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Oruwa Kesh

Human · Commoner, archive keeper (custom noncombatant) · Level 0

Oruwa Kesh

Keeper of testimony and archives
AC10
HP9/9
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

At the table

Voice

A clear, chest-supported voice with a little rasp from dust and dry archive rooms. She places consonants carefully and gives names a deliberate, respectful cadence. When she is tired, a faint breath catches before long sentences, but she rarely loses her warmth.

She speaks in carefully completed phrases, with the practiced clarity of someone who has spent years reading testimony aloud for transcription. Work has given her a habit of repeating a person's key wording before asking a question. Her river-district upbringing gives her speech a rounded cadence, while years of interviews have made her attentive to pauses and self-corrections.

Speech patterns

Begins difficult conversations with an invitation to sit, drink, or take a breath.
Separates what a witness saw from what they inferred, without making the distinction sound like an accusation.
Uses exact dates and quoted phrases when discussing records.
When asked about unpublished material, says what she can confirm and carefully marks the boundary of what she cannot yet share.

How to play them

Offer hospitality and ask what the visitor hopes to do with the information. Explain the archive's consent rules plainly. If asked about unpublished records, distinguish confirmed facts from protected or unverified material, and invite the visitor to help establish context rather than surrendering the material outright.

Goal

Verify the unpublished testimony before the Assembly hearing and establish a consent process that protects witnesses without burying inconvenient history.

Motivation

To preserve testimony without turning the people who gave it into evidence against themselves.

Secret · GM only

Appearance

Oruwa has a broad, grounded silhouette and a face that seems to become more welcoming the longer someone speaks. Her hands are the first unexpected detail: the pads of her thumbs are faintly ridged and darkened from years of rubbing ink into waxed testimony strips, while the backs are dusted with pale paper fibers. She moves with a careful, measured economy, turning her whole body toward a speaker rather than craning her neck. Before answering a question, she unconsciously squares the nearest stack of papers with the edge of the table. People often leave feeling they were listened to completely, then realize she never promised to agree with them.

Clothing

A practical, dark russet work coat with deep inner pockets, a soft linen shirt, a wide sash that holds labeled slips, and a weatherproof shoulder wrap. The cuffs are carefully patched, and her shoes are quiet-soled for moving through crowded reading rooms.

Body language

She turns both shoulders toward whoever is speaking and keeps her hands open on the table. When a question touches unpublished material, her thumb begins smoothing the edge of a waxed strip, and her gaze briefly shifts to the archive door.

Height
5 ft. 5 in.
Build
Broad-shouldered and sturdy, with a steady stance shaped by long hours at tables and shelves.
Eyes
Deep brown, with fine gold flecks near the pupils
Hair
Black, threaded with silver and usually pinned in a low coil
Skin
Warm umber with a soft, matte texture
Age
Forty-six
Gender
Woman
Size
Medium

Distinguishing features

Thumb pads ridged and darkened from repeatedly working ink into waxed testimony strips.
Fine pale paper fibers cling to the seams of her sleeves.
She squares papers, book corners, and even loose coasters against table edges without noticing.

Personality

12 traits and drives

Oruwa is warm and patient with people, but exacting with claims; she will sit through a painful story without rushing its speaker, then challenge a careless date or unsupported conclusion. She can be generous with her time and guarded with her records. When relaxed, she jokes about the archive's stubborn dust; under political pressure, she becomes formal and precise, and when tired, her hospitality gives way to blunt questions.

Alignment
Neutral good

Quirks

Squares every paper stack with the table edge, even when someone is waiting for her answer.
Taps a quill twice against her thumb before writing a witness's name.
Offers tea to people who insist they do not want anything, then lets the cup sit untouched if they refuse.
Keeps a small pebble on her desk and moves it to the corner of whichever document she is currently verifying.

Habits

Makes space for an upset speaker to finish, then asks for dates, names, and the exact words remembered.
Checks who is within earshot before discussing a sensitive account.
Works late when a record is incomplete, but stops immediately if a witness withdraws consent.
When overwhelmed, reorganizes papers by the order in which they were received rather than by subject.

Traits · 3

Offers genuine warmth without confusing kindness with agreement.
Treats small factual errors seriously, but never humiliates someone for making them.
Wants the archive to serve the Assembly and distrusts any demand that it serve only the Assembly.

Flaws · 3

Her caution can become evasiveness, especially when she has not yet settled what should be published.
She takes responsibility for decisions that ought to be shared with witnesses and colleagues.
She can mistake meticulous process for moral certainty.

Fears · 3

That a record kept to preserve a community's history will be used to expose its people to danger.
That the Assembly will start treating witnesses as political resources rather than people.
That silence, once chosen for protection, will become a convenient excuse for permanent erasure.

Wants and needs · 3

Needs the living witness to decide whether the disputed testimony may be published.
Wants the Assembly to adopt shared rules for protecting contributors and preserving records.
Needs help verifying the accounts before the hearing deadline.

Combat

AC 10 · HP 9 · 30 ft.

Oruwa is a noncombatant with no formal training. She uses shelves and furniture to break line of sight, calls for help, and prioritizes protecting witnesses and sensitive records. If cornered, she uses her walking stick only to create an opening to escape.

Oruwa Kesh

Medium humanoid (human), neutral good
Armor Class10
Hit Points9
Speed30 ft.
Level0
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Saving ThrowsIntelligenceWisdom
SkillsHistoryInvestigationInsightPersuasion
SensesPassive Perception 11
Languages
Common,
Rendrakian
Archive-trained memory. Oruwa can recall the wording, speaker, and recorded location of testimony she has personally catalogued.
Custom feature, Testimony Chain. When a witness gives consent, Oruwa can link their account to related records, helping investigators identify contradictions without deciding which account is true.
Not a combatant. Oruwa has no class levels or supernatural abilities.

Actions

Walking-Stick Jab. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 () bludgeoning damage. Oruwa would rather flee or bargain than strike.
Call for Aid. Oruwa calls for nearby allies and identifies a clear route to cover. This has no mechanical effect beyond drawing attention and directing willing listeners.

Reactions

Guard the Testimony. When someone nearby attempts to seize a consent-marked record, Oruwa can use her reaction to pull it out of immediate reach or cover it with her body. This does not prevent a determined attacker from taking it.

Services they sell

Researching public testimony and matching accounts to dates and places
Recording a witness's account with clear consent and an agreed level of privacy
Helping the party distinguish firsthand testimony from rumor or later interpretation

Rewards they can give

A carefully sourced account of local events, with the limits and uncertainties clearly marked.
A warm introduction to witnesses who have explicitly agreed to speak.
A copy of a relevant public record, if sharing it would not violate a contributor's consent.

Equipment

  • Walking stick (adventuring gear)A plain ashwood walking stick, used mostly for long journeys and reaching high shelves.
  • Testimony kit (tool)A compact case containing quills, charcoal, wax, ink cakes, and blank testimony slips.
  • Consent-marked folio (document)A few carefully selected records, carried only with the permission of their contributors.
  • Tea tin (personal item)A small tin of mint and bitterroot tea, offered to visitors who need a moment before speaking.

Possessions

Testimony kit with quills, charcoal, ink, and wax
Consent-marked folio of selected records
Ashwood walking stick
Tea tin containing mint and bitterroot
A pocket notebook of questions to ask witnesses before recording their words

Background

Oruwa was raised in a riverside district whose families preserved their histories in spoken testimony because official records repeatedly misnamed them or omitted them altogether. As a young copyist, she believed that careful preservation was enough to protect the truth. During a crackdown, she watched a neighborhood elder's testimony used to identify and arrest people the elder had meant to protect. Oruwa had copied the account faithfully, but had failed to consider who might gain access to it. The experience changed her: she now treats an archive as a responsibility to the living, not a neutral storehouse. She joined the Rendrakian Assembly and helped establish its testimony archive, balancing open access with consent and protection. Her closest ongoing ties are with Iven Tarrow, a former courier who brings her damaged documents, and Sela Olt, a passionate organizer who believes withheld testimony can undermine the movement. Oruwa is currently trying to verify a set of unpublished accounts before an Assembly hearing, while someone has been asking after those same records.

Role in the story

A trusted source of historical testimony and a moral counterweight to revolutionary urgency. Oruwa can help the party uncover what happened, but her rules about consent and verification may complicate a rushed plan.

“As a young copyist, she believed that careful preservation was enough to protect the truth.”
From their background
Faction
Keeper of testimony and archives for the Rendrakian Assembly, a revolutionary movement and cultural preservation assembly.

Known connections

Iven Tarrow, a former courier who trusts Oruwa with damaged records but resents her cautious publication rules.
Sela Olt, an Assembly organizer who wants Oruwa to release an unverified collection before a political hearing.
The families of the riverside district where Oruwa grew up, many of whom supplied testimony under carefully negotiated conditions.
Major secret · GM only
Minor secrets · GM only

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