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

[aprescoup]

...what do you want from him? Why are you good to him? What do you think it gets you? Half a burned face. It gets you nothing. Don't waste breath.

[valeas]

( She has found Karsa's temper refreshing in the past, oddly enough, in that it can be satisfying to see someone else unable or unwilling to restrain their anger while constantly negotiating her own. In this instance, Emilia is aware it'll just earn her more disdain, but finds herself unable to leave it well enough alone.

Her lowered voice, sincere in its concern, asks, )

Karsa, what happened to you? I worried. Zuko worried.

( Does she even know of their attempts to communicate when her magic device went silent? )

[aprescoup]

What do you think? He tells that fool Anduin, kill the traitor. He does not kill the traitor. Who gets blamed? You think it is you? ( Laughter, hoarse. ) Ooooooooooooooooh, he treats you well. He can't kill you, or the dead have you, no? You are all safe from him, always safe from him.

[valeas]

( A rise in tempetarue. Brief, but tangible — the very air around them growing unbearably warm as she learns. )

It doesn't give him the right. I would keep you safe. ( If she knew more, if she could only — it sounds foolish, doesn't it? A witch who can't remember her own life, a witch with the bulk of her power leashed. But the sentiment and anger is real, if too late. ) Would the dead not have you, as well?

[aprescoup]

They didn't go through trouble to summon me from worlds away.

[valeas]

( She bites her tongue before she says anything else. The device is the only reason she can understand what Karsa is telling her, but she also doesn't trust it, not entirely. She picks it up, the stone, and looks at Karsa. ) How private? ( Truly. )

[aprescoup]

...why are you fools so fearful? I make all our thralls. I put a little pretty spell on this thing you use each day without trouble. What do you think? How private? What is your privacy to me? I do not care. You have secrets? Good! Keep them. I don't have time to listen to everything you say.

[valeas]

If we weren't cautious, you'd call us fools for that, as well. You simply like to call people fools, and I tell you now Karsa, you are best served aiming it at those who'll tolerate it better. My question was to ensure the safety of this conversation, because I happen to care for you in spite of myself, and would not want to get you in more trouble. ( With the Merchant, or in general. That'll be true whether Karsa likes it or not. )

[aprescoup]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. You're afraaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiid of hiiiiiiim. I see, I see. No. He doesn't listen. He doesn't bother. Why you not ask before? Of course he doesn't listen.

[valeas]

( Still going to be paranoid, thanks. )

I don't know nearly enough about his nature to speak confidently either way. Some of us haven't even met him face-to-face. Aren't you angry? ( For what he did? )

[aprescoup]

I work for him still.

[valeas]

So you do.

( It is not what Emilia asked, but it's what she'll get. Another way, then. Another move.

After a moment, she looks to the basket in Karsa's hand. Nods toward it. )

Keep it. ( Who knows? Might be that Karsa ends up enjoying the arancini tucked inside. )

[aprescoup]

I will. He eats this, he dies. He is old. And weak.

[valeas]

( Always a pleasure, Karsa. )