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

Letter left for Thivar II

[weifinder]

King Thivar II,

My name is Wei Wuxian, an artist when it comes to personal grooming by trade, and new to the city by matter of luck and merit. The warm greetings within Eidris were a balm to the spirit after long months of travel. Your letter was equally appreciated, and such was the depth of it that I wished to send you a thank you for its authorship.

Should you find yourself desiring a new look with regards to facial hair, please call upon me! I am at your service anytime.

With warmth and sincerity and the wish your your health and happinesses,
Wei Wuxian

Asgeirr | once in Serthica Proper

[weifinder]

( worried, as his senses fail to find any sense of spirits, any resentful energies, any death, any life. nothing, and nothing, and here he is trying to rouse Asgeirr from his hemmed and tendered cloak. )

Asgeirr, can you hear me?

Quick Sam

[bravelyrunsaway]

Erstwhile captain, what berth have you found in the aftermath of our very unfortunately exciting introduction here in Serthica?

[aprescoup]

( Oh, it's been ever so long since someone's worn his cloak, perhaps the edges might start to fray soon.

He's faster come now, than before, colour to his cheek. No more mere accident of illusion, but a summoned thing, courage gained. )

He... llo...? Oh. Good day, friend.

[sansdoute]

( Most regrettably, his royal highness, king Thivar does not deign to personally a second letter at this time.

However, his attendant in chief does invite Wei Wuxian for a consultation, to illustrate his skill before being considered to serve the king. )

[sansdoute]

( He's taken his time to find his footing after the group's shown him the mercy of their acceptance, but he's wearily content now, accruing strength. The madness exorcised from him. )

All ports welcome when storm's at sea, lad.

[weifinder]

( a sigh of some relief, uncertain of what he might have otherwise seen, but also: )

You look more here than ever, Asgeirr. I don't think I've ever seen you so fully before.

[weifinder]

( Wei Wuxian accepts this invitation, setting up a date for this consultation, while also doing...

... facial hair grooming research, to see what the new fads are all about. When he sees some of the absurdities, he gets some ideas of his own.

... and starts growing one of his own again, though it's hardly an immediate affair. )

Quicksilver Sam.

[valeas]

( The chaos of their arrival, followed by a summit-turned-attack, has kept Emilia busy and required prioritisation. Needs must.

Once she sees an opening, however, she seizes upon it. Remembers that when not rattled by tongue relics, Quicksilver Sam showed an appreciation for manners: )

Captain Vane.
I hope this missive finds you ( rational ) well, as I must request a moment of your time.

[aprescoup]

Is... that so?

( But there's a deepening of his smile, a silent, unambiguous contentment. His gaze traces over himself, his limbs, their shapeliness. )

Perhaps I've... I've gained a little heft.

audio

[sansdoute]

( Kindly, excuse this man, for he is not at his finest ease with letter-writing. )

There be no need for ceremony.

[valeas]

( A small concession, in the grand scheme of things. )

Very well.

With the Crossing behind us, you'll understand my need to make sense of the events that near claimed our lives.

[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. )

[bravelyrunsaway]

A logic Mr. Briggs was less than enthused about, regretfully.

( said with a low laugh, and no particular rancour. the chance he was talking about literal ports was exceedingly low. )

Though he did delight in introducing me to his namesake for the difference in opinion. Quite chatty in the brig, with all the lovely ladies for company.

( a cluck of his tongue, waving it off both mentally and otherwise. )

To be direct, I wasn't in favour of keeping you alive. The larger number of us felt otherwise, and I'm equally unfavourable to revisiting their decision to act against it.

( just a pause to follow, since it's a statement, nothing that needs replying to, and nothing he expects is terribly endearing. his ultimate point being: )

I've an open port should you care to exchange either information or beds, or both at once. For whatever it's worth, we're now weathering the same storms, for as long as your gratitude lasts. Make of it what you will.

( he sounds so cheery at that last. )

[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.

The Merchant ; Audio

[enucleation]

[ a couple of days after arriving to Serthica ]

Good day, this is Kaneki. I was wondering if it's possible for us to have a talk regarding the artefact I was told to acquire when I first arrived.

[sansdoute]

( A pause, inevitable. There is a certain awkwardness lent to any polite conversation wherein one man confesses he had conspired to the death of another. )

I'm making, me... you can't make up your mind. Want me dead, want me in a bed, ey? Sort yerself.

[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.

[bravelyrunsaway]

( he does laugh at this: )

Hardly. As I said, I don't care for you dead.

( past tense, he wouldn't have put himself out there to keep you alive. he's not on contract for it. even the merchant hasn't contracted him for shit. very weird! )