npc inbox: arc v

[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

■ Arc IV: Serthica

ALEM | ALLIED NPCs | OTHERS

ALEM

	DEIMAR Young king of Alem, six months into rule. Ascended after his father perished during Alem’s siege. Bright, sharp, sly. A golden prince with formidable charisma. Men would follow him to their doom.
	HAIVA Elder brother to Deimar, whom he resembles greatly. No appetite for the throne. Organises the evacuation convoys and healing efforts. Personally visits the wounded often. Scholarly, sedate and sickly. Has offered a bounty for the Reaper.
	CLE-FLORENS Twelve-year-old sister to Deimar and Haiva, in line for the throne. Shy, hesitant, weary of bloodshed. The people name her a symbol of righteousness and think they’ll win the war if they are led by her innocence and sacrifice.
	VATAZ DECEASED | Cousin to the heirs, son to Thyvault. Paladin of renown, serious, earnest, ready to sacrifice his life for Alem. Devout believer in the citadel’s sacred mission to rein in hell.
	THYVAULT Uncle to the throne heirs, father to Vataz. Pragmatic, weathered, strong. Consummate soldier and sorcerer. Briefly acted as Regent while Alem determined his brother’s succession — many say he hesitated to surrender the crown to Deimar.
	GALATEA Distant relation and noted paladin. Patient, fair and compassionate. A rare embodiment of military prowess and diplomatic sensibilities. Negotiated the trade route truce with Rathakku and has been single-handedly striking supply deals with traders.
	KERASSTONE Leader of Mount Attevar’s ancient dwarf tribes, which preceded the settlement of Alem. Allied with the citadel for its efforts to keep hell bound. Battle-hardened and quick-tempered, but a man you want minding your back in battle. The one who’ll make sure everyone survives.
	MERCHANTS OF ALEM Passing scavengers intent on stripping the flesh off Alem's financial bones. From boastful Batthour of the grain route to stern Eles of silks and steel, they'll supply most provisions... for a steep price.
	RATHAKKU / RAKKATHU / 'THE LORD WHO WAITS' Undead liege. The Lord of War. Cruel, cunning, decisive, strong. Apt torturer and tactician. Sufficiently patient to wait out a year of siege against Alem. Leads the armies of the brotherhood — so far, to perennial victory. Can only be reached by missive (a single letter/answer interaction) or through envoy.

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. Currently unavailable.
	ZENOBIUS Former caretaker and scientist of Ellethia, site and cauldron of the first undead attacks. Fell victim to local enchantment and looked after the comatose bodies of his former colleagues for years. Fell and awoke from a long sleep, partly amnesiac. Practical, grumpy, unafraid to challenge the Merchant.
	'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

[jatharin]

Mistress Granger,

I thank your note and your kind and gods-fearing care for Master Wei Wuxian. And to know that he is so open of mind and gentle of spirit to entrust and permit the reading of letters, and the greater hardship of penmanship, to a member of the womanly disposition. Indeed, I note that your calligraphy is sound, although my master of letters remarks the excess of sentimental eloquence that is only accepted because of the limitations of our natures. Such as we are, imperfect.

But your writing comforts me, and so Master Wei Wuxian's tutelage must be fair and fine, and what a man he must be. I am well pleased.

But I must correct you. I am not a child, for I am already twelve and soon of marrying facility, and my brothers tell me I must be prepared to honour Hell and kingdom, as they are. And so I shall wed respectably and doing great service to my people, and I have a fine dowry, with which regard my master of letters attaches the items of possessions involved, as he did not wish me to be troubled by counting. For which I thank him.

As for Alem, I am its first and most loving servant, as were my grandfathers and grandfathers before me. And know, that as they died to seal Hell, so too shall I die with bravery and honesty, as is called upon me, to defend it. I shall embody the bravery of warriors, and as my physician counsels, take salts to comfort me from any fainting sickness born of contrary nerves. And I have many salts, please let Master Wei Wuxian know, for my dowry is very vast, and so his purse will not be inconvenienced.

With care.

[reparo]

[The woman was too stunned to speak.

And so the woman set out to find Wei Wuxian again, and shove the letter at him, impatiently.]

I'd like a word with her master of letters - I bet he's a git. To call me excessively sentimental?!

[Absolutely assume this rant is happening while she expects him to read the letter.]

Now what?

[weifinder]

( he blinks, collecting the letter she'd shoved at him to read it, eyebrows continuing to rise as he does. what in the worlds? )

... If she were older, I'd accept her decision and her family's, because it's... not done for us to say which family is making what decision for the members of their families. When they're not sacrificing them.

( that's beyond anything he can imagine. family is meant to matter more, and if you kill all your younger generation, what do you expect? )

We might ask if her brothers have said they also wish to stay and fall the fortress, defending Hell. And what she wishes for her people, when the fortress falls, since she has to have an opinion even if it's one her brothers gave her.

( he looks so deeply puzzled and concerned over all this. )

We won't be convincing her of much of anything, so we may as well... keep her engaged with something else to think on than the slow fall of everything her family's stood for.

[reparo]

I can't afford to be babysitting a princess right now, with the continued harpy attacks. [Put nicely.] So as much of a good idea as that may be, I would ask that you do it - of course, she might think it's a form of courtship.

What if she doesn't have another opinion aside from this? What if she's been brought up so...brainwashed that she's fully of the belief that a woman's duty is whatever her brothers say it is?

[It makes her a little sick with frustration to think about it. A shame she's discovering this now, in the middle of a siege. She would've loved to have time to speak to Cle-Florens about how much of a bellend her master of letters sounds to be.]

Do I send her a letter in reply, or do we just put that endeavour to rest and evacuate her with the rest of her people?

[weifinder]

Write her back, if nothing else we can help keep her occupied.

( he rubs his forehead, just... puzzled. sad? angry? everything, in an exhausted way. )

I'll see what little random stories I can send her in the meantime, maybe get Lan Zhan to help. At her age... she shouldn't be eager to die.