The Grey Clerks Archives - Kaelin

 Well the stream of bad luck with health problems have continued so that we didn't have a game session two weeks ago and we didn't have a game session this week either. It is also why this blog post has been four days late to hit the metaphorical book shelves. This is the thing with having family members who have chronic health issues - the interesting times never end.

Lacking the game session to inspire the next chapter of Draconic Shennanigans I have instead complied some of the paperwork that crosses King Tatsuya's desk, this sample from the Grey Clerks (so called because they are so nondescript that you never notice that they are there, some times until it is too late). King Tatsuya prefers to be the shepherd of the future but that does not mean he is unwilling to be its butcher and will take what ever precautions he feels necessary. After all, if you take enough precautions, you then don't have to take the sort of precautions that others would find... distasteful. It is no wonder he and Hartseer get along, they share a very similar world view.

Saying that, let's drive in.

Person of Interest

Name: Kaelin (last name unknown/ doubtful she has one).

 Age: Unsure, probably early to mid twenties.

Birth place: Greely Creek

Race: Tainted/ Change beast/ puca born

Family: Father: Unknown, Mother: Unknown, Grandfather: Donovan Ratcliff (recent intelligence indicates this maybe an assumed name).

Profession: Career Thief, low tier. Kaelin is more likely to steal a loaf of bread or a pie off of a window sill than try to steal the contents of a safe box. Though she has shown some skills with lock picks and climbing, her level of trust inhibits her from taking things that are hard to pass off in payment for bed, board or clothing as she is unwilling to approach possible fences, fearing betrayal. Could be an asset, if properly trained and equipped, abroad in the capacity of a deniable agent as her paranoia would inhibit her from passing off her discovers to those outside of her handlers.

Location: Of no fixed abode. Kaelin does not seem to currently have a home as such, bedding down in temporary accommodation when she is in inhabited areas. So far her movements seem to have wandered south of the River Nayen that runs between Lotton and Condessa, never staying in a single area for long due her predilection to being light fingered and her lack of skills necessary to gain long term employment.

Skills: Climbing, running, she favors a short sword or dagger in a fight. She does appear to have a spattering of reading and writing and recent events have revealed a talent for the playing of less complicated wind instruments.

Appearance: Kaelin is a skinny youngish woman with pale skin, black hair and usually dark eyes. This can however change as Kaelin is descended in recent generations from bloodlines tainted by werewolf stock. As such she can summon a partial change of form. This is a limited change however, with the most notable features being the growth of lupine jaws and teeth, claws and a change of eye color to wolf yellow. She also demonstrates increased speed, agility and strength during these changes, as well as an over whelming need for a razor. Her change is not limited to the hours of the night and she seems to keep a portion of her mind while changed, able to recognized non-tainted allies in battle and refrain from attacking them. The trade off to these benefits is that she is not as powerful as a full blooded werewolf but as she is able to plan ahead and strategize she is often more affective in a fight.

Her clothes are often dirty and unkempt but are strictly practical - dark trousers, a once white shirt and a green leather jerkin with a hood. Since visiting the Wizard's Tower in the Dead Swamp she has acquired a golden locket that she appears to speak to and a pair of 'climbing gloves' that have added to her skills in scaling the sides of buildings. It is suspected that she liberated several small items as well while she was there. She also obtained a set of bagpipes that she has taken to referring to as Haggis. It appears that this instrument unlocked a buried talent for creating music and maybe of a magical nature, as Kaelin seems to be able to either bolster her allies or intimidate her enemies with her music.

History: What is known for sure of Kaelin's history is that she was born in the area of Greely Creek to a son of the notorious werewolf cult leader Donovan Ratcliff. Whether or not her mother and grandmother were also infected by the werewolf curse is unclear but is most probable due to Ratcliff's quasi-religious views. Ratcliff's cult firmly believes in the 'superiority of nature' and believe themselves to be the embodiment of that superiority, that they are the 'perfect race' and have the divine providence to claim all human land for themselves. They had been building themselves an enclave in Greely Creek and had been raiding into the surrounding area.

Though there was consideration at the time as to whether they could be used to neutralize the 'issue' at the Wizard's Tower, it was ultimately decided that they were just too dangerous to be recruited to the King's Special and were slated to be put down. The difficulties in over coming their defenses were solved when the door was opened from the inside. It is speculated that Kaelin may well have been the one to open the door.

The visit to the Wizard's Tower has revealed a greater possible depth to Kaelin's lineage than was suspected. The painting of one Charlotte Susan Darling recognized a family resemblance to Kaelin and spoke of her cousin, one Don van Ranchiff, who disappeared following an animal attack a month before Charlotte's brother, last heir of the main Darling line, was murdered. Apparently Don van was the sort of boy who scared his mother and earned the disdain of his father due to Don van's cruelty to animals and some nasty incidences involving the servant girls of the Ranchiff estate, not to mention the fact that he terrified his own sister, who had to be sent to a relative of her father's for her health. After the main Darling line was deceased this nervous sister was taken from her family but no communication was sent to them. There was no ransom note or any indication as to who had taken her, to quote "it was like she vanished from the face of Hestia". If this connection can be proved then it would enable the crown to hand back the estates of both the Ranchiff and Darling families to a bloodline descendant. It is the opinion of your agent that Kaelin would be unsuited to regular appearances at court but as a defender of some of the eastern mountain passes she would probably excel, as well as providing a tract of land were the more unusual of your Majesty's subjects could find a home without causing comments. 

Further reports will be sent pending developments.