As a counterpoint, the area-admin tried to foster organizations that were more in keeping with the area leaders’ conceptions of Tar Valon as a bustling, commercial center replete with wealthy, contentious mercantile enterprises, trading houses and the ambitious families that operated them. It was an uneasy balance, and required extra jolts of creativity to retain players who liked the urban sitting, yet longed for a sense of active and inclusive community, especially with the White Tower organization sitting squarely in the center of the city grid. Some trading houses were successful: the Andivells and their House of the Capering Fox, importers and exporters extraordinaire (although bolstered by the house leader, Alderic’s status as High Councillor and area-leader), the Methraines with their House of the Golden Goblet, distillers of fine brandies and liqueurs (which Davrine managed to run admirably all by herself) and the Doraneys, importers and exporters of wool and cloth, growing rich from dying and fulling (run by Morian and her son Tomas). Others failed to attract enough lasting interest to remain viable. Unsuccessful ideas included a couturier house, dressmakers and tailors to the wealthy, and a family of restaurateurs, caterers to the privileged and fashionable, supplying banquets and fetes with the underlying premise of dabbling in espionage, for who better to discover secrets than caterers with access to the grand mansions of Tar Valon?

Experimentation was key. Since you need characters to be in proximity with one another in order to role-play, a variety of ideas were kicked about to foster that sense of propinquity. A permanently moored barge was intended to serve as enclave of Sea Folk and other maritime-oriented characters. An institute specializing in art, music and "graceful studies" was founded, with a respectable headmistress with a scandalous past. Lastly, rooming houses were created. The idea was you needed gathering places for those characters who weren’t part of an over-arching organization like a noble or trading house, or the Mercenary Guild. Originally there was the Great Tree Inn, in which every character originated, and in which many characters initially resided, but many players decided that it didn’t make sense, ICly, for a Tar Valon resident, i.e. Tar Valonner, to "live" in a room in the inn. Rooming houses proved popular, two especially.

Originally, the Swiftwater House was initially conceived a rooming house for artisans, artists - commoner characters, seamstresses, soldiers, gleemen et al, presided over by Devynia al'Zin, a glamorous Domani jeweler who married into minor Andoran nobility. Swiftwater House was ingeniously described as being situated over a sluice or canal that channeled waters of the Erinin through the foundation to harness the current’s power to cause the entire structure to slowly rotate like some gigantic gristmill. The rooms or suites in Swiftwater were each designed with a fanciful theme, and the entire establishment became renowned as an enclave of up-coming artists and tradesmen. In an amusing parallel of fashionable residencies everywhere, the bohemian Swiftwater House soon acquired an aura of wealth and exclusivity that many newer players found out of character for them. Time for a new rooming house! In the few months that it was open for tenants before Tales closed for good, Three Oaks House acquired a sizable array of tenants that lived up to its premise as a raucous a way-station for travelers and rogues, adventurers and penurious artists.

The second rooming House, Three Oaks House, had a less distinguished history. The initial conception was as follows:

"Maiane Helineos, a young Illianer woman of tempestuous wit and fierce anger, has lately arrived in Tar Valon upon learning that she has just inherited a roomy house of flats on Northharbour Road in Tar Valon. Long unused, with the fine-paned windows boarded shut and the furnishments covered by tarps, the house, Three Oaks House, was once a little hub of adventure and rollicking good times, as it had been known as a residence full of travelers and wayfarers, adventurers and daredevils.

Mistress Helineos, has taken possession of the house, and together with the purse of Tar Valoner marks that came with it, has had the house restored and refurbished, and is now actively seeking tenants to fill its many flats. The house is centrally located on Northharbour Road, stones throws away from the Inn and the Plazas, and board and fee includes usage of the communal kitchen, as well three meals a day, as provided by Jelsy, the cook.

If you are in Tar Valon, and are looking for a room to have for your character, and you are not affiliated with a merchant or noble house, and it seems out of character for your character to have an entire house of his or her own, then Three Oaks House might be the place for you!"

It was only a matter of time before this cluster of excitement-minded characters heavily involve in the plots of the Red Circle, a covert arm of Tar Valon’s High Council, comprised of spies, couriers, and operatives dedicated to protecting Tar Valon and the Aes Sedai sisterhood from enemies of all sorts. In time, many of its residents came to band together for escapades. They had an amicable rivalry with the Valavendil. Many residents also served with distinction during the War of the Two Dragons, on both sides.

Like so much on Tales of Ta’veren, the potential was never quite lived up to in the execution, although not for lack of trying or lack of creativity. Players have real lives, with children, jobs and schooling that necessarily demand attention. It as fun, though, while it lasted.

- Marie M.(aka Maiane) 6/3/03.

Maiane Helineos:
The young proprietress of Three Oaks House, this headstrong Illianer never sought her position, but was led to Tar Valon by a mysterious letter referring to a family legacy in the island city from her equally mysterious aunt. Upon arrival, Maiane found her aunt had died, and found herself saddled with the rambling Three Oaks House as an inheritance. Maiane supplemented her rents with a purse from the High Councillor in exchange for allowing the house to serve as a Red Circle safe-house. Maiane herself served as an agent and espier of the Red Circle.

Rhun Mayew:
A notorious rogue, Rhun Mayew was an unabashed rabble-rouser, who sought antiquities and missing treasure for profit, and could propel his throwing knives with uncanny accuracy. Crass and lacking in manners, Rhun’s demeanor masked his intellect and education; he was a fluent speaker of the Old Tongue! Upper society was aghast by his torrid affair with Patreine Andivell, the High Councillor’s refined sister, the headmistress of her own institute, even as he was believed to court Lady Eshira Dhamsid, a beguiling Domani demoiselle.

Janile Masowa:
Janile was a woman who keeps her own counsel, yet this striking Arafellin had a passion for the outdoors and was noted as skilled huntress. She earned wages as a tracker and guide for pampered merchants who liked to hunt game in the wilds beyond the city, and had been known to hunt stolen objects and their stealers as well, a sort of thief-taker for those who do not wish to advertise what has been taken. She ranked high among the Red Circle.

Jerrot Belmond:
An ambitious and spiteful Andoran lordling, Jerrot came to Tar Valon seeking vague retribution against High Councillor Alderic for what he believed to be complicity in the death of his sister. In time, his drive for vengeance waned as he came to love his adopted city, even as he came to love Janile Masowa, despite her origins as a commoner.

Rhianille Osavien:
An icy and aloof Cairhienin, she served as an instructor in Patreine’s Salon, the aforementioned institute for the "graceful studies," teaching rather dry subjects such as penmanship, heraldry and superb needlework. Her prim exterior concealed her true nature as a Red Circle operative.

Padros Orsides:
An internationally renowned bard and troubadour, Padros was able to swap identities like cloaks, but normally affected the airs of the most prideful of lords, all the while calling himself a simple gleeman. Rumored to have been a paramour of the Domani Queen, he was believed to own an estate in Arad Doman gifted to him by her. A ranking member of the Red Circle himself, and a close personal friend of Alderic Andivell.

Osan Vashada:
Sly and enigmatic, Osan was Kandori by birth, and had a respectable career as a soldier behind him. Plying his trade as a thief-taker, Osan had fallen in love with Amella Colan, an Accepted in the White Tower, only to have his heart dashed when she was murdered. He was obsessed with finding her killer.

Kirun Asgeld:
A Tarabonner artist, Kirun was highly sought for his ability to render amazingly life-like portraits, and his clientele included the wealthy and powerful in Tanchico until a scandal forced him from homeland. He became embroiled in the Red Circle, employing his keen memory for detail and observation, and often using his commissions as ways of secreting information past those who would intercept it. He was courting Amira Cohalde, an Accepted in the White Tower, much to the disapproval of her Aes Sedai mentoress, Calandrin Ibanaad of the Yellow Ajah.

Izenar Savedra:
A feckless young lordling, Izenar largely eschewed his title as member of House Savedra, a house in matrimonial affiliation with powerful House Zadnere. Originally arriving in Tar Valon seeking a greater role in his house’s governance, he sought Lady Jasne, the heiress of Savedra, and her father, the influential Saldaean ambassador, Lord Adram of Zadnere, but quickly grew contemptuous of their wealth and arrogance. He became enamored of Three Oaks House and participated in their exploits.

Ewer Holwe:
An earnest and scrupulous Tar Valon Guardsman in the Order of the Foot, the ordinary patrol and soldiering force, Ewer preferred his duties as city police rather than soldier, and loved nothing more than unscrambling a mystery. He had been decorated for his involvement in driving the latest incarnation of the dread Black Suns guild of thieves back into hiding, and was enamored with Deinille Dariven, younger sister of his best friend Matwyn.

Nancea Ayjord:
A guileless young woman from the remote Two Rivers region of Andor, Nancea had come to Tar Valon to study and to perform in Tar Valon’s the Hall of Song, a hub for composers and musicians of all sorts. She served as a scullion in Three Oaks to pay her board while she studied under Mistress Sarioyna Callavan, famed retired singer, trained in the difficult, formal High style.

Matwyn Dariven:
Matwyn was to all appearances a shy and unassuming clerk in a merchant house, but he also had a penchant for intrigue, often assisting his friend Ewer as they sought clues and solved mysteries and crimes. Matwyn had a knack for codes, and was able to see patterns among random events, skills that served him well in both his account ledgers and his nocturnal crime-fighting activities. His sister was Denille.

Denille Dariven:
A young woman employed as a seamstress and modiste, Denille preferred the company in Three Oaks to that of the other seamstresses in the dormitory of her employer’s shop. Sharing her brother’s facile mind, they differed on his conclusions, and were rarely on speaking terms. It was speculated that Denille supplemented her incomes by engaging in daring bits of burglary, activities that would disgust her suitor Ewer had he known.

Banyr Havari:
Another Tar Valon guardsman, Banyr served in the Order of the Lance, the mounted troop responsible for patrolling the outlying district on the riverbanks. Banyr was Arafellin by descent, and dispayed a passion for horses, and was known to wager heavily on the races that went out in Darien village, often placing him in the debt of rather unsavory characters. Banyr was linked romantically with Loranyse dene Artemedes, a naïve Illianer noblewoman whom he met upon her disastrous arrival in the city.

Terinia Bhajrad:
A splendid archer and expert duelist, Terinia was a Sheinaran woman who was trained by the secretive Gray Swan Guild in the mountaintop town of Fal Eisen as a protector and escort to ladies of position. Her patroness died suddenly on an economic mission to Tar Valon, and Terinia elected to remain in the city. She clashed often and forcefully with High Captain Galuen of the Tar Valon Guard, seeking admission as a female guard.

Cereina Daelle:
This young woman served as a clerk and amanuensis in the head offices of the Silver Flames, the elite branch of the Guards dedicated to the protection of the Tower grounds and personnel. She worked closely alongside High Colonel Ebrahim Yasniff, and was not above passing on information when it touched upon Aes Sedai activities, journeys and expeditions - information that greatly assisted the Red Circle as it went about its clandestine efforts.

Thadrew Ambrey:
An inventor and scholar, Thadrew sought to found a school of like-minded thinkers in Tar Valon, but was continuously lacking in funds. His rooms were a cluttered heap of manuscripts, charts and other papers, upon which brass objects and other mechanical items were usually balanced precariously. His facile mind and scientific knowledge made him popular with the sisters of the Brown Ajah, Corana Hende, especially.

Eral Halenne:
(character bio forth-coming)

Aron Halenne:
(character bio forth-coming)

Jonan Dellar:
(character bio forth-coming)

Signe Cullen:
(character bio forth-coming)

Niara Sherejian:
(character bio forth-coming)

Page Last Updated August 19, 2003

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