House of Glass
Based: Pendrinn
(in the County of Exeter and the Duchy
of Cornwall)
Heraldry: A golden hourglass
on a dark blue field; the colours gold and dark
blue
Leader: Robyn Fitzwilliam
The Kettilsson Trading Coster has been relatively
unknown within the Heartlands until recently.
It was originally set up to import luxury
goods
from the Southern lands into Albion, Norsca and
Caledonia; however an increasingly stable Heartlands
meant that profits for delivering niche products
from the Southern lands shrank, and the trade
concern concentrated on its trading activiteis
within the Southlands themselves; the running
of caravans across Maurabia and Arabia. The Heartlands
trade dwindled to nothing.
As the business expanded, a number of other
enterprises were added; in particular the purchase
of a number of warehouses at the destinations
of these caravans and, notably, the acquisition
of the original House of Glass, an exquisitely
decorated coffee-and-tea house and place of business
within the city of Byzantium. This became so successful
for the Kettilsson Coster that two other similar
houses of the same name were set up in other Southland
cities.
With the rise of th
e Empire the status of the
trading coster changed radically. The Imperials
were able to transport goods for a considerably
cheaper sum, cutting away at the coster’s profit
margins.
So Robyn Fitzwilliam (the major shareholder
in the Byzantine enterprise) and Helfdane Kettilsson
(son of the current Coster head Ketil Thorfinnsson)
decided to try their luck in the Heartlands once
more, bringing with them some of the more experienced
staff from the original Byzantine House of Glass.
They decided to settle in Albion, Robyn’s original
home, not to mention the perfect tea-loving nation.
Their intention is to create a peacable place
of business for both the Coster itself and other
merchants, nobles, traders and businessmen of
the Heartlands. And to serve a fine cup of coffee
or tea where it is needed most.
Jacob Hayward
Archivist and barista
Summer 1105