Diligence – George
It's rare for someone born in the Lower City to make good but George Cooper is the exception. By the time he's forty-five he owns the largest bank in Corus. He does business with all the major merchants and traders in the city and a good many nobles. He makes a small fortune by financing profitable Tortallan ventures that more than reward his investment; in mining, wool and textiles, shipping, and the sea-going trade of tea, spices and foreign luxury goods.
Yet George hasn't forgotten his humble upbringing. There is a fully-equipped Hall of Healers in the Lower City that bears his name. His much-loved wife Thayet, an exiled princess from Sarain, teaches common-born children and adults to read and write in the first of the schools she opens in Corus.
George is known for his down-to-earth common sense, his love of life, his ability to drive a hard bargain, and above all his sense of humour. When people ask about the secret to his success, he laughs broadly and merely says, "I wanted to make my mother proud!"