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Archivist Pell

NPCs
Human · Noncombatant archivist · Level 0

Archivist Pell

Pentad College Network contact and access archivist
“What will you cite, and where will it travel?”
AC10
HP9/9
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

At the table

“the surviving copy suggests”
From how they speak

Voice

A dry, clear voice with a faint rasp at the start of sentences, shaped by years of reading dusty records aloud and speaking over harbor wind in childhood. Their breath catches lightly through the teeth before difficult answers. They sound welcoming when teaching, exact when challenged, and unhurried when someone tries to rush them.

Pell speaks in clear, measured phrases with the clipped precision of someone used to reading clauses aloud and the occasional harbor-worker expression picked up in childhood. They take a small dry breath before answering sensitive questions. They do not raise their voice to dominate a room; instead, they become more exact, naming dates, sources, and conditions until a vague claim has nowhere left to hide.

Speech patterns

Frames questions as practical checks: "What will you cite, and where will it travel?"
Uses precise qualifications, such as "the surviving copy suggests" rather than claiming certainty.
When someone makes an honest mistake, corrects the record without humiliating them.
When someone pressures them, repeats the access rule in nearly identical words.

How to play them

Be helpful when visitors state a clear purpose, accept reasonable supervision, and acknowledge the political weight of the material. Ask who requested the research, who will receive the results, and whether the findings may be quoted. Offer a narrower, safer source when full access would expose a person or distort the Network's independence. Treat coercion as a warning sign, but make the rules clear before refusing.

Goal

Establish a written, shared access protocol across the five colleges before any one patron Duke can turn research access into a private political reward.

Motivation

Protect the credibility of the colleges by ensuring research is traceable, access is consistent, and no patron Duke can quietly claim scholarly findings as court property.

Secret · GM only

Appearance

Archivist Pell has a long, composed face framed by close-cropped hair and a brow that seems permanently pinched by small print. Their skin is warm brown, with fine ink smudges often caught in the creases beside the nails. They move with careful, economical steps, turning their whole body toward whoever speaks rather than craning their neck. A tiny brass page-clip is fastened to their collar, an unexpectedly playful ornament shaped like a leaping frog. Before answering a difficult question, Pell draws a measured breath through their teeth, a soft, dry hiss that makes the pause feel deliberate.

Clothing

A dark teal wool coat with reinforced elbows, a high-collared linen shirt, a narrow belt carrying a key ring, and well-kept boots. Their cuffs are usually dusted with paper fibers. A brass frog-shaped page-clip sits at the collar.

Body language

Pell sits squarely, hands near the folio clasp, and gives speakers their full attention. When uneasy, they press a thumb to the brass frog on their collar. When angry, they stop sorting or fidgeting entirely and hold a steady, unblinking look.

Height
5 ft. 7 in.
Build
Lean and straight-backed, with the compact endurance of someone accustomed to standing over shelves for hours
Eyes
Dark hazel
Hair
Salt-and-pepper brown, cut close and brushed flat
Skin
Warm brown
Age
Fifty-eight
Gender
Nonbinary
Size
Medium

Distinguishing features

A soft, dry intake of breath before difficult answers, noticeable even in a quiet room.
A small brass frog-shaped page-clip worn at the collar, incongruously whimsical against their formal clothes.
Often has a trace of ink in the creases beside their nails.

Personality

13 traits and drives

Pell is generous with time and surprisingly warm toward curious beginners, yet guarded with anyone who treats knowledge as a prize to be seized. They prize fairness but distrust easy consensus, and can be brisk when they think someone is dodging a question. In private, they are sentimental about family letters and small jokes; under political pressure, they become procedural and difficult to budge. When a researcher admits uncertainty, Pell relaxes. When a powerful visitor demands trust without documentation, Pell becomes immovable.

Alignment
Lawful neutral

Quirks

Breathes through their teeth before answering any question involving trust or authority.
Turns a document exactly square to the edge of the desk before reading it.
Taps the brass frog on their collar twice when they have decided not to be persuaded.
Keeps a small jar of beach pebbles beside the desk and sorts them by how well they stand on edge.

Habits

Checks the clasp on their folio whenever someone mentions a patron or a promise.
Asks what a visitor intends to do with information before explaining what the archive contains.
When tired, reads dates aloud under their breath while sorting papers.
Will interrupt a powerful person to correct a factual error, then offer them a graceful way to save face.

Traits · 4

Helpful with sincere questions, but insists on knowing the intended use of an answer.
Values evidence over status, while sometimes leaning too heavily on procedure to avoid personal risk.
Patient in a reading room and sharp in a negotiation.
Keeps a dry sense of humor for people who respect the work.

Flaws · 3

Can mistake caution for fairness, delaying a decision until a political moment has passed.
Keeps control of information too tightly when a careful explanation might build trust.
Has difficulty admitting that personal loyalty sometimes matters as much to them as institutional credibility.

Fears · 3

That the Network will be exposed as a collection of private court instruments rather than a credible scholarly body.
That a second public correction will cost the colleges the trust of the communities they claim to study.
That their sibling will stop writing before Pell finds the courage to answer honestly.

Wants and needs · 3

A consistent access policy accepted by all five colleges.
Reliable evidence about who altered the harbor survey and under whose authority.
A way to speak with their sibling without making the conversation another negotiation.

Combat

AC 10 · HP 9 · 30 ft.

Pell is a noncombatant and has no formal combat training. If threatened, they put a desk or shelf between themselves and an attacker, call for help, and try to leave by a known staff passage. They use their walking stick only to make room to escape.

Archivist Pell

Medium humanoid (human), lawful neutral
Armor Class10
Hit Points9
Speed30 ft.
Level0
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Saving ThrowsINTWIS
SkillsHistoryInvestigationInsightPersuasion
SensesPassive Perception 12
Languages
Common,
One regional scholarly sign language used in the colleges' reading rooms
Custom feature. Provenance Check. Pell can identify the likely source, date range, and chain of custody of a document after ten minutes of examination, unless it is deliberately forged or magically altered.
Custom feature. Conditional Access. Pell can arrange supervised access to Pentad College research, but requires a stated purpose and records who approved it.

Actions

Walking Stick. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 () bludgeoning damage. Pell uses this only to create space, not to pursue a fight.

Reactions

Duck Behind the Desk. When an ally within 5 feet is threatened, Pell can use their reaction to pull that creature behind a sturdy desk or shelf, if one is within reach. The ally gains half cover against the triggering attack. Pell does not move the ally out of the attack's reach.

Services they sell

Explains the Network's research access process and its political limits.
Arranges supervised reading-room access to material appropriate to a visitor's stated purpose.
Helps check whether a source is a contemporary record, a later copy, or an unverified claim.
Provides careful introductions to relevant college staff when doing so will not compromise a researcher.

Rewards they can give

A supervised introduction to the appropriate college contact, if the party gives a credible purpose for the request.
A copy of a public-source index that can help distinguish reliable research from court rumor.
A warning about the political implications of a particular archive request.

Equipment

  • Walking stick (utility)A stout ash walking stick with a leather wrist loop, carried for long days rather than as a weapon.
  • Request folio (tool)A reinforced folio holding request forms, correspondence, and a hand-drawn index of approved materials.
  • Office keys (tool)A ring of keys that opens Pell's office and the supervised reading room, but not the restricted stacks.
  • Frog page-clip (personal item)A brass frog-shaped clip used to mark a page or fasten a loose document.

Possessions

A folio of access forms and correspondence
A personal index of publicly usable sources
A sealed packet of duplicate harbor survey pages
Letters from an estranged sibling
A brass frog-shaped page-clip

Background

Pell grew up sorting damp shipping records for a harbor clerk, learning early that a missing page could cost a family its livelihood. Their decisive turn came during a flood year, when they discovered that a college survey had been quietly altered to make a tenant district appear uninhabited. Pell released a duplicate copy to the affected residents, risking dismissal and forcing the Pentad College Network to publicly correct its findings. The experience made them both more courageous and more exacting: good intentions, they believe, are no substitute for verifiable records. Now Pell serves as a contact between the colleges and visitors seeking research. Each college answers to a patron Duke, and Pell has seen scholarly access turn into a political favor. They are trying to establish a common access procedure before rival patrons can make the Network look like an instrument of their own courts. At home, Pell exchanges weekly letters with an estranged sibling who thinks the colleges took Pell away from the family; neither has yet written the apology the other wants.

Role in the story

A helpful but discerning Pentad College contact in the quest "Where the Party Stands." Pell can open paths to credible research, explain how each college's patron Duke affects access, and make the party confront the consequences of using scholarly information in a political dispute.

“Pell released a duplicate copy to the affected residents, risking dismissal and forcing the Pentad College Network to publicly correct its findings.”
From their background
Faction
Pentad College Network; Pell is a procedural contact, not a partisan agent of any patron Duke.

Known connections

A younger sibling living in a riverside district, still hurt by Pell's years of absence.
A senior scholar at one of the five colleges who privately supports Pell's access rules but fears angering their patron Duke.
The Pentad College Network's visiting researchers, whom Pell tries to protect from being used as political tokens.
Major secret · GM only
Minor secrets · GM only

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