npc inbox

[groundrules]

NPC INBOX

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 posts:

■ Arc I: Sa-Hareth

■ Interlude: Stairs of Sighs + Arc II: Taravast

■ Interlude: Ellethia

■ Arc III: House of Ravens

SERTHICA | ALLIED NPCs | OTHERS

SERTHICA

	ARABELLA Mistress of discipline and Minaras' Watch ships, and member of the ruling governance. Her manner at once innocent, ruthless and cold-blooded. Mother to clockwork children.
	CAIN D'UBIQ Foremost dragon rider and gentleman of Eidris, accepted by the great fire-breathing Ashtart. War hero of the conflict with Minaras. Too young for his rank and achievements. Patron of several dragon schools. Appears perpetually absent-minded, thoughts astray.
	MA'AM MARIOL Motherly figure to the orphans of Serthica's impoverished underworld of exiles, the Mouse House. After years of rearing, prone to treating everyone as children. Her temper runs hotter than a first glance might indicate. Knows just about everyone.
	(KING) THIVAR II Formerly king of Serthica, holding a diminished court in Eidris — the single citadel contingent that still recognises his authority. Headstrong, firm, dignified. Claims Minaras and Serthica's dragons as his birthright.
	CHRICHTER Only available to those who join Remembrance. Leader of the radical Remembrance resistance movement that calls for a different solution to Serthica's post-plague political landscape. Unaffiliated with Eidris or Minaras.

ALLIED NPCs

	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. Furtively left the group, bearing injury, at the end of Arc II.
	'QUICKSILVER SAM'(UEL VANE) Pirate king of great renown, master of haunted waters. Recovering from a journey through the Crossing Seas, where he summoned the drowned dead for a foolish act of vengeance with an elusive artefact he himself misunderstands. Agile, quick-witted, charming and possessed of more street smarts than many. Intent to repay his debt to the party.
	HATISSE Revived witch of the Attaryl, partly responsible for the massacre of the Stairs of Sighs. Formerly a court witch of the Attaryl. Manipulative, vicious, a trained seductress. Formidably powerful. Buried with wards and injuries by her own sisters to prevent her return. Somewhat bound to Wrath.
	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.
	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. Not travelling with the party.

OTHERS

"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

[sansdoute]

Aye, girl. You got the right of it. To be asking. How do I help?

[valeas]

Enlighten me as to how you stumbled across a severed magical tongue, for starters.

[sansdoute]

( All the better the flinch can't be witnessed. )

...was... was'em, the Dawn's Reach Trade Company. Said it would call to the heart of the Crossing, and take us close. So it did. Only... it did more than that. More, many scurvy-ridden turns over.

[valeas]

( He makes no mention of the Merchant, not that she expected him to, but it'd been one of her more private suspicions. If he assigned Kaneki to retrieve a lone beating heart, why not a tongue from the captain who first secured their voyage? Might be he was aware of the Company possessing it. )

So it did. Some of my companions were pulled underwater by the kraken, only to awake in some greyed landscape, where time passed in a haze.

[sansdoute]

They been... returned to you?

[valeas]

They've been returned.

[sansdoute]

Seems, that there, you lost no more than was returned.

( No harm... no foul. )

[valeas]

To say nothing of what we gained.

( His addition to the group was mercy. That he lives is her mercy. )

Can it be destroyed? The tongue.

[sansdoute]

( Laughter, slow. )

Can't be said I ever tried, me. Had more use in the keeping lively of it. ( However: ) Anything dies, if you sweat'n'bleed for it.

[valeas]

( Most anything, it's true. )

I imagined the Dawn's Reach Trade Company would only share what information they deemed necessary, if that. But I had to ask, especially if there are other such body parts around to stumble on. I'd rather be prepared.

[sansdoute]

You took a knife to it?

[valeas]

I'd see it destroyed at first opportunity.

( She would not, but he doesn't need to know that. )

Why in the seven hells wouldn't I, having seen its consequence?

[sansdoute]

Girl... you do what yer heart's be wanting. ( But. ) Only, remember what I knew, what you know, what we all had for seeing. That thing's taken us to the Crossing. Where the other things that slept, them, in the seas, they answered it. You don't destroy the likes of that.

[valeas]

( A bit of a mournful sigh as she switches to video so that he may recognise her in the future. )

That I must concede. Regardless, it is not in my possession. But it was important to understand all the same, as it would not surprise me if there were other artefacts like it. As I said, should opportunity strike.

If you remember anything else, will you let me know? My name is Emilia.