Episode 05 Glossary
Characters
Whisper: Leads the Dread Stalkers into Gavra, then visits Graham inside the Reef. He learns that he was found as a refugee with his mother's key and that the Iron Chain ring he surrendered is another key connected to his unknown origins.
Graham: Whisper's imprisoned grandmother and mentor. She reveals the truth of finding him washed ashore, explains that she remained in the Reef partly to keep attention away from him, and orders him to pursue his identity upon the mainland rather than attempt another rescue.
Rue: Experiences a vision of Gavra's ancient tower before the city existed. Blink poisons him after mistaking him for Phineas Moon, but the group obtains the antidote before the poison kills him.
Vyr: Secretly drains the life from a squirrel to satisfy her urge to use magic. She later creates illusory papers at Gavra's gate and helps pursue Rue's assassin.
Normandy Borthal: Brings the group to Gavra's library in search of Jonas Lowery, only to learn that Jonas was murdered. He then leads most of the party toward a hidden route beneath the library.
Helena: Receives a blue potion and a cryptic warning from an elderly shopkeeper who claims that Helena's own light is not the one that needs saving.
Th'Marck: Witnesses Vyr draining the squirrel and rejoins the travelers. He consumes a glint to conceal himself while the group enters Gavra.
Blink: A new assassin who mistakes Rue for Phineas Moon and poisons him. After being captured, he provides the antidote and promises to report that he attacked the wrong target.
Phineas Moon: The actual target of the Arbiter's contract. Blink describes him as a blue-skinned man in a tall hat who travels with a panthex.
Jonas Lowery: Normandy's former associate at the Gavra library. The new librarian reports that Jonas was found with his throat cut inside the building.
Snake Eye Joe: Captain of the Dread Stalkers. He brings his large pirate company out of the Wintere Woods and accepts Whisper's direction into Gavra.
Vincent Vellomos: The pirates' intermediary with the travelers. He carries messages between Snake Eye Joe and the group during the journey.
Mate: Snake Eye Joe's first officer, a powerful man with ornate ear jewelry who organizes the pirates and accompanies them into Gavra.
Magrit Marigold: A leader among Whisper's former associates. She arranges his guarded passage into the Reef and delivers the Residuum's demand that he question Graham about the ring.
Tavros: A lieutenant among Whisper's former associates. He carries the Iron Chain ring and accompanies Whisper to the Reef.
Old Maggie: A disguised member of Whisper's former company who departs for Gavra with Magrit and Tavros before the larger party reaches the city.
Angelet "Aggie" Fields: Travels under Normandy's protection and remains with the group during the confrontation in the assassin's safe house.
Aronin: A bard traveling with the party. He accompanies Whisper to the Reef after the group divides at the library.
The White Lady: The powerful ruler whom the Dread Stalkers hope to heal with a great light. Their devotion to her drives their search for a route toward Tyve's mainland.
Gods and Religion
Eth: The Goddess of New Beginnings honored throughout Gavra. The central square bears a monumental statue of her protecting a child from a wave, while the library's moving murals depict her drawing people from drowning and darkness into new life.
The Blessed Light: Gavra's sacred and civic use of glint to hold back Tyve's darkness. Enormous towers around the walls burn with concentrated light, giving the capital a prosperity unknown to much of Scarsden.
Organizations and Societies
Dread Stalkers: Snake Eye Joe's pirate company. They seek a light capable of healing the White Lady and enter Gavra after Whisper bribes the guards to overlook their lack of papers.
The Residuum: A higher authority among Whisper's criminal associates. Its members reject the pirates as payment for Whisper's missed job but become intensely interested in the chained-wolf ring.
Assassin's Guild: The organization serving the Arbiter. Blink's attempt upon Rue is his first contract, but the intended mark is Phineas Moon.
Cult of the Iron Chain: A mainland power represented by a wolf bound in chains. Graham identifies the symbol on Whisper's ring and claims that his missing answers lie with the cult beyond Scarsden.
Stewards of Gavra: The organized government and military authority protecting Gavra. Their gate guards demand papers from outsiders, restrict magic, and allow the Dread Stalkers inside only after Whisper's bribe.
The Stalkers: Whisper's former criminal company, including Magrit Marigold, Tavros, and Old Maggie. They arrange his secret visit to the Reef under orders from the Residuum.
Creatures and Nature
Panthex: A powerful beast accompanying Phineas Moon. Blink uses it as one of the identifying details for the Arbiter's intended target.
Odo: Bjorn's wolf. He travels with the party through the Wintere Woods and into Gavra.
Wintere Wildlife: The small animals living within the white forest. Vyr kills a squirrel by draining its life while attempting to control her need for magic.
Tyve's Darkness: A pervasive danger kept outside Gavra by the light concentrated in its glint towers. The city's inhabitants associate uncontrolled darkness with disease and death.
Items and Technology
Whisper's Key: The key Graham found around Whisper's neck when he washed ashore as a child. It opens the box recovered from the wrecked Iron Chain ship despite not appearing to fit its lock.
Iron Chain Ring: A signet ring marked with a wolf surrounded by chains. Graham identifies it as a key and instructs Whisper to use its importance as leverage with the Residuum.
Ceremonial Dagger: The ornate blade Whisper recovered from the same locked box as the ring. He conceals its existence from the Residuum and reveals it only to Graham.
Blue Potion: A free vial given to Helena by an elderly Gavra shopkeeper. Its effects remain unknown after the woman delivers a warning about the light that truly needs saving.
Poisoned Dart: Blink's weapon against Rue. Its poison causes dizziness and would have continued worsening without the antidote taken from the assassin.
Glister: A valuable, mind-altering substance found among Blink's vials. Bjorn throws it into the sea rather than allow the party to sell it within Gavra.
Glint Towers: Massive structures along Gavra's walls crowned with great concentrations of glint. Their light protects the city from the surrounding darkness.
Magic and Cosmology
Rue's Tower Vision: A memory or vision of Gavra's ancient tower before the city existed. Rue sees a purple sky, a green fracture of light, and a false pool whose surface opens into cold air.
Life Drain: Vyr's ability to siphon life from another creature. Using it upon a squirrel satisfies a growing magical urge but exposes her secret to Th'Marck.
Glint Concealment: Th'Marck consumes a glint's light and becomes invisible, allowing him to pass through Gavra's gate without being recognized as an unnatural creature.
Darkness Born of Light: The paradox surrounding Tyve's decay. The light protecting Gavra is treated as necessary for survival, even as the wider land warns that its darkness originated from light.
Locations and Realms
Gavra: The immense, glint-lit capital of Scarsden. Its walls, harbor, markets, government houses, library, castle, ancient tower, and prison dominate the northwestern coast.
Wintere Woods: The white forest east of Gavra where the travelers meet the Dread Stalkers and begin their journey together.
Gavra Library: A circular coastal library whose moving murals tell the story of Eth. Jonas Lowery was murdered within it, and Normandy leads the party toward a concealed entrance beneath the public floors.
Ancient Tower of Gavra: A stone pillar upon a jagged island connected to the royal castle. Rue remembers walking within it before the surrounding city existed.
The Reef: Gavra's isolated prison upon the western coast. The Stalkers secretly bring Whisper through its opened passages to visit Graham.
Drowned Cell: The lowest prison chamber within the Reef, where the tide can kill those confined inside. Graham accepts the possibility of being sent there rather than flee with Whisper.
Great Square: Gavra's central gathering place, dominated by a monumental statue of Eth. The Dread Stalkers wait there while the main party travels toward the library.
History and Lore
Whisper's Arrival in Scarsden: Graham found Whisper washed ashore among other refugees with a mysterious key around his neck. She concealed the truth of his arrival while raising him as her own.
Graham's Imprisonment: Graham suggests that remaining inside the Reef has kept powerful eyes upon her instead of Whisper. She now chooses to stay because she believes he must begin living without her protection.
Foundation of Gavra: Rue's vision indicates that the island tower and its impossible pool predate the roughly four-century-old city built around them.
Contract on Phineas Moon: The Arbiter has placed a reward upon Phineas large enough to earn a successful assassin a seat at the guild's table. Blink attacks Rue because their blue skin matches part of the description.
