Characters
Malvarin City - Major NPC's
Even though the king has the support of most of the city, there is serious trouble in the thieves & smugglers district, prompted by support from Queen Teraknian's sister, who has eyes on the Throne. She does have some support among the nobles and royalty, at about 30%, and she is using the thieves guild to destabilise the city and turn the population against the king.
The major players in the city :
W - Royalty (Kings guard faction)
King Teraknian - Ronald Teraknian is a 18 years old male human Ranger (lvl 15). He has very long, straight, golden hair and brown eyes.
He has rough pink skin. He stands 185cm tall (6') and has a regular build. He has an oblong, mediocre face. He is very nimble.
He openly worships Tyr, god of Courage and Strategy (current relationship 98%, god will intervene to support). He is viewed as a religious leader.
He always goes straight to the point. He is very self-confident. He has no concept of propriety. He believes in destiny. He is obsessed with a nearby cavern with amazing waterfalls.
Queen Fira Teraknian is a 38 years old female human fighter (lvl 16). She has short, curled, blond hair and brown eyes. She has silky pink skin. She stands 162cm tall (5'1) and has a regular build. She has a square, ordinary face. She twitches constantly from her neck.
She loudly worships Tyr also (current relationship 88%, so favoured). Loyalty to husband is 92%, very much in love.
Princess Alexia Teraknian - Alexia Teraknian, the Queen's sister is a 29 years old female human Ranger (lvl 17). She has cropped, curled, gray hair and brown eyes. She has smooth, sunburned brown skin. She stands 147cm tall (4'11) and has a muscular build. She has a soft, glamorous face. She has slightly long nails. Relationship with King & Queen = 56/14%. She is the one behind the unrest in the thieves / smugglers section of the city... partially to depose the king and queen, partially to find a magical tiara who she believes her sister Fira to have taken and hidden. She worships Thoth, god of knowledge and wisdom (current relationship 95%). Thoth gave Alexia the tiara, imbued with magic that grants the wearer Clairvoyance three times per day to allow wise rule.
A - Docks (Port Authority faction)
Fiercely protective of the city and its (her) business, the docks in section A are run by :
Celgyra Qili Kriceli Helmyn is a 229 years old female forest gnome cleric (lvl 12 CE).
She has a bald head and brown eyes. She has rough, pockmarked pink skin. She stands 86cm tall (2'11) and has a lean build. She has a square, stunning face.
She rolls her "R"s profusely.
She openly worships Luz, God of pain and oppression.(relationship 82% so favoured) She is a very good diplomat and always works towards resolution of conflict, with horrible consequences for those who break deals.
She is slightly lazy. She is fascinated by magic and its history. She is very intolerant towards other faiths. She always does what she is told not to. She occasionally misquotes proverbs.
She rules the docks with an iron fist, not shy of brutally resolving issues if diplomacy does not work, although she will always give that a chance first. She is loyal to the King (61%) while business is good, although she is keeping an eye on the rebellion in the thieves quarter for opportunity. That being said, she will defend the king and her part of the city fiercely (84% support from the people in her area) as things stand, as the current stability of the city is good for business.
C - Commercial District (Malvarin merchants faction)
Egos Garaitinu is a 190 years old male high elf locksmith by trade. He has risen to the City Council where he represents the interests of the merchants and guilds of Malvarin.
He has long, brown mohawk and brown eyes. He has rough silver skin. He stands just over 6'1 tall and has a regular build. He has an oblong, slightly glamorous face. He has a tiny piercing on his left eyebrow.
He proudly worships Lolth, Goddess of drows, spiders, darkness, chaos, evil, assassination. (Chaotic Evil). Current standing with Lolth is 99% (chosen one!)
He will always prioritize the needs of other people, even over his. Having said that, he is very greedy for his district, passing up no opportunity to bring wealth in. He has a deep knowledge of ancient magic. He cannot tolerate rough living conditions, and as such has a palatial residence to live in. He rightly believes that he is related to Lolth, being a descendant. Lolth will back Egos with whatever he needs to advance his goals, including Drow elves and spiders.
Egos overall alignment is chaotic neutral (progressing towards CE over the coming years), so he will do anything to bring more money into the district.. He runs the commercial district taking decisions himself (87%) but can be a terrible businessman (1% acumen), often following the advice of Lolth rather than what the district would want. His position is shaky, at 35% district, but 98% with the King and his backing from Lolth prevents any move against him for the moment. Egos will use the backing of Lolth to maintain his position and order within the city.
K - Military District (Eagles Claw Faction)
Amity Fenwick (true neutral, believes in trial by combat, the gods decide justice) is a 47 years old female human slaver. She has cropped, wavy, black hair and blue eyes. She has veiny brown skin. She stands 6'1 tall and has a regular build. She has an edgy, ordinary face. She has slightly long nails.
She doesn't worship any god. She is very benevolent to her chosen associates. She is very greedy when taking from others. She always eat like it's her last meal. She believes in whatever deity is most helpful to her at a given moment.
Amity has a strong loyalty to the King at 84% who allows her business to continue, on the strict conditions that slaves can be granted freedom after 10 years service, and that those thrown into the gladiator's pit do so voluntarily and for appropriate reward. This is the only way the King will tolerate slaves in his city, and he would far rather outlaw the practice if he thought he could.
F - Poor, Slum area (The Malvarin legion faction)
Mili Kegshaper is a 61 years old female mountain dwarf gladiator. She has long, straight, blond hair and red eyes. She has rough brown skin. She stands 126cm tall and has an athletic build. She has a sharp, cute face. She has a large tattoo of a tiger on her left hand.
She discretely worships Istishia, God of water, purification, wetness (standing is 96%). (True Neutral) She is always ready to help others. She rarely speaks. She harbours a deep hatred of orcs and goblins. She judges people on their fighting skills. She doesn't like listening to jokes.
It is rumoured Mili has access to a water fountain hidden in the slum area whose water can cleanse and heal serious wounds and diseases if drunk, although it will also remove any magical beneficial effects - and if bathed in can remove 1 year of age (Mili only, or those favoured by the goddess 60% +)... this is provided by Istishia. Loyalty to King Teraknian is strong at 91%, mainly due to him helping pour money into the slum area and improve conditions gradually.
O - Thieves Guild / Smugglers area. (The Unseen Knife faction)
The smugglers / thieves area is in open rebellion against the king, as he cracks down on some of the activities going on there. The PC's will have been brought through here and smuggled into the arena.
Rain Ashglade - She has long, curled, gray hair and brown eyes. She has silky chocolate skin. She stands 5'4 tall and has an overweight build. She has a triangular, glamorous face. She has 4 small piercings on her right ear and 3 bland piercings on her left ear.
She discretely worships Lathander, God of spring, dawn, birth, youth, vitality, athletics (standing 95%). (Neutral Good) She is a very good diplomat and always works towards resolution of conflict. She is very self-confident.
She shares everything she owns. She always does what she is told not to. Relationship with the king is at 12%, almost at all out war. Status within smugglers area is at 20%, so is about to be overthrown. The King has issued a huge reward for her capture, and she is in hiding within the city area.
P - Rich Affluent area - Magic quarter, High Level NPC's (The High Riders faction).
Enereg Noroelwa is a 29 years old male halfling Warlock. He has long, wavy, black hair and cyan eyes. He has rough red skin. He stands 4'9 tall and has a skinny build. He has an edgy, typical face with a medium beard. He fidgets frequently.
He discretely worships Tyr, God of justice. (Lawful Good) He has a highly variable mood. He judges people by their actions, not their words. He always eat like it's his last meal. He falls in and out of love easily. Loyalty to king is decent at 68%, although strained by what the King tolerates within the city. Standing within own area of the city is low at 20% - viewed as too restrictive (LG) to run the area best.
W - Ruling Elite & Monarchy (Mix of High Riders & Kings Guard factions)
Ilin Rowich is a 62 years old female lightfoot halfling. She has very long, straight, blond hair and golden eyes. She has smooth, pockmarked white skin. She stands 3' tall and has a regular build. She has a square, slightly stunning face. She has an extra thumb on her right hand.
She discretely worships Lathander, God of spring, dawn, birth, youth, vitality, athletics. (Neutral Good 84%) She rarely thinks ahead. She is very greedy. She usually tries not to get noticed. She believes that all elves are planning to destroy the world.
Ilin is loyal to the king, as the elected representative of this area of the city (70%). She does know of whisperings against him, but keeps these to herself. her own popularity within this city sector is good at 67%, and her fortunes mirror the popularity of the king who she is seen as being tied to very closely. She trusts the queen less (47%) but is keeping a good relationship with the Princess (58%) just in case anything should 'happen' to the King & Queen. She does believe the Princess has good cause for complaint over the magic tiara that went missing.
Other NPC's
Woden - Woden is Malvarin's most famous gladiator, being ridiculously successful to the point where he has amassed a huge fortune and reputation. Instantly recognisable across the city and beyond, Woden is currently drowning his sorrows in various seedy Inn's across the city. At the last games, where the party found themselves thrown out on to the sands of the arena, Wodens lover and ruler of the Military Quarter Amity Fenwick betrayed him by placing a huge bet on him to die at odds of 100-1... and then sending a manticore out to kill him. Everyone saw doubt cross Woden's face for the first time in a decade as the beast approached, but at that moment the King and his henchmen intervened to rescue the woefully unprepared level 1 players from a gruesome death.
Woden is slightly inclined to help the party, as he shared an arena battle with them... he considers them fellow gladiators, even if our heroes only took on a few kobalds and a couple of orcs while he was fighting trolls and ogres.
BOB & ROD Zombie - These two strange and frightning zombies have proved to be indestructable no matter how much damage they take. Worse, their bite has the horrible effect of transforming the victim into a standard and very killable zombie within 2 hours, and so far no cure has been found despite the best efforts of Malvarin's greatest healers.
Ned Bean - No-one knows exactly how old the cursed figure of Ned Bean actually is... some scholars say he has been walking the earth and dying every day for thousands of years - always before midnight, and in some of the most unfortunate and unlucky ways. No matter what Ned does, he always manages to find a way to die before the bell chimes at midnight. Choking on apples, being mown down by carriages, being crushed by falling buildings in an earthquake, Ned Bean has died in every conceivable way. And always, as dawn arrives, he reappears within a mile of his death, retaining no knowledge, wealth or experience he gathered the previous day.... forever cursed to be a poor, level 1 Ranger.
But no longer. Very recently, the most incredible thing happened. Ned Bean did not die. Challenged to a duel by a very overconfident King's guard at ten minutes to midnight, the most minor interference from an evil group of characters led to Bean surviving and breaking his curse.
Weeks later, and scholars around Malvarin are alarmed at the potential of what the Evil group might have unleashed. Because even though Ned Bean does still die some nights... he still re-appears at dawn... only now with any loot he had, and retaining any experience he gained. Already many people have noticed that Ned Bean is now far harder to kill and has saved enough money and loot to buy himself a small house on the outskirts of Malvarin instead of the yard of sewer he used to rent from a local shopkeeper.
The Cult of Bean, as it is now known, has swelled to almost ten members who spend their days uttering Ned Bean quotes in the city centre, shouting "One does not simply kill Ned Bean any more" and making various threats to those who have taken advantage of Bean's curse over the past years. Usually in a very broad Yorkshire accent, with plenty of swearing thrown in. It is the firm belief of this cult that we are witnessing the beginnings of Ned Bean the god.
The "Heroes" of Whiteshard Keep - Famous for doing far more damage to the world than good, these hapless but well-meaning adventurers were indirectly responsible for the deaths of thousands in lands to the south of Malvarin several years ago as they managed to unleash the fury of a terrible ancient vampire called Dardiana, and her sidekick the Succubus Ashara. Not only did the band of heroes enrage the monsters so much that they tried to wipe humanity off the face of these lands, they brought two ancient and incredibly powerful artefacts directly to the vampire that made her close to unstoppable. In the end, the gods granted several hugely powerful magic items to these individuals to bring about an end to the slaughter.
Opinion is divided on these "heroes". Some say they should be tried for their part in what was close to genocide, while others still believe them to have saved the world.... even though the world was under no threat until the Ranger of the group is alleged to have defiled the bones of Dardiana's mortal lovers in such a way that she went on a killing spree the likes of which has not been seen in centuries. These "heroes" have not been seen for several years, although it is still whispered that Dardiana will claw her way back from oblivion to avenge what they did.
Captain Van Halen - Now one of King Teraknian's most senior soldiers / advisors, Van Halen played a major part in the tale of Dardiana and The heroes of Whiteshard Keep. Bravely leading a rescue bid for the heroes when all seemed lost, Van Halen has largely escaped any of the blame surrounding the terrible events around those southern cities.
Boglin the Goblin - Boglin somehow came to power in a dungeon close to Malvarin around the same time those "heroes" of Whiteshard keep ploughed their way through it. Rumour has it he was simply a minion for various Bugbears and Gnolls, but after striking a deal with those same heroes, boglin found himself in charge of a large dungeon, its riches and a small army of kobalds and goblins. From there, he has grown into a menace to the City of Malvarin... and now, a few years later his goblin raiding parties are making daily attacks on traders on the roads around the city.
Fred the Gnome (the Halfling)
Fred the Gnome is a notorious thief who has been locked up in Malvarin's prisons so many times he has his own personal cell in many of them. While he is very easily caught it seems impossible to stop him escaping, usually with his pockets full of loot or someone's hard earned cash. His latest escape came in the jailbreak from Ankor prison in the military town of Doomcaster, and already a reward for his recapture has been issued.