Minor NPCs

[Wyvern]

This thread is an attempt to track at least some of the named NPCs in the game.

Amber

• Rolf, Richard, and Will, Guard Captains of Castle Amber
• Father-Confessor Lane (first appearance)
• Galadrian Hart (first appearance)
• Nathaniel Orr, son of a minor merchant (first appearance)
• Anniah, druid
• Fitz Holcomb, talented (but as yet poorly trained) guard (first appearance)

Rebma

• Ashara, Regent of Rebma
• Corystes Razorspine, Warden of the Rebma Guard (first appearance)
• Legna, Seneschal of Rebma
• Sareshia Lunaris (first appearance)
• Nemo (first appearance)
• Kizak, aquatic dragon (first appearance)
• Priscilla, selkie maiden (first appearance)
  And family: Lleufer (ex-husband), Gwen & Leanne (children) (first appearance)

Ht'gon An-Rit

• Rogbar, leader of the Shadow Striders mercenary company (first appearance)
• Morek Silverbar
• Tabodi Silverbar (first appearance)
• Daq Nott, The Redcap (first appearance)
• Narkt, Orc Guard (first appearance)
• Grind, Bonebreaker of the Grendel Tribe (first appearance)
• Kothir, black orc, "of the Black Garrison" (first appearance)
• Jiga, tengu follower of Lyra (first appearance)
• Zunkir, his brother: Kirkun, and uncle: Father Stormroar
• Endros, "suneater" (first appearance)
• Father Bonebreaker, diamond troll & priest (first appearance)
• Shen Ruuul, Bookwyrm (first appearance)
• Pluto, displaced underworld god
• Thanus Rel, master of acids and glass (first appearance)
• Nalivoire, dark elf (possibly assassin?) (first appearance was in the background somewhere; named here)

Tir'na Nog'th

• Harrune's Family
• Anriki, Go Master in upscale gambling den
• Lady Nia, a (possibly?) kitsune (possibly?) assassin, who tends to appear around Anriki; described here
• Cassandra, sphinx and professional nuisance (first appearance)
• Kim Su-Jin
• Victor Magesoul, elven apprentice to Rasanam
• Celeste Ammarith Victoria (aka Vikky), alchemist (first appearance)
• Breaca Keigwin, Brownie, and Mistress of the Kitchens of Tir-Na Nog'th
• Rolaldael Brokenblade, Moon Elf majordomo of the Court of Tir-Na Nog'th
• Lady Ninear, Chief of Police in Faetown

[Wyvern]

Kim Su-Jin, the White Fox
Kim is a kitsune, and a low ranking member of the Court of Tir'na'nogth. She's one of the roughly four dozen individuals that's able to travel through shadow without an Amberite or complicated thaumaturgy - a fact that explains much (but not all) of her current wealth and status. The rest comes from gifts from her suitors; she's attractive, and rich, and would be quite the catch for anyone who could convince her to settle down just a bit. Of course, that's something of a fool's errand - like the stereotypical fae, she is fickle and inconsistent; she's been known to sleep with one of her suitors one evening, professing love eternal - and then spurn him the next no matter how great a gift he offers. Wiser young men (of which there are some around) tend to avoid her.

Most of the time she appears human, with exotic yellow eyes, long white hair, and the lightweight build of a gymnast. Occasionally she sports a fox tail as well, white fur with a black tip, and up to four tails on formal occasions. She favors revealing - or at least form-fitting - clothing in combinations of dark green and brown with the occasional splash of cherry-blossom pink, and rarely wears the same outfit twice. Sometimes she shows up as a fox - though she mostly reserves that form for travel through shadow or other actually potentially dangerous activities.

Psyche: Chaos
Strength: Amber, or Human for matters of brute force - she's fast, and as slippery as a greased eel if you try to hold on to her, but doesn't have the raw power that Amber rank normally includes.
Endurance: Probably Chaos, though she doesn't like to exert herself to her limits, which makes it hard to be sure.
Warfare: Chaos
Powers: Shadow Path, Minor Shapeshifting (equivalent to named & numbered forms - human, fox, and a variety of options in between that she doesn't make much use of)
Talents: To smell danger. To escape. Casually seductive. Expert illusionist (local magic only).
Quirks: Abhors a fair fight - she'd rather flee or submit than risk more scars. Amoral predator. Hates dogs - and dogs hate her back. Yesterday doesn't matter - she won't hold grudges, repay favors, or keep her word unless she expects to benefit from doing so. (Note that she is quite able to take a long-term view, and benefits can include things like "not getting killed by an annoyed Amberite".)

[Wyvern]

Galadrian Hart
Galadrian runs "The Dragon's Den", a house of iniquity that caters to the rich and powerful, offering exotic substances and "companions" literally sculpted to the tastes of its patrons. Or, as Galadrian puts it, a house of dreams where - for a price - any dream can be made reality. It's not the most ethical of businesses, but Galadrian is careful to avoid outright slavery; all of his employees are there by choice (even if their alternatives are rarely very good; the buyout terms on one of his contracts are, well, draconian at the least).

Galadrian himself is polite, and sophisticated, and manipulative, and very well connected; he doesn't know any actual criminals himself, of course, but he knows people who know people, and his establishment often serves as a discreet meeting place when some noble finds themselves in need of less savory sorts of assistance. He's also a competent sorcerer; the shape shifting spells he uses are all of his own invention, and he uses them freely on himself. His most consistent form is a human-sized oriental dragon with jade scales (in, at various times, all the different colors jade comes in) and a golden mane. Aside from that, he's turned up at events looking human, or elven, or a variety of other shapes; always elegant and refined, but rarely the same twice. Instead, he reserves consistancy for his clothing: always a dapper black vest with gold trim, square-rimmed spectacles, and a dragon's eye pendant on a gold chain. When in a humanoid form, he adds white breeches and shirt and a rapier in a black enameled sheath. Underneath all his spells, though, he's human. Probably.

Psyche: Amber
Strength: Chaos
Endurance: Chaos
Warfare: Amber
Powers: Power Words (burst of psyche, process snuff, lifeforce, resume true form, neural disrupt), Sorcery Apprentice, Magic Theory, Empowerment, Compelling
Dragon's Eye Pendant: racks named & numbered spells; confers resistance to normal weapons. This item also anchors Galadrian's personal longevity spells; despite his lack of amber ranked endurance, Galadrian is unlikely to suffer from old age any time soon - and may in turn be much older than he looks.
Talents: To follow the letter of the law. To seem sympathetic or interested, even when he's not. Recreational alchemist & enchanter. Connections across all levels of society.
Quirks: Unfailingly polite. Takes care of his own... but couldn't care less about anyone else. Nearly blind without his glasses.

Some notes: Since he's only got Sorcery Apprentice, his spells take much longer to cast than a professional sorcerer's would; as such, he prefers not to use his racked spells - though he'll gladly burn one or two to show off in the presence of an Amberite, perhaps shifting forms mid conversation. For immediate effects he relies more on power words; process snuff and lifeforce are both useful for dampening the effects of the various "interesting" substances in use at his establishment. Burst of psyche lets him amp one of his spells up if he needs it, as well as offering a bit of mental defense. Resume true form is vital for the cases when he doesn't get a shapeshift right the first time. And neural disrupt gives him a good last-ditch defense - though he's not half bad with that rapier, either. Empowerment and Compelling form the basis of his work; unlike actual spells, he doesn't suffer from the increased time when working with these - and the contracts his employees sign all stipulate that he's allowed to make temporary mental changes to suit whatever their current task is. Ethically questionable, for sure, but all very legal. (One of his most common services with compelling is to provide a companion with guaranteed discretion - outright erasing memories afterwards. Of course, those inclined to purchase such would do better to worry about reaching Galadrian's establishment unnoticed - but Galadrian is happy to charge them a premium for even a nearly-irrelevant bit of extra protection.)

[Wyvern]

Sareshia Lunaris
Sareshia owns the largest collection of waterproofed books in Rebma. She's quiet, and reclusive, and supernaturally beautiful - part of the reason she's moved to Amber, actually; she's quite tired of having men (and even some women) fight and fawn over her, and magic is enough weaker in Amber to render that at least less of a problem. She's made a small fortune offering advice to trading expeditions; she knows the inner workings of most of the courts in nearby shadows. Unfortunately, she's also a political disaster waiting to happen; those nearby courts know her, and there are at least three princelings who'd cheerfully kill for her favor - if they ever find out where she's run off to, anyway.

Sareshia is a siren by nature; she looks mostly human, but her blue-green skin, gills, webbed fingers, and sharklike teeth reveal her ancestry. She favors plain, concealing clothing - a simple white cloak over loose brown chemise, for example.

All stats at Chaos rank.
Powers: Shadow Path (though she really doesn't like leaving Amber)
Talents: Siren's Song. Noteworthy Scholar (including practical applications; she's studied enough history to be able to see when it's about to repeat itself). More practiced with a dagger than she'd like to be.
Quirks: Unwanted Attention. Rarely speaks above a whisper. Does not like being complimented on her appearance - all too often that's been the precursor to someone trying to do stupid things to win her favor, or in a few cases outright attempted kidnapping.

[Wyvern]

Morek Silverbar
Morek is the single richest dwarf in Ht'gon; a moneylender who - thanks to cutthroat business practices - outright owns about a tenth of the city of Amber, and nearly one ship in four among its merchant fleet. His economic power makes him one of the strongest nobles among any of the four courts - but his ambitions do not stop there; he seeks the power of a full Amberite - for himself, if he can get it; for his children or grandchildren if he can't. Not that he's petitioned to walk the Pattern; he thinks the Pattern is some grand trick of Dworkin's, a means to execute the unwary while making it look like you gave them a chance. (Of course, he's very careful about who he shares that opinion with...)

He's always richly dressed, in silks and ermine and jewels. Many of his items are enchanted - one of his rings detects poison; another keeps the air around him fresh and perfumed; his blade bursts into flame on command; that sort of thing. His family tends towards similar extravagance, though few of them will have more than one or two enchanted items; Morek is rich beyond the dreams of most, but even his coffers are not limitless.

Psyche: Chaos, though his enchantments give him roughly amber rank for defensive purposes - this includes things like bluffing or keeping a poker face, as well as more direct defense against mental assaults.
Strength: Chaos.
Endurance: Chaos; slightly higher for purposes of just staying up and active - Morek spends time balancing books and going through paperwork long into the night - but slightly lower for purposes of physical exertion.
Warfare: Chaos, except within the domains of business and politics, where he's somewhere between unranked and low ranked.
Powers: None, unless you count money (and all the allies and items money can buy).
Talents: To recognize talent. Cutthroat Business Sense. Plausible Deniability.
Quirks: He does not want to see the current regime overthrown - he just wants his family to be at the top of the heap. Comes down hard on anyone in his organization that he catches doing anything illegal - but rewards those clever enough not to get caught.

Minions: Morek's most important minions are his immediate family.

• Keya: Morek's wife; beautiful by dwarven standards, and particularly skilled at delicate metalwork and enchantments - her work formed the initial seed for Morek's wealth.
• Tabodi: Morek's eldest child. She's spent the last several years studying Dworkin; initially at her father's insistance (Dworkin is, after all, the most eligible bachelor in Amber), but more recently because she simply finds Dworkin's works fascinating. Which puts her current mental state somewhere between "walking library" and "mad scientist in training". Known to practice both sorcery and engineering.
• Reytan: Morek's eldest son. Not as skilled at business as his father - yet - but he's certainly working on it.
• Foradim: Morek's middle son. Originally a master marksman with a rifle; he's still trying to find a form of gunpowder that works in Amber. Until then, though, he's shifted to a longbow, and has gotten himself fairly highly ranked in Ht'gon's guards - a position that forces him to rub shoulders with orcs, which pleases neither him nor the orcs. There may (or may not) be problems here eventually.
• Brilh: Morek's youngest son. Still fairly young, as dwarves go, and full of youthful exuberance and irresponsibility.

Morek also has a two year old daughter named Kinifa, though she's far too young to count as a minion yet.

Other minions include the "Silver Plates", Morek's personal honor guard - typically identifiable by their brightly polished plate armor. Named members include Lieutenant Willhiem, and Colonel Johan.

[Wyvern]

Cassandra
Cassandra is a sphinx, a roughly lion-sized cat with a human face and a bird's wings. She's fond of riddles, puzzles, cryptic commentary, scritches behind the ears, pouncing on people from ambush, hunting small birds, flexing her claws menacingly, and turning up in places where she really shouldn't be. She's either a noble or an amberite; it's not clear which - she has no qualms about ordering around guards and servents and even the occasional minor noble, but has yet to directly challenge anyone who's known to have walked the pattern.

Psyche: Unranked at a minimum, just based on her ability to bluff, lie, and generally twist conversations into pretzels.
Strength: Amber at a minimum, based on the fact that she can fly; probably higher.
Endurance: Unknown - she's yet to demonstrate anything above Human rank, and tends to catnap when things get too boring.
Warfare: Unranked at a minimum, just based on her ability to bluff, lie, and generally twist conversations into pretzels. Plus the ambushing and pouncing.

Powers: She's clearly got a good grasp of magic theory, as well as a handful of Power Words. Actual sorcery, though... if she can do it, she doesn't; preparing spells apparently takes longer than her attention span.
Talents: To find the most interesting things. To hide in the most unlikely places. To twist conversations into pretzels.
Quirks: Catnaps. Acts like royalty regardless of whether or not she actually is. Always wants to know more.

[Draylen]

Shadow Striders Caravan Guard
This company of men and women, a hundred in all, is stationed primarily in Ht'Gon. It is under the indirect employ of Merok Silverbar, and trains half of its forces in swords, the other half in spears. Javelins are common amongst the latter, as they allow ranged combat as well as supporting the front line. The company is usually split into divisions of ten at any given time, though they are rotated between duties regularly enough. Usually no more than seven companies are out at any given time, with three off duty and hireable for a not insignificant fee. They are known to occasionally purchase slaves with combat training, as well as indentured contracts for the same. They are lead by Rogbar the Mighty. One tenth of their number is trained in Sorcery by Magister Laeryn.

Rogbar the Mighty
Rogbar is a great feline warrior capable of using many weapons, though he prefers to remain quadrupedal when not on watch. He has many potent magic weapons, armors, and trinkets, and can move faster and hit harder than it looks like he should be capable of doing. He is very lazy, and loves nothing more than a bowl of cream - but is perfectly capable of devastating manipulation and effectiveness if he feels it necessary.

Psyche: Chaos at best, but acts like Human level most of the time.
Strength: Appears to be Chaos, but is actually Amber ranked, as proven when he deems it necessary.
Warfare: Amber ranked, apparently, as shown by his talent at weaponry.
Endurance: Uncertain. He has enough magic items to disguise all aspects of this - and almost anyone who knew him before he had them have met with unfortunate accidents.

Armory: Great ax, multiple types of swords, spears, javelins, bows that work in different shadows... But most importantly, three rings he never removes and Seven League Boots, tailored expressly for him, that allow him to move many, many, many times faster than any mortal at a run. (They're leather boots that have Confer Engine Speed.)

[Rasanam]

Corystes Razorspine, Warden of the Rebma Guard
Corystes is a gaunt, almost-skeletal humanoid figure, covered in a spiky chitinous shell in varying shades of brown. Her forearms in particular include natural blades sharp enough to cut through light armor, and - while she prefers to use nets or bolas or the like - she is quite adept with her natural weapons as well. Her face is a nearly expressionless mask with flat black eyes, and many people (particularly outside Rebma) assume she is as coldly emotionless as she appears.

Her typical outfit is just a simple utility harness, adorned only with pockets and pouches and latches for attaching this or that. When she knows she'll be dealing with land-dwellers, she adds a long tunic in blue and gold, with several metal-ringed holes to prevent her spines from damaging the cloth. For the Rebma ball, she will go one step farther: a diaphanous blue dress that's held away from her body by sorcery, giving much the impression of being wrapped in a transparent jellyfish - and protecting any potential dance partners from accidental injury on the spikes of her shell.

Her ranking in the Rebma Guard merits some explanation; Warden in particular means game warden, and Corystes works closely with the fisherman's guild to prevent overfishing, and to protect them from the occasional sea monster or other dangers. Which, given the high status of fishers in Rebma, makes the wardens the highest ranked individuals in the guard, and Corystes is not just a warden, but the Warden. In many other organizations, this high a rank would carry primarily administrative duties - but this is not the case for the Rebma Guard; Corystes' responsibilities are much more to be out and doing things. While she can (and will) give orders when she feels the situation warrants it, the day to day organization of the guard is not her job.

Talents:

• To Be Where The Action Is: Corystes has a knack of turning up just when there's something going down, or where her attention might prove useful.
• Perfect Poker Face: Neither Corystes' face, nor her voice, carry emotion very well; if you want to know her mood, you'll need some practice and a very good sense of smell; if you want to read her lips, you're just out of luck.
• To Hear Secrets: Corystes listens, to everything, all the time; she's the sort of person who could sit down at a crowded restaurant, hold an engaging conversation with her date, and then afterwards tell you that the people two tables down were making deals in thieves' cant while appearing to complain about their food - and that the cooks in the kitchen only tolerated those complaints because they were known to tip well.

Quirks:

• Stormcrow: Corystes is frequently regarded as an ill omen or a harbinger of bad luck - this is the flip side of her talent to show up where and when she's needed.
• Emotionless Armored Mask: Sometimes, having a perfect poker face isn't a good thing.
• Click, Clack: A frequent mannerism in conversation, and an impediment to stealth - Corystes can move silently when she has to, but not at anywhere near her full speed. Still, she has occasionally used this to her advantage, surprising people who didn't think she could move silently at all.

[Joshua]

Some Ht'Gon NPCs:

Narkt: Loudmouth guard orc who hates formal occasions.

Grind: Bonebreaker of the Grendel tribe. Ogre, but with enough troll blood to have claws and regeneration. In charge of most of Ht'Gon's 'armies'. Has the talent to attack with wounded limbs.

Daq Nott: Head of the Redcaps with his strangle cord Skinfaxi.

[Joshua]

Ashara, Steward of Rebma:
The steward is a very elfin looking nymph or nereid with pale blue skin frames a classic beauty that transcends culture. (More a Cleopatra than a Marilyn.) She often wears very formal attire, silk dresses accompanied by coral jewelry. Her hair is a dark black with blue highlights that is meticulously combed and styled, different almost every time you see her. Although she's no warrior, like Queen Elizabeth I, she has been known to don full coral armor for formal occasions.

Psyche: Amber or higher (perhaps low ranked). She has a basic mastery of water-based magic. A specialized form of shadow magic she has adapted to Amber.
Strength: About Chaos. She's wiry and strong for her body type, but has a tiny frame.
Endurance: Amber. Regardless of the other aspects of her life, she holds nothing back in her defense of Rebma digging into amazing reserves.
Warfare: Amber or just a touch higher. She is capable of 'playing' at Amber-level politics, despite having no advantages in that realm.