Few people know Cripta as well as the Countess. If there is a story unfolding in the valleys, chances are she has already heard of it before those involved. A chatterbox by nature and curious by vocation, she spends her days walking the streets, talking with merchants, soldiers, adventurers, and anyone willing to trade a few words.
It was precisely that gift that earned her a place among the guides of the newly arrived. No one explains the customs of Vashrath with such patience, and no one knows as many shortcuts, rumors, and secrets as she does.
The Friendly Voice
The Countess is the friendly voice that welcomes the awakened after the register. Where Sirius imposes order and Cassius imposes form, she provides context: customs, paths, what is murmured on the street corners. Some say she knows more about the lives of Cripta's inhabitants than they do themselves — and considering how much she loves to talk, that may well be true.
Known Ties
- Cripta — the city she knows like no one else
- Sirius and Cassius — the camp's commander and scribe, whose stern welcome she softens
- The newly arrived — to whom she serves as guide
Mysteries
A rumor runs that the Countess came from Kharvoss as a child — "but people say a great many things," as the valleys themselves like to add. None of it is confirmed: her supposed tie to the militarized city of the forest, to the Kova family, or to Jovel remains hearsay, and her true origin is left open on purpose.
Which is, perhaps, the finest irony in Cripta: the woman who knows everyone's story is the one whose own story nobody knows.