Idran Motaer
Ildran is a cold blooded murderer who prefers fire over all other methods. He immolates his victims by trapping them inside wooden structures and then torching them. He is also meticulous about eliminating witnesses quickly and finally.
#7 from 30_Assassins
Most people know him as a tinker, a carpenter, a jack of all trades who is free with his help. And who seems to travel a lot. His first kill was done as repayment for a gambling debt, the second and subsequent ones for passion. Whatever event scarred his spirit as a youth created a rent deep and bloody, and now he has found his calling.
He has a mundane appearance, average height, thick like a drover. Middle aged - he already has lost much of his dark brown hair. Clear brown eyes shine from underneath massive eyebrows, as if compensating for the lack of hair. He wears laborers clothing and carries numerous pouches that bulge with .. tools.
The tools of his trade are the tools of others - glues, nails, chain, locks, and oil. The means to open, and close doors and windows. A long knife too - sharply tapered and expertly honed.
Ildran works meticulously and slowly, using his common appearance to get close to his victims. He fixes things, gets things done, sets things up perfectly for later. Maybe he never needs his ‘alterations', but he has quite a number of little surprises placed around the lands. At the very least, if he has the opportunity he will prepare copies of keys carefully hidden.
One of his preferred tricks is the double-keyed lock, which he will install - if the opportunity arises - as a precursor to his ‘job'. When he uses his key to lock the door, it cannot be opened by the normal lock - either from indoors or out. The specific mechanism that allows this relies on an easily burnt wooden component, so after one of his fires, only someone who knew what they were looking for would find his ‘alteration'. Given a chance, he will swap the special lock with a mundane one after the assassination.
When assigned a mark, his plan will change depending on whether or not he has prepared his target's home previously or not. A prepared target of course is the easiest, as he will be easily able to gain entry with copied key. Once inside, he will arrange for a disastrous, accidental fire to be caused, ideally triggered by his victim's own actions. Perhaps a fine tripwire near the fireplace that drops a tapestry, poorly placed oil, or other accelerants. The real killer is the difficulty in getting out. Windows will be seized, doors jammed or locked. No escape from the licking flames.
He will watch his work in progress, watching in case a victim manages to get out via breaking a window or similar method. Sometimes he will even poison the glass.
There have been times that customers have attempted to get away with non-payment, as they believed the marks had fell to real accidents. And of course, after a few of these had accidents, he has had far fewer payment issues.
As an added measure, he has secreted, in public places, hidden mechanical boxes that unless periodically activated, will drop incriminating letters where they can be found. He uses these to prevent his customers from getting ‘creative'.
Campaign Use
His level of planning and preparation may make him very dangerous against shoot-from-the-hip pcs, though since many are essentially ‘homeless' and drifters his normal methods are not effective. More likely the PCs might be in the right place at the right time to foil one of his assassinations - smashing a door or window or using magic to deal with his typical fire.
Discovery!
While attempting to pick a lock for whatever reason - perhaps a bit of their own larceny, the PC rogue discovers the double lock mechanism. What the heck is this for? Maybe a string of tragic fires might trigger a revelation. It leads eventually to Idran's hideout - an old warehouse - that is absolutely laden with traps.
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? Responses (9)
Not bad. How would a person normally hire him?
I'd also toss something in along the lines of if you do hire him, one of the stipulations is that he refuses to accept a time limit on the hit. (It might take time for the setup!)
I think a referral would be in order - given how critical his cover is for his work, he would never deal with his customers in person.
He likely could only work in larger cities, where the normal high rate of accidents would help cover his activities.
I see him being a rogue agent, devoted to some fire goddess or avatar of destruction. The problem with arson in your typical medieval setting is that aside from the stone castles, everything is wood and thatch, and flammable. He might burn down a house, but in doing so, he's likely going to start a fire that spreads and destroys a large portion of a city, or town. Of course, this doesn't fit in with the image of the rustic idyllic countryside, but those locations have the virtue of being somewhat remote, and plainclothes murderers and mercenary scum would likely be a cheaper and more reliable alternative to Idran.
I would use him not for casual murders, but for big ones. Epic murders. The sort of murders and disasters that bards would sing songs of, and that builders would study to prevent from happening again. Burn the cathedral to kill a powerful bishop. Burn the hunting lodge where the son of the duke routinely entertains bacchanals, and so forth.
I like this. Wish I had thought of this during the write up.
A solid NPC and I see him in a modern setting.
Solid NPC with some very nice bits of prose. I think the vivid description you gave of his physical appearance was extremely important for this guy, because the character (either in prose or in game) aren't going to catch this guy red (hot) handed. They are more likely to suspect through correlation and you have given us well written and clear description of the face that will be associated with the days or hours before the accidents.
Everything must burn. He will see to it. Reminds me of your Bleakwood PC :)
Couldn't put my finger on my thoughts until reading Scras' comment. Something about medieval fantasy settings and arson doesn't quite jibe somehow. Then again, there is the Pyromancers Guild of grrm that comes to mind. I love this dude regardless and would go the route Scras suggests!
Personally, I think it's the description of a tool belt that brings to mind a handyman that could drop into your house if you ring up one on phone. That's why in my comment I said I see him in a modern setting when usually I sorta expect every sub I read off on the Citadel is a fantasy sub unless explicitly stated otherwise.
