Dancing Dolphins House

The **Dancing Dolphins House** was an open mansion in Athkatla that served as a meeting place for the city's shieldrings, collectives of minor Amnian merchants that banded together under the guidance of the ambitious Albaerlus Gudelmer, in the mid-14th century DR. The estate was located on Stormwind Street in the City of Coin's Gem District.

## Description

### Exterior

The Dancing Dolphins House was an unmistakable building, with an exquisite stone gate of three dolphins leaping in an arch over the estate's entrance from right to left. Continuing with the motif, the mansion possessed dolphin-shaped downspouts that channeled water over Stormwind Street during heavy rains.

Beyond the gates, outside the house itself was a garden of stone statues from lands across all of Faerûn.

### Interior

The expansive entrance hall was lined with what appeared to be suits of armor, but were in fact helmed horrors that served as the house's guardians. They would respond to the command of Albaerlus Gudelmer or the house's steward, Rezifo. Hanging on the walls above the animated constructs were ten shields, painted with the heraldry of the shieldrings that operated out of the Dolphins House.

Beyond the front hall were a series of carefully arranged rooms with aesthetically pleasing views, all designed to boast of wealth and social standing. One chamber was filled with various flowers of the same hue, while another was a grand hall with a series of doors guarded by statues, while another hallway was lit with wavering blue lights and featured stuffed-and-mounted dolphins hanging from chains in procession along the ceiling.

The less-ostentatious rooms within the house were more tasteful, even stately in decor, with a wine cellar that boasted an impressive selection.

Beneath the cellar were a series of subterranean tunnels that connected the Dolphins House to nearby residences. These passageways were used by Gudelmer and the merchants of the shieldrings to conduct secretive or even illicit trade, exchange currencies without fees, or even fence stolen items.

## Activities

As the smaller merchant groups banded together, they posed a vague threat to the financial holdings of the entrenched powers within Athkatla, such as high mercantile houses, larger trading companies, and even the Council of Six. Because of this, the merchants of the Dancing Dolphins House, and especially Abaerlus Gudelmar, were highly scrutinized by the Athkatlan powers-that-be.

In response, Gudelmer would constantly throw parties, open to foreign and Amnian merchants, at the Dancing Dolphins House. These celebrations were used as occasions for business people to make new contacts, increase their collective wealth, and create "a better, happier Amn for all."

## Shieldrings

There were ten shieldrings, collectives of minor merchants and mercantile families, that operated out of the Dancing Dolphins House:

* Allcircle
* Boldlance
* Brightbar
* Fairseason
* Glowcrown
* Manymoons
* Pearlbright
* Shiningbeast
* Wavedeep
* Windcoast

## Appendix

### References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ed Greenwood (2000). *Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II*. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 28. ISBN 0-7869-1626-5.
2. ↑ Ed Greenwood (2000). *Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II*. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 34. ISBN 0-7869-1626-5.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Ed Greenwood (2000). *Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II*. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 29. ISBN 0-7869-1626-5.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Ed Greenwood (2000). *Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II*. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 30. ISBN 0-7869-1626-5.