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 ones that are new. Protective of travelers and unwilling to start a panic, she will tell honest guests what she has heard dragging beneath the floorboards after midnight, if they earn it.
Description
Berala Thorn runs the warm, noisy kitchen at the heart of Frostglen Rest and misses very little. She speaks plainly and keeps her hands busy, and when she lies it is only by leaving things out. Ask her about the strange nights and she will confirm what her gut already told her: what she heard last night had weight to it, dragging weight, and it was neither storm nor animal.
She urges every guest heading outdoors to carry a lantern held high, warning that shadows lie when they grow long. She has noticed that food spoils on some Vigil nights and keeps fine on others, and that a faint vibration runs through the floor when the wind hits the ridge just so. She does not want silence and she does not want panic, and to those who prove trustworthy she becomes a steady, reliable ally.