So, to get to the point, I'm going to detail the following NPC - a powerful figure in the Sain Dite Hel - with a short description and then some tools as detailed in The Alexandrian's Don't Prep Plots post. I call these tools "resources," but they're the same thing. If you want more explanation on how to use NPC resources in game, read Don't Prep Plots.
*Pictures in this post are unrelated to the topic, but cool.
The Northern Luc
There are two regions of the Mist Jags - northern and southern. Of the Guardians of Interest that have reign in the northern Mist Jags, the Northern Luc is the most influential, the most powerful. Her name is Castel.
The uninformed regard Castel as the ultimate ruler of Sain Dite Hel (SDH). Any Negotiator will tell you that this is a falsehood. Others, mercenaries and merchants close to the megacorp, are not so sure.
She is known as the Stone Rot by her enemies. Decades ago a failed assassination attempt deprived her of the lower half of her body. With the aid of an allied *Grele Coriste artisan, her missing pieces were replaced with an integrated prosthetic of flexible limestone.
Her limestone prosthetic is mostly hollow and filled with various bays for holding water. These are arrayed on a gyroscopic mount - the bays are always upright. Her side is open for the venting of **bosime steam. One can easily see the spiked carapace of the drug swirling in heated pools. Her Beans spend most of their time in this interior enclosure - they enjoy lazing about. She is constantly shrouded in steam; it comes from her mouth when she speaks.
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Heri Shinato |
Castel concerns herself with the mundane. She will conduct extensive investigations of objects, people. These interviews she conducts, investigations of people, are three day affairs. She is known (more neutrally) as the Curious Luc.
The first day is entirely casual conversation. A bond is created. The second day is a deepening of this bond through shared activity, personal discussion. The third day is consumed by talk of recent affairs, an exploration of how the interviewee can possibly contribute information related to her current research.
Some people don't return from these interviews.
Goals
- Find a way to pierce the mist shrouded cities of the Luret using a selection of loyal Negotiators. Investigate their hidden tunnels and locate the Truth.
- Apprehend Patret Bouche, a bounty hunter who recently stole part of her hoard. Included in the items stolen was a cloak made of ***Silver Thread.
Resources
- A Lunar Tower by the Brisson Coast: This is the place where Castel conducts her gold melting ritual, the most important of all a Luc's duties. Castel also keeps prisoners here, people she interviewed and decided to keep. It is a notoriously poor prison - escapes are common. It is also a notoriously vulnerable place; it is here that she suffered the assassination attempt that destroyed more than half of her body. She still visits regularly.
- A Cadre of Freelance ****Silver Silk Artists: Highly capable fighters. The Silver Thread woven into their arms can absorb and channel the energy of blocked blows, then release that energy with devastating effect.
- A Host of Guard Archers: A troop of ranged soldiers hired by Castel's concerned staff. They follow her constantly, are always some distance away and on higher ground. Ready to rain down death when signaled.
- Sympathetic Members of the Illmisten City Guard: The guards of the capitol's gate are indebted to Castel three times over. They suffered from a flesh-eating disease for which only bosime steam was the cure. She offered them samples of the expensive drug free of charge. The gate guards are obsessed with carving increasingly complex scenes from the stone bulwark in which they are stationed.
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Heri Shinato |
- Silverfish Pin Armor: Fits someone of a humanoid form. She loans it out to key agents. When the pins are fitted in certain areas - the shoulders, thighs, ribs, etc. - silver will grow from them to encompass the body. Gives the effect of a full-frame silver prosthetic.
- Pen Pals with Roux Viont: Castel has a regular, lively, written discourse with Roux Viont. Roux lives at the peak of the main lodge of the Council of Barons. She is their Matriarch, and although she no longer attends Council meetings, her advice is often sought.
- Grele Coriste Automaton: Blank faced and massive. Stands ten feet tall and carries a giant battering ram as a weapon. It is stationed in the main hall of Castel's personal SDH outpost.
- Lockmaster of the Catuernt Archive: During a meeting with the Lockmaster of Tower Brim, a woman who alone oversees a vault containing nearly three million *****perivaille patterns, Castel strengthened the copy of herself within the Lockmaster's mind to an unreasonable degree. Now she knows how to unlock every vault in the tower. At least half the successful heists conducted against Tower Brim are, if drawn back to their source, her doing.
Glossary
* Grele Coriste: A particular craft. Allows the reshaping of stone, most often sandstone, like putty. The stone can be hardened again, allowing for the creation of complex shapes.
** bosime: A dangerous, expensive drug.
*** Silver Thread: High quality thread. Better than silk, which is in turn better than all other mundane fabric.
**** Silver Silk Artists: Craftswomen, chiefly. In archetype, analogous to a wizard. They don't practice magic. Most of them wear folded silver prosthetics. Those among them skilled enough work with Silver Thread.
***** perivaille: A floral pattern of concentric, layered petals. Rendered in fabric through embroidery/weaving. Infinite variations are possible - some are quite powerful. The core craft.
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Rudy Siswanto |
So that's the Northern Luc. I've got a lot of material lined up, just not sure what to select as topic for the next post. I'll decide soon enough.
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