NPCs
Acolyte-Excisor Sera Min
Newly Appointed Excisor at Trill-Hollow
A bright, formal, very young Excisor recently posted to the Trill-Hollow waystation. Eager and by-the-book, she cites textbooks in casual conversation and has not yet reckoned with what …
Aldous
Maren's late mentor in the scriptorium
A scribe of the Pale who spent his life copying sacred texts and, in his last years, taught the novice Maren the discipline of the pen. He watched …
Archivist Quinn-IX
Keeper of the Broken-Patent Stacks
A very old Clank archivist who runs the broken-patent stacks in Glassgear's Logic Yards, the largest Clank archive in Velthuryn. Methodical and long-memoried, she knew Custodian Atelan-VII personally.
Aric Stormborne
Bound by Duty, Seeking a Way Out
One of the two heirs set to duel at dawn. Dark-haired and bareheaded, his sigil-etched armor glows faintly in the lightning. Trained since childhood, he knows how to …
Berala Thorn
Cook of the Ridge Lodge
The blunt, sharp-eyed cook of Frostglen Rest and a decades-long resident of the ridge. She knows every sound the lodge makes and has been listening hard to the …
Boomwright Crash Lirian
Forgemaster of the Skyforge Citadel
A Goblin forgemaster who runs the storm-forges of Thunderhead Reach, where lightning is captured and forged. He will sell anything to anyone for the right invention idea and …
Boomwright Patien "Patty" Quill-Riggs
Captain of the Skyward Curse
A rapid-fire, profane, endlessly tinkering Goblin skiff captain who runs the Skyward Curse out of Boomcradle. She ferried Vessa south once and will do the same for the …
Borik
Caravan Guard
A pragmatic, hard-edged caravan guard who has survived the Spires before. When the bridge fails he is ready to cut the ropes and save who he can, even …
Bram
Innkeeper of the Anchor Inn
Bram runs the Anchor Inn, the only lodging in Carrow's Reach. Red-faced and hollow-eyed from two weeks of poor sleep, he rents rooms without haggling — he simply …
Brell Thorin-Pry
Proprietor of the Frost-and-Marrow
The slow, sweet, cunning Halfling proprietor of the Frost-and-Marrow, a scribe's tavern in lower Aurenhold where Inkward Custodians are unwelcome. He calls everyone 'duck' and knew Vessa Thrin's …
Bria "Lockjaw"
Smuggler Captain
A sardonic, scarred smuggler captain who runs a reef skiff and a sharp mouth in equal measure. Bria knows the coast's coded manifests and hidden landings better than …
Chief Judge Arbitrix Zivon
Gravenreach Jurist and Head Patent Judge
A proud Dwarven jurist from Gravenreach, Arbitrix Zivon presides over the Patent Duel with iron procedure and a low, gravelly voice. Rigid, commanding, and secretly fond of Fleaspark …
Custodian Atelan-VII
Inkward Custodian of the Codex Bastion
A dutiful Clank Inkward Custodian with eighty years of service, their forearms etched with confiscated leaves of text. They speak in careful numbered enumerations and take their oath …
Derik Ven
Taproot Innkeeper
The anxious, warm-hearted keeper of the Taproot Inn, where Uled's rumors change hands faster than coin. Derik wants nothing more than a quiet house and a full till, …
Dockmaster Korrin
Harbor Dockmaster of Uled
The gruff, blunt dockmaster who keeps Uled's cranes turning and its cargo moving. Korrin chews his words in a low dockside growl and cares chiefly about order on …
Elder Vaelor Kesh
Defender of Tradition
The presiding elder of High Clan Vaelor, tall and silver-haired, wrapped in oath-sigiled storm-cloth. He believes the dawn duel is the only thing standing between the clans and …
Elec Aune-Vesk
The Silenced Cartographer
A cartographer of two centuries past who attempted the same work Vessa Thrin later pursued, and was silenced for it. His name surfaces only in fragments — a …
Esvran Galepeak
Injured Chasm Scout
A scout badly hurt near the singing ice bridge, sheltering in the chasm's edges. If the party stabilizes him he becomes a grateful ally with vital eyewitness knowledge. …
Fen
The scarred lay-brother who leads the hidden readers
A lay-brother with the scarred hands of someone who has handled fire, and the calm of a man who has been keeping a dangerous secret for a very …
Field-Excisor Brun Hael-Marrick
Excisor of the Frostmere Field-Camp
A methodical, cold Excisor field officer running an active camp on the Codex Fracture. He speaks rarely and exactly, drinks more than he admits, and carries the weight …
Fizzbunt Latchkey
Rival Inventor with a Conscience
An overworked half-gnome engineer, brilliant but perpetually flustered, Fizzbunt wants to help keep Brightcrawl from burning down without stepping on guild politics. She pushes her goggles up and …
Fu Lan Chi
Listener of Patterns
A retired elf mystic who tends an ancient wind-shrine of stone and silence, where snow never gathers and voices soften of their own accord. He does not hunt …
Glossarist Berenne Quoile
Mid-Rank Archivist of the Luminous Archive
A polished mid-rank archivist who is unfailingly helpful to anyone researching in the Luminous Archive. She takes an attentive interest in visitors and is always ready to point …
Grellix "Boomwright" Barmuzzle
Disgraced Goblin Alchemist
A former Patent Duel champion turned showman-provocateur, Grellix believes an invention's true test is how spectacularly it destroys. Bombastic, self-impressed, and strangely polite, he peppers grand demonstrations with …
Guildmaster Velka Iron-Tellan
Keeper of Khalgur's Diplomatic Hostels
An Orderborne Dwarf guildmaster who runs the diplomatic hostels of Khalgur Forgevault. She will host the party formally if the right credentials are presented, and is otherwise inquisitive …
Halis
The Order's chief interrogator, called Listener
The Pale's chief interrogator, whose office the Order softens to the title of Listener. He wears the grey of the scripture margins and has the face of a …
Halja Voss-Aune
Vessa's Neighbor in the Quill District
The practical, warm-hearted neighbor who took in Vessa's cat when the archivist left town in a hurry. She has no time for nonsense and no idea how dangerous …
Hekri Boundtongue
Oathkeeper of the Prairie Menhirs
An Orc oathkeeper who patrols a stretch of the Forge Basin's obsidian treaty-menhirs. He knows which menhir Vessa Thrin stopped at, and how long she stayed, but he …
Hetch Ratchet
Tunnel Foreman
A rough, plainspoken tunnel foreman who knows the pipes, drains, and underlevels beneath Brightcrawl better than anyone. Gruff but dependable, Hetch has no patience for guild theatrics and …
Hierophant Galen Splinterhymn
Bastion-Leader of the Choir of Glass
The ageless Faerie hierophant who leads a Choir of Glass storm-bastion in the Scorval Verge. Theatrical and over-formal, he smiles too much, laughs at his own grim metaphors, …
High-Adept Mallelon
Mirrorwell Temple Conservator
A measured, gentle scholar who serves as conservator of the Mirrorwell Temple, speaking in slow, weighty parables. Mallelon reveres the old lore and worries where the temple's more …
Index-Warden Pell Thrune
Station Chief of the Trill-Hollow Waystation
The quiet, half-broken station chief of the Trill-Hollow Archive Index, a frontier waystation on the Codex Fracture. He drinks too much and sleeps too little, worn down by …
Inventor Marn Kelvey-Brisk
Patent-Holder of a Musical Curiosity
A cheerful Goblin inventor who holds the patent on a novelty Boomseal wax stamp he markets as a harmless 'musical curiosity.' He has about forty in stock and …
Jory
Seraine's Brother
Seraine's brother and fellow pilgrim, caught dangling from a fraying rope when the bridge breaks. Quieter and more fatalistic than his sister, he needs rescuing early and remembers …
Kaela Windward
Fierce, Defiant, Refuses to Kill for Tradition
The other heir bound to the dawn duel. A clan banner knotted at her waist like a sash, sleeves rolled high over a lightning-shaped training scar. Where Aric …
Keep-Sworn Janna Tellermark
Captain of a Time-Fracture Keep
The practical, terse captain of one of Gravenreach's Time-Fracture Keeps, who has spent nine years observing the Aethergrave and noticing pitch-patterns no one else has cataloged. She trades …
Keeper Riah Tellen
Messenger of the Vigil
The keeper of Vigil customs who sent word begging for capable help, and who greets the party with the grim arithmetic of the season: people are disappearing, and …
Klep Marish
The Backflow Ghost of Sparkmire
A drowned Sparkmire inventor whose dying breath still echoes in the canals. Trapped in the third canal's overflow chamber, his distant, delayed voice can be heard — by …
Leech
Wandering Merchant with Secrets
A wandering trader riding out the Vigil at Frostglen Rest, watching the room more than he sells to it. He keeps his pack close, mixes truth and lies …
Lt. Sareen Wythe
Hollowbound Officer
A clipped, ambitious Hollowbound lieutenant who drills her troops mercilessly and keeps her manifests under lock. Wythe speaks in sharp, staccato commands and shows no warmth, treating everyone …
Maelis Thorn
The Iron Witness
Kaela's second, a hard and observant woman who holds that honor must be visible to be real. She guards the ritual's integrity as fiercely as Rhyden guards Aric's …
Mira Denn
Village Elder of Carrow's Reach
Mira Denn is the village elder of Carrow's Reach, a lifelong fisherwoman who dove beneath the bay after the boats began returning empty. She surfaced changed — quieter, …
Molnek Fen
Reliquary Smith
A world-weary dwarf smith who works griefglass in the Reliquary Forge, his voice low and smoky, his pauses long. Molnek is proud of his craft and burdened by …
Mr. Greenmere
Keeper of Frostglen Rest
The overly-attentive keeper of Frostglen Rest, forever fussing at the hearth and urging guests to stay warm, stay inside, and let the storm pass. Polite to a fault, …
Named Drowned Settlers of Vel Annis
Grief-Preserved Echoes of the Sunken Settlement
Recovered from the Archive of Vel Annis, these are four of the settlement's drowned: Orvyn Cael, Maren Thisse, Duvek Lorn, and Callind Rue. They left no biographies — …
Niraen Vell-Soris
Annotator of the Whispering Steps
A centuries-old Elf archivist who annotates the debates at the Whispering Steps amphitheater and once mentored Vessa Thrin. She speaks slowly, obliquely, and only when approached during a …
Orrath
A Penitent who hunts readers
A Penitent — an order older than the current priesthood, older than the law of the Lowered Eye, serving something the priests would rather not name. She has …
Osten
The Dockhand Who Won't Dive
Osten is a young dockhand in Carrow's Reach who has been down to the cracked reef twice and swears he will never go again. He deflects fear with …
Patent-Marshal Vex Glimmercog
Keeper of the Boomcradle Patent Registry
The ageless Goblin who runs Boomcradle's vast patent registry, trading access for invention. Anyone who wants into the files must first file a counter-invention of their own — …
Pip Cob-Wheel-Crispin
Fugitive Halfling Courier
A Halfling courier on the run from Goblin patent enforcers, currently hiding out in Glassgear. He is carrying a prototype Clockspider Drone with a hidden message tucked inside …
Reader-Justiciar Maelis Crain
Senior Codex Excisor
A calm, measured senior Excisor who runs the order's operation out of the Codex Bastion. She never raises her voice, says 'I'm sorry' more often than a villain …
Rhyden Vale
The Loyal Blade
Aric's second and childhood companion, broad-shouldered with a long braided crest in clan colors and worn but polished armor. Protective, watchful, and suspicious of outside interference, he plants …
Rulfen Marr
Former Timberway Engineer
A former engineer of the Old Gravenreach Timberway, found near a collapsed support tower where the rails re-emerge from the snow. He speaks in the precise language of …
Seer Jora Vael
Mirrorwell Temple Seer
An ethereal, fanatic elf seer of the Mirrorwell Temple whose visions rise from the griefglass and the well's distorted echoes. Jora speaks in wavering, breath-catching riddles about a …
Sera Vant
The Archivist of Vel Annis
Sera Vant was the archivist of Vel Annis, the pre-Concord settlement now sunk beneath the bay. Her name survives among the settlement's records, tied to the clay tablets …
Seraine
Young Pilgrim of the Caravan
A young pilgrim braving the Velkar Spires, panicked by the storm yet stubbornly hopeful. She keeps close to her brother Jory and clings to the belief that faith …
Shira, the White Wolf
Spirit-Touched Guide
A great white wolf, spirit-touched companion to Fu Lan Chi, who appears before her mystic does and studies visitors in silence. She speaks through no words, only body …
Skitterflash Fusebit
Fireworks Vendor and Rumor Fountain
A giddy, fast-talking fireworks vendor whose hands are always stained with glittering ash, Skitterflash sells the loudest wares in the district and gossip to match. She laughs at …
Stone-Voice Drun Hammerthrene
Senior Deep-Singer of Khalgur
A venerable Dwarf Stone-Voice of Khalgur Forgevault, a senior deep-singer whose every word is weight-tested through long silences. He has refused all audiences for thirty years and guards …
The Abbot (Maker of the Pale)
The unseen hand behind the world
A name that surfaces only in the deepest riddles and the oldest margins — a maker, spoken of as a dying man in some 'before' that came prior …
The Abbot of the Stormsong Monastery
Keeper of the Trial
The serene abbot of the cliffside monastery who welcomes storm-battered travelers with warmth, then declares with quiet certainty that the storm has chosen them for its Trial. Gentle …
The Confessor
The oldest voice of the Order
Reckoned the oldest person in the Pale, the Confessor has held his office — for life, as the theology requires — longer than anyone living can remember. He …
The Eldest Drollery
The oldest of the margin-saints
The Drolleries are the small inked creatures of the manuscript borders — decorative saints frozen in perpetual devotion, which doctrine holds to be mute and without volition. This …
The Witness
The prisoner who speaks without stopping
A prisoner held in the sub-cellar longer than anyone can precisely account for. She is not chained — she does not need to be. She sits and speaks …
Tidekeeper Quillik Marsh-Eye
Harbormaster of Sparkmire
The welcoming, theatrical Ribbet harbormaster of the water-laboratory city of Sparkmire. He shares canal-pilot duties for the price of a good story and keeps an ear on the …
Underclerk Tomik Reeve
The Vanished Travel-Papers Clerk
The Codex Bastion underclerk who stamped Vessa Thrin's travel papers before her journey. He has since gone missing, and no one at the Bastion will say what became …
Varkun Slate-Brow
Gravenreach Weapon Broker
A canny, proud dwarf who deals in arms out of Gravenreach and never seems short of a buyer. Varkun carries himself like a man who has already won …
Vass
A novice who prays with her eyes raised
A young novice Maren has quietly watched for weeks — the one who prays with her eyes up rather than down, a small and dangerous inversion of the …
Vassach
Drakona Pylon-Runner of Thunderhead Reach
A restless Drakona pylon-runner at the Skyforge Citadel who was hired by Vessa Thrin six weeks ago to ferry a sealed flask to Gravenreach. He never delivered it …
Warden Therro's Echo
Lingering Impression of a Vanished Warden
The fractured spiritual impression of a warden who vanished on the ridge, manifesting in the chasm's colder reaches. Distressed but not hostile, it replays its final moments in …
Warden-Captain Threy Stoneshaft
Echo Warden of the Stone-Reft Galleries
An Orderborne Dwarf Warden-Captain leading an Echo Warden patrol in the Stone-Reft Galleries beneath Khalgur. His mandate is to contain the kind of resonance that unspools time in …
Wind-Reader Sera Thalen
Troubled by the Storm's Silence
The young omen-interpreter of the clans, copper-haired and wind-burned, her fingers dark from lightning-rod etchings. She reads the storm honestly, and right now the storm is not answering …
Yorel Quartz-Throat
Failed Stone-Voice Apprentice
An Underborne Drakona apprentice who has failed her Stone-Voice trial three years running and is convinced she simply cannot harmonize. She practices at the Harmonic Wells among Codex …
Young Attendant Lysa
The Emotional Amplifier
A teenager who carries ritual items between the sacred spaces of the Stormpath. She idolizes the duelists and believes the coming duel is a noble and honorable thing. …
Yulen Drask
Archive Porter of the Lower Stacks
A slow-to-trust archive porter who has worked the lower stacks of the Luminous Archive for decades and counted Vessa Thrin among his few real friends. Unshakeable once won …