The Broker

Start-class article · First seen: s04 · Last seen: s10
The Broker
the Hollow's Voice
The Broker — portrait.
Character
StatusAlive
First seens04
Last seens10
FactionBlack Hollow Market

The Broker is a masked figure who runs a stall at the Black Hollow Market in Umbrafall. Distinguished by green-stained gloves and a bone ledger, he hires the party for two contracts during the Umbrafall arc — the Maelis Dirn kill (s4 paid s7) and the Black Vein Quarry missing-miners job (s7 paid s10) — and identifies a number of magical items including the Soulbinder’s Packed Ring for them. He is described, by Hugo’s character knowledge, as a man whose “word is his bond.” He gifted Hugo a sending stone, pointed the party toward Silent Intake in Velkris for the Duskwatch shipping ledger, and declined to be drawn into the Dawn Mercy Clinic conspiracy.

Overview

The Broker runs a stall at the Black Hollow Market in Umbrafall. He sits behind a bone ledger, wears green-stained gloves, and is referred to by some in the city as “the Hollow’s Voice” — though the title is one the recaps use sparingly and he himself does not. Per Hugo’s character knowledge from his time in Umbrafall, the Broker’s word is his bond; in mechanical terms he has paid out every contract, identified every magical item correctly, and given the party a sending stone for future work.

He is the campaign’s most reliably transactional NPC. He is not the party’s friend, but he has not, in seven sessions of contact, lied to them.

Appearance and demeanour

A masked figure. Bone ledger on the stall in front of him, green-stained gloves, recorded the kind of inventory you see in a real-world legitimate shop. Voice composed; manner unhurried.

History / role in the campaign

Session 4 — first meeting and the Maelis contract

Hugo felt an “almost burning desire” to visit the Black Hollow Market on first arrival in Umbrafall [6]. The Broker greeted them at his stall and offered a contract:

“Malus Dern, Coven Filth. she’s bleeding the market with her own racket. … You deal with her, and your passage through the hollow is clean.” — The Broker, [7]

Reward: free Hollow passage plus coin, poisons, and “something sharper than all of it.” Non-Hugo party members would otherwise pay a 50gp passage tax. The party voted in favour. The Broker advised them to follow Maelis’s collectors home through the Warrens.

Session 7 — payment and the mining quest

After Maelis Dirn was killed by her own Titan, Hugo returned to the Broker with Maelis’s soulbinder ring as proof. The Broker recognised it on sight:

“Oh, it is refreshing to see someone that doesn’t know what this is. Yes, this right here is a very, very rare piece of magical equipment called a soulbinder ring.” — The Broker, [8]

He paid 50gp + 2 bio-gloom toxins as agreed, then unwrapped a Greataxe of Frost +1 from his bag of holding and gave it to Hugo as a bonus. Hugo showed him the Duskwatch shipping ledger retrieved from Maelis’s research desk; the Broker recommended Silent Intake in Velkris, near “the Talking Skulls” entrance, for the appropriate market valuation. He also gave Hugo a sending stone for future contracts.

He then offered another job: the Umbrafall Mining Company had lost contact with miners working a recently-discovered rare ore in the Black Vein Quarry. Reward 100gp. The party accepted.

Session 10 — payment, the Rat, and the Dawn Mercy refusal

After Harvo’s death and Vasquez’s transformation, the party returned to the Broker. He paid the 100gp mining-quest reward and offered a further contract — assassinating a high-ranking political figure in Aurelia, 200gp, must look like an accident, two-week deadline. The party declined for time.

Hugo asked him about the Dawn Mercy Clinic. The Broker disclaimed all knowledge:

“Doesn’t move products, doesn’t move secrets, doesn’t move leverage.” — [9]

When pressed, he pointed them at The Rat, the major Umbrafall information broker, “if he wants to come in contact with you, he will” [10]. After the Aurelian Paladin ambush, the Broker reviewed the corpse, confirmed Aurelians do not normally venture into Umbrafall, and recommended Velkris as “the city of money” for selling Aurelian-conspiracy intelligence [5]. He confirmed the looted plate armour was enchanted (he could “recognise enchanted armour when I see it”). He declined to provide a 500gp/night safehouse the party couldn’t afford.

Relationships

  • Hugo — primary client. The sending stone makes Hugo a permanent contact.
  • Maelis Dirn — contract target. Personal grudge unclear; commercial grudge clear.
  • The Rat — described to the party as the Umbrafall information broker proper. The Broker pushes the Rat’s brief without trying to undercut him.
  • Silent Intake — Velkris counterfeit-document organisation; the Broker has the contact and the geographic knowledge.

Notable quotes

“Malus Dern, Coven Filth. she’s bleeding the market with her own racket.” — [7]

“Yes, this right here is a very, very rare piece of magical equipment called a soulbinder ring.” — [8]

“If you ever need me, just press this little sending stone and it’ll give me a little bit of a ring.” — [11]

“Doesn’t move products, doesn’t move secrets, doesn’t move leverage.” — On the Dawn Mercy Clinic, [9]

“It is said that if he wants to come in contact with you, he will.” — On The Rat, [12]

Disposition toward the party

Transactional, neutral, useful. He has been honest in every contract he has offered. He treats Hugo as a known quantity; the rest of the party as a unit Hugo brought along.

Status as of session 16

Alive, presumed at his stall in the Black Hollow Market. Not contacted since session 10. The party still holds his sending stone; the Velkris referral and the Aurelian-intelligence recommendation both remain open threads.

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 4, line 1480-1510 — First meeting; Maelis Dirn / Coven Filth contract offered.
  2. ^ Session 7, line 719-746 — Pays Maelis contract; Greataxe of Frost +1 gift; Silent Intake / Velkris reveal.
  3. ^ Session 7, line 745 — Recommends Silent Intake near "the Talking Skulls" entrance to Velkris.
  4. ^ Session 10, line 446-498 — Pays mining quest; declines Dawn Mercy knowledge; recommends The Rat.
  5. ^ Session 10, line 1247-1257 — Recommends Velkris ('the city of money') for selling Aurelian intel.
  6. ^ Session 4, line 1446 — Inline citation.
  7. ^ Session 4, line 1506 — Inline citation.
  8. ^ Session 7, line 740 — Inline citation.
  9. ^ Session 10, line 463 — Inline citation.
  10. ^ Session 10, line 471 — Inline citation.
  11. ^ Session 7, line 747 — Inline citation.
  12. ^ Session 10, line 473 — Inline citation.