npc inbox: taravast

[groundrules]

NPC INBOX: TARAVAST

Reach out to your (not-so-)favourite NPC here, putting their name in the comment header. Try to keep it to just quick text/audio/written exchanges or inquiries that can accept summarised answers, please!

PREVIOUS NPC INBOX FOR ARC I: SA-HARETH & STAIRS OF SIGHS

	MACALUSO Earnest and moderate nephew of Bonaccorso, seeking to succeed his grandfather. A pursuer of astronomy, accountancy, diplomacy and elemental magic, with a long history of supporting the witches of Bessis. Champions firmer ties with foreign citadels to improve Taravast's access to armies and resources. Looking to choose a bride.
	VANNOZZA Beautiful and fierce niece of Bonaccorso, contending to become the next Ilia Doxe. Mind of a scientist and a lady of the hunt. A practitioner and frequent visitor of the necromantic and healing sectors. Has entertained and turned away more lovers than the heroine of a particularly sappy romance novel. Often indisposed.
	RIGARDA Lively, charismatic and gossip-prone lady of the highest echelons, received at every gathering. Can slaughter half a dozen reputations with the right twitch of her brows before breakfast. An associate of the Merchant's and old friend of the current Ilia Doxe of Taravast, Bonaccorso. Indifferent in the game of succession. Loathes crumpets and witches.
	THE LAVISH LOCALS From the witches of Bessis or Attaryl to academicians, politicians, nobles, servant folk, artists or protestors — if you’ve got a question, someone can surely supply an answer.
	THE MERCHANT The patron saint of etiquette and the eastbound getaway expedition. Seems to largely trade information alongside wares. Appreciates spices, strategy and collaboration. Has an eerie and overly cautious manner. Committed. Defends the benefit of the many, to the detriment of the few.
	KARSA Sorceress, young (?). Employed by the Merchant and deferential to him. Talented but fiery and frequently impatient, intolerant of fools. She will get today's job done yesterday. Struggles to sympathise with men, objections and those who cannot absorb information quickly. Enchanted the group's translation devices. Only available until 28/12.
	ASGEIRR The ghost of a scholar monk. Haunts the tattered execution cloak that the party stole from the La Rea bank in Sa-Hareth. Once a champion of equality and freedom, he faced ire for converting his followers against the regionally profitable trade of slavery. Soft-spoken but wise and just, slow to regain his strength. Will speak to those who visit his cloak in brief interludes. Favours necromancers.

SA-HARETH

"HALTHAM" | ANURR The undead warlord Anurr, previously posing as gentle-mannered giant Haltham. An embodiment of Sa-Hareth's cold storms and wind, who regained his territory from contender Unhalad with the inadvertent help of the party in Arc I. Frostily rational and amenable to some negotiation.

Comments

it is all correct!

[aprescoup]

( A smile pulls the edges of her mouth in a line uncanny, all fang — ill-fitting on Vannozza's porcelain face. As if it were intended, perhaps, for broader lips.

She seems ruefully adept at reading between his lines. )

For the most part, brother. Then, they took parts of me. ( More laughter. ) So I would be sickened by the body and not reclaim it. Of course.

( And yet her good humour lingers. )

They were wrong! Very wrong. That body, this one. I have no trouble.

[lancifolium]

Your right hand, and parts of your face.

[ Lily frowned as she confirmed for Hatisse what the woman already suspected. Whatever the reason, Lily found it terribly grim. ]

Is this Beacon the only one of its kind, my lady?

[aprescoup]

Here... yes. Elsewhere, there are many wells, many worlds, many mouths! They cannot all dry to...

( But she is briefly too awestruck to continue, mouth a tired, pinched moue of affected dissatisfaction that Vannozza Spina strugles to produce. )

...a hand. A few bites of the face. That is it, sister? That is it? These lice think I am troubled by so little? I am a child? A fussy bride?

( Laughter compels her. It is too strong a thing. )

I am not! I am not. Shall I show you? Shall I show all of you? Of course, little siblings, of course. You want your 'beacon' open, don't you? And you like me, no? Better than you do my sisters. What have they done for you? Nothing. And what can I do for you? Everything.

( Enough, at least, to pacify her. ) Bring me my body. Bring me any body, leave me even this rag. I shall open your pretty beacon for you. I can. I can do many things. And don't you like a trade? Before the next swelling of mother moon. Gift me a body, and I shall gift you perfect obedience. Think, little siblings, think.

( An amused, volatile Hatisse, at least, seems to have exhausted the resources of Vannozza's flesh. She faints, by the fire: in perfect health, but depleted of energy, as mistress Spina recovers her health. )



( ooc: 'congratulations' on this new opportunity to gain a party member. You have until the next full moon, before 30 Nov, to talk among yourselves - and perhaps the group? - and decide if it is worthwhile to give Hatisse a body. If your verdict is to do so, you may steal her original one from the mausoleum and bring it to her, or find her a recently dead one. The necromancers of the district may advise.

The body purchase can be backtagged or handwaved. The decision is important to have by the end of the month, however.

Hatisse is a powerful witch who can open the local beacon, but she is coy and not always sweet, prone to her own designs. She will travel with the party, if she is revived. )