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]

( And now, there's an egg cracked and poured in a bowl, and she waits to ask over her shoulder — )

You want it scrambled, pet? Or you like a little of the runny yolk?

( Now, back to the matter at hand: ) I remember he wasn't... he didn't have himself no purpose. Didn't look in no rush, that was the oddity. Everyone was... you know, dear, them were hard days. Everyone just... like headless chickens. Trying to piece themselves together again.

( And turning over the potato slices, nice, thin and already crisping. ) Bringing back businesses, raising new homes, finding... finding their families, or their dead, or... deciding, was it Eidris they were standing with? Was it Minaras? And him, he just... had no care in the world. He'd come and play with the girls, and — I kept an eye on him, you imagine, no funny business, but he didn't... looked almost as if he were enjoying his time. Left us some coin, and... one day, he was gone.

[blackscales]

Runny is fine.

[ Overcooked food is a waste. He'd eat an egg raw but that is Uncouth, apparently.

He also sounds distracted. He's thinking, mentally trying to piece together his conspiracy theory board. It feels like assembling a large puzzle without a reference picture. He's quite sure all the green must be grass, but honestly has no proof. ]

How soon after the coal sick ended was this?

[ It was after, the child said. Around the same time? A long time after? ]

[sansdoute]

Attaboy, like a little runny yolk myself.

( Likes it so much, in fact, that she smacks her lips when she pours the egg in the pan and gives it some salting, minding the cooking. )

I wouldn't be able to tell you in days, everything was a rush, but... can't have been long. But I think — I'm just guessing, but he never seemed... he didn't seem out of sorts, or like he were lost, though I hadn't seen the likes of him in the Mouse House. I suppose maybe he were some gentleman from above, who'd come by often before the sick. I don't have to be knowing them all, do I? Not as if they'd stop for the likes of me, though, I'll be tellin' you, used to be, I'd gather all sorts knocking at my door, when I was a lass.

( Laughter, brittle. ) He just seemed like a cat o'sorts. Coming and going and... wasn't quite at home, where he landed, but he wasn't standing out, either. You know the sort?

( She'll let Wrathion meditate on that, while she drags his bacon, egg, thin potato slices and onion on a plate, and adds some last bit of sprinkling of salt, on to. That, a fork and a cup of milk, and there's your breakfast served. )

[blackscales]

[ So he was a little lost, but not out of sorts, and not lost, but perhaps a little odd in the head, stood out but didn't stand out?

This woman is meandering and nonspecific in her information. However, she is feeding him breakfast. So he'll forgive her, in that respect.

That, and... he's found he struggled to remember the features of the man he saw. It's quite possible this is the same, that this wasn't exclusive to their... experience, but a trait of his. ]

Thank you.

[ Important to be polite to people feeding you. ]

I actually believe he's an outsider, myself. I'm... concerned he may be a danger. Not deliberately, necessarily. Unwitting, the way damaged people can be.

[ He thinks she might understand that. ]

[sansdoute]

An outsider... I suppose, but... oh, pet, don't be frightening me, you've heard he's done something? Have you? He was with us some time, could he have...

( It appears she must turn off the stove and remove the pan the very second she's done with the second portion, shifting it in another bowl, before she delivers it to the child. After, she all but collapses on a nearby stool, patting her forehead with her apron, seemingly distressed. )

By everything, maybe he could have been a danger to us, then? I can't believe it. Pet, you know what, luck's all you got in life, and maybe we were... but he didn't seem that sort to me, I'd never — not near the children, I've never let any man who reeks him of danger near my children. You're he wasn't just... just sad?

[blackscales]

I'm not certain.

[ An easy admission. He rubs at his beard thoughtfully, considering this. ]

I have no proof, only an awareness that he's been plenty of places where bad luck has befallen people. Perhaps that is poor luck for him, or perhaps for places he goes. The only way to find out would be to meet him, but it seems I'm far too late for that.

[sansdoute]

...you ask me, dear. Doesn't sound like the kind of person you should be wanting your good self to meet.

( A moment's pause, while she starts to cut the child's bacon. ) Even if he's not causing bad luck, some people are born with it. And it's a mighty shame, I'm not saying it's no pity... but when that happens, you've got to stay out of their path. Don't be borrowing their demons.

[blackscales]

Wise advice.

[ It's absolutely a terrible idea, but Wrathion isn't someone who lets things go easily. Still, he carefully begins cutting his own food. ]

I believe he was in Ke-Waihu, before he came here.

[sansdoute]

Really? That place? You know, I heard, and this was from a teacher, so you know he's right —

( Leaning in, so the little one needn't hear. ) They do all sorts of wicked things up their mountain with animals there. You know... not proper.

[blackscales]

[ Oh yes, teachers are always right. Wrathion lofts an eyebrow, then affects a frown of scandalous distaste. ]

They are a strange people.

[ Anyway, do keep spreading that rumour, it's obviously 100% true. ]

Regardless, thank you for your time and the breakfast. If you recall anything else about your... white-coated visitor, do let me know. Perhaps I can bring you something down from the city, the next time I visit. For your troubles.

[ ... He's aware they are trouble. Look at them all. ]