshorio, and his little brother Orion behind.

The Young Lord

Rensar's wife, Glena Glen Greshorio handled the family's affairs until her son came out of age. While she did not revolutionize the way the house worked, she made excellent deals with foreign merchants and obtained a monopoly over a good proportion of spice imports. She also dedicated a considerable amount of time teaching her son everything she knew about commerce, politics, and strategy.
Vafrun Glen Greshorio can easily be described as a pure business genius. He started advising his mother very young, and he flawlessly took over his family's business after she passed away when from a severe fever when he was 15. Vafrun took every contract, every deal his family had and worked on improving it. He weaved even more bonds, often made out of debts and threats; he is now said to have influence and eyes over the whole continent.
Growing up, he became a handsome young man that has yet to marry anyone. He never hid paying some of his servants, to share a night or two with him, and none of them ever complained about that. Vafrun is a social seducer, easily finding words to ease the toughest bargainer and please courtiers. No one wise can say that they are friend with him. They either had a good or bad experience bartering with him.
Vafrun also pushed the concept of his grandfather's services further, by helping more common folks and delving into shady arrangements with influents. It is common knowledge among nobility that you should avoid Vafrun Glen Greshorio, as refusing him a favor can often lead to severe consequences. Some say that he even forced the King to give him the control over Irisport's Travels Offices, giving him control over who gets to leave and enter the lands.

My little boy, he saved my little boy. I was desperate you know, broken as I could be. I worked in a fisherman's office but he moved to Insdyl and I couldn't follow him, not enough coin you know?
Then my boy caught a fever, really bad. He started seeing blurry and at some point he didn't recognize me anymore.
I took him to Glen Greshorio, Nelandra bless him. He took in my boy and called his doctor at once. He even offered me supper. I cried like a baby, I was so afraid for my boy and he stayed with me and talked to me, saying it was gonna be alright. He told me to come back every day to see how things were going, and I did. My boy was getting better, and after a week we could go. He asked one of his friends to hire me, and now we're fine again.
He's a godsend. I dare anyone to say shit about him, they'll hear me.

If his powerful aura was not to be feared enough, he hired a more robust and better group of mercenaries to scout gold once again in the mountains. With the help of many Prexyanns, they came back unhurt with a precise location of what would become the second Greshorio gold mine.

Policy

Values

Lysa Glen Greshorio, the second head of the family, took the time to write down what she wanted to be the guideline of her house's selling. Later on, these same values were reviewed by Lion Glen Greshorio who was willing to dive into dimmer sides of the affairs world.

Reliability

This is the core of the Greshorios values as retailers and influent nobles. They want everyone to know that if they agree to do something, they will, no matter what.

Charity and piety

The family follows the Nelandrean Cult's values. They help everyone so they can be admired and known in exchange.

Firmness

A Greshorio will not allow a client to come back on a contract's terms unless the family would benefit from it later on. If a client does not fulfill his side of a contract, they shall face repercussions.

Chauvinism

Greshorios are from Irisport. They belong there and will always put the region's interest before others.

Political orientation

While foreigners are a considerable source of money to the Greshorios, they have always sided with the conservationists of Menicea. Greshorios always showed a strong disliking when their religious beliefs and traditions were shaken. They are against the widening of foreigners rights on Menicea and fought against the increase in the length of time Gérouns can stay off the continent.

Current Affairs

Noble tasks

Each noble in Menicea has a purpose. They are trusted with a task according to their domain of expertise during their ennoblement.
Being merchants, Greshorios were once given the lead of Irisport and asked to grow its commerce. As the city faced tough times around the year 120 and Tynn Glen Greshorio was unable to keep up, the city's supervision was given to a council in which they have a notable weight.
"Improving the city's commercial values" changed to "Improving the continent's trade relationships with the outer world" when the Humans arrived in 155.
Later on, Lion Glen Greshorio obtained the control of the Travels Offices which regulate entries and exits of both meniceans and strangers on the continent.

Gold and Iron mines

The Greshorio Family is well known for finding the first gold deposits in the desert back in the year 80 and starting the first migration to Irisport.
These gold mines closed forty years later as they ran out of ore to dig out. Foreseeing it, the Greshorios invested in iron mines and focused on providing Irisport with capable smiths to use the metal.
Vafrun Glen Greshorio surprised everyone by bringing back the old family legend to life by finding new gold deposits in the desert. Located deep up in the dangerous Merna Ortin (Sun mountain), he managed to build a secured road and hunt the bandits.

Irisport council

Greshorios are permanent members of the Irisport council. The current head of the family can either go alone or with their spouse.
As the most powerful house in the city, they lead the meeting and get two voices on laws votes and other decisions. Irisport's court is installed around the Greshorio manor.

Reputation and public image

From mocking to absolute respect, the Greshorio family has come a long way to what they are now. The image of the family is like the day and the night between the people and the nobility.

To the poor and common folk

Greshorios are loved by their people. They have always been kind and helping since they moved in, and people made it reciprocal.
This already good relationship became even better when Lion Glen Greshorio started to give private interviews to people in need. Depending on their problem, he would offer advice, money, or make sure that the council hears about the issue.
Vafrun did the same but tried to take more time and support even more people, which led to his current high popularity.

To the rich and influent folk

Greshorios are prey birds, and everyone in the higher spheres of society tries to avoid them as much as possible. They are the real rulers of Irisport since more than half of the council is their pawn.
For three generations, they focused on building a strong network all over the continent. Their eyes and ears are everywhere, making hiding from them nearly impossible. The worse is having a debt to them, as you can never know what they will ask in exchange.
Some people had to give a package to someone else, some had to take someone as a passenger during a commercial trip and drop them on the road. Some, however, had to deal with less pleasant tasks.
Still, Greshorios are more respected than they are scorned. In fact, you do not risk anything if you do not engage with them or Irisport's politics.

By Roots, Blood and Labor.

Sigil:

The nelandree flower for the importance of religion,
The blue for the allegiance to the king,
The Twirling for luck and security,
Yellow as the family's color.

Founding Date

40

Type

Family

Alternative Names

Kings of the East

Leader

Vafrun Glen Greshorio

Location

Irisport

Notable Members

• Vafrun Glen Greshorio

Related Myths

• The Greshorio Murders

Orion Greshorio

Also known as the Ludicrous genius after he spent years trying to reach the Nelandrean nobility and ended up ruling a small village in the far east.
Orion was a kind-hearted géroun who fought the terrible glirsica epidemic in the year 30. While he was nothing like today's Greshorios, he still stayed in memories for his courage and motivation.

Tynn Greshorio

Less known by the common folk than his own family, Tynn stayed in his descendants' memories for losing the position of single leader of Irisport.
Still, he handled his family's finances pretty well, switching his focus from gold to iron at the right time to avoid ruin. Sadly for him, people tend to remember the former fact.

Lion Greshorio

Lion was born from the union of Jenna Greshorio to a son of a despised family from Nelandra. He showed to share their tendency to not hold back on means for an end.
He made sure that Irisport bought most of its iron in his mines when they needed it the most. He grew even further the excellent relationship his family already had with his people. Most importantly, he weaved the first thread of the now massive network the family has on all the continent.

Vafrun Greshorio

Vafrun, Lion's grandson took everything his grandfather did and made it better. Current head of the family, he is at the same time loved by his people and openly feared by his fellow noblemen. Each year, he gives a vast amount of money to religious causes, charity, and people in need.
His position as the last living heir of the family and his large number of enemies made him very prudent. He keeps trustful guards nearby at every time and always travels in a sturdy sedan chair. Whenever common folk recognizes his wagon, the road tends to become crowded quickly as people gather to greet him.
Vafrun has everything one could ask for. He is rich, smart, handsome, and loved. There is no one he can't reach, nothing he can't have.