Lady Vespera of House Silver-Vein

Lady Vespera of House Silver-Vein
Title: Matriarch of the Merchant Clans
Role: Vespera controls the flow of trade in and out of Dal-Dur. Her house owns the largest silver mines in the region, and she is one of the wealthiest individuals in the kingdom. She is a woman of great political power and is often the one who mediates between the Thane and the various guild-masters.
Secret Motivation: Vespera is being "competitively pressured" by the Grand Arcane Bank in Kigum. She has realized that the Bank is trying to crash the price of silver to force her house into bankruptcy. She has begun to hire "privateers" (pirates from Crystal Cove) to intercept Kigum’s merchant ships, hoping to create a "scarcity" that will drive the prices back up.
Adventure Hook: Vespera hires the party to "recover" a shipment of silver that was "stolen" by pirates. In reality, she wants them to destroy the shipment so it doesn't hit the market and lower the prices even further.