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Ying Hao

NPCs
Human · Rogue, Thief archetype · Level 3

Ying Hao

Reverie Logistics clerk
AC14
HP21/21
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

At the table

Voice

A quick, carefully articulated voice with a dry catch at the back of the throat, as if he has spent years speaking over the scrape of carts and the clack of office stamps. He starts formal and controlled; nerves make his sentences run together, while anger strips away every courtesy.

His words are shaped by years of reading schedules aloud and trying not to inconvenience anyone: precise consonants, quick clauses, and an instinct to qualify every statement. His voice catches slightly when he is caught off guard, then accelerates into a spill of helpful detail. The local trade cant slips into his speech when discussing routes or loading procedures.

Speech patterns

Begins answers with a courtesy, then adds one unnecessary qualification, then tries to stop himself.
Uses exact times and route numbers when nervous, even in casual conversation.
Corrects his own wording mid-sentence if it could be interpreted as an accusation.
When angry, drops the apologies and speaks in clipped, administrative statements.

How to play them

Treat Ying Hao's anxiety as an information leak, not as proof that he is foolish. Be patient and specific; he responds well to clear questions and a promise not to endanger his mother or Toma. If pressed too hard, he retreats into procedural language. If shown evidence of an immediate threat to an innocent person, he will risk his position to help.

Goal

Get the party into Shirzen without exposing Toma or the source of the schedule leak, then find a way to repair the harm caused by his old falsified dispatch.

Motivation

He wants to believe that knowing the system gives him the power to correct its cruelties, while fearing that every intervention only makes him more complicit.

Secret · GM only

Appearance

Ying Hao looks as if he has been pressed flat between two clean sheets of paper: immaculate, narrow, and perpetually held in careful alignment. He stands with his weight balanced on the balls of his feet, heels hovering just slightly, as if ready to step out of the way before anyone asks him to. His grooming is exacting: hair combed into a precise side part, collar straight, cuffs even. The silver thread at his cuffs catches the light whenever he adjusts it, a tiny flash of metal against his otherwise quiet clothes. He moves in short, efficient glides, never quite brushing a chair or doorframe. His polite neatness makes people expect a harmless clerk; his watchful eyes make them reconsider.

Clothing

A clean, high-collared clerk's jacket in muted blue-gray, fitted trousers, soft-soled shoes, and a narrow belt carrying a small ring of keys. Fine silver thread edges both cuffs. The stitching is unusually good for work clothes, though he keeps the jacket buttoned even in warm rooms.

Body language

He keeps his weight forward, his hands close to his waist, and his shoulders squared as though standing at attention for an invisible supervisor. His fingers repeatedly smooth and realign the silver thread on his cuffs. When he lies, he stops moving his hands entirely.

Height
5 feet 7 inches
Build
Lean and narrow-shouldered, with the compact, springy frame of someone who takes stairs two at a time.
Eyes
Dark brown, quick to flick toward doors and other people's hands
Hair
Black, combed into a precise side part
Skin
Warm ivory with a faint olive undertone
Age
Twenty-four
Gender
Male
Size
Medium

Distinguishing features

The silver thread at his cuffs is the one visible flourish in an otherwise severe, meticulously plain outfit.
He stands on the balls of his feet with his heels barely settled, ready to move at a moment's notice.
His hair is combed into a razor-straight part that remains perfect even after a hurried journey.

Personality

12 traits and drives

Ying Hao is genuinely considerate and compulsively formal, yet his need to be useful can become a form of control. In safe company, he chatters and offers details nobody requested. Under pressure, his politeness becomes rigid and his attention sharpens. When someone vulnerable is in danger, he can become startlingly decisive, then spend hours afterward apologizing for the mess he made.

Alignment
Neutral

Quirks

Adjusts the silver thread on each cuff in turn, always left cuff first, whenever he is asked a direct question.
Counts stair steps under his breath and becomes visibly unsettled if a staircase has an odd number.
Folds scrap paper into tiny right-angled boats while listening, then refuses to let anyone unfold them.
Moves cups and desk objects until their edges line up with the nearest table seam.
When he is very anxious, he recites the sequence of stops on a freight route as if it were a prayer.

Habits

When calm, he gives people more information than they asked for, arranged in neat, numbered explanations.
When frightened, he becomes effusively helpful and starts volunteering dates, names, and route details.
When someone is being treated unfairly, his anxious manner vanishes and he becomes abrupt, exact, and unexpectedly difficult to move.
He checks the time whenever Bei Go's schedule is mentioned, even if no clock is visible.

Traits · 3

He tries to make every conversation orderly, but nerves make him ramble.
He is eager to serve and quietly resentful when people mistake helpfulness for obedience.
He dislikes lying, yet will alter a record if he believes the official version is hurting someone.

Flaws · 3

Nervousness makes him disclose useful information before he has decided whether someone is trustworthy.
He confuses correcting an injustice with having the right to decide who pays for it.
He maintains a polished appearance and routine even when acting quickly would be safer.

Fears · 3

That the porter he framed will learn the truth and refuse his apology.
That Toma will be punished for noticing the schedule records.
Being trapped somewhere with no useful information to offer.

Wants and needs · 3

He wants the party to trust his route knowledge without asking how he obtained it.
He needs to protect Toma from the consequences of noticing the schedule irregularities.
He needs to decide whether to confess about the dismissed porter before someone else uncovers the truth.

Combat

AC 14 · HP 21 · 30 feet

Ying Hao avoids fair fights. He hides behind cover, uses Cunning Action to break line of sight or reposition, and aims Sneak Attacks at enemies already engaged by an ally. If escape is possible, he takes it. He will risk himself to protect a courier or bystander, but tries to make that look like an accident.

Ying Hao

Medium humanoid (human), neutral
Armor Class14
Hit Points21
Speed30 feet
Level3
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Saving ThrowsDexterityIntelligence
SkillsAcrobaticsDeceptionInvestigationPerceptionPersuasionSleight of HandStealthInvestigation
SensesPassive Perception 11
Languages
Common,
Shirzen trade cant
Rogue, level 3. Proficiency bonus +2.
Sneak Attack. once per turn, Ying Hao deals an extra damage when he hits with a finesse or ranged weapon and has advantage, or when an ally is within 5 feet of the target and Ying Hao does not have disadvantage.
Cunning Action. Ying Hao can take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action as a bonus action.
Thief archetype. Fast Hands lets Ying Hao use a bonus action to make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check, use thieves' tools to disarm a trap or open a lock, or take the Use an Object action. Second-Story Work lets him climb faster than normal and jump farther than his Strength would usually allow.

Actions

Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 () piercing damage, plus 7 () Sneak Attack damage if applicable.
Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 6 () piercing damage, plus 7 () Sneak Attack damage if applicable.
Cunning Action. Ying Hao takes the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action as a bonus action.

Reactions

Slip Between Desks. Custom feature: when a creature Ying Hao can see targets him with an attack, Ying Hao can use his reaction to move up to 10 feet without provoking opportunity attacks. This movement does not reduce the attack's chance to hit if the attacker still has line of sight.

Services they sell

Can arrange ordinary freight passage or point out a weakly monitored checkpoint into Shirzen.
Can identify forged cargo marks and explain how Reverie Logistics routes goods.
Can discreetly check a shipment's status or locate a courier, if doing so will not expose Toma.

Rewards they can give

A credible route through a lightly watched Shirzen checkpoint
A copied fragment of Bei Go's schedule, if the party earns his trust
Access to ordinary freight manifests and the names of reliable dispatch runners

Equipment

  • Dagger (weapon)A small, well-balanced blade tucked inside his jacket, kept polished and used more often to cut twine than in a fight.
  • Shortbow and 20 arrows (weapon)A compact bow and a quiver of arrows, wrapped in plain cloth to keep them from drawing attention.
  • Thieves' tools (tool)A narrow kit of picks, tension tools, and fine wire hidden in a document case.
  • Clerk's case (work equipment)Route slips, a wax tablet, two sealed envelopes, and a small key ring with one key that does not belong to his office.
  • Personal effects (possessions)A clean change of cuffs, a few silver pieces, and a folded note addressed to his mother.

Possessions

A concealed strip of paper bearing a copied schedule pattern
An old altered dispatch slip kept inside his jacket lining
An unmarked envelope of coins for the dismissed porter
A silver-threaded spare pair of cuffs

Background

Ying Hao was raised in a cramped room above a ferry office, where his mother, Kett, copied cargo tallies and taught him that a misplaced digit could cost a family its winter food. He became a clerk at Reverie Logistics because he loved the comfort of orderly routes and dependable schedules. He also discovered that information moved faster than wagons. A flood once trapped a medicine shipment on the wrong bank; Ying Hao broke a seal and altered a routing slip to send it across a private bridge. The medicine reached the sick quarter, but his supervisor blamed a porter who lost his job. Ying Hao has never admitted what he did, and he still sends the porter small, anonymous payments. Now he keeps track of Bei Go's movements, though no ordinary clerk should have access to them. His friend Toma, a dispatch runner, has noticed the discrepancies and is asking questions. Meanwhile, Shirzen's gates are tightening, and Ying Hao knows a route into the city that is about to become dangerous.

Role in the story

The party's easiest route into Shirzen and an anxious source of logistical intelligence. His knowledge of Bei Go's schedule offers a useful lead, but the reason he has it can draw danger toward the party.

“He became a clerk at Reverie Logistics because he loved the comfort of orderly routes and dependable schedules.”
From their background
Faction
Reverie Logistics, a citywide freight and dispatch concern. Ying Hao is a junior clerk with unauthorized access to sensitive schedules.

Known connections

Kett, his mother, still works as a copyist and believes he has a safe, dull job.
Toma, a dispatch runner and friend, suspects Ying Hao is falsifying route records.
Bei Go's schedule passes through a restricted dispatch channel that Ying Hao should not be able to read.
A dismissed porter receives anonymous payments from Ying Hao and does not know who sends them.
Major secret · GM only
Minor secrets · GM only

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