[Lore] Lords and Laws

The Lords of Waterdeep

The Lords of Waterdeep are the ruling council who have ruled the city of Waterdeep for the most of the last 300 years. Throughout that time, there have been between 50 and 80 lords, four of whom have reigned as Open Lord. The Lords come from all walks of life and while predominantly comprised of humans, has had members of various races throughout the Realms.

While no other Lords are formally named, some individuals become the subject of widespread rumors that can even become a general consensus. The penalty for impersonating a Lord, whether by dressing in a set of their identical clothing or by a false claim is punishable by the imposter's immediate execution.

The Lords only appear in public when deliberating on high crimes or when asked to by the lower court but even then only four generally appear and one is always the Open Lord: Piergeiron. All save him wear black formless masks and robes and speak through the Open Lord, Piergeiron, to keep their identities secret.

The Open Lord of Waterdeep is the sole member of the Lords of Waterdeep whose identity is publicly known. There is only one Open Lord at any one time, but when the previous one dies or steps down, he or she is replaced by a new one.

Piergeiron the Paladinson

Piergeiron the Paladinson is the Open Lord of Waterdeep throughout most of the 1300s DR and leader of the Lords' Alliance. He lives in Piergeiron's Palace in Waterdeep. Usually, the identities of the Lords of Waterdeep are concealed from the people, but Piergeiron was one of only four whose identities were known, the others being Ahghairon, Baeron, and Lhestyn. Piergeiron was personally guarded by Madeiron Sunderstone.

Piergeiron, after a career in the City Guard, became the Open Lord of Waterdeep in 1314 DR and as of 1374 DR, maintains this position. He was noted as being "well past 50 winters" at the end of 1367 DR but his actual age was unknown.

The Laws of Waterdeep

Legal authority in the City of Splendors rests within the Open Lord and the Hidden Lords of Waterdeep. The Lord's Court is chaired by Piergeiron, and is attended by at least two other Lords and two Magisters. The Lord's Court hears all "severe" crimes, including suspicious deaths, rape, misuse of magic, and succession and inheritance disputes.

Twenty Six appointed black robed Magisters conduct the Common Courts of Waterdeep. Three "Black Robes" are always on duty at the Palace. During daylight hours a magister is also posted at each gate. Magisters can pass sentence instantly, but most sentences are conditional on the supporting evidence of witnesses. Magisters are always accompanied by at least six members of the city guard. Any citizen of Waterdeepo can appeal to the Lord's Court within two days of being sentenced by a Magister, but most appeals fail. There is no bail in Waterdeep, and barristers are barred from working in the city (although counsel from "professional witnesses" is grudgingly tolerated).

Waterdhavians are largely law-abiding, and most of Waterdeep's laws remain unwritten, within the "reasonable discretion" of the Magisters (and thus the Lords who oversee them). The Code Legal serves as a basis for sentencing, divided all crimes into four Plaints and each Plaints into severe, serious, lesser and minor offenses.

The first Plaint involves Crimes against the Lords (treason, impersonation, forgery of official documents, destruction of city property, assault, willful disobedience of edicts and blasphemy against a government official). The second Plaint involves Crimes against the City (poisoning of wells, murder, spying, sabotage, fraud, fencing, unlawful dueling, bribery, unlawful entry into the city, vagrancy, littering, brandishing a weapon without cause, and reckless driving). The third Plaint involves crimes against Gods (defiling of a holy place, theft of temple goods, tomb robbing, assault on a religious person, public blasphemy or priesthood, and disorderly conduct at worship). The fourth Plaint involves Crimes against Citizens (arson, rape, bodily harm, magical assault, forgery, slavery, robbery, burglary, theft/killing of livestock, ursury, property damage, assault, hindrance of business and excessive noise).

Slavery is illegal within the city, and slaves brought into the city are considered free. Selling slaves within the wall is forbidden and strictly policed. Weapons can be worn openly and used in self defense but brandishing weapons in other situations, is a crime. Waterdhaviens also expect debts to be paid in full, even if that means debtors must serve a form of indentured servitude to the creditor (in the case of small debts) or the city (in the case of large debts).

Duels (for reasons of specific, unprovoked injury) are legal only in specific places, but must be marshaled by a member of the Watch, or a Magister. Lords, Magisters, Guard and Watch members are exempt from challenges and the Lords forbid most duels involving heads of guilds, noble houses or priesthoods. Most importantly, duels are rarely to the death.

Sentences for lawbreaking include instant death, death upon conviction, exile, mutilation, hard labor, imprisonment (dungeon), imprisonment (light work in castle compound), fine (payable to city), or damages (payable to injured party). Perjury, adjudicated by magic, is punishment by expulsion from the city. Death sentences vary by station - commoners and soldiers are hung from the Castle battlements, while nobles are beheaded by the sword. Floggings are typically carried out at the Court of the White Bull. Death sentences are sometimes commuted to exile into Undermountain, although this often winds up with the same result.

Waterdhavian Festivals

In addition to the standard festivals of the Calendar of Harptos, there were several festivals and holy days held in Waterdeep:

Ahghairon's Day: A holiday celebrated on the first day of Eleasias, commemorating Ahghairon's birthday. It consisted of small details, like toasting for the Lords; leaving violets at the base of Ahghairon's Tower, the Plinth, or atop the altars of the House of Wonder; and bards performing songs in honor of the Old Mage. The Open Lords visited taverns and inns across the city, to wish the people well.
Auril's Blesstide: Held on the day of winter's first frost, this day saw everyone in the city wearing white clothes, not serving or eating hot meals, and a parade of naked men and women wearing only white cloaks going from Cliffwatch in the North Ward, across the city and to the beaches. There, participants dived into the icy waters, sacrificing their warmth to the Frostmaiden.
Fleetswake: A festival celebrating the sea, the sea trade and the gods of the sea. It spanned the last tenday of Ches, and included boat races, the Shipwright's Ball at the Shipwright's House, and guild-sponsored galas at the Copper Cup festhall. The festival was concentrated in Dock Ward and the Fiery Flagon in Sea Ward.
Lliira's Night: A celebration honoring the Lady of Joy with dances and balls, held the night of Flamerule 7. Although the celebration was shared all over the city in many festhalls, the highlight of the night was the Cynosure Ball, which was sponsored by the Lords, the local clergy of Lliira, and several noble families.

Nobles and Nobility

Since the founding of Nimoar's Hold in the Year of the Curse (882 DR), wealthy merchant families in what is now Waterdeep have claimed the mantle of nobility. In some cases, such claims were based on the awarding of nobility to the familial line by another sovereign realm; in others, such claims reflected the aspirations of a powerful family with the means to demand such honorifics from their neighbors.

In the Year of the Cockatrice (1248 DR), the Lords of Waterdeep recognized the merchant gentry, marking the formal beginnings of the Waterdhavian nobility. In some cases, they retroactively acknowledged a longstanding claim, allowing the family to date its ennoblement to an earlier date. However, the Lords carefully insisted there was no established order of precedence or seniority, preventing the formal establishment of an "old guard."

Ahghairon proposed the establishment of a nobility as both a matter of practicality and of diplomacy. From a practical stand-point, the chaotic use of widely varying titles among the populace prompted all manner of disputes and feuds and threatened the authority of the Lords. (At one point, there were no less then twelve "Dukes of Waterdeep" among just three families.) As a diplomatic carrot, the city used the granting of titles to lure powerful, land-owning lords from the surrounding countryside and wealthy merchants from lands far away into the city. In so doing, Ahghairon drew new wealth to the city and prevented the emergence of numerous tiny statelets in Waterdeep's backyard that might incessantly war among themselves and thus threaten the city's prosperity.

Since the Year of the Cockatrice, noble families have been granted the right to bear arms, including small private armies of up to seventy warriors. (Non-noble families, businesses, and individuals are restricted to sixteen warriors by edict of the Lords.) Nobles have also been granted the right to bear "arms of grace," a coat-of-arms borne by all warriors and low-ranking servants in their service. The noble families have always been required to contribute one percent of their annual earnings to the city coffers, payable each Midsummer, for the defense and maintenance of the city. Slave trading is forbidden, and all families were required to renounce it upon induction in the Year of the Cockatrice (1248 DR). Several backsliding houses (including Anteos, Kormallis, and Thann) were required to renounce it again upon the restoration of the Lords' rule in the Year of the Wagon (1273 DR).

Over time, the rate at which new families are ennobled by the Lords of Waterdeep has greatly diminished. Effectively, Waterdeep's nobility is now a "closed shop," as no new family has been ennobled since the Year of the Snow Winds (1335 DR). As Waterdeep's power has grown, the need to lure minor nobles from the surrounding countryside into the city has diminished, and the current families have no interest in reducing the value of their pedigrees by "sharing the wealth," as it were. In recent years, there has been some talk of ennobling the Duke of Daggerford and thus drawing that town more formally into Waterdeep's orbit, but for now such discussions have gone nowhere.

All noble families are considered at least "minor organizations," once you include servants, retainers, and the like. Almost all noble families are "isolated" in racial make-up (at least among the blooded kin), with noble members almost exclusively human. (Rare exceptions include families with half-elves, half-dragons, tieflings, liches, mummies, werewolves, or yuan-ti among their living relatives.)

In the current era, the number of actual nobles per noble family varies between a dozen and six dozen, but such figures include all acknowledged relatives, sometimes as far as fourth cousins from the current patriarch. Typically, the number of blood relatives of the patriarch of each family resident in the city is about fifteen or so.

Titles, lands, and funds can be inherited by any child or heir of a noble patriarch or matriarch. The standard practice in the Waterdeep assumes the eldest child (regardless of sex) inherits the title and the majority holdings of a family, with younger siblings and other relations getting lesser legacies. Living rulers of a noble family can proclaim a different heir should they choose, but such a proclamation must take place in the Lord's Court and be confirmed by the Lords, keeping the city rulers appraised of who stands to inherit the lands and titles (and avoiding any problems with contesting the inheritance after a ruler's passing). The changing of an heir is rare, although a number of heirs have refused family lands and titles, dedicating their lives to religious orders or adventuring. In cases where leadership of the family is contested, the Lords of Waterdeep make the final determination.

Matriarchal families are not uncommon in Waterdeep. Established matriarchs wishing to marry a nobleman can choose to adopt his name and family holdings (at which time she would abdicate her title and legacy to her chosen heir), or her husband can become a matriarch's consort (at which time he would abdicate any former family inheritances and holdings in order to share in his wife's title and station). If either spouse (or both) is a solitary heir with no heirs to receive his or her title, the family portfolios can combine under one name and one titular head of house or create an entirely new dynasty.

Some noble families, such as the Houses Deepwinter and Maernos, do go extinct, but the Lords usually work behind the scenes to arrange a hasty marriage to prevent such occurrences. Aside from the Houses Gildeggh and Zoar, there have been four such extinctions over Waterdeep's history. Many wealthy, would-be nobles have viewed such extinctions as an opportunity for their own elevation to the nobility, but in practice there is little tie between the two.

Ascending to the Nobility
Although it is often easier to marry into an existing noble family, individuals of wealth and influence can petition the Lords of Waterdeep to ennoble them and their descendants. Although the Lords of Waterdeep have never spelled out strict criteria for granting such petitions, some informal strictures have been deduced by would-be nobles over the years:

• An individual should have demonstrable personal wealth, in excess of 25,000 gp, that has been largely acquired through mercantile endeavors. (Adventurers who recover large amounts of treasure do not provide the same ongoing economic impact to Waterdeep as a wealthy merchant who employs hundreds of Waterdhavians.)
  
• An individual should reside in Waterdeep except when wintering in the South or leading trade expeditions.
  
• An individual should own several significant properties in the City of Waterdeep.
  
• An individual should play a prominent role in one or more guilds.
  
• An individual should be human. (Although some Lords might wish otherwise, the other families are unlikely to accept a nonhuman ennobled family any time soon.)
  
• An individual should be "sponsored" by at least five other noble families.

The key criterion is, of course, the last one. It takes a staggering amount of wealth, connections, debts, charitable giving, bribes, and humility to get five noble families to agree that it is in their best interest to add a new family to the nobility.

Notable Noble Families

Adarbrent
House Adarbrent is one Waterdeep's leading shipping clans, with strong ties to the navy and the Master Mariners' Guild.

History: Lord Royus and his father came to Waterdeep from Cormyr in the Year of Storms (1310 DR). The Adarbrent Shipping Company was a success from the start and the family joined the nobility a mere seven years later. Lord Royus now has the third largest fleet of ships in Waterdeep (after the City Guard and Guild of Watermen).

Plots & Intrigues: House Adarbrent initiated the Horizon Armada, a league of noble ship owners, and continues to play a key role in the command of the fleet and the creation of the resulting maps. Initially, the Adarbrent clan made a fortune on the trade with New Waterdeep, and several of Royus brothers set up shop in the new world. Thanks to Beshaba's fickle hand, the Deepwater War and the assault on Evermeet hurt the Adarbrent fleet much more than its partners, leaving the house in dire financial straits. Now, Lord Royus is reluctantly entertaining offers of large amounts of money at very reasonable rates from his daughter's father-in-law, whose only condition is that the Adarbrents sign a contract with the Rundeen. Through an intermediary, Lord Royus is looking to hire a band of adventurers with no previous connection to House Adarbrent to investigate the business dealings of Fahd yn Sarsor al Nisr to see what he might be getting into if he accepts the offer.

Amcathra
House Amcathra has a long and distinguished history in the service of Waterdeep, and a wide variety of trading interests.

Scions of House Amcathra are active patrons of The Splendid Order of Armorers, Locksmiths, & Finesmiths as well as The Vintners', Distillers', & Brewers Guild. In addition, Lord Arilos just became Senior Master of the The Stablemasters' & Farriers' Guild.

History: House Amcathra traces its lineage back to Rorgar Amcathra, a talented swordsmith who established a large horse-farm on the outskirts of Rowan Hold (now Amphail) in the wake of the First Trollwar, correctly perceiving a need to replenish the ranks of Waterdeep's much-depleted cavalry. The family grew wealthy in the years that followed, plowing its profits back into vineyard they built in the foothills of the Sword Mountains and nurturing the growth of a half dozen hamlets that fell within their lands. In the Year of the Cockatrice (1248 DR), Lord Hargrym Amcathra, great-grandfather of the current lord, accepted Waterdeep's offer of nobility and moved his family into the city, and House Amcathra has continued to prosper ever since.

Plots & Intrigues: The blades of House Amcathra have long been acknowledged as the finest to be found in the City of Splendors, a reputation that has long been profitable for the family. Recently, however, House Gralhund has begun selling blades at cut-rate prices that seem far superior to those produced by House Amcathra.

Lord Arilos is gravely concerned of the effect on the family's finances should House Gralhund acquire a better reputation for blademaking. He suspects, but cannot prove, that the dramatic improvement in House Gralhund's blades results from a new alloy of metal unavailable to their competitors. The lord of House Amcathra is now looking for adventurers to determine the source of House Gralhund's recent ascendance. In particular, he hopes to either embarrass the rival house or, better yet, acquire a similar source for metal ingots for the forges of House Amcathra.

The newfound source of metal for House Gralbund's weapons is the duergar of Clan Xundorn. Specifically, House Gralhund has been trading with Thaglar's Foundry, shipping steel ingots laced with mithral to the surface and sending coins, food, and ale into the depths in exchange. If House Amcathra could obtain access to similar ingots, its superior craftsfolk could possibly produce even better blades than those emerging from the smithies of House Gralhund.

Moonstar
House Moonstar is one of Waterdeep's oldest families, with strong ties to the Church of Selûne, the Master Mariners' Guild, and the Surveyors', Map & Chart-makers' Guild.

History: The history of House Moonstar is largely recounted in the discussions of the Church of Selûne and the Church of Shar.

Plots & Intrigues: The endless war between Lord Alathene and Lord Vanrak has long consumed the scions of House Moonstar. The current generation took it as a personal affront when Shar's avatar impersonated the Moonmaiden during the Time of Troubles, and it has redoubled its efforts to discover Lord Vanrak's hidden redoubt in the depths of Undermountain.

In recent years, Lord Helve has sponsored no less than a dozen adventuring companies to delve the depths of Undermountain in hopes of finding his trail but so far to no avail. This has led to the despairing conclusion that there might simply be no physical link between the hidden temple of Shar and the rest of Undermountain.

The rise of the Shadow Thieves and their ability to slip between the shadows has given Lady Alathene a new idea: She intends to send a band of adventurers into the Plane of Shadow to establish a temporary base. From there, companies of adventurers chartered by House Moonstar can search for Lord Vanrak's Undermountain in the shadow analog of Undermountain and then attack it from its point of greatest weakness. Of course, finding a band of adventurers able and willing to embark on a long sojourn on the Plane of Shadow is proving to be a challenge.

Thann
House Thann is one of Waterdeep's leading vintners, with large land-holdings in the South and strong ties to Blackstaff Tower. They have strong ties with the Vintners', Distillers' & Brewers' Guild.

History: House Thann traces its history back to a family of Velenese slave traders who built their fortune ferrying slaves from the Port of Shadow to southern lands, where slavery was legal. Over time, the family split into two branches, one based in Tethyr, now all-but-gone, and one based in Waterdeep. In the Year of Spilled Blood (1315 DR), Lord Rhammas Thann convinced his aging father, Lord Erktos I, to abandon the slave trade, and the family fortunes are now built on merchant shipping, fine wines, and land owning. The family maintains a hand in less reputable trade as well.

Plots & Intrigues: The Thann clan is deeply engaged in the Reclamation of Tethyr and closely allied with Tethyr's royal house. The family's ties to the long-dead Lhestyn Silmaeril Arunsun and involvement in Riatavin's joining with Tethyr have placed them in the midst of a burgeoning war with the Shadow Thieves. In the past years, this conflict has spilled into Waterdeep, with frequent attacks on Thann holdings by the resurgent thieves' guild.

Wands
House Wands is one of Waterdeep's leading magecraft clans, with strong ties to the Watchful Order of Magists & Protectors and Blackstaff Tower. Members of the family are scattered across Faerûn, including Ellidis "Shadowink" Wands, making a name for himself as a thief in Calimshan, and Marcus "Marco Volo" Wands, now off adventuring in the Heartlands.

History: House Wands is one of Waterdeep's oldest families, able to trace its ancestry back to a Magister of Mystra. The founder of the clan was Eldrus Sunstaff, a wizard from another world who came to Faerûn in the Year of the Narrow Escape (395 DR), changed his surname to Wands, and then slew the reigning Magister in the Year of High Eyes (409 DR). Members of the family have always espoused a conservative approach to magic that many arcane spellcasters find incredibly restrictive. However, House Wands has played a critical role in ensuring that Waterdeep never fell victim to the magical excesses that consumed the once-proud city of Ascalhorn.

Plots & Intrigues: Less than a decade ago, Marcus Wands stole an artifact known as the Dragonking's Eye from an evil wizard named Sabbar. After a series of adventures, Marcus ended up releasing the alien god bound within, known as the Dragonking. The Dragonking was defeated thanks to the intervention of Corellon Larethian, Sune, and Tyr, but its momentary liberation has had a strange effect. In the years since its release, creatures from the Far Realm have begun appearing the immediate vicinity of individual members of House Wands at random, but with distressing regularity. Maskar and Olanhar continue to seek a solution to this problem, but in the interim House Wands is in need of skilled adventurers to protect the less powerful members of House Wands whenever they venture forth from the heavily warded Wands villa.

Myrna Cassalanter
Myrna has a sharp-angled face made possible by vigorous self-starvation and delineated by too much cosmetics and a pale, perfect complexion, enhanced with judicious doses of belladonna. She favors elaborate, revealing gowns accented with gems (and made practical in a northern clime by means of her ring of warmth) and complicated, upswept hairstyles that dramatically show off her henna-colored hair. She has considerable personal wealth, including a small mansion, vast wardrobe, a stable with riding and carriage horses, several hawks, and a considerable personal library with books detailing the heraldry, history, and scandals of generations of influential Waterdhavians.

Myrna showed an aptitude for gossip at an early age, falling naturally into the family business of information gathering and rumormongering. One of the best sources of information in upper class Waterdeep, Myrna prides herself on her accuracy except when she is paid to spread lies, of course. She is careful to only engage in character assassination when it cannot be traced back to her and damage her reputation. In recent years, Myrna has begun to look for a match that will improve her standings and fortune. Regnet Amcathra spurned her several years ago when he married Galinda Raventree, Myrna's long-time rival, and Myrna continues to exact her revenge in ways both petty and small.

Other Noble Houses
Waterdeep is home to over seventy noble families and clans, ranging from fantastically wealthy merchant princes to impoverished but well-bred gentry. Some of the city's more notable noble houses include:

• Anteos
  
• Brokengulf
  
• Gundwynd
  
• Hawkwinter
  
• Raventree
  
• Roaringhorn
  
• Rosznar
  
• Silmerhelve
  
• Stormweather
  
• Talmost
  
• Thorp
  
• Thunderstaff
  
• Ulbrinter
  
• Urmbrusk
  
• Wavesilver

Regional History

The sprawling, bustling City of Splendors, the most energetic and eclectic trading center of modern Faerûn, began as a good harbor along the storm-clawed Sword Coast, where ports for ships are sparse. An arm of Mount Waterdeep sheltered a bay where deep water came almost right up to shore.

Of the long history of this place, much has been lost. It is known that by -1088 DR, annual spring and fall trade had begun at the site. Tribes slowly settled and farmed the cleared land, and inevitably fought over it. The wizard Halaster arrived, built his tower, and abandoned it for Undermountain.

The local tribes were conquered and united by Ulbaerag Blood-hand, who was in turn defeated by Nimoar the Reaver in 882 DR. Nimoar built a permanent hold inside a wooden palisade, where the north end of present-day Waterdeep stands, and the hold withstood both pirate and tribal raids. Before his death in 936 DR, Nimoar led his warriors in the First Trollwar, scouring the lands east and north of the growing city of trolls and orcs. Later "War Lords of the Hold" fought and fell in the decade-long Second Trollwar.

In 957 DR, the wizard Ahghairon became special advisor to the War Lord of Waterdeep. His magic led to the decisive defeat of the trolls. The Free City of Waterdeep grew in size and wealth, and under the wise guidance of Ahghairon, Castle Waterdeep (then just a simple keep) was built. Over decades, the wealth and growth of Waterdeep made its rulers proud. Such a one was Raurlor, who dreamed of founding an "Empire of the North," with Waterdeep as its capital and himself on its throne.

In 1032 DR, Raurlor raised an army to conquer anyone who dared stand in his path. Ahghairon defied him in public assembly. The enraged Raurlor attacked the wizard with his sword - but Ahghairon transformed Raurlor's blade into a serpent, which bit and slew the Warlord of Waterdeep. Ahghairon then took the throne and proclaimed himself first Lord of Waterdeep. Ahghairon decreed that he would rule as an equal with masked Lords of unknown identity, gathered from Waterdhavians of all walks of life.

Ahghairon brought order to Waterdeep, founding the City Guard and City Watch. He ruled for two hundred years, during which time the city grew in size and prosperity. The city wards were established in 1035 DR, and the city's guilds in 1248 DR. The city expanded its walls several times, and the flow of wealth never ceased nor shrank, year by year.

In 1256 DR, Ahghairon's longevity magic failed, and he died. A ruling Council of Guildmasters governed until the Guildwars of 1262, in which all but two Guildmasters perished. Those two nobles proclaimed themselves the Two Lords Magister. During their rule, the Shadow Thieves established themselves in the city. Graft and corruption were rife, and public safety could only be purchased in the form of combative bodyguards.

Two long-hidden Lords, Baeron and Shilarn, emerged in 1273 DR and slew the Two Lords Magister. They established the present system of justice, with magisters who serve as judges. The Shadow Thieves were outlawed, Baeron proclaimed himself the Open Lord of Waterdeep, and Waterdeep's official permanent taxed population reached one hundred thousand.

Three years later, Baeron and Shilarn had a daughter, Lhestyn, who was to become one of the greatest Lords of Waterdeep. In that same year, the city reached its present boundaries, and the ranks of the Lords were increased to sixteen. Operating as the Masked Lady, Lhestyn later infiltrated and exposed the Shadow Thieves still operating in the city, breaking their power.

In 1302 DR, the adventurers Mirt and Durnan emerged from Undermountain as rich men. Tales of their adventures spread, luring others who followed their trail down to riches or death. Six years later, Baeron and Shilarn died. Lhestyn became Open Lord in her father's place, and the Palace of Waterdeep was built.

Upon Lhestyn's death in 1314 DR, her chosen successor, Piergeiron, became Open Lord. His rule continues to the present day, though he has been grooming his daughter, Aleena Paladinstar to succeed him. Khelben Arunsun and his lady Laeral Silverhand of the Seven Sisters are local heroes. Waterdeep has survived deities battling in the streets, the destruction of Myrkul, and the ascension of Cyric and the new Mystra.

Through it all, the city has rolled on, ever busy and ever a source of excitement, vigor, new ventures, gossip, and adventure.