Ganley de Vries is the youngest of Saul de Vries’ sons and, at twenty-two, the least settled into the future his family has planned for him. Unlike Matin and Erdmun, Ganley never particularly wanted a career in trade. Given the choice, he would have joined the Church of the Mother. As a child, Ganley was the sibling most drawn to the temples, ceremonies and charitable work of the Church. He was fascinated by its scholars and clerics and by the idea that wealth could have a purpose beyond simply creating
Read more →The People Who Shape Aranthaes
Some figures are more than faces in the crowd. These are the rulers, rivals, allies and power-brokers whose choices can alter adventures, campaigns and the future of Aranthaes itself.
Meet the major characters adventurers are most likely to encounter, work alongside, oppose or become entangled with. Each plays a meaningful role within the city or wider island and includes playable D&D statistics for use at the table.
Erdmun de Vries is the second of Saul de Vries’ sons, four years younger than Matin and temperamentally closer to his sister Emlyn than anyone else in the family. He understands the de Vries world perfectly well and is good at it, yet there was a time when he came very close to walking away from it entirely. Unlike Matin, Erdmun never accepted the family path without questioning it. He enjoyed the intellectual side of trade, the challenge of negotiation and the satisfaction of closing a difficult agreement, but he
Read more →Matin de Vries is the eldest of Saul de Vries’ sons and the most accomplished of the three within the family business. Where his sister Emlyn walked away from the expectations attached to their name, Matin embraced them, refined them and became exceptionally good at the work he was raised to do. From a young age, Matin showed a natural understanding of how people valued things, and more importantly, how differently they valued the same thing depending on circumstance. Goods, land, contracts, reputation, obligation and time all became part of
Read more →Krastor Morley is the Prefect of Lantear and a member of one of the wealthiest merchant families in Aranthaes. The Morleys possess vast commercial interests and sponsor the Zephyr Battalion of the Merchant Police, although Krastor would be quick to assure anyone who asked that his family connections have absolutely nothing to do with his position. Lantear sits astride the Great Aranthaen Highway, where merchants, caravans, travellers and goods from across the island converge. Krastor understands better than almost anyone that controlling a crossroads means controlling opportunity. Under his administration,
Read more →Ferghail is captain of the Ironhearts Merchant Police Battalion in Lantear, an experienced soldier whose sense of duty is rooted as much in home as it is in uniform. He is dependable, practical and quietly proud of the life his service allows him to provide for his family. He is devoted to his wife and their two young sons, speaking of them often enough that even soldiers who have never met them know something of their habits, mischief and ambitions. Ferghail carries himself like a man with somewhere important to
Read more →Ghavus is the senior military commander responsible for Rochpont, Geldfray Keep and much of the rugged country surrounding the Geldfray Mountains. Although his rank could comfortably keep him behind stone walls and a desk piled with reports, he has never developed much talent for remaining indoors when there is work to be done elsewhere. He looks considerably older than he is. Years spent in the cold winds around the keep, riding mountain roads and accompanying patrols through rain, snow and hard winters have weathered his face far more thoroughly than
Read more →Lord Kanzar is an elven mage from the great northern continent, travelling as part of Fayett’s escort. He is polished, educated and impeccably self-possessed, with the easy confidence of a man who has spent most of his life being told that he is exceptional – and has never found much reason to disagree. He can be charming when it suits him. Kanzar is skilled at reading people, discovering what they want and presenting himself accordingly, whether that means cultured nobleman, useful ally, sympathetic confidant or dangerous man best left unchallenged.
Read more →Eliran is a dark-haired elven mage from the great northern continent, travelling as part of Fayett’s close escort. Where her travelling companion Kanzar carries the unmistakable presence of a weapon waiting to be unleashed, Eliran is quieter and more watchful, rarely drawing attention to herself unless circumstances demand it. She has the contained stillness of someone accustomed to danger. Her eyes are almost always moving — doors, windows, rooftops, unfamiliar hands — and she has a habit of placing herself where she can reach Fayett quickly without appearing obviously protective.
Read more →Fayett is a seasoned warrior from the great northern continent, a woman whose bearing suggests privilege, command and an upbringing far removed from the ordinary soldier’s life. Even dressed for the road and carrying the fatigue of too many campaigns, there is something unmistakably regal about her: the way she speaks, the way others defer to her, and the quiet certainty with which she expects to be obeyed. She is visibly weary of war. Not frightened by it, and certainly not diminished by it, but tired of the endless cycle
Read more →Meldwin is one of the senior handlers of Swallows and Ravens employed by the Zephyr Battalion, overseeing a web of informants, social operatives and quiet observers whose reports eventually find their way across his desk. He is an unlikely figure to wield such influence: painfully thin, physically weak and possessed of an awkward manner that can make even ordinary conversation feel faintly uncomfortable. He was abandoned shortly after birth and discovered close to death by a travelling cleric, who carried him back to Aranthaes and placed him in the care
Read more →Dorven Drak is a lesser member of the wealthy and influential Drak family, though “lesser” is a relative term. Within Aranthaes he may stand several steps from the true centre of family power, but by island and off-island standards he remains a man of considerable wealth, name, and opportunity. He is a second cousin of Damaia and Devtaria Drak, and a more distant kinsman of their father, the legendary Damakos Drak. Dorven carries the Drak name with obvious pride, but also with the quiet awareness that he is not one
Read more →Seressa Surnath is the only child of Lady Vaelora Surnath, raised within a respected tiefling house beyond the island of Aranthaes. Young, striking, and carefully trained, she carries the outward polish of high birth, but beneath her composure is a restless curiosity and a desire to choose more of her own future than tradition may allow. Unlike her mother, Seressa has not yet mastered stillness. She tries to carry herself with Vaelora’s severity, but feeling often shows through: interest, frustration, admiration, irritation, and courage all appear in her face before
Read more →Lady Vaelora Surnath is the matriarch of a respected tiefling house from far beyond Aranthaes. Refined, severe, and quietly formidable, she carries herself with the composed authority of someone accustomed to courts, councils, and dangerous negotiations. Though not native to the island and it’s strict hierarchy, Vaelora’s status is immediately apparent. She dresses with restrained elegance, favouring house-coloured ceremonial garments, silver detailing, and a white cloak over finely worked armour. To strangers, she appears aristocratic and dignified. To those who know how to read such things, she is also unmistakably
Read more →Sirtanne serves Orilia Thorne in what appears, at first glance, to be a thoroughly modest role. Officially she handles correspondence, records, household organisation and the endless practical burdens that gather around powerful people. She is most often described as an administrator, clerk or general assistant – descriptions she has never shown any desire to correct. That surface is useful to her. As a “Swallows and Ravens” Bard, Sirtanne has a talent for becoming part of a room without seeming central to it. She is the woman carrying the ledger, arranging
Read more →As second in command of the City Guard, Field Commander Kosrakir, Protector of Aranthaes, is responsible for security of the island itself – its approaches, its villages, and the long, vulnerable stretches between safety and wilderness. A tiefling, Kosrakir bears his heritage openly but without the ornament that’s fashionable in the city. His horns are scarred, his battle-tarnished plate armour functional rather than ceremonial. Those who serve under him know him as direct, uncompromising, and relentlessly fair. He does not tolerate disorder, but neither does he rule through fear. Orders
Read more →Thaelema’s faith has never been loud. She does not preach in the streets or preside over ceremonies, and few outside the poorest districts of Aranthaes would recognise her by name. Yet to many, she is the most tangible expression of the Mother’s mercy – the one who ensures that hunger is answered with food, and despair with warmth. Originally trained as a cleric, Thaelema chose an unusual path within the Church. After years of service tending the sick and distributing alms, she set aside most formal duties and retrained as
Read more →Vyvaen speaks rarely, and always with purpose. Vigilance and discipline define her authority. Her faith is expressed through action and certainty — the understanding that some things must be defended, without hesitation or excuse. As Mother Superior – Warden of the Sanctum, Vyvaen bears responsibility for the physical protection of the Church’s most sacred spaces and figures. Temples, reliquaries, processions, and the Holy Mother herself fall under her charge. She organises the Temple Security Unit with military precision, yet her authority is grounded not in fear but in trust. Those
Read more →As Mother Overseer, Ermile has become indispensable through constancy. She is the fixed point around which the Church’s daily function turns. Where others speak for the faith, Ermile ensures that it continues smoothly — attending to details, maintaining traditions, and making decisions that keep the Church of the Mother steady and coherent. She has served the Defenders for many years as a quiet organising force. As second in command to Rilith Jol’gonas, Ermile oversees rites, manages correspondence between temples, and ensures that the practical workings of the faith function without
Read more →Among the merchant princes, temple financiers, private bankers, and contract-brokers of Aranthaes, few names carry the quiet weight of ‘The Lady Elowen.’ Elegant, poised, and almost impossible to unsettle, Elowen moves easily between the Church of the Mother and the wealthiest mercantile houses of the city. She is called upon when matters of money, inheritance, sacred debt, political risk, or private security become too sensitive for ordinary negotiators – and too dangerous for ordinary guards. Elowen is often assigned to escort visiting dignitaries, emissaries, financiers, treaty-brokers, and honoured guests through
Read more →Vavyin Galpris commands the Crescent Moon Battalion, one of Aranthaes’ most capable Merchant Police forces and the private security arm of Khamsa Oudasi’s extensive commercial interests. She is efficient, intelligent and has a reputation for discovering problems long before they become visible to anyone else. Vavyin was raised in the Aranthaes Wynds and learned early that survival depended as much upon noticing things as doing them. She became adept at remembering faces, recognising danger, overhearing conversations and understanding which people mattered in a street long before anyone bothered to explain
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