The Broker

Start-class article · First seen: s04 · Last seen: s10
The Broker
Portrait of The Broker.
Character
StatusAlive
First seens04
Last seens10
FactionBlack Hollow Market

The Broker is the masked fixer who runs the Black Hollow Market in Umbrafall, seen behind a ledger carved of bone in gloves stained green with venom ink [14][8]. He hired the party for two jobs: the kill of Maelis Dirn, paid in session 7, and the missing-miners job at the Black Vein Quarry, paid in session 10 [10][11][12][13]. Along the way he identified Maelis’s ring, gave Hugo a sending stone, pointed the party to Silent Intake in Velkris, and claimed to know nothing of the Dawn Mercy Clinic [45][27].

Overview

The Broker is the man who keeps the Black Hollow Market running: “the person that kind of runs the Black Hollow Market”, who makes sure it goes undisturbed and can procure whatever is missing [8]. As Hugo’s character knew, nobody in Umbrafall is trustworthy, but the Broker is more so than most: “his word is his bond in a way”, and once a deal is struck he keeps his end [9]. He is the party’s contact for work in Umbrafall: he hired it to kill Maelis Dirn and later to find the missing miners, and paid both times [10][11][12][13].

Appearance and demeanour

A masked broker behind a ledger carved of bone, his gloved fingers stained green from venom ink. When the party passed his stall he snapped the book shut with a crack and tilted his head, so that the mask’s hollow eyes fixed upon them [14]. He taps the ledger with two green-stained fingers when he names a price [15][16]. Later the party found him in his room in the market, which smells of ink and oil and old paper, annoyed at being interrupted [17]. He is dry and businesslike: “as long as she dies, I don’t care how” [18].

Relationships

  • Hugo: his usual contact, who knew him from his time in Umbrafall; he holds the sending stone the Broker gave him [8][19].
  • Maelis Dirn: the target of his first contract; she was “bleeding the market with her own racket” [10].
  • The Rat: the information broker he sends the party to for anything about the clinic [20].
  • Silent Intake: the Velkris organisation he names as the buyer for the forged shipping ledger [21][3].
  • The Umbrafall Mining Company: the source of his second job, the lost miners [22].

Disposition towards the party

Transactional, neutral and useful. He paid in full each time and added the “something sharper” he had promised [23][24]. He treats the party as clients rather than friends, and when it asked about a matter outside his trade, the Dawn Mercy Clinic, he said it was not his business [25].

Notable quotes

“as long as she dies, I don’t care how.” — The Broker, on Maelis Dirn, [18]

“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, [26]

“If you ever need me, just press this little sending stone and it’ll give me a little bit of a ring.” — The Broker, [19]

“Doesn’t move products, doesn’t move secrets, doesn’t move leverage.” — The Broker, on the Dawn Mercy Clinic, [27]

“Not really. It is said that if he wants to come in contact with you, he will.” — The Broker, on the Rat, [28]

History in the campaign

Session 4: The Still Current, the Black Mask, and Hugo’s Pact

Main article: Session 4

Hugo felt an “almost burning desire” to go to the Black Hollow Market, and as the party passed, the Broker snapped his ledger shut: “Outsiders? Hmm. that makes you useful. I have a deal for you, if you wish.” [29][30]. He wanted Maelis Dirn of Coven Filth dead, and her giant too if need be [10][31]. In return, the party’s passage through the Hollow would be free of tax, which the others otherwise paid at 50 gold each, and he would pay “coin, poisons, and probably something sharper” [32]. He told them to follow her collectors into the Warrens. Hugo urged the party to accept, and it agreed [33][34].

Session 7: Maelis Falls, Vasquez Captured

Main article: Session 7

With Maelis dead, the party showed him the ring from her remains. He paid 50 gold and two Biogloom toxins, and gave Hugo a large fungus-covered axe from his bag of holding [35]. He judged the forged shipping documents fakes that Silent Intake in Velkris, near the Talking Skulls, might still pay for [21][3]. He handed Hugo a sending stone and hired the party to recover the Umbrafall Mining Company’s missing miners from a quarry to the north, for 100 gold [4][36].

Session 10: Ruin Joins, the Aurelian Conspiracy, the Plate Armour

Main article: Session 10

Hugo reported the miners dead and the Broker paid in full [37]. He offered a 200-gold assassination job to look like an accident, aimed at a political officer in Aurelia; Hugo asked him about the Dawn Mercy Clinic, which he called charity work and not his business, and he named the Rat [38]. When the party returned dragging an Aurelian paladin’s body, he found Aurelians in Umbrafall unusual [6]. The party declined the rush job [39][40]. He offered a safe house at 500 gold a night, which it could not afford, recognised the paladin’s armour as enchanted, and recommended Velkris as “the city of money” [41][42][43].

Status

As of session 23. Alive, presumably in his room in the Black Hollow Market; the party has not met him since session 10. Hugo still has his sending stone as far as the record shows, the assassination contract was left open “for a few more days or until someone else picks it up” [44], and the Velkris referral remains unused.

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 7, line 747-749: Gives Hugo a sending stone and hires the party to recover the missing miners.
  5. ^ Session 10, line 446-498: Pays mining quest; declines Dawn Mercy knowledge; recommends The Rat.
  6. ^ Session 10, line 1134-1159: Told of the Aurelian paladin in Umbrafall; finds it odd.
  7. ^ Session 10, line 1256-1312: Recommends Velkris ('the city of money'); offers a safe house at 500 gold a night.
  8. ^ Session 4, line 1490: Inline citation.
  9. ^ Session 4, line 1502: Inline citation.
  10. ^ Session 4, line 1506: Inline citation.
  11. ^ Session 7, line 719: Inline citation.
  12. ^ Session 7, line 804: Inline citation.
  13. ^ Session 10, line 452: Inline citation.
  14. ^ Session 4, line 1480: Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 4, line 1508: Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 4, line 1574: Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 10, line 446: Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 4, line 1534: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 7, line 747: Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 10, line 469-473: Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 7, line 736: Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 7, line 749: Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 4, line 1510: Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 7, line 719-725: Inline citation.
  25. ^ Session 10, line 467: Inline citation.
  26. ^ Session 7, line 740: Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 10, line 463: Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 10, line 473: Inline citation.
  29. ^ Session 4, line 1446: Inline citation.
  30. ^ Session 4, line 1480-1482: Inline citation.
  31. ^ Session 4, line 1534-1538: Inline citation.
  32. ^ Session 4, line 1506-1518: Inline citation.
  33. ^ Session 4, line 1546-1570: Inline citation.
  34. ^ Session 4, line 1572: Inline citation.
  35. ^ Session 7, line 710-725: Inline citation.
  36. ^ Session 7, line 802-804: Inline citation.
  37. ^ Session 10, line 449-455: Inline citation.
  38. ^ Session 10, line 457-484: Inline citation.
  39. ^ Session 10, line 1174: Inline citation.
  40. ^ Session 10, line 1239-1244: Inline citation.
  41. ^ Session 10, line 1256: Inline citation.
  42. ^ Session 10, line 1293-1312: Inline citation.
  43. ^ Session 10, line 1331-1332: Inline citation.
  44. ^ Session 10, line 1244-1245: Inline citation.
  45. ^ Session 7, line 740-747: Inline citation.