Nahal Merchant Family

The Nahal Merchant Family is a large shipping company with a dozen ships, warehouses in six cities, and over five hundred employees. Founded by the brothers Tiberus, Tychos, and Turbalio in 4950, it is now in theory collectively owned by about twenty four shareholding descendants, though in practice, a small inner circle of family members hold enough shares to make all the decisions.

Like most wealthy Vashian families, the Nahals use members of their own family to fill positions of importance whenever possible, including a number of distant cousins who descend from relatives of the three founding brothers. However, skilled employees rise up the ranks quickly, and often find themselves trusted by senior family members to try to keep some of the less reliable family members in line.

Most of the Nahal Family wealth comes from shipping goods on behalf of others, but they also make money from renting out spare warehouse space, moneylending, and sometimes buying and selling goods directly.

Notable members of the Nahal Family include:

Horato Nahal - The stern faced family patriach, Horato holds power both due to the fact he is the oldest son of the oldest founding brother, but also due to keen business sense and tough negotiating tactics. Horato values skill over good character, and is more than willing to tolerate the antics of his relatives as long as they bring in money. Not unsurprisingly, Horato is on poor terms with the local priests due to his unwillingness to keep his family in line, though luckily Helias is a relatively secular city, and the priests have little leverage over wealthy men without interest in public politics. However, Horato has on several occasions threatened to cut-off the stipends of, or even disown family members who he feels aren't pulling their weight, though he hasn't done this since driving all his father's cousins from the core stipend receiving family when he first took power.

Sagarus Nahal - Oldest son of Horato, and designated heir, he has been preparing for his role as head of the family all his life, and is considered highly competent, though perhaps not as much as his father.

Aelia Nahal - Black sheep of Horato's children, Aelia never fit in and constantly tried finding ways to annoy her father including threatening to marry into the families of business rivals, and almost becoming a nun. She eventually left the family entirely and became a waitress.

Gloria Nahal - Wild and unpredictable third child of Horato, Horato turns a blind eye to Gloria's drinking and wanton behavior as long as she makes at least some effort to learn the family business. It is unlikely she will ever marry even if she wanted to since Horato considers no one good enough to marry his favorite daughter.

Philipis Nahal - Possessing strong leadership and business skills, Phil is one of the wealthiest members of the Nahal clan since his father lets him keep a large cut of any profit his ship makes, on top of the fact that his share in the company is the third largest after his father and brother's.

Vinse Nahal - Horato's roguish brother, Vinse traveled Westrasi for a decade in his youth rather than take a role in the company, and even now fills a vague role in the family, partway between fixer, ambassador, and spymaster. His most notable accomplishment though was marrying Elise, a Belaran noblewoman who would normally be considered well above his station.

Yorden Nahal - Vinse's eldest son, Yorden took advantage of his Belaran ties to leave the family in exchange for a position in one of the Belaran colonial authorities. Unfortunately he was killed in Qi-Fu in 1995.

Fekia Nahal - One of Vinse's daughters, Fekia rotates between postings frequently so that she can use her business knowledge and interpersonal skills to make subtle improvements to Nahal holdings. It is unlikely she will ever marry since Horato and Vinse consider her far to valuable for the family to lose.

Fabia Nahal - Another of Vinse's daughters, Fabia works as little as possible in order to focus on partying and leisure activities. Horato has threatened to disown her on several occasions, but it is an empty threat since Vinse would likely block and such attempt.

Hadrian Nahal - A member of the Tychos branch of the family, Hadrian is mostly famous in the family for marrying a Yoroi tribeswoman named Sirene.

Nico Nahal - Hadrian's brother, he is currently supporting his cousin Philipus's operations until he is deemed responsible enough to captain his own ship, which may take a while since Nico is infamously carefree and irresponsible.

Rebekia Nahal - Eldest member of the troubled Turbalio branch of the family, Rebekia has never shied away from doing what she wants, and takes little interest in family affairs now that she has handed control of her former ship to her bastard daughter (who has two bastard daughters of her own). Turbalio left her almost all his shares in the family business, forcing her siblings and their children to make do with stipends and salaries.

Brontius Nahal - The youngest of the Turbalio children, Brontius left the family for a number of years, and Horato only lured him back in by overpaying for his accounting skills in order to bring his wife's highly profitable potion making business into the Nahal family portfolio.

Jalaina Nahal - Only child of Brontius and Sharlia, Jalaina was raised by the wider Nahal family even during the decade long period her parents cut most ties with the clan. One of the more adventurous members of the family, Jalaina has an odd resume including soldier, mage, explorer, spy, and sheep farmer, with varying degrees of success.

File:Nahal Family Tree.pdf