Thar Shaddin

Please post in the Paragron group thread if interested in using!

The Paragon is a fractious anti-government newspaper that has been -- at the higher levels -- adjusted to a new purpose. The paper's original owners are unknown, but by the path that has been taken in recent years it is clear that the ownership has moved in a new direction.

The Paragon currently is split into three different groups with different purposes in addition to a smattering of independent runners who are kept largely in the dark until they have proven themselves trustworthy enough to be let in a little deeper.

There is the print staff, who are people who keep the newspaper running and gather new stories. They are some of the most ferociously zealous about the Paragon as a whole, having been slotted into the conspiracy theorists stereotype for years. The new direction has only served to fuel them to greater heights.

There are the informants and smugglers, who prepare information and goods for a purpose only guessed at by the group. Their base is the Rathole: a disreputable tavern whose owner is in some sort of league with the powers behind the Paragon.

There are the bruisers as well, whose base was the Hammer and Spring before it was shut down. They are known as the Hammer, and have taken their operations wholly underground. They are the start of a militia the powers behind Paragon are building in order to take on Marn's political structure and topple it.

Print Staff

Editor - Godas Fiordeliosi, goes by Fior or Fiordeliosi

Half-elf

A nervous, intelligent man who typically puts on an act of bravado. Originating as a street child, Fior has done well for himself. He is grossly overweight in the styles of one with much, much wealth to fall back upon. During the day he is of the merchant-noble class with his own trade, reduced to management instead of actively working his routes. The so-called "real" nobles whisper that he has stayed in Marn to be a big fish in a small pond, rather than suffer mediocracy in Eyropa or Tian Xia.

It is said he has a fetish for low-class whores, and given he has been seen a few times in the poorer districts it is a rumor thought to be confirmed.

In reality the rumor is faked by Fior himself. Truely he does not have much of a sex drive, being obsessively focused upon money. He resents the govt for curbing the amount of trade through Marn, hence his participation with the Paragon.

Fior has two contacts with the higher echelon of Paragon's driving force, and he always returns from those meetings pale and faint.

Senior printsman, junior editor -Rivos

human?

Rivos is a bit of a mystery to the Paragon crew. No one knows how he became involved with the Vitiable Paragon, but his rise from a lowly printsman to Fiordeliosi's right hand man is marked and gossiped over. He is an oily, handsome man; charming to his superiors and dismissive to his inferiors. He can easily switch from ingratiating to cutting, using his southern-Eyropean good looks and finely cut cloth to smooth his way as often as not.

He is unknown to the upper class of Marn, choosing to keep to himself. He is 'known' -- if such a word can be applied -- by few indeed, and those largely within Paragon's structure. If he has friends, they are not seen by his fellow conspirators. And if he has enemies, they've never visibly ruffled him.

Printsman - Balut

human

Balut is an artist at heart, working in ink as often as words. He's been at the wrong end of a misunderstanding with the guards, losing himself his dominant hand and his finely tuned skill. The grudge goes deep, and rather than learn to use his non-dominant hand he has chosen to go on a crusade against Marn. He revels in violence as a form of art, an expression of his discontent. Though he occasionally dictates an article or painstakingly writes one, he is typically used as a proofreader and an assitant to their gnomish machiner.

Balut is well known among the middle-class craftsmen and artist set, respected and tolerated for the skill he'd once commanded. He's known as a pitiful drunken malcontent. He hides his sharp mind and attention to detail from his former comrades, serving as an informant on his off hours.

Machiner - Rus Vulkovich

gnome

Stiffly formal, Rus has a bit of an honor feud with Marn. The government has contracted the services of the Trizinkoff clan, primary rivals to the Vulkoviches, and thusly when the Vulkovich clan was contacted by Paragon, they sent their best tinkerer. Rus is well versed in the bleeding edge of gnome tech, having done more than his share of work on printing presses and other such new machines of convenience. Rus does not invent things, but he is a whiz at taking things apart and putting them back together, more useful and explodey than ever.

Rus considers himself a philosopher, and all those who rely on violence to be barbarians.

The Rathole Rats

Tasked with gathering information and moving supplies and more nefarious things throughout the city, the Rathole portion of the Paragon consists of around thirty men and women. They tend to be the ones who recruit or gangpress new members, and assist the Hammer group with more violent tasks when needed.

Most of the Rathole are either in small groups between 3-5 or individual operatives. They generally report to one of the two field leaders.

Leader - Erila Yinn u Wuhite, human

At five foot flat and slight as a willow branch, Erila is exactly the sort of woman you'd expect to be commanding a bunch of roughneck men. She exudes a sense of reliability, poise and contempt for any who'd dare to cross her. Sure, the eyepatch doesn't hurt, but her crisp black hair with a touch of early grey at the temples and her cutting blue eye marks her as someone who is sharp and wise. She looks like a matron of a tangled, extensive clan, but Erila has never been wed.

Her looks are not too noteworthy, except for the scars. Erila used to be a teacher at the university, until a witchhunt snagged her as a member of a magical conspiracy. Caught, tortured, cleared and released with an order to lay low, Erila did just that -- until her brother's daughter was taken instead and never heard from again.

Erila is missing her left eye and some of the toes on her right foot. Her nippes have been ruined, and there are ridges and lumps of flesh on her back that are not from natural causes. The joints of her left hand are sensitive to temperature changes and extremes, and lock up or click at inopportune moments.

Erila is pale, having existed underground for the last six years of her life. She is in her early thirties, but moves as a woman much older might. She is not a warrior, but has spent much time familiarizing herself with poisons and tinctures, and can double as an apothecary in a pinch. It is often she who treats her men and women should they receive injury or fall ill, and each time it only serves to fuel the rage that simmers beneath the surface.

Justice is Erila's lifebread, and she tends to be black and white when dealing with her underlings. She is fair, but also uncompromising. She doesn't take advice well, and can be very stubborn. She obeys orders to the T, and her renown for getting the job done no matter what is what has lead her to her current position.

Coordinator: Theonas "Rook" di Santurni, human

Theo is a wiry man with some serious expertise. His main weapon is a spear, but he also has a pair of knives he is quite familiar with. He tends to be gruff and scowling. Theo is taciturn and grumpy, reclusive and plagued with high blood pressure. He is a pot ready to boil over, often burying his frustration in the name of professionalism. He's sure to go sometime soon, however, and most people familiar with him are edgy and nervous in his presence, especially whenever one of his eyes start twitching.

He is a dark blond with brown eyes and tough, leathery skin. He has a myriad of scars and bumps from years of training and fighting. He used to be a mercenary, typically taking jobs for Eyropan traders before settling in Marn around ten years ago.

The Hammer

A blossoming militia within Paragon's growing structure, the Hammer originally had their base within and below the Hammer & Spring, a working man's bar set mid into the ground. A gruesome massacre in the tavern brought too much attention to the spot, and it was shut down for investigation. The Hammer had to go underground -- literally -- rather than risk being found out, and they now operate exclusively in some of the upper catacombs beneath Marn.

While most of the group is splintered into inactive cells who train in secret, there are a few active groups who plan immediate actions against Marn, in particular the Justice Hall and the political prisoners kept within.

The only man who knows where all of the cells are and who they are comprised of is high up in the workings of the Paragon.

Tentative NPCs

Anvil, operating directly beneath the Hammer & Spring

Cell leader - Akios Dahi'ir, human

A relaxed man who tends more towards smiles than scowls. He is in his later middle age, but lean and ascetic. It is wise to not take advantage of his nature, for he is well aware of the precarious position Paragon must balance upon until they can make their move, and he is very much willing to kill to protect it.

Fighter - Dasha Mir Firdaus, human

A prankster given an opportunity, but otherwise very focused and controlled.

Fighter - Rafiu Whabah, human

Quiet, protective, has a nasty temper when frustrated.

Medic - Sabiro Katral, gnome

A drunkard trying to avoid bad memories who is kept around due his knowledge and skill.