Monamon Leaves-Fall-In-Agony (The Emperor)

Monamon Leaves-Fall-In-Agony is a monster. More so than most Aelfir. He’s gotten to the top of the High University of Arcane Magic through a mix of utter ruthlessness, being clever, and an Elidon from his friends at the College of Undying Light that grants him supernatural luck.

Why is he important?

He’s the primary candidate for the The University of Arcane Magic, and terribly well connected and influential. He’s not going to relinquish power easily. He had the Supreme Adjudicator killed, with the knowledge that he was the likely heir. The hit team went slightly off the rails when the team also burgled the Supreme Adjudicator’s office, much to Monamon’s displeasure. Monamon pulls a lot of strings in the Mezzanine, and he’s stacked the deck in his favor. His family is also quite wealthy though as a second son, he’s not *disgustingly* rich. His main power is his connections, almost nothing happens in the conservatory without Monamon knowing.

What sets him apart from the Aelfir?

Monanon would be your standard evil conniving Aelfir, if it weren't for his Elidon, tied to the Weaver of Fate, a demon who controls fortune, and who grants Monamon incredible luck and boosts his already impressive charisma. The Weaver makes it so not only that Monamon is almost impossible to assassinate by ordinary means (and his rivals have tried), but also so that his plans come to fruition, even when they’re incredibly unlikely, which is part of what made assassinating the Supreme Adjudicator and remaining undiscovered possible. The Elidon’s powers are not cheap however, Monamon must feed it the intelligence and wit of particularly promising students, via a horrific ritual that renders them almost brain-dead. He’s so far managed to keep the fact that his smartest students always wind up “burning out” and dropping from the program a secret.

What does he desire?

Monamon is a narcissist and wants power above all. Becoming the Supreme Adjudicator is only the first step. Once he’s in power he plans to become the dean of the University of Arcane Magic as well, and eventually make his pact with The Weaver so powerful that nothing and no one can oust him. In the meantime though, he’ll settle for sating his lust for power with groveling sycophants, displays of his vast power, and crushing those that seek to oppose him.

He also has a vast collection of exotic birds in his office that he cares deeply for, in a twisted kind of way. He doesn’t love *specific birds* but the idea of a living avian ecosystem of superior bird species. One of the duties of his interns is caring for this exotic aviary.

What does he despise?

As useful as his 'friends' in the college of undying light have been in providing him with the elidon and furnishing him with the knowledge to use it, Monamon greatly resents that he needs them and the various favors he’s had to do to stay in their good graces. He’s working towards disposing of them, of course, but that will take time.

Monamon is also more extreme than most Aelfir, barely able to conceal his disdain for drow, which he sees, at best, as tools, and more generally as a plague of vermin. He also *despises* Theodore whom he sees as an absolute traitor to everything the Aelfir represent.

His wife is the bane of his existence. Monamon married her politically and the two loathe each other the way only two people forced to entangle their lives against their will can loathe each other. Their conversations resemble knife fights more than anything else.

What can you take from him?

Monamon is super well connected, and has a lot of influence in the University of Arcane Magic, especially among the students, where he is very well liked. He has dirt on a large number of powerful and well connected people, notably several well placed people in the Office of Student Affairs, as well as strong connections to the Recreation and Athletics department. His Elidon can be used to make unlikely and difficult plans work, and of course The Weaver will happily patronize whoever is willing to feed it. Monamon is independently wealthy, but not to a degree that’s likely to matter in the scale of the players plans, however he *does* have access to many grants granted to him so he could continue his research into Aelfir Cultural Harmony, and has vast influence over how grants are distributed in general.

Suggested Scenes

1. One of Monamon's brilliant students, she won the Ice-Falls-Upon-The-Dew Honors Award last month, has become a burnt-out shell. But it's the way it happened that has people spooked. She was fine, then over three days just hollowed out. Now students are scared to interact with anyone in the Arcane College's Vermissian department. People think it's catching. Two other students have shown early signs, forgetting things, spacing out. Is it exhaustion? Curse? Disease? No one knows, but the rumors are spreading faster than whatever it actually is. At least one version claims it's hungry ghosts, another that Monamon's birds brought it from some human archology.
2. Monamon is giving a lecture to his entirely Aelfir class somewhere in the Mezzanine. The players see an attempted assassination fail as the assassin somehow flubs what should have been an easy shot and then tumbles from his hiding spot into the hands of campus security that just happen to be in the area.
3. Monamon is slated to give a general lecture open to everyone. When the players show up any non-aelfir are being made to stand, in cramped and uncomfortable quarters out of the sight of the lectern. The two solar paladins managing the crowd are not polite about it. Before the players can leave, a group of student activists arrive. They're all wearing masks, yelling about drow equality, one of them throws an entire bucket of paint at Monamon. Monamon just stands at his lectern and *smiles*, covered in green pain and gestures at them as an example of the "Drow low brow intellect and propensity to violence" he was just talking about. There's yelling, Students are fleeing, the solar paladins are overwhelmed, but not for long.
4. The players are researching demonology. Wherever they are, whatever it is they're looking for, Monamon is there first, looking disgruntled, out of place, not even disguised. He's accompanied by an assistant who seems almost delighted to be there. Whatever it is the players are after, the assistant is carrying, along with a pile of related books or objects.
5. If the players suffer sufficient reputation fallout and are known to be opposing Monamon, he uses his influence in high society to make things hard for them. As a moderate Reputation Fallout, the player is blacklisted: The doors of high society are closed to them. They get turned away at parties, people won't be seen speaking to them. The reason is clear, Monamon has declared them persona non-grata, and his word carries weight. Unless they can craft a compelling narrative, they won't be going to any parties any time soon.

Lana Montegue (Judgment)

Why is she important?

Lana comes from Drow nobility, and is actually in the running to win the race and become Supreme Adjudicator, a non-trivial fact, considering the role has been in the hands of an Aelfir family since time immemorial. She's the chosen candidate of the Brazzacot Institute, an organization where she holds massive sway. While she doesn't have the votes yet, the support of the Brazzacot Institute and her massive wealth are letting her mount an effective, if probably doomed, campaign. As a high level member of the Brazzacot Technical Institute, she has a magical crystal embedded in her brain, one that allows her to communicate and share knowledge with other high level members of the organization who are also part of the greater Intelligence.

She also has a terrible secret. She's a Supreme Savant of the Sisterhood of Illumination, a Demonologist Cult. She created the Elidon currently in Monamon's hands, and she's as great a threat to the stability of the Spire as Monamon.

What sets her apart?

Lana is fiendishly intelligent, and embarked in a plan that will see her seize control of a not insignificant part of the Spire. The plan has been years in the making, and is now perilously close to failing due to the incompetence of others. Lana created the Weaver's Web, an Elidon capable of twisting fate, one that feeds on raw minds, all while cultivating a relationship with the Brazzacot Technical Institute, home to a technology that unifies hundreds of minds. The plan was to use the Intelligence Crystal in a ritual to juice up the Weaver's Web to its full potential… and then before she had the chance to activate it, her lackeys in Sisterhood managed to get it stolen right from under their noses. Which meant Lana had to go ahead with getting the crystal implanted in her skull, instead of feeding it right to the Weaver.

This doesn't mean Lana has given up. To keep the institute from learning the extent of her plans, she compartmentalized part of her memories, a feat that takes a tremendous mental toll on her. She has a ritual to suppress the Weaver's powers ready to go, all she needs is a group of competent but disposable patsies who can steal the Eiidon back during the short window of time it's powers will be suppressed. Of course they might have to take the fall for her, but that doesn't matter to her. Once she has the Elidon she can finally feed The Intelligence to the Weaver, and gain supernatural luck beyond reckoning, and perhaps, immortality. With a tiny catch, because the crystal is already implanted in her skull, doing so without killing herself requires a complex ritual, one activated by a moment of fated destiny, like say... winning the election for Supreme Adjudicator.

What does she desire?

Lana's ambitions are not modest. She is going to enslave the Weaver, assume its powers, and become immortal. She is single minded in her devotion to her plan, and while she's superficially pretended to be vain, and to care for earthly desires, those are masks she wears to put others at ease, to make them think she can be controlled. Lana will not be stopped by anything or anyone. Her single minded devotion to this goal can be twisted to manipulate her by someone clever enough to threaten her plans, but Lana is best thought of as an unstoppable force. She is inexorable.

There are two things that can stop her, wrecking her plans to a degree that they can not be recovered (destroying the Elidon. Exposing her as a Demonologist and forcing the authorities to take her in. Revealing her double game to the Brazzacot Institute.) or killing her. Anything short of that, and she will try to find a way to salvage her plan, no matter how unlikely. She will, however, happily *pretend* to be controlled or manipulated, if it will let her stay in the game.

To bring her husband along on her ascension. She says she doesn't like the man but he's been an erstwhile ally, and has grown on her.

What does she despise?

Small minded people, which is really everyone other than her. She doesn't think of people as people, but rather as chess pieces, to be twirled around the board. She despises Monamon, of course, because he was given every opportunity to use the Elidon and he's barely scratched the surface of its potential.

She won't admit it but she despises herself. She's running on all cylinders to keep this plan going, and the amount of balls in the air leave no time for self reflection, but she's terrified that she's not enough to make this work, and hates herself for the terror and the insufficiency.

Having to juggle what she transmits with the crystal. She's brilliant, analytical and now trapped in a hive mind of lesser people all of which think they're just as brilliant. The thought that she might be like them is killing her. It's like being hooked to a twitter feed of idiots with a superiority complex. If she didn't need it for the ritual she'd take it out with a knife right now.

This entire election game. She was supposed to be done with this, with playing politics, looking nice. She was supposed to have ascended to power, and instead she's sitting through another speech, trying to convince another wealthy donor, having to consider Amelia of all people an equal and smile through her platitudes. All to have the world's most ambitious and insufferable moron running away with the election because of her creation. The thought of losing to any of them? Unacceptable.

What can you take from her?

Lana is one of the most experienced demonologists in the Spire, and knows pretty much everything about Monamons Elidon, having made it herself. She knows rituals to neutralize it, both non-violently and through a forced manifestation. She can provide extensive knowledge about the Brazzacot Institute as well as all kinds of favors from them. She's wildly knowledgeable about intelligence, distributed and otherwise. She also has an appalling amount of personal wealth. Her connections in the Sisterhood of Illumination are more than willing to assassinate, steal and worse on her behalf as well. Her husband is well connected and respects their "business arrangement" and is a great way to get involved with the Drow nobility.

Suggested Scenes

1. The players are at a gala. The word on the street is that Monamon is going to present his daughter, and she's going to official announce the Student Union vote, and everyone *knows* it's going to go to Monamon. Everyone has arrived, and Monamon and Aurelia will surely make an entrance soon... Everyone sees the ephemeral Lady Wind-Blows-Petals-Softly and Lana talking, and Lady Wind-Blows-Petals-Softly turn from Lana, and with a single swift move, slap her fiancee. It resounds like thunder in the ballroom, interrupting quiet conversation. "ADULTERER. DROW LOVING ADULTERER" she shrieks, as she storms off, clearly sobbing. Lord Wind-Blows-Petals-Softly is still reeling on the floor, everyone is watching. Lana has faded into the background. The whisper campaign is already forming, gossipers following the injured Lady, several of Lord's Wind-Blows-Petals-Softly friends helping him up, others staying away. A reporter is furiously taking notes. Half the staff has vanished, the other is madly serving canapes. A befuddled Monamon has just made his entrance, barely noticed.
2. Lana is giving a public speech. She looks radiant, attired formally, and her speech is controlled and inspiring, talking about how the Conservatory deserves strong visionary leadership. She's careful not to name any names but it paints Monamon as privileged and blind. The speech is clearly aimed at the faculty more than the students. Viper is watching from the sidelines, looking like a bored adjunct professor.
3. Lana learns about the players because they've collected too much heat. Maybe as a shadow fallout and sends a messenger to contact them, letting them know that she's open to working with the ministry. Ff they're willing to do a job for her. They can discuss specific terms at the House of Hollows.
4. The players see an arrest in progress. A member of the sisterhood is being brought in by Solar Paladins. Part of the side of the dorm collapses and obvious demonological papers are fluttering down to the street as the sister attempts to make her escape. Watching the chaos unfold from the building across the street is one of Lana's agents, someone the players have seen with her before.
5. The players see Lana departing a carriage, about to enter one of the many galas leading up to the vote. A hostile student reporter almost assaults her, pushing through her two guards, asking her furious questions. Lana raises a hand and stops her bodyguard from tackling the student. She handles the conversation with an almost inhuman grace, and in less than four or five exchanges the reporter's entire demeanor seems to have changed, as if ensorcered.

Jakob Icicles-Sing-Of-Spring (The Tower)

Why is he important?

Jakob is a brilliant intellectual with a history of philanthropy, and genuinely caring about the future of the conservatory above and beyond just superficial appearance, often agitating for both the rights of students and drow. He is universally beloved by the student body outside of the University of Arcane magic, and he's been trying for years to have the conservatory ban the barbarous practices of the department of athletics.

He's also stark raving mad, and embarked on a one-man mission to resurrect The Spire and have it act as a gateway to other dimensions. A doomed idea based on a book that he can't even fully understand.

What sets him apart from the other professors?

Besides being unorthodoxly pro-student part of the establishment, Jakob is a member of the Spire Ascendant, he's following the instructions of a holy text called the Lapis Cruentus. The book is esoteric, difficult to translate and requires a lot of very specific and strange rituals to be fulfilled. He is following these slavishly and trying to translate as much of the book as possible, all while ensuring he has the resources to continue his research.

At some point, he believed all the things about students rights, and equality that he now uses as a lever to get more influence and gather the followers he needs to prepare the grandest of rituals. Most of the other candidates think him an idealistic fool, or at worst a middling nuisance, but Jakob's devotion to his objectives is very real and he is willing to engage in any kind of skulduggery to ensure the vast resources of the conservatory are put at the disposal of his agenda.

Before he discovered the Lapis he was having a steamy, passionate affair with one of his drow students, a bombshell that could have destroyed his reputation. With his new obsession he dropped the relationship abruptly and quietly, leaving behind a broken heart and a student who's very much a loose end.

What does he desire?

To follow all the steps outlined in the Lapis Cruentus, a book he stole from The Library, much to the wrath of the Librarians. With it he will awaken the Ghost Within The City which will Open the Seventh Seal and Compel The Gate Animate. He believes, deep in his core, that this is the single most important task in his, or anyone's life, and he's embraced this with the pure religious fanaticism that is only possible after having seen your hopes and dreams completely crumble to dust. He sincerely believes this will save the students, now and forever, and he's doing it for everyone's good.

He'd also like to keep the students mostly safe now of course, his care for their mortal concerns might have become a secondary priority, but at one point he did deeply care about their health and well being, even if now he tells himself he doesn't.

To spend more time with his students. The rituals, the campaigning, the needing to win, it's taken him away from what he's always enjoyed, teaching.

What does he despise?

Everything in this putrid system. He sees the conservatory for what it is: a system of education that runs on the blood of the students it's meant to protect, its gears mulching the corpses of endless failures so that a few can grease their palms, and maintain their system of power. He's beyond caring about bringing it down, specifically, since once The Eighth Seal is Sundered, everyone will become powerful ghosts able to leave the Spire, and get their own Spires, it won't matter, but he does loathe the entire system, and to some degree himself for being a part of it. The Athletics department to him is the biggest example of the rot.

Venmir. They've clashed more than once, but to Jakob he represents the antithesis of everything that matters. A man who loves paperwork more than people, who can't bare to seem to have a soul. Someone more inhuman than the Spire itself. He can disagree with people like Monamon and Rina, he understands their position of privilege but Venmir chose his role, and doesn't even have the decency to be a bigot.

Every single reporter in the Mezzanine that insists on writing articles that happily clap about student suffering treat it as a positive, that cheer on the athletics department. It's one thing to be part of a system, another to glorify it.

What can you take from him?

Jakob is the undisputed darling of the students and his connections there are incredibly strong. He knows a lot of what's going on among the drow students, and he's more than once interfered to help them out, either as a mediator or using soft power. He's also very well regarded as a researcher into the history of the Spire and has many fellow academics who would be happy to help him if he asked. He has more money than he knows what to do with, having fallen into academia as the hobby of a bored young Aelfir noble, and having never left, but not so much money he can fund the most extravagant rituals he needs. The few he's indoctrinated into his specific branch of The Spire Ascendant are personally loyal to Jakob's goals.

The Lapis Cruentus is an interesting ancient text, and some of the rituals it contains *are* powerful forms of Necrofusimancy, capable of compelling the spire to change shape and alter itself. Using this Jakob has been able to create a maze of secret passages and hiding spots through the conservatory, which could prove *very* useful, if somewhat dangerous.

Suggested Scenes

1. Students are blocking a building to protest Athletics Department kidnappings. Jakob is there, talking to the very clearly itchy-fingered Provost Guards, but he calmly explains that the paperwork is all in order and that the students are behaving non-violently. His presence clearly keeps things from escalating, and he looks a little like a mother hen protecting her hatchlings.
2. Players encounter Jakob in an unusual location: maintenance tunnels, between buildings, somewhere odd. He has maps, is taking measurements and he has a student with him who looks a little taken aback but not unhappy. If questioned, he explains he's researching the architecture for a book on the Conservatory's history. He asks one of the players to hold an instrument for a second while he takes a measurement.
3. Jakob is a participant in a public debate. Neither Monamon nor Lana show up (Valerius wasn't invited, and Theodore was too drunk to attend). A rather dispirited Jakob gives a rousing speech on students rights, the brutality of the athletics department and the importance of gradual transformative change. It's clear he's given this speech a hundred times, but the students still cheer.
4. One or more of the players who shows any amount of interest in the history of the spire or Jakob's seminars on architecture is invited to a private gathering of like-minded intellectuals. It's coded like it's going to be an anarchist meeting, but instead is very much a meeting about architecture in the Spire. If they can talk convincingly or show interest in the idea of the Spire as a living thing, they get invited to a subsequent meeting about the Spire Ascendant.
5. Jakob converts an NPC the players trust to the Spire Ascendant. Someone who was previously a useful resource goes incommunicado, vanishes and if the players track them down they discover they're deeply immersed in some convoluted ritual involving the geography of the Spire. They appear half mad and absolutely refuse to return to their old life. Alternatively, a moderate-severe mind fallout could be a player being "convinced" by a very persuasive Jakob that the Spire Must Ascend and they need to help decode the Lapis.

Valerius Thorn-Holds-The-Winter (Justice)

Why is he important?

Valerius is a respected Aelfir professor and head of the galvanics department, running as a third-tier candidate for Supreme Adjudicator. He's respected by faculty and students alike, competent, fair-minded, technically brilliant, but lacks the charisma and political backing to actually win. His campaign seems half-hearted at best, making just enough effort to be invited to candidate meetings and galas without serious expectation of victory. This appears to be the perfect role for an academic more comfortable with books than politics.

He's involved enough in the election that he might siphon a key vote, or serve as a protest candidate, but no one seriously believes he has any chance. Not even the Aelfir himself apparently, who seems to take the obligations of candidacy with good cheer but occasionally gritted teeth.

Of course this is all a mask. The real reason he's running is so he has access to all the information and gossip that even a third tier candidate can get.

What sets him apart from the other professors?

Valerius is an Aelfir from a minor noble family. One without the influence to protect their own. Years ago, as a brilliant researcher, his groundbreaking work in applied galvanics was stolen by a tenured professor from a more powerful family. When Valerius protested, the system closed ranks and ruined him. He lost his position, watched the thief prosper, and spent years rebuilding from nothing. This experience forged a core of pure, nihilistic rage beneath a meticulously crafted mask of calm reason.

While other candidates seek to control the system or use it for supernatural ends, Valerius seeks something simpler and more terrible: personal vengeance against everyone who's ever escaped what he considers "justice". He maintains meticulous records of corruption, theft, abuse of power. Every time the system protected someone it shouldn't have. Then when the opportunity strikes, he makes sure justice is served, making it look like student radical violence or random crime. The revolutionary groups get blamed, the "guilty" die, and Professor Thorn-Holds-The-Winter remains a respected colleague who just wants to focus on research.

Despite his all-consuming vendetta, Valerius still deeply loves his original field: applied galvanics. He follows the latest developments, mentors promising students, and attends departmental dinners. He just published another paper that some have called "groundbreaking", and no one outside of the galvanics department cares.

What does he desire?

To systematically execute everyone on his list: every professor who stole research, every administrator who covered for abuse, every privileged Aelfir who escaped consequences through family connections. Valerius has spent years compiling meticulous documentation of institutional failures, and he won't stop until every name is crossed off. His candidacy isn't about winning the election; it's about gaining access to galas, meetings, and private conversations where he can observe his targets and gain access to them.

To see the work of the galvanics department promoted and properly appreciated. Despite everything, he still genuinely loves the science. No one else seems to understand how useful the technology could be, how fascinating. They're too busy playing power games.

To prove, through his kills, that the system rewards the guilty and punishes the innocent. Every "unsolved" murder of a corrupt official is evidence that institutional justice doesn't work. Someone has to enforce real accountability, even if no one knows it's him. Its the reason his kills have been getting more ambitious, more theatrical. It's only a matter of time until someone takes notice.

What does he despise?

He despises the Aelfir's casual cruelty, the academics' backstabbing, and the bureaucratic shields that protect the powerful. More than anything he despises the mechanical bureaucracy being inherently unfair and biased, rather than rewarding merit as it should.

The revolutionary student groups he manipulates and frames. They talk endlessly about justice and change but accomplish nothing. Worse, their ineffective violence makes actual punishment easier, he can kill whoever deserves it and they get the blame. He sees them as useful tools at best, pathetic posturers at worst.

His various "allies" among the student radicals who think he's sympathetic to their cause. He's cultivated relationships with anarchists, reformers, and malcontents, letting each believe he shares their specific ideology. The truth is he despises their naivety. They think the system can be fixed or reformed. Valerius knows better. Some people just need to die. Worse, he seems to keep getting entangled romantically with students that see him as a brilliant visionary who agrees with them, when all he's been doing is nodding along. He doesn't stop himself because to some degree he's hoping they'll see through his shallow mask, but they never do, and inevitably they get caught in something messy.

What can you take from him?

Valerius has a massive, detailed dossier on every injustice he's seen committed. A treasure trove of blackmail, of information networks, of various ways in which the Conservatory does not work. It includes meticulous details on the personal lives of his would be victims, extremely useful to anyone seeking to spy on them. He's very well liked in his department, and has access to labs and grants, but is also wildly beloved by the revolutionary groups he's maintained contact with, which see him as a sympathetic idealist on their side, an Aelfir they managed to turn, not realizing that Valerius has been actively manipulating them. Valerius is also an incredibly skilled assassin, he's built an entire set of gadgets to facilitate breaking and entering and not getting caught.

Suggested Scenes

1. Players discover a body, a corrupt professor or administrator they had an appointment to see, dead in their office. The scene is staged to look like radical violence: revolutionary symbols painted nearby, crude execution style, manifesto pinned to the corpse. But if players investigate carefully, there are inconsistencies, the kill was too clean, too professional, the "revolutionary" staging feels theatrical rather than authentic, the group in question lacked the resources and the courage to carry out a hit like this, etc. Someone might even decide the *players* did it.
2. Players infiltrate or attend a radical student meeting. It's disguised as a general gathering, an informal party. Valerius is in attendance, agreeing sympathetically with whatever the cause of the day is, saying just the right words with just enough conviction, but not actually giving any material support. He looks and acts just like what you would expect a spy or informant to act like, researching, investigating, never overextending. There might be some revolutionaries who are weary of the Aelfir, but by the end of the night he's won them over.
3. The players need to procure something technical or difficult to obtain that would make sense for Valerius to possess. Their web of contacts guide them to Valerius, who basically accepts whatever cover story the players give with complete innocence and an enthusiasm for his craft and for science. If the players are forging a will and need a special ink, or need to learn about the vermissian passages, or anything else, Valerius would be a likely source. The impression he gives is of a naive nerd who cares more about his craft than the motivations of the players.
4. Valerius kills someone near and dear to the players. This can be some form of Shadow fallout or just a dramatic thing to do. The target is a source they've cultivated, a friend they've made, an official they're blackmailing or even the candidate they've backed. It's a theatrical kill, the manifesto pinned to the body is much more focused on "injustice" and "corruption", there's unexpected symbolism.
5. At an election gala or event, Valerius has to give a speech after another candidate, Monamon, Lana, someone with real charisma. He seems nervous, fussing with his notes. He gives a half-spirited effort. It's not bad, he's clearly trying, but his message is generic, bland, unexciting. There are barely any cheers, and afterwards the gossip in the audience is mean spirited and focused on how no one could possibly take Valerius seriously as a candidate.

Theodore Brightly-Bloom-The-Flowers (The Fool)

Why is he important?

Theodore is important because he is the chosen puppet of The Red Baron, a major player who is using him to disrupt the election and secure a controlling stake in the Conservatory. He is a tool, being used, and when his use is at an end, he will be discarded. While he has no real chance of winning, his well-funded campaign serves as a chaotic spoiler, drawing attention and resources away from the serious candidates and giving the Red Baron leverage. The Baron doesn't want Theodore to win, he just wants him to be annoying enough that the other parties have to cut him in.

What sets him apart from the other professors?

He's a philanderer, given to wanton excess, always chasing his next boytoy and drink. He slums with the drow and discards proper society to the degree he can. Not out of any misplaced hatred for the Aelfir but because he simply does not give a damn. He's too egotistical to care about what others think, especially if it gets in the way of his next high. Or so it appears.

His profound lack of substance is what truly sets him apart. In a race of schemers hiding world-altering agendas, Theodore has no deeper plan. He is an empty vessel, which makes him the perfect, shameless puppet for the Red Baron's criminal empire. He's the perfect middle man, his ego makes him want to run for office, and his vices means that the Red Baron and his enforcers have a noose around his neck if he steps out of line.

But he will step out of line, because he can't help himself.

What does he desire?

Another hole to fuck. Another unidentified pill or bump of glimmer. Another bottle of the most expensive liquor. The awe and subservience of those around him. To draw blood in another honor duel. Theodore is not a complex man, he's a raging substance abuser chasing his next endless bender. He craves sensation and paradoxically to be numb to it all. To rub everyone's face in it a little bit. He wants them all to know he's a trainwreck and doesn't care about their opinion.

That'll show his family.

What does he despise?

The hoity-toity high society Aelfir with their fancy torture opera, boring galas and endless squabbling. He knows the truth, that it's all a tedious dance to whittle away the hours before they can numb themselves. It's exhausting.

Would be artists that think they can interpret the world. You know what the meaning of life is? Nothing, you idiot. They'll take your dreams and shatter them. Leave you broken and spent.

Those hopeful students, eyes a-glimmer, thinking they can make a difference in the Spire. One of them, Andres won't stop hanging around for some godforsaken reason. There is no change in the Spire Andres! Go to Theodore's History of The Conquest class, you'll see.

The guy he's fucking, whoever he is. What, is he expecting this to be profound? Sex is just a numbing of the self darling.

The Red Baron and his enforcers. Sure, sure, they scare him. The threatening to break his fingers again, their big guns, the gummy smiles that hint at violence... but what's the worst they can do? Kill him?

What can you take from him?

What can you take from the man who has nothing? His giant pile of bills at progressively less desirable bars? Dozens of scandals covered up hastily? Half a dozen honor duel survivors with a chip on their shoulder and a desire to see him into an early grave? A collection of more unsavory deals made to prop his campaign up?

That said he's a fixture at the boring Aelfir parties. No one wants him there, himself included, but his mother, Lady Brightly-Bloom-The-Flowers, insists. You'd be surprised at what a supposedly zonked out drunkard can be privy to if he's listening and for all his faults Theodore is always listening.

He also has friends in all the wrong places. The seedy group of student collectives that are fascinated by the Aelfir who slums it out with them. The drug dealers and those selling less savory experiences. The various dens of prostitution. If you need something illegal, unsavory or exotic, Theodore has a contact.

Dozens of expensive Aelfir relics he's appropriated from his family home. From ancient dueling swords to ornate party masks. They could be hocked for money, but Theodore prefers to keep them around to torment himself. It'd be scandalous if they wound up in the wrong hands.

A group of self interested hanger-ons who all think he's a way to get in with the Red Baron, and who he despises. They're all happy to do all kinds of things to garner favor. A couple of them are there because they respect Theodore as a teacher but they're the minority.

Suggested Scenes

1. At a bar, and it can be fancy or the slummiest student dive bar, Theodore can be seen partying it up, a group of hanger ons he's alternately ignoring and sharing cynical jokes with, depending on his mood. He's behaving progressively more provocatively and egregiously, making nasty comments about other people at the bar, getting in their personal space, asking for drugs. People are a mix of disgusted and amused. A group of rough looking students are beginning to take offense, and it almost seems like Theodore is specifically railing on them. An extremely unamused member of his party, a drow who looks world-weary and muscular, and bears a Red Baron gang tattoo, looks like they might just step in.
2. It's nighttime in an alley, and a group of what can best described as goons is gathered around a limp figure, kicking the shit out of it. It lets out a mix of pitiful groans and moans, and a tattooed, rough looking Drow supervises. Anyone who stumbles upon this will be encouraged to move on. The figure is Theodore who's receiving a bit of discipline from the Red Barons goons after his latest infraction.
3. It's a fancy party, one of the galas the players have no doubt been invited to. Theodore is there and looks uncharacteristically sober, a state he seems eager to remedy. He's not so subtly dodging social conversation and niceties in exchange for seeking his next drink. He might make small talk with the players, especially if they're disguised as staff or otherwise would be wildly inappropriate for Theodore to confabulate with.
4. On the street, a clearly stoned Theodore squares off against an Aelfir with a savage wolf mask. Both wield deadly elegant rapiers, and it's very clear this is an honor duel, the street has been cordoned off and a member of the Provost's Guard looks on, face a mix of worry and horror as blades flash. The other Aelfir is clearly skilled, but Theodore, even in his impaired state, or perhaps because of it, is faster and more lethal. He almost seems to be toying with the other duelist.
5. The players are buying something illegal, dangerous or esoteric, when Theodore wanders in, also obviously buying something of the same stripe. If he's seen the players before he shoots them a sly wink or a knowing nod. When the players see him leaving, its with a truly tremendous amount of drugs or a mysterious package. Later, if Theodore runs into the players again, he might ask them if they have any drugs, or make an oblique reference. He remembers.

The Red Baron (The Devil)

Why is he important?

The Red Baron is the undisputed crime lord of the Mezzanine, controlling its network of illicit trade and contract violence. He is not a candidate, but a kingmaker. His influence touches nearly every part of the election. He is openly bankrolling Theodore's campaign to manipulate the election, actively working to sabotage Lana Montegue whom he despises, and has leveraged deals with Monamon. He may even hold the original copy of the Supreme Adjudicator's will.

The Baron cares about the outcome of this election. The previous Supreme Adjudicator and the Baron were, if not close, at least cordially respecting each other's turf, and the Baron will settle for nothing less.

What sets him apart from the others?

He is a man of many faces; no one can agree on who he is exactly, other than that he cuts an imposing figure in red leather and that his displeasure brings immediate, brutal violence. Unlike the other political players who are driven by ideology or revenge, the Baron has no scruples. He is motivated purely by money and power. He has to be brutally clever and ruthless to wrangle the Mezzanine's disparate criminal elements while surviving the crushing pressure of the Aelfir. What he cannot tolerate is the idea of power slipping from his grasp. He's killed too much, hurt too many people to let his empire crumble.

What does he desire?

Order. He has power and money. He's committed arson, blackmailed dozens, murdered scores, in his gradual inevitable climb to becoming one of the most powerful figures in the Mezzanine. The idea of it slipping from his fingers is intolerable. He's carved out this kingdom for himself and his brother. He can deal with petty crime-lords getting too big for their britches, he cannot deal with a radical new Supreme Adjudicator.

He doesn't just want to be the preeminent crime lord in the Mezzanine. He wants to be the only one. He has a choke hold that has been loosened by the chaos, and he wants to tighten his grip again. He's even willing to put aside his intense desire to see Lana suffer and burn if that means he can keep his empire, as much as he despises her for the "shortcuts" she's taken.

Above all, he wants to keep his family safe. His brother Ignace is all he has left. A massive hulk of a drow who pretends to be deaf and mute (and isn't at all) and one of The Baron's best enforcers.

What does he despise?

Lana. A weak slacker who used her connections (and he knows exactly which connections) to gain power and influence. Who betrayed her own family, and who is willing to destroy this carefully curated order to achieve her own goals. He respects her as a threat, but wants her out of the picture. Not just dead, but suffering. A vindication that you have to fight for something beyond yourself that he'll never fully articulate.

Anyone who takes shortcuts, who doesn't understand the value of hard work. He grew up working the crop orchards. His durance involved grueling work turning corpses into food. He knows what it takes to get to where he is, and shortcuts just make that work seem meaningless.

The Aelfir in general. He accepts he can't do anything about it, like a sailor who hates storms. But he despises them like only a Drow can.

What can you take from him?

Money is the most obvious thing. The Baron has a ton of it, even though it's mostly not liquid, and tied in things like drugs, buildings, and gemstones. He has some fluid cash, and can get lots more if he needs it, but he also possesses most of the things you would want to buy. Dangerous drow who'll kill for money. Drugs. Weapons. Access to experts. Forgers. Blackmail information. All the things needed to run a successful criminal network, albeit one built on fear, personal loyalties and a sense that The Red Baron is smarter, tougher and more ruthless than anyone else. His reputation is his most powerful and most fragile asset.

Suggested Scenes

1. The players are obtaining something from a criminal contact, weapons, information, whatever it is. Someone low level but reliable, when the Red Baron drops by. The contact is visibly nervous, agitated, tries to interrupt his dealing with the players, only to be rebuffed by the baron, and told to finish whatever it is they're doing. The Baron can wait. He seems unbothered as he waits, humming an eerie tune to himself. Whenever the players later try to reach that contact they're gone. Rumor is they tried to cut out the Baron, and "dissapeared". Someone else has picked up their niche and player business can continue as usual.
2. As the players become well known, be it for spending a lot of money on something criminal, doing something loud, helping out too many students, (or moderate shadow fallout) they get a visit from one of the baron's enforcers. The enforcdr is shadowed by Igance, who continues to play the role of deaf-mute muscle. He's just dropping by as a friendly reminder that if the players are taking up criminal enterprise, that's all well and good, but they should pay the Red Baron his due, and respect the local rules. People who don't have a nasty habit of dying of acute lead poisoning. A real plague around these parts. He mentions the Sturdy Cow, in case the players are seriously interested in going into business.
3. The players need something their normal contacts can't provide, something requiring real help from a major crime lord. A riot on demand, a way to access Monamon's vault, an invitation to some exclusive Aelfir party that matters to the election. Every person they talk to tells them there's only one person who can get that, The Red Baron himself. Who proves to be eminently reasonable. This is a thing money can't buy. A favor buys a favor. He doesn't even need their signature, he trusts that their word is their bond. After all, the only thing a Drow can trust around here is their reputation. He insists.
4. The players learn that The Red Baron is looking for muscle for a job. The job description is easy enough. It's just breaking and entering and leaving some pro-student, anti-establishment graffiti and trashing the place. The interesting bit is the target, Lana's chief secretary, and the fact that the Red Baron wants to supervise it himself. If they take the job it's almost trivial and the baron hums eerily to himself the whole time. The only time he speaks is to suggest that they can be a little more destructive. If they don't take it they can later learn about just how over the top this act of vandalism was.
5. Severe silver fallout, the players debts have been sold to the Red Baron, and he's declared they've "defaulted" on their loan. He's going to send some of his boys to burn down their last place of residence, shake down their known contacts, and be very loud and disruptive until they meet with him and hash out a "payment plan", which may very well involve something the players would very much rather not do. Or he can have Ignace break every bone in their body, one per sten they owe him. Their call.

Amelia Laguerre (The Chariot)

Why is she important?

Amelia runs the Athletics department, and is obsessed with competition for the sake of competition. A former athlete, she is the number one believer in the value of athletics and the importance of keeping it going, both for the sake of tradition and the benefits to the students.

She is also paralyzed from the waist down, the result of a tragic (but commonplace) accident during a game of chariotball that saw her in a three chariot pile-up. She is the poster child for the athletics program, having been minorly famous as an athlete and then used her reputation to climb the ranks of the administration.

What sets her apart from the others?

She's a true believer, she believes the athletics program, with the brainwashing and the kidnapping and the maiming and the death is good for the students. It gives them unparalleled opportunities for advancement, it allows them fame and riches they otherwise wouldn't have access to, it funds scholarships and programs that would otherwise go unfunded, the Aelfir allow these institutions because of the sports. She sees her injury as a mark of pride, something earned and that shows how valuable the program actually is. It doesn't stop her from training religiously.

Sure, she wishes they'd maybe do less kidnapping and brainwashing, but the students don't understand how their lives are being enhanced. She's willing to overlook the methods when the results are so good. She's deeply entrenched in constant bureaucratic fights with the provost, trying to secure more funding and more advertising. Especially for her official Athletic Performance Enhancement program. It's controversial, providing selected athletes with substances to make them more complete athletes (aka, drugs. The bad steroids), but approved by the Ethics Board, and legal.

She's also hooked on dagger, it's one of the few things that keeps the dull agony in her back to a controlled level. Her source is a backstreet dealer she sees semi-frequently and who she considers a friend, an assesment he does not share.

What does she desire?

To continue to expand the athletics program, and have it validated as a core part of the Mezzanine. Oh sure it gets a lot of advertisement, but it's all framed in the service of education, when in reality it's just as, if not more important. Students are proud to be here, and a large element of that is how well the sports teams do!

For Chariotball to be more. More intense. More bloody. More spectacular. It's why she runs the unofficial Incentive pool, paying athletes cash bonuses for spectacular crashes and injuries. She sources the money from her own side betting, some money she skims off of the less important Athletics programs and her salary.

For her wildly inappropriate crush, the Solar Paladin Armand, to actually agree to go on a date with her finally. He's twenty years younger and she managed to get him into bed exactly once, a feat she's eager to repeat.

She wants the pain to stop. Every day it hurts more. Some days she needs three bumps of dagger to get working. It at least feels better when people remember her glory days, and the way she led her team to four consecutive victories.

To watch more chariotball, it's when she feels most alive.

What does she despise?

Stupid annoying "safety regulations" that activists try to legislate every year. Yes, some audience members may get hurt, yes, some athletes will be mauled and die, that is the way the sport was meant to be played. There's no glory in these new slower, safer chariots, and if we take away the pole hooks we might as well not have chariots at all.

The various academic institutions that keep trying to sap funding away or act like they're somehow more important or relevant. Spoilers, the funding is here because the fans are here, not because of "alchemical transubstantiation" or whatever.

Those tedious drow separatists that are hyperfocused on fixing the "issues" with "the Aelfir". Things are the way they are, focus on what matters.

Having to come back to her cold, empty apartment where only her three cats await her.

What can you take from her?

Amelia is "close" with Monamon in that she sees him about once a week to discuss future budgets and safety regulations. The Aelfir listens and seems sympathetic and she takes that as validation. She also controls the various scholarships, the teams of "recruiters" in charge of "securing" athletes, by force if needed. Hundreds of brainwashed athletes. A not insubstantial budget and free reign over assigning events. Amelia can do a lot of things that she hasn't realized are in her purview, from shutting down streets for athletic events to kidnapping enemies that are inconvenient. She also commands a surprising amount of drugs through the Athletic Enhancement Program, some really nasty stuff. If she were smarter or more ruthless she could be a major player.

Suggested Scenes

1. At a major chariotball game, players are in attendance. During a particularly violent play, a chariot loses control and crashes into the stands near where the players and Amelia are. There's immediate chaos: spectators injured, someone dying, people screaming. Amelia has been knocked off her mobility device onto the ground, and instead of fear or pain, she's laughing, cursing euphorically: "This is it! This is real glory! Gods, I feel alive!" She's struggling to get back up, still grinning, eyes bright, completely intoxicated by the violence and chaos around her. The athlete in question is impaled and clearly dying, first responders are triaging the Aelfir VIP who has a head injury, several drow are trying to limp away as the stands sway precariously.
2. Players are meeting with a criminal dealer for their own purposes. Mid-transaction, an extremely buff athlete arrives. He's shaking, angry, storms into the room, terrifies the dealer and the dealer's muscle. He's ranting about how "The bitch cut him off." and "he needs his medicine NOW", and he knows the dealer has been "working with Amelia, so give me the MEDICINE". Knives are coming out and it's very clear the dealer has no idea who this guy is or what he's on about. He's Amelia's dagger dealer and knows nothing about the Athletic Performance Enhancement program.
3. While the players are present, an NPC student the players have met before is approached by three recruiters in Athletics Department uniforms. They're professional, matter-of-fact: "You've been selected for a tremendous opportunity. Coach Amelia personally approved your scholarship. Come with us." The student is terrified. The recruiters aren't threatening yet, but they have truncheons and there's a transport cart waiting. If players interfere or question the legality, the lead recruiter shows the paperwork, it's all in order. They clearly expect compliance and have done this many times before.
4. Players are in the Athletics facility. The administrative staff is nervous, whispering. Amelia is in her office, door open, clearly in severe pain and furious about it. Cursing, throwing things, yelling at anyone who approaches about "incompetent dealers" and "unreliable friends.". She's been like this all morning, her usual "medication" didn't arrive, and no one wants to go near her.
5. Players are walking anywhere, during the day. An athlete crashes through a second story bar window and lands directly at the player's feet. It's obvious he was trying to land on the window railing, miscalculated and fell right through the window. He's mad, he's drunk, it's the middle of the day, and he's looking for a FIGHT, and the players are the target of his ire. His friend sprints out of the bar, and is trying desperately to deescalate, but he's also drunk. "Hey man, we can't get the incentive money if you can't play." he keeps pleading, slurring, but it's not working. A student is already running for help, but everyone else is giving the players a wide berth, and the provost guard is nowhere to be seen, though it's only a matter of time until they get here. In the meantime this meathead looks about ready to take a swing.

Venmir The-Last-Drop-Of-Dew (The Hermit)

Why is he important?

Venmir is important because he represents the power of the institution itself, made manifest in a single, cold-hearted Aelfir. He wields absolute jurisdiction over the Mezzanine through his control of The Office of Student Affairs, directing everything from grant funding to the Provost Guard. He is fully aware of the toll of suffering his bureaucracy extracts but is utterly indifferent, caring only that the system functions, and well. He likes Monamon personally, they're long time friends, and sees him as an interesting potential Adjudicator, but he's not the type to let personal fondness get in the way of cold calculation.

Without Venmir, the carefully mantained order of the Office of Student Affairs falls apart. He's always there, always answering queries, managing chaos. He is defined by his role. He has no hobbies because the office is his hobby.

What sets him apart from the others?

Venmir did not suffer a trauma, he is not the victim of some injustice. He is rich enough that he doesn't have to be doing this. His family are all befuddled at why he is in some "minor administrative" post instead of something more glamorous in Amaranth proper, which he could easily get. But Venmir adores his complete mastery of this complex system. The intricate dances required to keep the district running, the struggles over where each dime goes. In some ways, the election is very exciting, it's a crossroads, it means he'll have to work extra hard to show the new Supreme Adjudicator just how things are done here.

Venmir doesn't care for money, he doesn't care for women or drinks, he cares for his careful, deliberate systems, and seeing the agents of chaos crushed. He sees the Red Baron as another cog in his machine, one he's tolerated. He doesn't super care who wins the election, he doesn't see any of the candidates as an existential threat. He believes whoever is elected will be controled by the bureaucracy, regardless of what they want.

What does he desire?

To see his perfect system rise up to any challenge and consume it utterly. To see how it reacts to unexpected change and through his incredible mastery of the system, it not only overcomes it but thrives as a result. He's a bit bored, things have been stable, and while he's not the type to create chaos himself, he almost welcomes things getting challenging, because it will test his preparation and the systems he's labored to reinforce. Before he ruthlessly crushes those challenges to dust, of course. Winning is the core part of being challenged.

What he really wants is a challenge. An enemy. A nemesis. Someone to utterly crush and dominante. Something that will prove to him that the thing he built is flawless, powerful and inevitable. Someone who actually understands the breathtaking beauty and horror of what he has assembled.

For someone in his life to appreciate his work. Every friend, every lover, every potential romantic partner has failed to get it, and when push came to shove, he picked his precious system over them.

What does he despise?

Lack of artistry. He is, at his core, an artist, it's just his medium is suffering and paperwork. There's an elegance to how the Red Baron uses reputation and brutality that Venmir can appreciate. It's brutal but there. What he can't stand is the lack of refinement, the simple bumbling around of Theodore irritates him, not because it's chaotic, which he doesn't mind, but because it's utterly devoid of soul. Similarly Jakob is boring, he doesn't have a carefully constructed plan, like Lana and Monamon, both of which are functional if inelegant, he's just a rabble rouser, he hasn't built something exciting. Above all he hates the petty vandals and intransigents who would deface his glorious creation.

Anyone who gives up. He craves the fight, the struggle, the challenge. Anyone who is faced with a really exciting struggle and... gives up? That's infuriating. Venmir would give his right eye for a real struggle.

What can you take from him?

Venmir controls the bureaucracy of the entire Mezzanine. This is no small amount of power. There's the obvious muscle of the provost guard, including the ability to arbitrarily detain and imprison Drow and most Aelfir, but there's also the flow of money for construction projects, the grants for buildings, zoning permits, rules and regulations on how ladders may be placed, legislation on what may and may not be sold. For example, The Provost can seize control of any number of buildings as "temporary dorms" for a small "honorarium" or declare temporary curfews or emergency measures. He also has incredible soft power in deciding when offices are assigned, who gets access to labs and how research can be conducted. Venmir might be the most powerful person in the Mezzanine.

Suggested Scenes

1. Players need something from The Office of Student Affairs. They are sent to get Form 17-C instead of 17-B, which requires countersignature from Zoning (open Tuesdays/Thursdays, 2-4pm only), which needs verification from the Office of Provisional Assessments (open first Wednesday of alternating months). Each clerk is helpful and polite, each requirement is technically reasonable, but players watch other supplicants who've been caught in this loop for weeks.
2. Players overhear Office of Student Affairs clerks processing yet another protest permit for Jakob Icicles-Sing-Of-Spring. "Just approve it. Standing order from the Provost. Let him have his demonstrations, keeps actual troublemakers occupied." The clerks share a laugh about forty-seven protests in three years producing zero policy changes.
3. A small unlicensed student protest is going on in front of one of the faculty buildings. The students are chanting and marching. A single annoyed bureaucrat has been asking the students to dissipate and is clearly now out of patience. A dozen well armed and armoured Provost Guards have just arrived with truncheons and are going to "disperse" the students.
4. Venmir himself is on his way to some important meeting. As he's walking a small stream of underlings hustle beside him, running scrolls back and forth, his work not stopping just because he needs to go somewhere. They pass a pile of drunk students, clearly passed out after a night of partying. Venmir sneers, and orders that they "be removed, for blocking the public throughway".
5. The players arrive at the Office of Student Affairs on some business that is considered small but aligns with Venmir's goals. Instead of getting the run-around, they find they are ushered to a special line, which moves at a good clip, they get the form signed, stamped and whatever it is done within the hour.

Mirena Stillwater (Temperance)

Why is she important?

Mirena, and the Librarians are in charge of The Library. The Library is ancient, it predates everything else in the Mezzanine, and so the librarians predate the institutions here as well. The library was not built out of convenience or out of a desire to hoard knowledge. It's a jail. A prison. A lock around a gaping maw in the Spire, one so ancient that the very nature of the threat is forgotten. What the librarians know is that if this dormant god rouses, it will devour the Mezzanine first, then the rest of the Spire, and that the only thing keeping it dormant is the vast array of secrets and knowledge aligned against it.

She's also a key player in the election, her office and its secrets are key, and while she's backing the candidate she thinks is most likely to get her funding, Lana, her objectives and goals are the preservation of the library, at all costs.

What sets her apart from the others?

While most of the librarians are reclusive, mysterious, clad in veils, the head librarian is reclusive but very much the figurehead of the order. Mirena is distinct from the librarians in her charge. She appears as an older drow woman, wise, gentle, but firm. She does not wear the veil of her order, though her clothes are always at best plain. She seems to always listen patiently, but also knows what the speaker is going to say next. Her presence almost visibly quiets the room. She's measured, never saying three words where one will do. Almost dispassionate.

Because of her tethers to the mortal world, she's also more exposed than the other librarians. She has to attend balls and parties, is forced to indulge supplicants, and generally has to deal with every bit of bureaucracy thrown at her. Paperwork is no problem for the librarians, but face to face meetings are excruciating. Venmir knows this and uses his leverage well.

What does she desire?

Mirena is a caring drow who really genuinely wants what's best for the librarians and the students in that order. She's not anti-Aelfir as much as she is anti-suffering. She wants to minimize everyone's suffering, even though she accepts that sometimes that means using a few unfortunate students as blood sacrifices to keep a particularly voracious codex bound. What she'd like is to have the library settled, have the students quietly read in the library and to curl up with a nice cup of hot chocolate and a thick bodice ripper.

She also wouldn't mind having some time to teach Venmir some manners, having had to endure one too many meetings with him. Or Monamon, who seems to always talk over her.

Who knows, maybe a date with a nice lady her age? But that's a distant dream.

What does she despise?

Suffering. Mirena was an orphan, then a widow, then a librarian. She has seen every form of pain a Drow can experience, and her utter rejection of it made her not cold and dangerous, but warm and tender. She doesn't despise the Aelfir, she pities them, the same way she pities those caught in their own self-destructuve cycles. She can't fix any of it, but maybe she can make things better.

She is not fond of the monster at the core of the library. She understands what it's existence implies, and that destroying it would destroy the Spire, but she is nonetheless unhappy that it exists at all, even though she accepts her charge.

She is generally unhappy with the price her blood powers demand and tends to avoid using them if she can. She measures the cost and will pay it if she must, but she'd rather talk things out instead of sending a ghost to haunt someone.

She's professionally furious at Jakob, because of his theft (he should know better) and because she knows what the Lapis contains and is afraid of how he might use it. She's not concerned enough to take direct action yet, but she would very much like it dealt with, soon.

What can you take from her?

It is only restraint and a deeper charge that keeps the librarians from being able to assume full control of the Mezzanine. Mirena herself is a capable and powerful blood sorceress, with but a few drops of blood she can communicate with any other librarian over long distances, conjure ghosts, affect aging or inflict plagues. She can heal and cure others, and perform any other feat of blood magic that seems thematically appropriate. Within the library she and the librarians are a fighting force that can defeat even the solar paladins, being able to move instantly from location to location, move in perfect silence, cause passageways to confuse and befuddle and generally turn the library into a hellish labyrinth. Besides magic the Librarians also have the whole history of the Spire at their disposal, including powerful knowledge Aelfir would rather keep quiet, whispered secrets snatched from memories, and abilities to create perfect forgeries. The Library is bound by its own charter with its own entire complex legal codex and rules on how it relates to the Conservatory.

Suggested Scenes

1. The players are traveling somewhere on campus and the fastest path is to cut through the library, a pretty much everyday occurrence. But today the library is hungry, and the familiar bookshelves and the muted noise of students gives way to musty tomes and only the sound of the players footsteps. They're lost, and the more they try to find their path via conventional means, the more lost they become. They occasionally stumble upon a white clad librarian restocking shelves, and the titles of the books are getting more esoteric and bizarre.
2. At a gala, student protesters outside have gotten loud, chanting about reform. The head of security has had enough. He's methodically beating the ever-living daylights out of one drow protestor, and his fellows don't seem disposed to help. From the windows gala attendees watch, a mix of horror and fascination. No one is moving a finger. Other than Mirena, who seems to almost materialize outside, striding silently between the head of security and the protestor. The obviously pissed off head of security exchanges some words with Mirena, and the players can see her stop mid reply, taking a deep breath, eyes closed, as if composing herself. Everyone is watching, more security is arriving, the protestors are breaking through the fence, the gala attendees are mesmerized.
3. While the players are in the library, the players see two professors clearly fighting over a book. They're yelling at each other about the waitlist, something about plagiarism. One of them draws a gun and fires, hitting the ceiling. Students scatter and flee, and the opposing professor draws a gun of his own. There's a chill in the air, a sudden stillness, as if sounds became muted. Three white clad librarians appear at the end of the stacks, almost seeming to glide over the floor as they approach the combatants, who are still yelling profanities at each other and clearly ready to spill blood here and now. One of them tries to fire, only to have their gun click quietly, a misfire.
4. The players are cutting through the library to save time, the fastest path between buildings. They emerge from the east exit into hundreds of students packed into the commons. A pre-game rally. Team colors, chanting, stamping feet, waving banners. The noise hits like a wall. Someone's burning an effigy of the opposing team's mascot. Fights breaking out between rival supporters. Athletics staff working the crowd into a frenzy. The energy is electric, bordering on riot. A small number of librarians hang on the edge of the crowd, veiled, seeming indifferent, but almost imperceptively anxious. Mirena herself is on her way back, a sheaf of paperwork under her arm, a smug looking Venmir in tow, looking all the more exhausted for it.
5. Things are escalating, one of the other NPC's plots is going too well and the players are struggling/frustrated/keep running into Monomon's elidon and haven't figured out its literally supernatural luck. Mirena sends them an invitation for an "informal consultation over hot chocolate". There she calmly explains that she knows they're... involved in extracurriculars, and that they have a common problem, and wouldn't it be nice if they could help each other, if only for a bit? She just needs them to listen, and they can do whatever they want with that information. She then exposits whatever information it is the players have been lacking.

Aurelia Calming-Wind-Of-Spring (The Sun)

Why is she important?

Aurelia is Monamons daughter (she inherited her last name from her great grandmother via some archaic Aelfir tradition.) and she is the elected representative of the Student Union, the representative body of the students in the Mezzanine. She controls one of the votes for Supreme Adjudicator as well as the resources of the somewhat mismanaged student union and the various volunteer groups that it represents.

What sets her apart from the others?

She is a fervent, true believer in helping the Drow and in the fact that the Aelfir are not the superiors of the Drow. She is also wildly privileged to the point of total blindness to the actual plight of the Drow. After seeing a Drow student collapse from exhaustion, Aurelia used her considerable budget to renovate a section of the student dorms into a luxurious "drow-exclusive wellness spa," complete with imported elixirs and sound-bathing chambers. The initiative was supposed to combat burnout, instead it tore down affordable dorms and replaced them with a luxury spa that the drow students are "strongly encouraged" not to use by the administration.

Repeat this with her efforts to boost morale with art depicting the conquest of the Spire, her efforts to ensure more Drow participation in traditional Aelfir crafts, and every other possible thing that occurred to her. Worse, she's completely insulated from the results of her actions by a group of useless sycophants currying favor with her father.

She's not stupid, merely coddled and with no particular incentive to do anything beyond arrange token protests and fund initiatives and attend galas.

What does she desire?

To sincerely make life better for her fellow students, regardless of race and class, and to have her father recognize that his ideology is awful and hateful, and that she was right all along. She'd ask for a personal spa too but she has three.

To earn the adulation and endorsement of her fellow students and not their undeserved scorn over who she's related to.

To pass her Drow Studies class this semester.

Like any other college student, to party and cut loose a little.

To earn the admiration of Lana, who she idolizes as a drow who really captures her ideals, and who has everything together. She's written her a bunch of letters, ranging from condescending to wildly offensive, hoping to get to know her. She hasn't gotten much back other than polite letters from Lana's secretary.

What does she despise?

Her father and his dated, terrible ideas, and the Aelfir cruelty they represent. They have weekly dinners where she can barely look at him, and which often end in passionate tirades aimed at swaying an unamused Monamon. Decorum demands they have their dinners, but neither one of them can be said to enjoy it. Monamon however counts on his daughter not "disappointing the family" with her vote, and will absolutely threaten and cajole to get her in line when the time comes.

Jarrod, the jerk who stood her up, doesn't he know who she is? She told him she loved him! He's not even answering her messages!

Going to boring Aelfir balls where her father parades her around like a show horse. It's so archaic and dated. The only Drow there are servants and it's not multicultural at all. It's also so boring.

What can you take from her?

Due to the student bylaws, the student union is actually quite powerful and can mobilize students, arrange for protests, and make massive bureaucratic requests to curtail professor abuse. They won't do anything but they'll inconvenience the bureaucracy. More importantly, Aurelia is generally well liked by the student populace, because of her conviction and fervor, her many screwups have been blamed on the powers that be, rather than Aurelia. Beyond that the student union has a fair amount of money and more contacts than you can shake a stick at. Aurelia is also the daughter of a very powerful and well connected Aelfir, she can get things done and generally access contacts that are out of reach for nearly everyone else.

Suggested Scenes

1. The players run into a booth on the street, manned by Aurelia and her "friends". She is actively and brightly asking for volunteers to help with stories of their drow heritage. Just a five minute interview. It becomes rather obvious rather quickly that Aurelia and her friends are more interested in speaking than listening, and they editorialize every word out of the volunteers mouth. The provost guards near the booth are "helping" volunteers decide to participate.
2. In a public venue, a party, a street, Aurelia's piercing voice cuts through the air. Aurelia is very visibly irately yelling at a Provost Guard who was in the process of arresting a disruptive student "artist" who was doing something sufficiently transgressive (throwing tomatoes at the party goers, painting over an Aelfir mural). Aurelia is furious at the "obvious brutality" on display. She spots the players, sees a clear example of the drow underclass and grabs one by the arm: "See? Ask THEM! Tell him what it's like!" She's using them as evidence in her argument, making them props in her performance without asking. There's a bemused crowd, the guard is both confused and irritated, the perpetrator is looking to make a break for it, and the guard's boss is obviously on the way.
3. At a party, gala, or other appropriately social event, Aurelia is obviously "on display" with her father Monamon. The two are clearly not getting along. There's a lot of rolled eyes, snide comments, and at some point, Aurelia throws a drink in her father's face and storms off and goes to cry on a secluded balcony. It's very clear that they're arguing about the upcoming vote.
4. Aurelia hears that one or more of the players have been "helping students", perhaps as a shadow fallout, or if they just get in her way. She sends a gilded invitation carried by a masked servant to invite them to a "small gathering" of "deeply involved students" who want to "better the drow cause". The party itself seems to entirely consist of various people trying to curry favor with Aurelia, a couple spies sent by her father to keep an eye on her, and absolutely no one other than Aurelia who cares about the "plight of the drow". Aurelia's latest initiative is widely applauded and she's given several letters of appreciation that were clearly not written by drow students.
5. The players find a dead body, dumped somewhere innocent enough, a back alley, a dumpster, anywhere that you might conveniently dump a body. It's a young drow student, a quick inspection of his stuff reveals his name is Jarrod, two letters from Aurelia. He was part way through writing a response, a very typical "Dear Jane" letter breaking up with her, when he met his untimely end. It's very clear he was murdered.

Rina Still-Lies-The-Snow (The Hierophant)

Why is she important?

Rina controls the Ethics Board's vote and commands a small force of Solar Paladins who censor, investigate, and "correct" ideological deviation in the Conservatory. After the previous Board member's scandal (caught in bed with both a student and professor), the powers in Amarath needed someone unquestionably traditional to restore moral authority. They chose Rina, an ancient Aelfir with vast experience teaching Solar Pantheon doctrine and "promoted" her to clean up the Mezzanine's moral decay. The appointment was a few years ago. She's still adjusting.

What sets her apart from the others?

She was raised in an era where the trend was that proper Aelfir ladies spoke softly, offered tea, and never raised their voices. This doesn't mean she's weak. She'll censor your research with a gentle smile, drag you to "correction" with patient regret, and destroy your career with perfect politeness. This is how things are properly done.

Her "promotion" came with a skeleton staff and overwhelming responsibility. The Brazzcot Institute alone generates more heresy than she encountered in decades in Amarath. She can't admit she's failing, can't ask for help, and can't leave. So she soldiers on, maintaining propriety while drowning. She has a dozen solar paladins and skilled financial auditors, when what she needs is eyes in every classroom. She has a hammer when she needs a fine toothed comb. She's determined to use the hammer as best she can, and she has been terrifyingly effective with it.

What does she desire?

To go home, have her servants brew a pot of tea, and never again lay eyes on a Drow who she hasn't explicitly called up to reprimand. Failing that to root out every last bit of apostate heresy in the Conservatory, execute about half the staff, put most of the Drow students back into durances, and have some proper order. Then maybe get a medal for her efforts.

She'll settle for a Supreme Adjudicator who understands proper hierarchy and who will give her the resources she needs, and who will ensure that people attend services of the Solar Pantheon.

Oh and to see her predecessor executed in some creative way. He deserves it, for sticking her with this mess.

One day off. She hasn't seen either of her spouses in over a year. She keeps promising to visit in Amarath, drink tea, enjoy a relaxing evening, and she has yet to manage it once.

What does she despise?

Jakob, Aurelia and any other Aelfir off actively betraying their race. At least Monanmon for all his relative impiety doesn't seem to want to hug and kiss the drow. The mere idea that Lana could possibly take a role belonging properly to the Aelfir.

The Brazzcot Institute as a whole. They have done nothing but generate problem after problem after problem, and she would execute the lot of them if it wouldn't take years to file the paperwork.

The awful tea they make here. She has to send the help up to Amarath every week to get proper tea, and they all insist on offering her their awful blends when she comes to run an inspection or have a conversation.

Whatever witch she pissed off enough to be cursed with this assignment.

What can you take from her?

The solar paladins are an elite force who can punch significantly above their weight, have a letter of marquee that lets them arrest and execute without a trial and are fanatically loyal. Rina's auditors can request unrestricted access to any document anywhere in the Conservatory. Rina herself has the power to issue a writ of arrest on anyone below the Supreme Adjudicator, can veto and cancel any curriculum, hold anyone indefinitely without trial and generally be a force above the law. She has access to the things money can't buy, like the influence of the senior clergy of the Solar Pantheon. A surprising amount of "technically not magic" and "technically not spells" courtesy of the senior clergy.

Suggested Scenes

1. Players are meeting with someone when Solar Paladins arrive and cordon off the area. Rina follows shortly after with her characteristic gentle demeanor and soft voice. She's conducting a surprise ideological audit of the building/area, and everyone present needs to remain while her auditors review materials and credentials. She's perfectly polite as she asks people their business here, takes names and takes sharp notes. The person players were meeting is visibly nervous: they have contraband, heretical materials, or are doing something that won't survive scrutiny. Rina hasn't noticed anything amiss yet, just methodically working through everyone present with that sweet smile.
2. The players are in any of the fancier mezzanine streets. Rina is there, two solar paladins in tow, shopping for the upcoming electors gala. No one is happy about this. Rina's standards are impossible for even the fancier Mezzanine shops aimed at Aelfir aristocrats to meet. She's leaving behind a trail of sobbing attendants, censured establishments, and generally being an unbearable aristocrat with way too much power. It doesn't help that she's carrying around a stack of documents that she's working on "on the side". Word has circulated, and opportunistic businesses have sent "representatives" to "help out" and try to earn Rina's favor. The two paladins look like they'd rather be facing a death squad of crimson vigil fanatics.
3. Players arrive at a department. The entire department is shut down, doors locked, classes canceled, no one in or out. Inside, visible through windows, Rina sits surrounded by literal carts of paperwork with her four Solar Paladins standing uselessly nearby. A bureaucrat explains apologetically that Ethics Board mandated curriculum review is in progress and nothing can proceed until materials are approved. Rina is manually reviewing every course proposal, research paper, and thesis. She's clearly drowning, visibly frustrated.
4. Two solar paladins are engaged in theological debate with a scruffy looking second year student. They're caught up in the finer points of the Rite of Summer Ascending and debating if the consubstantiation of mana takes place through Father Summer or because of Father Summer. The student in question looks smug, but the paladin is clearly engaging with the argument, and obviously knows his stuff. The student the Paladins were in the process of frisking when the debate emerged is clearly too nervous to ask if they can leave yet, and wishing they'd just been arrested instead of this form of slow torture.
5. An NPC the players like or respect has taken the fall for them (shadow fallout, the player spent the bond, what have you), and been arrested by the Solar Paladins. The players find out when they see the NPC in question is being publicly displayed in a cage in the commons. They're a broken shattered version of themselves, their right hand mutilated beyond recognition, clear burn marks all over their face, making only whimpering animal noises. A sign simply says "Heretical Traitor." A stone faced Solar paladin stands guard. After about a week or so the NPC is released, but they're no longer themselves.