NZZN

=Noçeon, Zimmall, Zuñiga & Nayaz (NZZN)=

An understated bronze plaque by the bronzewood double-door entrance to an odd-shaped spire marking the upper floors of Czervanth Tower in the Upper Dura District in Sharn reads:

//A Professional Corporation// Sharn - Wroat - Starilaskur Founded 776 YK
 * Noçeon, Zimmall, Zuñiga & Nayaz**

From the outside, the spire rises more than 150 feet, topped by a needle-like 50 foot tall, glass-covered cone. Around the outside of the spire is a rising helix of attached rooms of various sizes, held in place by cables, struts and magical //flying buttresses//. The spiral of attached rooms -- offices, storerooms, residences and meeting spaces -- circle around the central tower almost two full times before ending just below the glass cone. Opposite the attached structures are a rising series of tall, narrow windows (20' x 2'). Sharn natives years ago gave Czervanth Tower an apt nickname based on its appearance -- "The Screw."

Passing through the two sets of bronzewood double doors, the visitor enters a dizzyingly high atrium, with light streaming in through the glass cone ceiling and spiraling windows, bouncing off strategically-placed mirrors. To the left, after a set of doors leading to a guard station, a ramp begins to spiral up in a clockwise direction, making two revolutions around the interior of the atrium. The outer wall along the continuous ramp, 15 feet wide, is marked with single and double doors corresponding to the rooms attached to the outside of the tower. A brass-and-marble rail lines the inner edge of the ramp (thus, as you walk up the ramp all the doors are to the left and the rail is to the right). The tall windows are always directly opposite of the ramp.

To the right of the entrance, two small disks of light rise up and down in vertical grooves -- smaller duplicates of the magic lifts that carry traffic from level to level in Sharn. The grooves, about three feet apart, rise through holes in the ramp where they meet and at those two spots the ramp flattens out. The grooves are spaced just enough to flank two of the tall windows when they cross.

Inside the atrium, the visitor is greeted with a wide, imposing reception desk. The walls are luxuriant, paneled in wood from Eldeen and Q'barra and decorated with Aereni bronzewood deathmasks, marble busts from Mror and Zil glamerweave tapestries depicting scenes from the history of Galifar. Several comfortable chairs are covered with threehorn and fasteith hide from Talenta, supple and warm to the touch. On the floor near the main entrance, embossed in gold and platinum on a surface of black onyx, are the "squared triangles" of the NZZN logo.

A silvery pillar, five feet in diameter, shoots straight up from the center of the atrium to the tip of the glass cone. This pillar supports rings of twelve //everbright lanterns// every 30 feet, supplementing the natural and reflected sunlight. Cables, nearly invisible, connect the pillar to the spiral ramp, providing additional support.


 * //Note://** This upper portion of Czervanth Tower was built less than two centuries ago; it's foundation rests on top of the original Czervanth Tower (which, of course, itself stands atop ancient and sturdy Goblin foundations), held aloft by a dozen //flying buttresses//. The three top levels of this older tower are also owned by NZZN, and have been cleared of all occupants and businesses. Details are sketchy as to what was displaced -- one level was reputed to hold working forges, and the former penthouse level was supposedly the winter home of a Karrnathi noble.

Sightings of the NZZN Logo
Noçeon Zimmall's logo, a stylized square of apparent triangles that, broken apart, form the letters "NZZN," has been seen in some unusual places:
 * Inside the flagstone carrying a fragment of what appears to be the Draconic Prophecy, found at the base of a 7,500-year-old monument in the heart of the old Dhakaani empire (now about 30 miles from New Cyre);
 * Scrawled on the side of a wrecked carriage on the Orien trade road from New Cyre to Starilaskur, by a dead Hobgoblin in his own blood;
 * Embossed on the leather back cover of brand-new identification papers belonging to a dead Cyran bard, Terb Fendurrin (aka "Tago of Eston") -- a likely victim of the Slayer of Cyre's Children;
 * On a note in the hands of a "Dark Hand" Goblin telling him to wait in the dungeon underneath the rediscovered Dragonshard mine for the Duergar weaponsmith Kostas Knyarri; and
 * Scribed on the forehead of Fedder, a living Flesh Golem (in the same position where a Warforged manifests its unique mark, or //ghulra//).

Clients and Assets
For many years NZZN cultivated clients from the merchant and noble classes of Sharn and Breland, as well as the Dragonmarked Houses and various influential organizations throughout Khorvaire. Their motto -- "Where Resources Meet Needs" -- was well-known among the upper classes, as was their sterling reputation. The "Squared Triangles" could get things done, and in return they were well-paid in both gold and influence.

The biggest mystery remains the "senior partners" -- the four founders of the firm, whose initials make up NZZN. No one has seen Lady Elysse Noçeon, an Aereni Elf and the firm's public face, for almost a year. Deacon Arthur Zimmall V, great-great grandson of the founding partner (a Human from Cyre), hasn't emerged from his quarters in months; and both Doctor Hernan Zuñiga of Clan Noldrun and Lathon Galeth Nayaz from Talenta have been "missing" since before the Last War started. Like the first Arthur Zimmall, the Halfling partner Nayaz should be long-dead, and if Dr. Zuñiga is still alive he'd be well into his venerable final years. This left Lady Noçeon as the only original partner seen in decades. But for all the speculation, no one openly questions the presence of the Dwarf and Halfling, nor of Arthur Zimmall V's heritage, nor of their firm control of NZZN's assets and ongoing projects. All the senior partners communicate with employees, clients and enemies alike through messengers, intermediaries and spells such as //sending//, //animal messenger// and //magic mouth//. Sometimes the //magic mouth// appears right over the mouth of the senior partners' life-size portraits, three of which have hung in the foyer for more than a century (Arthur Zimmall's was damaged by fire and removed for restoration; as of this writing it had not been returned to its place).

NZZN's Confirmed Clients include:
 * The Dark Hand Goblinoids (probably disbanded)
 * Daask
 * The Cult of The Three Below
 * Telgin Char (co-founder of the Swords of Liberty; deceased)
 * House Deneith (standard Blademarks security contract, terminated in late 997 YK)
 * Kostas Knyarri (Duergar weaponsmith and trapmaker)

NZZN's rumored or possible Clients include:
 * Tyron, formerly of House Cannith
 * Warlord Kogaa of the //Gan'duur// (Eaters of Sorrow) Clan, Darguun
 * House Vadalis (specifically the PrairieHearth breeding ranch in eastern Breland)
 * Swords of Liberty
 * House Tarkanan

NZZN's known freelance operatives and employees include:
 * Muraco (deceased)
 * Quarrian (deceased)
 * Fedder (deceased)
 * Kaela (deceased)
 * Norrin Tordannon (deceased)
 * "Nomad" of House Deneith (Blademarks officer, former chief of security)
 * Rolph (former Blademarks soldier, rehired by NZZN after contract with Blademarks was terminated; also deceased)