The Balarr Family

The Balarr Family is a very wealthy Essosi family, famed throughout the Free Cities for their mercantile success.

## History

The first mention of the Balarr Family is the Pentoshi harbour logs in around 145AC. Irror Balarr, first-mate upon the vessel *Sable Centaur,* captained by Aeraphos Phassahran. The vessel, having returned from Qarth, came laden with exotic spices and fabrics, yielding enough profit to facilitate the purchase of another vessel. The ship, dubbed *Prospect*, was given to Irror in exchange for his years serving aboard, and the two began business partners. Carrying supplies of greater and greater wealth, Captains Aeraphos and Irror began to grow very wealthy, and with their riches worked to expand their fleet, further and further. Within the year, their ships numbered less than ten, but after a decade of journeying back and forth, the fleet had grown to include dozens.

#### The Balarr Family Mercentile Company

In 156AC, Captain Aeraphos and the *Sable Centaur* were lost near the Basilisk Isles, and Irror took the opportunity to reorganise management in the merchant company. He removed nearly fifteen Captains whose loyalty he doubted, replacing them with family members and those others faithful to the Balarr name. This cull is considered by many historians to be the point in time when the Balarr Family Mercentile Company was truly born. After consolidating his fleet, Irror sent them to the corners of the world, and vessels baring the Balarr crest would be seen from Oldtown and King's Landing to Asshai-by-the-Shadow and Ib.

#### Growth under the Four Brothers

When Irror died in 172AC of a chill, the Company passed into the hands of his four sons, Lahelos, Syreo, Varys and Noro. Between them, they brought the Family even more prosperity.

* Lahelos - Captain of the Balarr Merchant Fleet, doubled the number of cogs at their disposal, allowing for greater and more profitable trade across all of the known world. He also began to militarisation of some of the vessels in order to protect the valuable supplies transported. As the Balarr crest grew more and more well-known, and the value of their shipments became common knowledge, the cogs found themselves targeted by pirates and, on very rare occasions, Free City vessels.
* Syreo - Seeking to expand influence beyond that of the waves, Syreo started purchasing and investing in quarries of stone and ore across Essos. It has, to this day, proved to be a lucrative decision, especially since the acquisition of the Stepstones Island of Pryr.
* Varys - Meeting with Archons, Magisters and Triarchs alike, Varys sought council with the leaders of many of the Free Cities, seeking to lower tariffs and taxation on products brought into the city by Balarr vessels. Finding success in Volantis, Lys and Myr, the agreement drove some captains to seek mergers with the Balarr fleet, and many more out of business.
* Noro - Inspired by his eldest brother, Lahelos, Noro set to obtaining and fortifying warehouses, recruiting men to guard them in return for payments of food and silver. Over time, these guards would expand in number greatly, reaching strength in the thousands in present day.

#### The Envious Free City

Around fifteen years after the turn of the century, the so-far unchecked growth of the Balarr Family Mercentile Company met its first true obstacle, following an altercation between two vessels, one owned by the Balarr Family, the other by the Free City of Pentos. Although the exact details of the initiation remain a mystery to all but a few, the results continue to be very publicly known. Eighteen moons and nearly three-thousand lives later, the two rivals finally called for peace, primarily due to the impact the skirmishes were having upon trade profits. While some animosity lingers between those few old enough to remember the incident, be it personally or vicariously, the butchering of Captain Draqos Nahin and the Battle of the Burning Sea is considered firmly in the past by most.

#### Caught in the Doldrums

After the altercations with Pentos, the Balarr family struggled for a few years to find their place within the trade of the Known World, having lost much in the fighting. Although the casualties and losses were equal on both sides, the Free City was capable of suffering such a blow, whereas the independent and smaller-scale nature of the Merchant Company meant they suffered more. In this time, Donario Balarr, his brother Jorys, and sons Aren, Aresso and Rarjo tried to strengthen their position once again. When Donario was killed during a scouting mission to try and acquire lands on the Orange Shore for production of wine, his son Aren took the lead in the general management of the company.

#### Acquisition of Pryr

It took nearly a decade for the Balarr Family Mercentile Company to truly recover from their losses, but under leadership from Aren, Irror's great-grandson, the Company began to grow once again until it rivalled the wealth and influence enjoyed for nearing a century. Feeling constrained by the governments in place within the Daughters, Aren Balarr and his wife Ahrira sought a new location in order to assure the future of the Company.

This came in the form of Pryr, the northernmost of the major Stepstones islands, occupied at the time by the Pirate Lord Melvan Chaffton. Pryr, the closest of the true Stepstones to the Free City of Tyrosh, has always been kept under a close eye by the mercantile city. When the highly prolific and illustrious Balarr Family Mercentile Company decided to expand out from their establishments in the Daughters, the island of Pryr was deemed the most logical choice.

The Pirate Lord occupying the island, a Stormlander wishing to rival the island status of House Tarth and Estermont via an isle-based seat of his own, was quickly disposed of. In a short naval skirmish between the half-a-dozen warships of Lord Melvan Chaffton and the much larger, better equipped Balarr fleet, the Stormlander was slain, and his seat claimed.

Within just under six decades, the Trading Company had established three settlements upon the island of Pryr, a large harbour town called Balarr, the in-land outpost of Silverpit, named for the ore-rich quarry upon which it was built and Gildstone, a fortified manse in the centre of the island.

## Recent History

In present day, almost five decades later, the Trading Company has established three settlements upon the island of Pryr, a large harbour town called Balarr, the in-land outpost of Silverpit, named for the ore-rich quarry upon which it was built and Gildstone, a fortified keep near the centre of the island.

The island remains protected by the strength of the Balarr Family Fleet.

In recent years, the Isle of Birds, traditionally ruled by the Toda Family, has been owned in all but name by the **Balarr Family**, who have purchased the allegiance of the Toda family in exchange for exclusive trade of wildlife and exotic woods from the island. The family owns a small manse found on the northern aspect of the isle, which serves as a popular retreat for members of the family when needed or desired.

Following the Siege of Myr, Vyrio Balarr has presided over Myr as its Triarch, one of the three rulers in the new Kingdom of the Three Daughters following the fall of House Targaryen.