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]

...here? What do you mean, now?

( Frowning, softly, but tending to the long business of readying her pots, cleansing her pans and passing a soft cloth over the legumes newly set at her disposal. What fine breakfast cakes she'll assemble for the children, come the morrow. )

Ain't none of them in the Mouse House. Don't know what you've heard, but we're honest and mostly good people. Some have had a turn, but... but we're all trying here. And... as for them above, they might have it better than us, might be having it worse. ( Huffy, one might say. ) I'd take the children, certain. For more light, for more schooling.

[snowcleave]

If you do not know of it, then they are not endangering you, this is very good news. If this changes you will call for me. [ Gently, respectfully delivered, but in no way a request. ] I will not let anything happen to you.

[ Fei understands that perhaps it's not the most polite thing in the world< to not offer help in the kitchen. Instead, she reaches into the bottom of the sack, setting down two leaf-shaped mounds of baked clay./small> ]

Break it open. My husband made his best chicken for you and the children.

[ The first time it dawns on Fei that these children are growing up without light is when Ma'am Mariol mentions it, and she can't help but look surprised by the thought, nodding along in earnest agreement. ]

More light, yes. You would prefer Eidris where there is sun?

[ The little house she's let with Xie Yun would certainly not support all the children of Mouse House, but Fei is certain there are other places above worth investigating. ]

[sansdoute]

What do you.. ( But she stills, for a moment, hand slow over her pans, mouth a quiver. It seems to strike her, all at once, that men of violence might transgress against her people. That she might have already laid out their traps for this game. ) We don't want trouble here.

( And then, she rallies: gathers herself and takes stock of the containers set before her, palm heavy on hard clay. ) Your husband's a good man, he is.

( But then, slowly: ) Except if he don't put garlic in his chicken, some people are stingy. ( Not her, mind. You never underspice your chicken. )

Oh, dear me. All this talk of... I'm surprised I've still got appetite. It's no good, is it, lovely? Dreaming of what you can't have? Why set yourself for disappointment? Life's grey enough.

[snowcleave]

[ When Ma'am Mariol calls the idea dreaming, Fei doesn't correct her, though she's already decided this must become more than just talk. Children growing up in darkness and filth, it's beyond even the worst of what Disha's capable of. ]

I have troubled you with this talk, and I apologize.

[ Watching the other woman break open the beggar's chicken she's brought Fei tries not to look as pensive as she feels. Then, she recalls something else, something Red mentioned– ]

For next time, how old are the children now? I want to bring books that are not too old for them. Gavroche knows his letters and can show the others.

[sansdoute]

( Hard work, dividing good food when small hands are renown to be sticky, and ma'am Mariol has all of this banquet to delegate, among people. )

Oh, bless, I don't... like to ask. Some of them didn't come with... with good memories, poppet. Talking about their families is —

( A wince, and the turn of her smile sours. ) I'd reckon, you know, I think the oldest I took in was three, turning his fourth summer. And some are big, 'course, proper gentlemen, almost! Aren't they? Nearly... thirteen? Oh, they'll be young men and women shortly.