Howdy Vados!
Briefly, we’re going to go over some of the major NPCs you’ll be interacting with (often) in the second half of Season 3. Our goal here is to set the stage and showcase the interconnectedness of our next four events amongst themselves, but also, to the greater metaplot of DR:TX.
I’m not saying these NPCs are going to stick around that long, by any means. But this primer will at least give you an idea of who to pay attention to in games 4-8 of Season 3.
Holy Mother Queen Jasper, Bearer of the Antlered Crown
Queen Jasper is the ultimate leader behind the 13 Houses of the Tribes Disparate. Around fifty years old, Jasper entered the Bravado Narrative at the height of the Hiway War where she provided troops and resources to defeat and destroy Hiway Robb in the wake of her father’s assassination. Her homeland was once the Blastlands that now surround New Bravado, but these verdant fields were lost to carpet bombs early on in the conflict.
The Tribes formed out of the various outcast and abandoned peoples ravaged by the War, gathered together by the charisma, heroic deed, and martial prowess of the Queen. From groups of scholars, psions, and merchants, forces of crafters, pirates, and soldiers, the Tribes have been made stronger by the unique and collective strengths of the great Houses that follow Queen Jasper. After the Hiway War and the Fountainhead Incident, the wandering thirteen Tribes found their new homeland in the forested causeways of Essex, where they grow in power and in purpose as they build a new home around them.
Jasper is sick with an unknown degenerative disease. At times, she seems to be an unstoppable warrior, a killer without rival. At others, she can barely keep her head up in meetings. Some of the house-heads, rulers of their respective tribes, are beginning to express a lack of faith in her leadership. There are several Houses that could rival her for the crown, including the sailors of the Longberths, the Fallow Hope faithful of the Jacintos, and even her own brother, Prince Shale of the Antler Clan. But for now, all thirteen houses still pay homage to the Holy Mother, Antler Queen of the Tribes Disparate.
Takheeta Firstborn, Mystagogue of the Grave Council, Leader of the Imix Tribe
Of all the Unborn in the Lonestar, of those who were birthed by its morgues rather than those who immigrated here, Takheeta was the first to claw her way out of the primordial muck. She is considered the progenitor of her entire tribe, known as the Imix, with every member carrying some amount of the same genetic data that created Takheeta contained in their helixes.
Following the Hiway War, Takheeta, along with Commander Rampart and several other key members of the organization, formed the Grave Council - a powerful faction to steward the damaged morgue system that resulted from the Psionic Bomb that ended the Hiway War. Under her leadership the strange grave cultists called Mystagogues developed an Imix ritual to prevent a disease known as the Curse of the Unfinished from spreading, earning the sole ability and fiscal control of morgues throughout the San Saba.
As the years have passed, Takheeta has entrenched herself as a religious icon to Gravemind worshippers, adherents of the strange faith called the Quiet Path, and as an authority on the San Saba morgue system. Her ultimate goal, as stated, is to fix the damaged morgue infrastructure in the Lonestar entirely - rendering her Groundskeepers useless but the system whole and perfect. Takheeta will achieve her dream through any means necessary, no matter the cost.
Commander Rampart of the Grave Council, Leader of the Reckoners
The Baywalker soldier known as Commander Rampart has been a colossal influence on the success of the Grave Council since their founding. During the Hiway War, Rampart was part of the Fallow Hope contingent assigned to Temple Station, but when his latent psionic ability was awakened by the terrorists of the Third Eye he became a mercenary and assassin in the madness following the War.
Ruthless and pragmatic, Rampart leads the elite ranks of the Reckoners, a shadowy military branch protecting the secrets of the Grave Council. His stated goal is to make sure that the weapons and technology that enabled Hiway Rob to decimate the morgue system never fall into the wrong hands again, though there is controversy about how many strange relics end up in his hands versus some hidden vault. A powerful psion himself, Rampart helped defend Essex against the outsider threat during the Fountainhead Incident and led Bravado in a ritual that imprisoned the Gutmother.
There is an uncertain hostility between Rampart and Takheeta, though he arguably is the second in command of the faction. Rumors of a schism within the walls of the Bureau between the Reckoners and Mystagogues, his involvement in the murder of Takheeta during the struggle for the Fountainhead, and his subsequent exile afterwards has many suspicious of his motives. While Rampart has avoided overt trips to Essex in recent months, it is certain that his former exile has ended — though the secretive soldier is not forthcoming on the terms of his return to grace.
Felicity Redfield, CEO of the Railroad Conglomerate
As she was born into a lesser Pureblood House before the Hiway War, following its conclusion, Felicity Redfield found herself in a unique position of power. As one of the few remaining members of the extended Lineage League, Felicity used what remained of her clout and dowry to form the RRC and spent the ugly, irradiated years following the Hiway War building train-tracks across what is now the Greater San Saba.
Her crowning achievement is the settlement of New Bravado, which she owns down to the rocks the city is built on, followed shortly thereafter by the creation of The Iron Ox; a locomotive of monolithic proportions, designed to endure the threats of the Greater Wastes as it trucks goods between settlements at speed. The tracks of the RRC Oxline stretch further each day as the influence of the rail system continues to grow. Felicity has spearheaded “delves” into the uncharted ruins underneath Bravado in search of some unknown goal, using resources found beneath to fund future endeavors.
Deeply motivated to create a more magnificent future in her image, Felicity is a founding member of the San Saba Board, on which both Takheeta Firstborn and Queen Jasper both serve as voting members. Her company, thanks to a merger in 04” PHW, retains two of the five votes needed to change San Saba Law. Though she has not always seen eye to eye with the Board and the Chairman, her ambition has continued to reap dividends for the RRC.
Sinker Swim, Grand Admiral of the Junkerpunks
Thrust into a position of power, Sinker Swim is not only the ultimate leader of the expansive merchant fleet that makes up the Junkerpunk’s handshake-agreement network but also, currently, a voting member of the San Saba Board. The Saltwise pirate has been the heart and soul behind the recent successes of the wayward faction.
Bouncing back from the precipice of destitution after a riotous party in the Clutch, the Junkerpunks have recently focused on becoming a bonafide rival to the San Saba Board. Thanks to their own gumption, and some unexpected support from the RRC and the Tribes Disparate, Sinker Swim has recently managed to push through the Drywater Settlement Package, which will fund the founding of a new inland settlement to the west of New Bravado.
Generally understood to be a sort of roughshod, grating personality; Sinker has regardless been responsible for the safe arrival of hundreds of New Bravado citizens via the port at Lake Bravo. All of the exports that leave the New Bravado territory that don’t take the Oxline out, end up in the cargo holds of Sinker Swim’s merchant fleet.