IKRPG! Life in Khardov, Part 3 : House Ryumin

Last post, I covered the industrialist Drago Katzoff, but now it's time to move on to another of the great Kayazy Lords of Khardov; Lady Stefani Ryumin, the queen of coal and owner of over half the mining network in the city.  She is well loved by her workers, and is renowned for paying vastly above the standard wage for her miners, as well as providing excellent healing and financial support for injured employees.

Of course, she can afford this because she has the majority of the street gangs of Khardov in her back pocket.  She pays the workers, and the gangs take a large sum of it back and pay Ryumin to distract the Olcheniy, who she also unofficially controls, towards their rivals.  Despite all this, Ryumin remains behind the scenes and (relatively) quite a minor Kayazy - a fact which can only be by choice.

On the (even more) illegal front, Ryumin is also both a Thamarite Priestess and an Infernalist, and has a booming trade in souls from people all across Western Khador.  People come to her to make contact with Infernals, and the Infernals grant her power to keep the souls coming.  This dark trade claims dozens, if not hundreds, of Khadoran souls a year and does drastic damage to the Khadoran war effort.

Stefani Ryumin

Stefani Ryumin was born into a fairly rich family who have lived in Khardov for several generations, and is used to having money around her entire life.  Despite this, she had a natural affinity with the "low" members of society, preferring the company of non-humans and commoners and, when she inherited a small mining operation, she used the knowledge she gained to encourage more and more workers to join her business, slowly edging out her competitors as more and more of their employees moved over to join her.

With apologies to the sculptor for the shitty paint job...

Now, Lady Ryumin controls the majority of the mines in the surrounding area and large foundries where the ore is smelted.  They are hubs of activity all throughout the night, and it's rare to find an area of her territory that doesn't have some people about or, if you're that way inclined, noise to cover illicit activities.  She has also set up underground temples throughout Khardov where Thamarites can worship in peace.  These also have the upside for Ryumin of giving her both safe refuges AND a ready supply of reinforcements across the city.

In a fight, Ryumin is touchingly pathetic, having no combat or spellcasting abilities to speak of.  Of course, would-be vigilantes don't fight Ryumin herself, they fight the two spectral Umbral Enforcers who follow her around to keep the Infernal's investment alive.  While she flees, these two monsters attack assailants under cover of invisibility with whips that can fly through flesh and bone to attack the soul directly - anyone who is killed by them quickly discover their souls have been kept from Urcaen and at serious risk of being taken by the Infernal Reavers.

Rorvag Rockbiter
A childhood friend of Stefani Ryumin, Rorvag was hired as soon as she took over her first mine as a foreman, and has been working for her ever since.  Now, he is responsible for the day to day workings of her business, as well as leading the protection of the mines from rogue Shaft Wights and saboteurs from other Kayazy with mine workings in the city.

Oh yeah, and he's a Trollkin.

While he's a dab-hand with his greatsword and customised cannon, Rorvag's biggest asset is his leadership - he is respected and admired by those he leads, who know he is the first in to any situation and the last out, trusting on his natural resilience to see him through.  He is, however, easy to avoid - unless someone threatens Stefani directly, he sticks to defending his mines, and certainly won't come to the aid of any of the other lieutenants of House Ryumin.

Braznaggalakam
Having grown up on the streets of Khardov, Braz knows his way around the city like no other, as well as the methods of every major criminal player in the area.  He came into contact with Ryumin after she came to power and had started trying to make her mark as a Thamarite priestess among the criminal gangs.  He decided to make money by setting her up with gangs, and she decided she'd pay him to be her contact with all of them.  After five years, their relationship has settled into a routine - he collects the gang's protection money to give to Ryumin, and keeps her up to date with new players in the area.

He also looks like Yoda as made by Dark Crystal-era Jim Henson.  Which is badass.

Braz doesn't fight, he assassinates, he steals and he uses the gangs jockeying for his favour to fight for him.  His knack for stealth and love of torture and cruelty means that anyone who comes in to fight him head on will be led into a maze of traps and dead ends that would make Jigsaw jealous, none of which will kill his prey quickly.  Of course, his only loyalty is to money, so it's possible to buy your way out of the deathtraps once you get in, but he doesn't publicise that...

Jaime O'Harenhal
A Thurian mercenary, Jaime has fought in the Scharde invasions, multiple border skirmishes (on every border), the invasion of Llael (on both sides), as an enforcer in Five Fingers and on several missions into the Thornwood and the Sharde Isles which he refuses to talk about.  Now, he's covertly in the employ of Ryumin as the leader of the Olcheniy, the Kayazy-funded city guard.  While he generally does his job well, he's also turned the city guard into what amounts to enforcers for Ryumin, driving out or crushing all street crime that isn't directly in her pocket.

It's Rutger Shaw-lite!  Woo!

Jaime is an excellent combatant with at least two decades of military engagements that he's willing to admit to.  On top of that, he's a practised commander at the unit level, and has the resources of the Kayazy and the Olcheniy at his immediate disposal.  While he is single-handedly a dangerous foe, when he brings his allies, he's almost unstoppable...

And that's the second of the Kayazy Houses my players will be fighting!  Next up, House Ygevny, the alchemists...