1455

## **The House becomes a Waterdhavian Masked Lord**

### **1455****DR: It was nearly a consensus decision already…**

House Stonehearth had been selling magical items, among other things, in Waterdeep for more than a century. The magic items were some of the biggest sellers *from anybody*. It wasn’t the mana potions, if only because there was still a madness risk to weave casters, but rather the arcane scrolls that were a staple of Waterdeep commerce. Those could be cast, reliably and powerfully, with no madness risk to the caster.

It was a conspicuous level of business – so much so that House Stonehearth had invested heavily in Waterdeep. They were the paragons of professionalism, the gold standard of business citizenship, keeping within their lines while maintaining their security. There was more to the story than what was on the surface, but the surface was the only thing the rest of the city saw: a fair shop, charging market prices, that had a deep supply of normally difficult-to-obtain commodities. The SMC magic shop alone was a substantial part of the Waterdeep “splendor.”

House Stonehearth had an impressive manor, a discreet (and deadly) guard, it made its presence known in Waterdeep society without putting on airs. They didn’t need to – they let their business do the talking. And if there were issues, the Stonehearth Arms were the silent shadow protecting the SMC.

After a century, and regular (if boring) appearances at the high society parties, it was an assumption that Stonehearth was a Masked Lord of Waterdeep. The only ones who knew that Stonehearth wasn’t was the masked lords themselves – but there was the rub: *Stonehearth influence was more than most of the lords combined*.

There was some resentment about that…

There was also awareness that Stonehearth didn’t suffer fools, *at all*, and had an active counterespionage program at work. They used magic that didn’t drive them mad, itself a major advantage over everybody else since the Spellplague. More recently, there were rumors spread by credible operatives of the Hall of Mental Splendor (based in Skullport, Undermountain), that Stonehearth also utilized Psionics to protect their intellectual and physical property.

Mostly, the Splendor leak was a passive-aggressive strategy to generate fear about Stonehearth. On one level, it was a plea to quit asking them to infiltrate Stonehearth. On another level, it drove business to their door to do exactly that. Between the HMS and the House, it was *game on*.

### **Laeral Silverhand** **was the** **Open Lord** **of Waterdeep – and made it happen…**

Laeral already had strong opinions on Stonehearth, and they were slightly conflicted (raw magic) but extremely positive. That much was apparent with her support and liaison with House Stonehearth in the Lords’ Alliance.

With three years of official interaction via the Alliance, Laeral dragged House Stonehearth into the Lords of Waterdeep, *officially*. It wasn’t an individual, per se, but rather the appointed Waterdhavian representative of the House. In that respect, there was some variability with the more common specifically-named Lords – but it was neither unique nor contested.

There was a risk bringing in Stonehearth, but the risks of keeping them outside the circle of accountability was even bigger. Stonehearth knew it – they’d worked *open* influence for a century, at times rivaling the Open Lords themselves.

With Stonehearth officially in the Lords, there was a different kind of accountability. There was also a new kind of risk, as the Lords’ judgments set policy by precedent and now Stonehearth’s paladin-class ethics were influencing official votes.