Four more Specularum NPCs
by Giampaolo AgostaHere you can find four more NPCs closely linked to Specularum. These are designed to provide adventure hooks to the PCs, or to help the DM introduce new information or adventures to the PCs.
Emilia Leonov
New Karameikan Thief 2, N
Str 7, Int 13, Wis 8, Dex 15, Con 12, Cha 13
Languages: Thyatian (native), Traladaran (13)
General Skills: Streetwise (13), City Knowledge: Specularum (13), Knowledge of the underground (13), 1 open slot
Weapon Masteries: Dagger (Basic), 1 open slot
A girl of about 15, Emilia is one of the few New Karameikans who have a Traladaran father and a Thyatian mother.
Unfortunately, she was orphaned early in her life, leaving her alone with her older brother, Sextus, who tried to take care of her.
While Sextus was a caring brother, he was rather unprincipled, and fell in with the Veiled Society, which was looking to hire some Thyatian (or half-Thyatian) goons to divert the blame of its many crimes from the Traladaran population.
Thus, Sextus enjoyed a brief time of relative wealth, followed soon by prosecution by the law.
As an associate to an organised crime gang, he was refused the opportunity to convert his sentence into military service, and sent to the Ierendian prison on Aloysius Island -- a pilot project to remove mobsters from their local environment.
Emilia was left to fend for herself, and became a pickpocket and petty thief.
Always at risk of being caught by Veiled Ones or beggars -- neither of which appreciate independent competition, Emilia quickly sharpened her thieving skills and streetwise.
Her headstrong attitude, though, caused her many problems, until she ``rescued'' a surprisingly naïf Traladaran young man, Janek, from a pair of Thyatian con artists.
Emilia decided that Janek needed her help to navigate the streets of Specularum, and has stuck with him for the last three months.
Emilia is short and wiry, with close-cropped, dark, curly hair and a pointed nose.
She has a sharp tongue and a tough attitude -- even though she's quite good natured.
If the PCs can deal with her attitude, she is a reliable source of information on the various gangs of the Specularum underworld.
Janek
Traladaran Fighter 3, L
Str 17, Int 8, Wis 12, Dex 11, Con 14, Cha 10
Languages: Traladaran (native)
General Skills: Muscle (17), Endurance (14), Intimidation (17), Bravery (12)
Weapon Masteries: Battle axe, Long sword, Bastard sword, hand axe.
Janek's memories begin three months ago, on a beach along the lower course of the Volaga river, just south of Krakatos.
He was found there, with no equipment besides minimal clothing, by the yearly gnome caravan.
The gnomes nursed him back to health and dropped him in Specularum, even giving him some money to cover his living expenses while he looked for a job.
He was promptly beset by a pair of Thyatian con artist, who would have robbed him blind were they not exposed by the intervention of a street urchin, Emilia Leonov.
The two scoundrels turned on Emilia, and would have dispatched her if Janek had not clubbed both of them into unconsciousness with his bare hands.
Emilia decided that Janek needed her help to survive -- though Janek thinks it's exactly the opposite -- and the two have been working together for some months now.
Due to his loss of memory -- possibly the result of some spooky encounter in the ghost city of Krakatos -- Janek knows very little about himself, except for his name, the fact that he is Traladaran, and that he is extremely strong and a good fighter with swords and axes.
Janek is very tall and bulky for a Traladaran, with the typical pale complexion and straight, brown hair of the Traladarans.
He looks in his mid-twenties.
A rampant bear is tattooed on Janek's left shoulder, and he has several scars, apparently from slashing weapon hits, on his chest.
Janek's primary function is bodyguarding (and otherwise keeping safe) Emilia Leonov.
He is also on the lookout for any information that can help him discover his actual identity and reconstruct his past.
Protagoras Longinus
Thyatian Fighter 6, L
Str 13, Int 13, Wis 11, Dex 9, Con 12, Cha 14
Languages: Thyatian (native), Minrothaddan patois (13).
General Skills: Navigation (13), Sailor (13), Knowledge of the Sea of Dread (13), Signalling (13), Reading & Writing (13).
Weapon Masteries: Long sword (skilled), dagger, light crossbow, short sword.
Protagoras Longinus is a sailor at heart -- he rarely spends more than a week on land during the sailing season. He owns his own ship, a small galley, which he uses in a variety of trades: most often, he ferries small but valuable cargo between the islands of Dread and Specularum, though he also carries passengers (especially Karameikan envoys who need a fast ship to Ierendi or Minrothad) and even engages in privateering.
His crew is a varied bunch, though most of the sailors and rowers are Karameikan of Thyatian descents -- many of them small time adventurers who prefer to stick with a larger group and share risks and gains of sea adventures.
This is mostly because crewmen are paid only small salaries, but are allowed to bring their own goods for trade, allowing them a larger gain (as well as increased risks) than on other ships.
Protagoras and his men usually spend the winter in Specularum, drinking off the gains of the shipping season. When in Specularum, Protagoras lives in the North End, near the bay, with his wife, a terrible shrew. To avoid quarrelling with her, he spends most of his time at the Grog Shoppe. Since he has a lot of time and little to do with it, he enjoys chatting with other patrons, swapping tall tales of their maritime exploits. Since Protagoras has an extensive knowledge of the Sea of Dread ports and excellent maps, he can be a valuable source of information, or the target of a theft attempt (his port journal is likely the best in Specularum after those of the Vorloi family).
Protagoras is a wiry, heavily tanned Thyatian in his early forties, with curly, salt and pepper hair. He dresses in uncommonly colourful clothes for a Thyatian, often donning a bright red scarf.
Thorur Thoricwarf Silverbeard the Younger
Rockborn Dwarf 5, L
Str 12, Int 15, Wis 11, Dex 13, Con 12, Cha 13
Languages: Dwarven (native), Thyatian (14)
General Skills: Goldsmith (17), Bureaucracy (15), Reading/Writing (15).
Weapon Masteries: Battle axe (skilled).
Thorur son of Thoric Silverbeard, of the Syrklist clan, is known to most as Silverbeard the Younger, to distinguish him from his equally famous grandfather, Thorur Silverbeard the Elder.
Thorur Silverbeard the Elder was the key figure in the creation of the Goldsmiths' Guild, which he led until his retirement.
His grandson is now the Guildmaster -- a position that has remained within the family since the foundation of the guild.
Thus, Thorur is easily the most important dwarf in Karameikos -- not because of his skill as a goldsmith, though he does excel in the profession, nor because of his battle prowess -- Thorur is a competent warrior, but not a professional.
His real power resides in the guild's control of large reserves of gold, silver and other precious materials, which the guildmaster can use to influence the government, the other guilds, and almost all factions in Karameikos.
Only the Moneylenders' Guild and the Darokinian bankers can finance projects on the same scale as the Goldsmiths' Guild.
Thorur is well aware of the power he wields, and uses it exclusively to improve the station of his guild within the nation, as well as to generate revenue.
In general, his interests (and those of the guild) tend to match those of Philip Vorloi, so Thorur is considered an ally of the Baron.
To protect the treasury of the guild, the Silverbeards employ only dwarven guards and dwarven engineers from the Syrklist clan of Rockhome, so that the secrets of the Guildhall remain within the clan.
Thorur keeps in touch with travelling Syrklist merchants, so he generally knows when a trustworthy member of the clan is in Specularum. Since it is often difficult to arrange for Rockhome dwarves to move to Karameikos, Thorur often offers jobs to those dwarves that are already in Specularum.
Thorur is a typical dwarf, short and stocky, with dark, wavy hair greying at the temples, and a long beard.
He dresses in sturdy, dark clothes in Thyatian style, with a golden badge showing the emblem of the guild.
He is rarely encountered outside the Guildhall -- he lives there, and only leaves to attend inter-guild meetings or audiences with the Duke or the ministers of Trade and Finances.