House Zhentarim

### Heraldry

Murrey, a pithon erect addorsed argent.A silver bat-winged serpent rearing up with wings raised behind it, on a mulberry field.

### Membership

2,959 Members

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## House Colours

* **#E77FBF**
* **#6E235D**
* **#FFFFFF**

## Members

> *"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning."*
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House Zhentarim is fairly eccentric, which is definitely a good thing for them, as there’s nothing they’d be more unhappy about than being "common". They pride themselves on their inventiveness and creativity, their unique perspective and vigorous intellect and are known for their brilliant theories and unrelenting logic – in fact, they are considered the most logically precise of all the Houses.

> *"The unexamined life is not worth living."*
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They love patterns, and spotting discrepancies between statements could almost be described as a hobby, making it a bad idea to lie to House Zhentarim. This makes it ironic that their word should always be taken with a grain of salt – it’s not that they are dishonest, but people here tend to share thoughts that are not fully developed, using others as a sounding board for ideas and theories in a debate against themselves rather than as actual conversation partners.
This may make them appear unreliable, but in reality no one is more enthusiastic and capable of spotting a problem, drilling through the endless factors and details that encompass the issue and developing a unique and viable solution than House Zhentarim – just don’t expect punctual progress reports. People in this house aren’t interested in practical, day-to-day activities and maintenance, but when they find an environment where their creative genius and potential can be expressed, there is no limit to the time and energy they will expend in developing an insightful and unbiased solution.

> "*We are but a fragment of the enormity of the cosmos."*
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They may appear to drift about in an unending daydream, but their thought process is unceasing, and their minds buzz with ideas from the moment they wake up. This constant thinking can have the effect of making them look pensive and detached, as they are often conducting full-fledged debates in their own heads, but really they are quite relaxed and friendly when they are with people they know, or who share their interests. However, this can be replaced by overwhelming shyness when House Zhentarim are among unfamiliar faces, and friendly banter can quickly become combative if they believe their logical conclusions or theories are being criticized.

When they are particularly excited, the conversation can border on incoherence as they try to explain the daisy-chain of logical conclusions that led to the formation of their latest idea. Oftentimes, they will opt to simply move on from a topic before it’s ever understood what they were trying to say, rather than try to lay things out in plain terms.

The reverse can also be true when people explain their thought processes to House Zhentarim in terms of subjectivity and feeling. Imagine an immensely complicated clockwork, taking in every fact and idea possible, processing them with a heavy dose of creative reasoning and returning the most logically sound results available – this is how House Zhentarim works, and they have little tolerance for an emotional monkey-wrench jamming their machines.

> *"Let those who would move the world first move themselves."*
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House Zhentarim are unlikely to understand emotional complaints at all, and their members won’t find a bedrock of emotional support in them. House Zhentarim members would much rather make a series of logical suggestions for how to resolve the underlying issue. This will likely extend to most social conventions and goals as well, like planning dinners and getting married, as House Zhentarim are far more concerned with originality and efficient results.

The one thing that really holds this house back is their restless and pervasive fear of failure. So prone to reassessing their own thoughts and theories, worrying that they’ve missed some critical piece of the puzzle, that they can stagnate, lost in an intangible world where their thoughts are never truly applied. Overcoming this self-doubt stands as the greatest challenge they are likely to face, but the intellectual gifts – big and small – bestowed on the world when they do makes it worth the fight.

## Skills and Equipment

Along with the benefits of being in a House, alliegence to House Zhentarim grants:

* **Skill Proficiencies:** Arcana, plus your choice of one from History, Nature, or Religion
* **Languages:** Two of your choice
* **Equipment:** Scholar's robes with the sigil of the house, a Scholar's Pack, and a pouch containing 10 gp.
* **Unlock Feat "Magical Teachings":** (Requires at least 1 level in a spellcaster class) You gain an extra spell slot equal to the highest level you can cast.

## Other Houses

Houses that share House Zhentarim's passion for new ideas, riddles and solutions are a natural fit, so House Lucian and House Yaksha are the houses Zhentarim is closest to. They also have a good working relationship with House Glacius.

House Dynami and House Crag's general distain for magic, and their focus on reliability can make them harder to get along with for House Zhentarim, who cares much more about the mysteries of the beyond.

### List of Houses

 House Avia House Crag House Dynami House Glacius House Greenleaf House Gryffindor House Igneus House Lucian House Nautica House Yaksha House Zhentarim