House Sathmantes

T**he House of Sathmantes** is one of the major families of Lys. House Sathmantes was founded by Baeleon Sathmantes at the beginning of the first century before the Doom of Valyria. House Sathmantes has long been intertwined with the politics and economics of Lys. The houses main duty has shifted through the years but always has had an intense focus on pleasure houses.

The coat of arms of the Sathmantes is a spotted salamander and behind the salamander is a circular navy blue background. Their words since, Baeleon founded the house, are “Bounty and Beauty".

The current Matriarch of House Sathmantes is Ariadne Sathmantes. In addition, the current Lyseni Admiral, Aerillos Sathmantes, married into this family.

## Origins:

The Sathmantes, a powerful merchant family, moved to Lys after hearing about the wealth of opportunities they could find on the island. It is said that when Baeleon Sathmantes first stepped on the island he shouted, "such bountiful beauty," and ever since the house established itself those have been its words. The Sathmantes focus on economics and trade, particularly of pillow slaves, have kept them powerful throughout the history of Lys.

## History:

### Fourth Century AC:

The Sathmantes family had quite the fall from grace in the mid fourth century. Irryrio Sathmantes did a poor job of allocating funds and became lost in pleasure. As such many finances were left unchecked and the Sathmantes family slowly began to lose money. Vogo Sathmantes was no better, he essentially tarnished the houses name and fractured the wealth and the family. It is a rumor that a slave uprising was his downfall. In 392 AC there was a bit of a shift for the Sathmantes family as Phaedrus Sathmantes took the mantle of patriarch. Phaedrus was put in a difficult position due to a family line that only knew how to spend. He, however, was an investor and slowly began to piece back the family. During the war of the three thieves he used his intellect to gain back favor of the other families by sending out protection patrols.

### Fifth Century AC:

At the turn of the century during the scarlet winter Phaedrus bought and traded furs to places suffering from the cold. In addition to this he also travelled to Slaver's bay to increase contacts in the east and spent some energy with Targaryen slaves as well. For the first time in nearly 70 years the Sathmantes family looked secure. Unfortunately peace and happiness seemed far off. Phaedrus became too greedy and desired to seize control of the city. Even going so far to visit Aeryn Targaryen to form an alliance. Phaedrus also went to Nohia Rogare, which proved to lead to his demise because she was not an ally despite seeming so. When the conclave met in 421 AC Phaedrus publicly put forth his proposal. This coup failed and led to a bloody battle. Phaedrus was put under house arrest but he did not stay long as he tried, and failed, to flee Lys. This led to his execution and it tarnished the Sathmantes name once again. The rest of the family was put under immense scrutiny. This left the three children of Phaedrus to rule the house. Theron Sathmantes, the eldest son of Phaedrus took up the mantle of Patriarch and was put under even greater scrutiny than his siblings due to his position, Vice-Admiral, in the navy of Lys. In the year 423 as an apology to the Rogare family Theron offered to have Cassandar Sathmantes, his younger brother, marry Larra Rogare in an effort to reforge friendly ties. As the Sathmantes family was still not trusted at the time he sent his sister, Isidora, to marry Dardanos Tumitis, a nobleman from Tyrosh. It seemed that Theron had a long way to go to improve the reputation of the Sathmantes family. With the help of a young ambitious captain under him named Aerillos Theron spent his time dealing with Corsairs from both the Basilisk Isles and the Stepstones. His pursuit toward honor was steadfast and very slowly he gained it and healed the Sathmantes reputation as best it could. When Cerion Rogare was killed on the battlefield Theron rose to Admiral. With the wealth he inherited he spent much of his money to destroy and rebuild his ancestral home and built an immense manor known as the Cerulean Manse. The Cerulean Manse was surrounded by man made rivers and newly planted trees and greenery. Theron also settled and cancelled a lot of shady business deals his father had made. This lost the Sathmantes family a great deal of money. By the end of it they had lost a great deal of wealth but had garnered much more trust. In Theron's mind, a worthy trade off. After many years of working together Aerillos was promoted to Vice Admiral in 431 AC and in 432 AC Theron offered to have the young man marry his first daughter, Ariadne Sathmantes, this brought Aerillos into the family. Theron was not destined to be long for the world because shortly after he caught a terrible disease in 432 AC that slowly sapped his strength until his death in 433 AC. Due to a recommendation from both Theron and Lysarus Rogare Aerillos was appointed Admiral and Ariadne took her father's position as Magister on the Conclave of Lys. Ariadne is one of the smartest business women in Lys and made up the deficit that her father put them in.