Credit to Oakthorne Wikipedia -
Northvault
Street of the Singing Dolphin, North Ward
Even those who know that the Urmbrusks are landowners and moneylenders can't help but gawk the first time they see Northvault. Its wall is a six foot tall marble structure, with another four feet of wrought iron bars that end in speartips along the top edge. It is made up of four buildings, all of which are also marble, several of which feature elaborate statuary (some of it actually gilded in gold and mithril). The house seal on the double front doors of the Northvault itself are solid silver, with gemstone accents; would-be thieves are cautioned that the footmen standing there are not to guard it, but to instead warn passersby that touching it may trigger magical safeguards.
Northvault House: The main house, for which the rest of the compound is named, shows an impressive façade to the rest of Waterdeep, all tall, fine marble with elegant, fluted designs. Its street-facing corners feature carvings of roaring bears standing on their hind legs, a reference to some bit of family history. The house itself is two stories in height, with room for the head of house and their immediate family, as well as a handful of other suites. The ground floor has most of the communal living spaces, including a sumptuous dining area and a guests' salon that faces the gardens through gigantic glass windows, but there isn't much other entertaining space within it.
Heirsroost: Built as House Urmbrusk grew large enough that it needed additional space, the Heirsroost was built for the adult heir who wanted her own household in the later days of the 1200s. As her parents cared nothing for socializing, she took it on herself to tend to the House's needs in that regard, so the Heirsroost boasts an incredible ballroom, gallery, two salons, and a variety of small "trysting parlors" on the first floor, as well as an impressive wine cellars and a garden room with glass doors that can be slid out of the way to open the entire chamber to the outdoor gardens. It also has a welcoming porte cochere off Diamond Street. Its upper two stories provide plenty of space for additional Household members. Today, however, House Urmbrusk keeps the Heirsroost closed save when they are entertaining, as the diminished population of their house all but rattles around even in the Northvault.
Tenants' Hall: The Tenants' Hall is called such because it is where tenants on Urmbrusk properties may come to pay their rents or petition their landlords for something. It consists of an open office space with a door on the Street of Whispers, and smaller clerks' offices off of that. The upstairs rooms have living quarters for the clerks as well as the offices for whichever member of the family is in charge of the land holdings.
Ovamberhall: The least opulent building at Northvault, the Ovamberhall is a simply constructed two-story building with servants quarters. Extensive storage and a large and complicated kitchen, as well as suites for senior servants are on the first floor, with smaller living and socializing spaces on the second.
Marblehearth Villa (Rental Villa)
The Cliffride, Castle Ward
The Marblehearth is a rental villa on the Cliffride, one of the few of its kind left there (the others were long ago contributed to the founding of New Olamn). Marblehearth is three-stories in height plus an extensive cellars, with extensive marble used in its construction (the marble was that left over from the construction of the Northvault, in fact). Today, given its close proximity to the bardic college, Marblehearth is rented by a small group of its professors, who prefer living nearby to New Olamn in a degree of comfort and opulence.
Comments