Audacity Vex: what you know

• Audacity was adopted as a teen by Marrow Vex and trained to be a useful on-the-ground member of the Lanterns.
  • Audacity knew Fray and Brack due to their Lanterns dealings in pre-fire Aideum. 
  • Marrow Vex heavily pushed Audacity and Fray to be friends via frequently sending them on errands and jobs together; as such, proximity eventually grew into a close bond with no small help from mutual trauma dumping. Now they rely heavily on each other during fieldwork and deeply trust each other to have the other’s back.
• Audacity is infamous for murdering another Lantern in a tavern in Stasa-Qin. It’s a little unclear because she purposefully doesn’t give details, so the story varies from getting rid of a rival, to retaliation for wrongdoing. She uses this reputation and her tattoo branding her as a law-breaker to her advantage, mostly for intimidation in the right circumstances.
• Audacity is a tiefling, complete with prominent horns and tail. On stealth missions or when she does not wish to be recognized, she wears a hood and hooks her tail to her belt. Tieflings are rare in Angoria and still widely regarded with suspicion and mistrust, or else exoticized.
• Audacity uses her psionic knife for attacks and doesn’t generally carry any weapons anymore. She will carry a dagger if she knows she will need to fight and doesn’t want to give away her psionic powers.
  • While psionic abilities are not technically a spell, the blades are considered magical and so are very gray-area. 
  • Everyone is a bit overly-suspicious of tieflings due to their heritage and their known innate magical ability.
• Audacity is a highly superstitious individual and loves reading tarot for herself and others, never charging for it (except for requiring the querent to give a coin to a shrine of Selk). 

Skills

• Audacity is fluent in Common, Infernal, and Thieves’ Cant. Limited telepathy: up to 2 people for a number of hours. She can read lips.
• She is an expert in sleight of hand, and long hours training under Marrow Vex have made her particularly insightful, along with the needed skills to deceive or intimidate.
• Audacity is almost entirely a ranged attacker, hiding in the shadows to enact murder.
• She is proficient in forgery kits, thieves tools, and cards.

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Fray Stilwater: What you know

• Fray is a Consecrated Sister in the ‘Church of Our Lady of Knots’, a sect in Aideum that venerates a particular saint of Selk.
  • Fray has been given the role of Mediator, a public presence acting as the Church’s authority and representative for joint actions with the Lanterns. Fray’s position is one of low authority in the church, but respected by the Lanterns as important for the bond.

• Fray has been living in Aideum for a few years prior to the attacks. Her home town of Stilwater was destroyed in the early stages of the war with Istra, and she was found and brought to the city by a Sister of her order. 

• Fray has worked directly with the Lanterns for some time before the attacks. Her skills have been used primarily for tracking, interrogation, and on occasion, warding spellcraft as insurance for particularly tense deals.
  • Audacity Vex has acted as the Lantern side of this go-between, opposite of Fray, and the two have come close through shared work.

• The stark white scarring on Fray’s face is a result of the destruction of her hometown. She won’t say more on the matter.

• The black burns that permanently cover her arm are related to the Church in some way, and help channel her magic, but the details of its creation and ability are well guarded secrets of the faith, that even Fray does not know in full.

• While initially reserved, when in friendly company, Fray is an engaged person with a stoic but positive outlook. She enjoys the camaraderie that has been able to blossom over the past two years, despite the circumstances. Her priorities are for the protection of the group, and the discovery of the fate of her church, as well as the Lanterns.

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Snap: What you know

Backstory Stuff:

• I’m a monk trained by the Fifth House.
  • I was sent there in my early teens and received years of specialized training.
• I am a special operative originally sent by the Fifth House to infiltrate the Three Lanterns.
  • I’ve worked for the Fifth House for several years now, since completing my training. 
  • I did the kinds of things an oligarchy sends its highly trained stealth killers to do, which they claim is “protecting Angoria.”
• I already had some doubts and questions about the Fifth House’s goals and activities. Getting to know you all and working with the Three Lanterns taught me a lot and confirmed many of those doubts.
  • After a while, I revealed myself to you all because I wanted to join your side for real and actually be trustworthy.
  • I believe Three Lanterns does much more to protect and support the regular citizens than any of the official Houses.
• I love it when people are impressed by my professional skills. It’s exciting when I can show off a bit, but I don’t casually do it in public for obvious reasons.
  • I also love dancing. Same skills, but more socially acceptable.
• A good portion of my time is a Rocky-style training montage: inverted sit-ups, one-handed pushups, so much cardio, protein consumption, etc.
  • My montage has a lot more yoga and meditation though.
• I have a knife Brack made several years ago, which he recognized at some point when he saw it. It’s part of a pair. The other was a gift for my ex, a tiefling man from my training years. That relationship ended on a sour note years ago. I haven’t offered much detail about that, but he’s also in the Fifth House now.
• I’ve done my best to be a good friend and ally.
  • When I’m vague about details of my past, it’s for all of our safety.

Skills:

• Unarmed attacks. Need to knock someone unconscious quickly? I can do reliably nonlethal damage. Or lethal, whatever the situation calls for.
• Really good at stealth, can work effectively in total darkness.
• I’ve shared ways to help make your clothes, etc. quieter when you move.
• I can cast a number of spells: Minor Illusion, Darkness, Darkvision, Pass Without Trace, and Silence
• I know all about poisons.
• I speak Elvish, Goblin, and Infernal. And Angorian. And Common.
• I can play a big bamboo flute.
  • It can be used as a weapon like a quarterstaff, but I doubt I can carry it in Aideum thanks to the “no weapons” rule.
  • It’s still useful for making music though. And sometimes a tune can be a secret message, carried across a distance to reach people who know what it means.

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Wygand Brack: What you know

Character Details

• Brack only goes by his given name with his family. To his colleagues, including the party, he is Brack
  • Brack has some cousins* who own a farm in the countryside. Clicks has met them, the rest of the party would likely be aware of them.
• Since Brack is a Journeyman in the Cutler’s Guild and a fence for the Three Lanterns, he needs his business to appear legitimate to outsiders, and keeps his books clean.
  • Brack has a lot to lose if he is audited and something is found amiss. As such, he cannot stand carelessness.
• Brack uses the Disguise Self spell to hide his Lantern tattoos. This allows him to do business with people outside the Lanterns.*
• Brack’s status as a spellcaster is an open secret. The party and other close colleagues know, but outsiders don’t.
  • Brack has not disclosed who his Warlock patron is, and quickly changes the subject if asked.
• Brack has taken up pipe smoking to deal with the stress of running a business and being a Lantern.

Skills

• Brack is fluent in Common, Elvish, and Dwarvish
• He is skilled at negotiation and can deceive, persuade, or perform as needed.
• Brack is a better close combatant than his frame would suggest. This is because of magic.
• Brack is proficient in Smith’s Tools and can make many metal objects, although he obviously specializes in knives and small blades.