Ortho: NPCs

Is the harmonium perhaps being cast as too LN rather than LLG? We just seem to be focusing on the order side a lot which is good in a way because it raises some interesting plot ideas. However it might be nice to have a Really lawful type wandering about Ortho implementing justice without mercy or passion. Think Vhailor (PS:T) or Rorschach (Watchmen- my avatar), a sociopath who sees law and chaos and none of the shades between. Obviously I'm biased in wanting a character like this but it could be interesting.

Such a man may have been powerful figure in defining the Harmonium and a hero of the war of iron, some strong parallels to a Vietnam vet could easily be drawn. Uncompromising individuals like this are often extremely useful in times of crisis but become an embarrassment to the administration after victory has been achieved – there is no place for him in the world he created but he hasn’t realised this yet.

A loose member of the warriors of the rest could fill this role well and could lead to quests from the Harmonium to find him and convince him to re-join his old comrades in their monastic existence rather than killing such an important part of Harmonium history.

Alternately it could be a Harmonium ruse - "we're not oppressive, see, look at that guy" but this angle is kind of already being run on the chaotic side by the Neverseen and again kind of makes the Harmonium a bit too nasty.

Yeah, I get that, just thought that we should give them a foil to show where the line is although I guess the sin-hunters can fulfil this role once they're up and running.

hmm, a throwback from the past was my initial conception. He's that living dark reminder for the Harmonium of what they were in the past and could be again.
Anyway we can run with it in any direction people want, to be honest I thought my initial idea was a little too cliche'd.

The Octave:
Right now, all I have is Eldersphinx' names, so if I contradict anything established, let me know.

Name: Lihia Xiu
Race: Human Female
Age: 61
Position: Conductor of Internal Harmony
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Class: Fighter 12, Marshal 6 [or just Fighter 18].
Province of Origin: Harmony's Glory, FD.
Description:
Lihia Xiu is a tough looking older woman with graying black hair, a broad, scarred face, and ruddy, well-tanned skin. She speaks in the clipped tones of a career soldier, and looks more at ease in a suit of platemail than in fancy clothes.

The Xiu family has been among Harmony's Glory's best-known citizens for two centuries and are renowned for their military service. Lihia's parents were both career soldiers, as were three of her grandparents and at least one of her great grandparents. Lihia herself has always been a good soldier and has spent the last forty years rising through the ranks and fighting in numerous battles against many enemies. She is a hardened soldier and a skilled tactician, but her real strength lies in her ability to inspire and lead soldiers into battle; a trait that made her among the most respected and popular generals in the empire. Despite her many talents, General Xiu has never been a political animal. She would not have even considered becoming Conductor, had not the previous Conductor of Prime Harmony, the ailing dwarf Thareksul the Undaunted, hand-picked her for the position.

Conductor Xiu is unflinching in her devotion to the Way of Harmony and tends to to be one of the most militant members of the Octave. She frequently advocates the use of military force to solve even the most diplomatic problems. She is, however, a devoted servant of the state, and has so far not used her control of the military to force through unpopular decisions the way previous Conductors of Internal Harmony have.

Name: Jormin Akerikos
Race: Aasimar Male
Age: 70
Position: Conductor of Civic Harmony
Alignment: Lawful Good
Class: Paladin? Monk? Sword Sage? Expert? 16
Province of Origin: Bafatai
Description:
Jormin Akerikos is a tall, handsome older man with brown hair, a chiseled face and, steely gray eyes that seem to glow in a decidedly inhuman manner. He generally wears a fashionable business suit, but given his easy confidence and cool charisma would look good wearing just about anything.

Jormin Akerikos is one of only a few Aasimar native to Bafatai, but the source of his heritage, or even his family history, is not well known. What is well known is that he spent his adolescence studying in a monastery to Rialondru after which Jormin took a job as a clerk working for the City of Roglyn. After several years working for the city (and still barely thirty) he won an election for mayor, despite his relative obscurity. He then spent the next decade managing the city and overseeing the tremendous growth it was going through. Through all of this his top concern was the conditions within the New District, and making sure the poor had good places to live -- a task his successors have often neglected. After ten years of devoted service, the Marn confederation elected Jormin almost unanimously to serve as their representative on the Council of Ortho. Jormin spent the next twenty years serving as a representative and making alliances with other councilors. When the time came to select a new Conductor of Civic Harmony, the choice was obvious. He has now been on the Octave for ten years, and even his enemies will grudgingly admit that he has done a good job.

Conductor Akerikos is among the most charitable and idealistic members of the Octave, but he balances this with the careful pragmatism learned from four decades in politics. He does not like Ortho's boundless expansionism and has openly stated that the people of Ortho would be better off with a smaller military. This has earned him the enmity of many Harmonium, especially Conductor Xiu, who takes any such talk as a personal insult. By and large, however, most of the Octaves get along well with him (particularly because many of them secretly fear the growing power of the military).

Name: Ruograssa Tzuro
Race: Human Female
Age: Unknown. She looks about 30, but is probably far older.
Position: Conductor of Agrarian Harmony
Alignment: (secretly) True Neutral
Class: Druid 17
Province of Origin: Voll
Description:
Conductor Tzuro is a beautiful woman with carefully braided auburn hair, tan skin, green eyes, and an angular face that suggests possible elven heritage. She wears clothing that is obviously designed to highlight her beauty, and is almost always the best dressed woman at any party she attends. She is smart and funny and most of the people she meets like her, but there is a lot more to her than meets the eye.

For one thing, despite being in the public eye for twelve years, she has apparently not aged a day since she was a young plantation owner's wife picked seemingly at random to represent her province on the council. Most people think that this is just the result of clever charms that make her appear younger, but some suggest there is something darker going on. The truth of the matter is that beneath her facade as a harmless socialite lies a powerful druid and crafty planner. Ruograssa has spent the last few decades using her wits and charms to improve her rank and station in life, and has finally reached her desired goal: a seat on the Octave. Her true motives are unclear, although some have suggested that she may not be the devoted servant of Law she claims to be. Indeed, some have even accused her of working for Fey, fiends, or the Hidden Goddess.

As the newest member of the Octave (having only been elected last year) Ruograssa has been doing everything she can to gain friends within the Octave while being careful not to upset the more experienced Conductors. To this end, she tends to go along with other people's proposals and has been slow to propose changes of her own. Most people assume she is just testing the waters before she makes big moves to advance her real agenda, whatever that may be. Rumors that she is having an affair with Conductor Akerikos are probably unfounded.

Name: Komalok Brownbrow
Race: Kobold Male
Age: 95
Position: Conductor of Ethical Harmony
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Class: Psion (Telepath) 17
Province of Origin: Xaric.
Description:
Conductor Brownbrow is about average hight for a kobold (making him incredibly short by just about everyone else's standards) and stands just short of two-and-a-half feet tall. His caramel-colored scales are polished to an immaculate shine, but in between his scales is the wrinkly gray skin of an aging kobold. His face is lined and wizened (not that most non-kobolds would be able to tell) and his eyes gleam with intelligence and psionic power. He tends to wear formal robes although he has been known to wear an ornate Mithral breastplate on occasion.

Komalok was raised in a mixed race village on the plains of Xaric where he had only a small taste of the second-class status kobolds experienced in the rest of the province. He left his home at a fairly young age to attend an ethics school in Threerivers. While he was studying there, he began to unlock his other gift: Psionics. After graduating from the Ethics school in Threerivers, Komalok became involved in politics. First on the local level, and then on the provincial level. Unfortunately, he found himself barred from high office due largely to anti-kobold discrimination. Komalok quit politics in disgust and returned to the Ethics schools where he made a name for himself on the lecture circuit. He continued to speak and write on various subjects for the next thirty years.

Then one day the Conductor of Ethical Harmony, a stout old dwarf named L'kuhl who everyone thought was going to live for another hundred years, died suddenly of an overdose of illegal drugs. A search of L'kuhl's manor showed that he had been taking bribes and stealing money from the OCA treasury. An official government corruption investigation was launched, and it was found that a number of Conductor L'kuhl's cronies, all of whom were respected men in the ethics fields, had been involved in the scandal and were executed for treason. The Council of Ortho decided to put the incident behind them as quickly as possible by selecting a new Conductor who was not conected to the corruption of the past administration. Of course, given the short notice, their choices were fairly limited and, since the hearing happened to fall during Tolerance Week, they made Komalok the first (and only) kobold to ever be elected to the Octave.

That was thirty years ago. Today, Komalok is the second most senior members of the Octave and among its most respected members. He has always had a knack for telling which way the wind is blowing (although less so now that the OCA has issued mandatory Rings of Mindshielding to all top officials) and is generally the first person to tell when trouble looms on the horizon. He is a lifelong student of the Way of Harmony, and is an expert on all ethical matters . Morals, on the other hand, are more of a gray area for him. Komalok's word carries a lot of weight on the Octave, and people generally treat him with deserved respect, even if he isn't terribly likable as a person. Komalok tends to get on well with people who have achieved their positions through hard work and is friends with Conductors Xiu and Akerikos. On the other hand, he resents those who have come to power the easy way. Particularly Conductor Ironfist who is a product of the same entrenched political order than barred him from office in Xaric. He also doesn't trust Conductor Tzuro and thinks she's up to something.

Name: Telomi`ir
Race: Beholder
Age: Old
Position: Conductor of Magical Harmony.
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Class: [Awaiting Completion of the Beholder Monster Class] 20.
Province of Origin: Keln'in
Description:
Conductor Telomi`ir is large, powerful, and ancient even by Beholder standards. His orange carapace is grayed and scarred by countless conflicts and he is missing several teeth. He is a boring speaker with a rather unpleasant demeanor and is generally not someone people enjoy being around.

Conductor Telomi`ir is one of the oldest Beholders on Ortho. So old, in fact, that he was already an elder among the Beholders when they first joined the Knights of Harmony in their genocidal war against the elves. Little is known of his life in those days and earlier, although he doubtless has many amazing stories he could tell if he were so inclined. More lately, he has been a powerful force in politics, both in Keln'in and on the federal level. He has been Conductor of Magical Harmony for the last twenty-five years, and looks like he'll keep the job for a good while longer. Interestingly, Telomi`ir really isn't all that qualified for the job and received the position more by political maneuvering and the support of the Beholder bloc in the council than by any magical expertise he may actually possess.

Telomi`ir is one of the last remnants of an age where Beholders would kill one another over the pettiest slight, and the only way to stay in control was with unspeakable brutality. As such, Telomi`ir tends to advocate harsh and ruthless rule, and is so brutal in his methods that he makes Conductor Xiu seem positively compassionate by comparison. The more charitable Octaves see him as being a cranky old coot, while others see him as a dangerous extremist who needs to be isolated. Either way they tend to treat him warily and give him a wide berth. Of all the Octaves, Conductor Telomi`ir is the most likely to be the "one" in a seven-to-one vote.

Name: Fhaedru Ironfist
Race: Dwarf Male
Age: 328
Position: Conductor of Theological Harmony
Alignment: Lawful Good
Class: Archivist(?) 20
Province of Origin: Xaric.
Description: Conductor Fhaedru Ironfist is a portly old dwarf with bronzed skin, thinning hair and a grayed beard. He tends to be friendly and boisterous in private and is a favorite guest at many parties, but in public he is all business. Fhaedru is the most senior member of the Octave (although not the oldest. That title is Telomi`ir's by more than a millenium), and acts with all the solemnity and wisdom that role requires.

Although few people would believe it now, Fhaedru was once little more than a clever young priest in the service of Alae, Lord of Peace. In fact, until he was nearly 140 years old, he was the keeper of the temple library in Three Rivers. The Ironfists were a powerful family in Ortho even then, and everyone knew he was meant for greater things. First he became the head of the Three Rivers temple, and then he became the highest ranking priest of Alae in all of Xaric. Finally, he was chosen for the Octave by the then powerful Dwarf Bloc shortly before his 220'th birthday, and has been shaping the policies of Ortho for the last century -- longer than all but Telomi`ir have been alive.

As senior member of the Octave, Conductor Ironfist has been empowered by tradition to serve as chairman for each session of the Octave Council. This gives him a lot of power. That power, combined with the clout he has earned for his century of service insures that none of the Octaves treat him with anything but the utmost respect. He is a powerful man and a dangerous enemy, but lately he has begun to show signs of his age. No longer is he the vibrant political leader he once was. He rarely proposes new legislation anymore, his rulings as chairman sometimes seem arbitrary or even illogical, and he is slower chide people for procedural breaches than he once was. He also has begun to show poor health causing people to worry about what will happen to the Octave if he steps down and Conductor Brownbrow takes over as chairman. Worse still, he could outlive Brownbrow and the position would go to Telomi`ir!

Name: Sirock of Saeduenical
Race: Orc Male
Age: 55
Position: Conductor of Metaphysical Harmony
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Class: Favored Soul(?) 16
Province of Origin: Motmurk

Conductor Sirock is a tough old orc with leathery gray-green skin and bad teeth. Despite his age, he is quite strong and heavily muscled and looks like he has seen a good deal of combat over the years. He tends to be gruff and unfriendly and has the rather bad habit of yelling indoors.

Sirrock is a servant of Saeduenical, but he's not some stuffy priest or weakling monk. Oh no, Sirock is a former Sin Hunter. In fact, for a time, he was the highest ranked Sin Hunter in the church and has overseen some pretty horrendous activities. It was during his brief tenure as top Sin Hunter that the old Conductor of Metaphysical Harmony died, and the orcs (who hadn't had a representative on the Octave since Conductor Akerikos replaced the last one), lobbied hard to get Sirock into power. He has been ruling for five years, but hasn't shown a lot of skill in adapting to politics. Dark rumors are also beginning to spread about his time as a Sin Hunter. Some say he is guilty of more wicked deeds than those he persecuted. A few have even accused him of having dealings with the Devils.

Conductor Sirrock is not a political animal, and he is too self-righteous and unflinching to make deals with. Nevertheless, he is not one to be taken lightly and he is surprisingly good at getting people to do what he wants, sometimes using threats and intimidation if need be. He sees sin lurking within most people, and stupidity within everyone else. The only person on the Octave he respects is Conductor Xiu, who is also not a career politician and shares some of his ruthlessness.

Whoops

Missed the Government post. It was right there too.

*bangs head*

Forget I even made this.

*Blush*

Go for it.

I figured that the Baats need to have their claws in handy.

"The Honorable Representative of Heka-Voll would like to request that we table the issue of Demihuman Relocation in the Colonies until next quarter. Why? My officials need to look over the documentation. Otherwise, I fear we'll have to examine all the papers regarding the issue In-House. Yes, sir, that would be all one hundred and fifty three thousand letters. Oh, you are tabling it? Splendid!"
-Sir Terrance Greywords at a typical session of The Ortho Council

Name: Sir Terrance Greywords
Race: Human Male
Age: 43
Position: Ortho Council Representative
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Class: Bard 7/Aristocrat 3
Province of Origin: Heka-Voll
Description:

Terrance Greywords is a blonde, young faced, slightly pudgy man that is quite good looking. The man has impeccable taste in suits with most of them being blue for no other reason that it makes him stand out in a crowd. His bright, cheery, and affectionate demeanor contrasts very sharply against most members of the OCA. Due to magical items on his personage, only a few that are allowed in the Ortho Council, Terrance's alignment strongly radiates Lawful Goodness while simultaneously enhancing his charisma to inhuman levels.

Terrance is, not to put too fine a point on it, a traitor. Despite being the elected representative of one of the most important provinces on Ortho. He's an individual that has passed along vital government data to the Harmonium's enemies, impeded Ortho's military buildup at every possible interval, and undermined the functions of the government in a series of outlandish ways that border on the unbelievable. Ironically, it's unlikely that he'll ever be caught since he's got an unusual political savy (mixed with the fact he's perfectly willing to break the law for the greater good). Terrance's tactics including blackmail and sending evil but legally innocent Harmonium officials to prison (He's no end of those to blame for any political attacks on his person).

The aristocrat is a rather curious choice for a rebel. He's an individual that comes from excellent family, grew up extremely privileged, and showed no particular radical leanings in his youth. That all changed when a State funded initiative took him and a group of other delegates to Arborea in order to show them how Chaos had turned the populous into a bunch of shiftless layabouts. Seeing the happy, carefree, and decent individuals of that plane made him realize that the Harmonium's mission had gone seriously wrong.

Representative Greywords doesn't desire to destroy the Harmonium or the OCA. Instead, he still believes that the organization can be reformed into something that strives for good and good alone. While he believes in freedom, he's not that much to the left of the Harmonium's creed that people notice he's politically different. So far, his efforts have managed to seriously hamper the Harmonium's conquests but have done little to make it a better organization. Nevertheless, the Octave has fits with the possibility of his being elected to them that comes up every so often in session. Representative Greywords would never accept a Conductorship, he has too much authority frustrating their positions to become the "one vote that's always overruled." He has, carefully, debated the possibility of becoming Composer...

Ironically, despite the fact that the Harmonium's official position is that he's a useless bean counter, Terrance is repeatedly re-elected for his social reforms and support of a more independent Heka-Voll. The fact that he's a direct descendant of Prince Romhel and the cousin of the King doesn't hurt. Terrance can't put many of his genuine beliefs into his speeches but he hopes enough gets out that future generations will have the seeds of what he hopes to accomplish.

Terrance Greywords is the leading figure of the Restrainers in the Ortho Council and also a major figure amongst the Liberals and Democrats. Terrance also attempts to support Planar and Colonial independence but refuses to make that stand public for the possible political repercussions. The fact that he wields disproportionate power in the Council despite the fact that his public positions, let alone his private, are wildly unpopular tends to mystify those who study current politics. In truth, Terrance sells his vote on issues that have no importance to him and can often lead the agenda. He's loathed by many of the more militant hawks in the Council and chiefly noted for being the sole vote against Factol Sarrin's appointment to Sigil (one of the few open "conscience" decisions he's made). This is especially ironic since he's Factol Sarrin's half-brother on his mother's side. Suffice to say, the two were not very close.

Terrance is always on the look out for like minded citizens that can be trusted to help him drive out the corruption and tyranny in the Harmonium. A lot of his efforts cross over into the blatantly illegal and he's quite aware he's end up in the Dead Book (as his Sigil friends say) if even part of them were. While unlikely, Terrance does his best to cover his tracks and has developed a ruthlessness that occasionally unsettles him. The aristocrat has no desire to be a martyr but he refuses to stop his activities, ironically because he believes in the better world that the Harmonium claims to be striving for.

Actually, I knew that. I just thought it was nice to not have all members of racial stock be that way. For example, Po Ji comes from South Thaera despite being a Chinese archetype. However, I'll definitely change him.

I'll change it though. Shoryko is his new land.

I figured that these characters helped illustrate the place of Chaotics and Neutral types in the Realms. For continuity's sake, I also think it'd be a good idea if we made references as appropriate to them.

Just as I'll make references to the Octave's individual members whenever possible (I really like your write ups of them).

I figured Akashi was an excellent "easy villain" for PCs to use and Po Ji was an excellent adventure hook for Chaotic PCs. Terrance is another good example of a possible hook, plus illustrates how rigidly lawful the Harmonium is that a NG guy can't get along in the government.

I've edited Terrance's entry and made it more in line with Armoury's depictions of government factions.

Name: Li Fang
Race: Dwarf Male
Age: 583
Position: Ortho Council Chairman
Alignment: Neutral Good
Class: Expert 16
Province of Origin: Shoryku
Description:

Li-Fang is a slightly rotund man with a bald head, long white beard, opal shaped eyes, and a pot belly that he keeps disguised under his Robes of Office. The "Staff of the Council" that allows him to silence anyone and increase the volume of those members speaking seems permanently glued to his hand.

Li-Fang is considered an ubiquitous figure in the Council of Ortho and few can remember a time without the Dwarf. The Dwarf speaks with a thick cough and rarely speaks except for lengthy explanations of why or why not something can be done at this time. The fact that he's unusually long lived amongst Dwarves is somewhat attested to by the fact that he subsists on a diet of Planar food that is specially imported from Shang-Ti's realm through Sigil.

Li-Fang hails from a time when the Knights of Harmony were not quite as well-established as they were and remembers well the time before the OCA was the law of the land. The son of a minor government official in Shoryku, he spent most of his life preparing for a minor Bureaucractic position in the Emperor's court. That was when he was promoted to being their representative in the Ortho Council when they did not expect it to amount to the world government that it became. By tradition, when they realized that it was going to be one of the most important roles in the government, he'd already had seniority over most members. Li-Fang has since outlived dozens of human Bureaucrats that have come to replace him and become the highest official of the Ortho Council.

Li-Fang makes very few decisions upon his own and leaves most of the actual governing to the Ortho representatives. At least, this is how it appears. In truth, Li-Fang has an encyclopedia-like memory of legal precedents, precedents, and tradition that has allowed him to direct the council. The irony is that Li-Fang is actually somewhat contemptous of the law due to the fact that he's been exposed to centuries of seeing it being made by idiots. Few would ever suspect he finds the idea of absolute law silly due to the venerable position that he holds and his numerous Fraternity of Order friends that visit him from time to time.

Li-Fang has an intense hatred for Yamonuz, The Minister of Doctrinal Purity back at Shoryku and Lihia Xiu of the Conductors. He views both individuals as possessing ample intellect but very little compassion. Privately, only Yamonuz has realized that Li-Fang has been frustrating his efforts to minimize the Province's Harmonium participation in their affairs. While Li-Fang has largely lost in preventing the Minister of Doctrinal Purity's takeover of Shoryko's government, he's utterly blocked any attempt to remove him or place his own people in Harmonium departments. All of this without anyone suspecting that the old Dwarf is anything but a beloved figurehead.

Amongst the Council, Li-Fang privately supports Terrance Greywords monkey-wrenching that he believes balances out some of the assumptions the Harmonium makes. The Chairman is, secretly, also the man that has destroyed some of Terrance's most radical plans. Li-Fang believes in the Harmonium but feels that Balance is the chief method of attaining them. Terrance has no idea that the Speaker is not only aware of his secret agenda but *EVERY* Representative's secret agenda.

Those seeking to meet the Chairman of the Ortho Council will often have to make an appointment with his vast Bureaucratic staff, meant to shield him from meetings, or privately arrange an invitation to his house for a social gathering of some sort. Figuring out this is one of the tests to see if a subject is worth speaking with.