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]

( It's fascinating. And truthful. And a little bit garish. And still ultimately fundamentally unsatisfying.

...not unlike this potato that Deimar is still chewing. His world is one of beige sadness and hardboiled things. )

I truly don't have the time for this. ( Empathetically, as if common sense has ever stayed any kind of insurrection. )

[vdovy]

[ The most inoffensive response that Yelena can manage is to roll her eyes dramatically. Leave it to royalty to rate an insurrection on convenience of timing. ]

Then you will have to make time. This isn't going away. It isn't even the first time someone has tried to frame you.

[ In fact, Yelena has begun to turn over in her mind the possibility that both accusations— the mysterious woman and now this— came from the same source. Not that she has any proof of that to go on; for now, it's just a hunch. ]

[jatharin]

Yes, and every time I seem to emerge triumphant. How clever I am.

( And dry-tongued, unimpressed with either his own feats or — the perennially waved potato. It really could do with a lick of... anything. Salt, to start. Heat. Prayer. )

Or maybe simply innocent. ( Imagine that. ) But! I'm afraid I, for one, wasn't amusing myself. I don't have time for this. If your people give me more trouble than help, I assure you, I'm happy to turn you all away.

[vdovy]

[ By now, Yelena has grown so accustomed to the king's brand of self-flattery that she barely notices it. His threat, however, registers loud and clear. She thinks carefully on her next words because what the king takes away from this conversation will affect everyone in her party. ]

How would that solve your problem? Rumors about you preceded our arrival and could well outlive our exit. The doubt was cast on you, not us. Turning us away would only leave you most exposed when you can least afford it.

[jatharin]

( Ah, it's like this, then. A play for reason, for strategy, for the chance to see through further games, yet afoot. His smile turns thin, then bitter. Slow. )

...Yelena, I won't survive this either way. The hand is played.

( Now, he chews his potato again — meditatively. It tastes like ashes. So be it. )

You want the last tatters of my reputation? Take them. But you won't complicate our evacuation with conspiracy at the last hour. However much my uncle is paying your people, tell them I have more.

[vdovy]

[ Yelena winces to see Deimar so resigned to his fate. It's easy to forget in her frustration that the king is only human. ]

My people haven't complicated anything; they are still giving you the benefit of the doubt. You can provide the context we're missing and put this to rest. So what is stopping you?

[jatharin]

Have you considered that there is nothing more to provide?

( Chewing. Chewing is a miraculous and underrated gesture. So nuanced, so grave. He chews aggressively. He chews forlornly. He chews like a man possessed. )

I've said already. I haven't sold you. There is no more to say. Nor way to disprove this... anonymous accuser who I am told supplied you no detail, no evidence, no name...? What do you expect out of this, past, 'I say' and 'they say'?

( But no, he called this meeting. ) I don't want to have to worry on your account as well.

[vdovy]

[ Yelena suppresses a frustrated noise. They keep going in circles so she decides to lay it out explicitly. ]

Since you are innocent, there must be an explanation for your messages to Rathakku that has nothing to do with us. So what is it?

[ His next statement makes her frown. ]

I told you, I'm not the one to worry about. I am Team Deimar, all the way!

[ She feigns waving pom-poms in the air. ]

[jatharin]

What messages? ( Allow him an entirely lung-shattering sigh of frustration. Not even the potato can save this, and it has done much for Deimar and humanity at large. ) Do you understand the only thing brought to me was an accusation that I have sold you? Brought to you by an anony —

( No, no. They've spoken of this before, to excess. )

I don't care. You said I have nothing to worry about. Good. See it remains so.

[vdovy]

So I will lay it out for you: the accusation originated with your messages to Rathakku. There was something about a dozen plus tax. What does that refer to?

[ She nods to confirm understanding and neglects to mention that whether it remains so is dependent on the King's own actions. He can only enjoy her loyalty for as long as her people have his. ]

[jatharin]

( His brows furrow, mouth gaping, the entirety of his world narrowed down to Yelena, her obstinacy. This time, the potato lands squarely on his plate, rolling down the table in sad futility, while Deimar exhales harshly. )

Get your matters sorted, your information aligned. I never sent any message about... taxes.

[vdovy]

No, that part was demanded of you. But you keep telling me what you didn't do. What did you message him about?

[ Hopefully, her having volunteered some information first will make Deimar a little more forthcoming than his usual. ]

[jatharin]

When?

( He hasn't even the shame to pretend ignorance of transacting with the enemy. It strikes him, midway, that this might incriminate him — for all conversing with the enemy is a natural and strategic part of battle. )

I exchange words with him every few days. The man is my enemy. You've never carried a war, if you don't understand diplomacy takes place throughout. You have to keep testing and testing and testing each other's conditions.

( Obviously, he doesn't mutter after. But ah, it is close. ) I speak to Raka... Ratha... that thing outside my walls more often than I do to my own brother, and he practically wears my face.

[vdovy]

When you spoke of dozens.

[ Yelena suppresses an obviously of her own. He denied the part about taxes but said nothing of the dozen. There must be a reasonable explanation that has nothing to do with the travelers. ]

Look, I understand it's probably sensitive, right? If it has to stay between us, it will. I just want to be able to report back to my group that I've been thoroughly convinced of your innocence.

I can't ask them to trust me on a gut feeling. So please, convince me.

[jatharin]

( He blinks, owlish, long. Unassuming. Hard. Then, carefully: )

What do you think Rathakku wants from Alem? Why us?

( No. No, better: ) Think. Not the gate. Not hell. Hell's always been here, and Rathakku didn't come for it. What does he want, why now?

[vdovy]

[ Yelena's brows knit together. ] What do you mean now? He has been laying siege to Alem for almost a year.

[jatharin]

( Laughter, shrill. ) Yes. A year. And the dead have been walking Akhuras for many before that, and hell was sealed in Alem centuries ago.

( He seems at once patient and frustrated past bearing, reaching for his half-filled cup. Twirling it. )

Why now?

[vdovy]

Because of us? [ Yelena doesn't feel entirely confident with her guess: she knows the rough timeline of when travelers started showing up in Akhuras, but the siege of Alem preceded the their arrival at the fortress by a year. Has Rathakku been waiting for them all this time? It's not impossible; he may have guessed they would come for the beacon. ]

[jatharin]

...hardly. ( But he's drinking, rather than stabbing his potato, which is a remarkable and noted development. The vegetable, for one, is pleased. )

He realised there is something he wants even more than hell. Something that can free him. And now, we've stumbled on it. By accident, by design. What does it matter. Funny, isn't it?

( But he's not laughing. ) Pandemonium at our feet, and the worst hell is still the one we reap upon each other.

[vdovy]

Damn. That was my next guess. [ It sounds like a joke, and frankly, this conversation could use some comic relief. But it's true: Yelena had wondered if he was alluding to some hidden motive of Rathakku's before she convinced herself that the answer had to be painfully obvious, as the king seemed to think.

Perhaps his impatience stemmed from her failure to consider the enemy's motive from the beginning. She could kick herself for that too. Widows are brought in to start or end wars; they don't usually deal with the messiness in between. The king may have had a point when he questioned her knowledge of war after all. ]

Is it something magic?

[jatharin]

( He stays himself. Measures out each breath, considers, considers, exhales. Looks her over, for a moment, less as a bodyguard and a foreigner, no where near a friend. Only: )

What would you do, for family?

[vdovy]

[ Yelena tilts her head as she studies the change in him. Her cynical side would answer that she has no family but that isn't really true. There are people that she does consider family and how she feels about them informs her answer. ]

Anything I had to. [ She answers simply. ] Why the very ominous sounding question?

[jatharin]

Because you came here, wondering if I would sell you.

( He drinks; it was always meant to come to this. Drink and disaster, and the girl he throws the goblet — or towards, for how weakly he does it. It cannot be that he intended hurt. It cannot be that he hoped for anything else. )

And now you know.

[vdovy]

You came wondering if I would kill you.

[ Yelena reminds him with a pointed finger. The same hand swipes the goblet away as one would swat a fly. She is too deep in pursuit of answers to stop and take offense. ]

So you haven't sold us but it's still in the cards, is that it? And Rathakku's target, will you hand that over too?

[jatharin]

( That is it, smile thin, pained in a way that marks not bruised sentiment but the strain of pretend a perfectly pleasant demeanour. He is, some might say, devoid of such notions. Here, now, shaking his head thinly, once. )

I have no such intention.