General NPCs
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This thread provides my interpretation of NPCs used by multiple DMs, including myself, either in general or by a subset or group of DMs. It is subject to change, and to feedback from other DMs.
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Peltarch Defenders
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Physical Description: The soldiers wear green armor when equipped and out in the field, and dark blue dress uniforms when at military functions or at city hall. Currently, most soldiers in the military appear younger than 20 summers, though the higher ranking lieutenants and captains appear older. The military flag is a stylized shield on a green backdrop.
Public Knowledge:
The Defenders are Peltarch's military, and make up the bulk of its ground forces, including cavalry, and also comprise its navy. They are led by General Gom. General Gom's years of service in the Peltarch military out-number any other current member. All the same, he is known for his abrasive attitude and loud, frequently offensive demeanor. Higher-ranking military officials and military historians, however, praise his strategic decisions.
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Captain Reyhenna Jorino is another veteran, though younger than Del'rosa and known as much for her hot head as her string of military victories and accomplishments. The most notable of which is her purge of the military of the defector Far Scout Commander Smoke and his traitorous supporters. She commands a regiment of loyal soldiers, though many were recruited from questionable mercenaries who were more interested in gold than the army, some who have hitherto left Peltarch altogether. The Captain Jorino is the most controversial among her peers due to her involvement in domestic disputes, the most public of which against the Seafarer Organization in the Docks.
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Captain Renius Hrresh commands Peltarch's navy. Hrresh is an experienced naval officer and one of Reyhenna Jorino's closest allies. His expertise is in naval combat and he has won numerous ship to ship battles.
The Defenders have certain notable lieutenants:
- Lieutenant Scott Grimm is a reputedly ruthless and pragmatic soldier who is willing to make hard decisions some military observers have called ethically questionable. Grimm is considered politically savvy, and has secured a seat on the Royal Council, representing the Commerce District.
The Defenders were formerly led by Frederic Del'rosa, a seasoned veteran of many wars. He was known for his charisma, pragmatism, and patience. Opinion is divided between those who consider him a capable statesman and the others who say his flexibility can at times border on about-face.
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Horace Ainsley
Physical Description: Tall, thin, and straight, his is a gaunt silhouette of a man. His clear eyes are sunken and focused. His voice is an unsettling combination of hollow and deep.
Public Knowledge: Treasurer to the Oscura Tribune, he is known to many by name alone. He rarely makes public appearances in the underground city or otherwise. His only repute is that of a diligent and quiet administrator, a tenure he's held for the past decade.
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Jessica Whyte
Status: Deceased - killed in "Iconoclast."
Physical Description: Her usual shrewd expression contrasts sharply with the indifferent smile that occasionally crosses her face. She is often seen smoking pipeweed or rare rolls of tobacco from foreign cities, a habit which has prematurely aged her otherwise pleasant facial features. Though not especially strong or spry, her presence is magnetic and tends to command an air of respect from those around her, especially the Seafarers Guild and the Docks Guards.
Public Knowledge: In Peltarch, the adage is that the docks have a law of their own. If that's true, it may as well be Jessica Whyte. She is the managing partner and chief operations officer of the Seafarers Guild, the guild that controls, dictates, and sets the tenor of Peltarch's Docks District. Many claim that the Seafarer Guild's success is in no small part due to Jessica Whyte's position and influence in the guild. The Seafarers employ a small army of guards that rival even the largest of Defender regiments and, not only that, but double the size of the Docks guards.
Her reputation is that of a bullish negotiator and hawkish proponent of her family's interests, such that she has been dubbed the Seafarer Guild's "shark." This reputation stands in stark contrast to her father's: Chadwick Whyte is in charge of the Guild, but is known to be a soft hand, perhaps to make up for the Seafarer's nefarious reputation inherited from its original leader, Vaster Ashald.
Previously, Whyte suffered a significant blow to her influence and reputation due to certain strings pulled by the now deceased Docks Union leader Wilkes, as well as Roslyn Underhill's efforts to unite non-human labour.
Of course, now Wilkes is dead, and Jessica Whyte unsurprisingly has returned to her dominant position as head of the Seafarers and, by extension, the Docks district.
It is moderately well-known that Whyte disagrees with the Crown's recent change of heart with regard to guild taxation. It is well known that the Crown changed its position, likely to fund the expanding dole of charity for the poor and working class following the intervention of Peltarch Magistrate Shannon d'Arneau. The position pits the Seafarers Guild at odds with the Crown as well as the Magistrate.
In tandem, Jessica Whyte has also turned her attention unto Reyhenna Jorino and her recently incorporated, so-called Goldfish Company of mercenaries ("G.F.C." ). It is by now public knowledge that the two women are at odds, and some say have begun a private war in the docks district. While the G.F.C. purchased an abandoned warehouse to act as its headquarters, the Seafarers have begun offering to purchase at double or triple the cost all adjacent plots of land, in what real estate observers have called a policy of containment.
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Peltarch Herald Damien Fisher
Status: Deceased. Killed in "The Iconoclast."
Physical Description: Short, pale, and dark haired, the wiry and sour-faced Damien Fisher is typically draped in a modest bureaucrat's garb. Compared to his brother George, he is not particularly handsome nor physically appealing. He walks with a faint hunch on his back, and his clothes tend to be worn loosely, in particular, his shirts or anything hanging from his torso. When he speaks, he speaks with a nasal, dry voice, often tempered with sarcasm and sardony.
Public Knowledge: Damien Fisher is brother to Peltarch King George Fisher, and despite his royal bloodline, served as the Herald to the Peltarch Senate. He is often the first point of contact for adventurers seeking information or assistance from City Hall, civil administrators, or indeed, the monarchy. He is the head of all civil administration at City Hall, and holds authority over every clerk, as well as a de-facto seat at the King's Council. He has a reputation of being a greedy man, especially in his relationship to adventurers who enter city hall with requests -- often charging a personal fee for assisting them. However, some note he never charges non-adventurers. Despite this fact, Fisher does not dress extravagantly, nor does he possess or display any worldly or affluent jewelry or objects.
His daughter is Bess Fisher, better known by her adventurer alias, Reyhenna Jorino. Little is publicly known of their relationship, save for the fact that they were separated during Korreth's war while Bess was merely an infant. Korreth sought to purge any claims counter to his own, Senate or Royal, and so exiled Damien, his brother George, and his daughter Bess to different regions of Narfell and, indeed, Toril. Korreth further poisoned Bess' mind with amnesia prior to her exile. The royal family is now reunited in no small part thanks to the Church of Siamorphe. All the same, rumor suggests that Damien and his daughter have nonetheless experienced a difficult and at times conflicted relationship.
As King George is expected to take on one or more concubines or additional wives, Damien (and his daughter's) claim to the throne in the event of his brother's demise is precarious at best. Damien has been one of the more persistent forces to help his brother find an hier, and has sent missives and letters to potential suitors ever since it was revealed that George's current wife, the Queen, is infertile. Though Damien is royalty, city officials do not treat him with the same reverence as they do his far more charismatic brother George. Most treat him as an administrator and bureaucrat, and indeed, he holds himself out as such. Whereas King George is renowned for his ability to spend the Crown's purse (usually to help the poor or the destitute), Herald Fisher is to the contrary known for his ability to refill it, especially when working in conjunction with the current Master of Coin, Enenan Snydders.
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Magistrate Vlana Borodin
Physical Description: Her eyes are dark, whirling pools of black, and their gaze contains a certain elevated indifference. Staring at them long enough can lend them an air of uncomfortable intensity. Her raven hair is perfectly groomed, and she almost wears the dark red robes lined with Peltarch's magisterial embroidery. She carries with her an enchanted staff, upon which she tends to idly lean. Her voice is rich but her dialect and tone are at once contemptuous and bored, providing a scornful vessel for precise and calculated words.
Public Knowledge: Nicknamed "the Viper," for her alleged propensity to magically transform guilty parties to stone, Magistrate Vlana Borodin is one of Peltarch's three judges. She is part of an old Peltarchian bloodline rooted in the times far before those of the current King. Unlike her peers Magistrates D'Arneau and Galpen-Ashald, Borodin's faith or deity is ambiguous at best. Likewise, she is also reputed to be the harshest of the trio of Peltarch's Magistrates, especially to those who provide no legal defense and rely exclusively on the mercy of the court. Despite her cold, judicial logic, she is known to express a certain dry, frank, almost sarcastic humor at those she deems worthy of mockery. A time ago, she chose Cecil Northman, previously a Norwickan guard, as her Inquisitor. He has shed any titles and allegiances to Norwick and currently operates as the hand and executor of her judicial will. Northman recently ascended to the rank of Magistrate. She has chosen Morgan Azzen to be her newest Inquisitor.
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