Characters that appear in Ghost of a Tale
Mice
Tilo
The hero of our tale. Tilo is a mouse minstrel who was asked to perform for a local rat baron, along with his wife. While Tilo agreed, Merra, his wife, refused, causing the baron to sepparate them and imprison Tilo in Duinlan Heights. He escapes at the beginning of the game, and goes on a quest to find Merra.
- The Determinator: Nothing will stop this little guy from reuniting with his beloved.
- Innocently Insensitive: If you pick the dialogue option that accuses Silas of having stolen the Lutka. Tilo had no way of knowing that it depicts Silas' adopted, late Ouma.
- Master of Disguise: Tilo can wear a variety of outfits for a variety of purposes. Downplayed in that it generally only tricks people who are not all there, or who don't care enough to really check closer.
- Outliving One's Offspring: He had a son who died from a spiderbite prior to the start of the game.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Some of Tilo's disguises are quite good, others are... not. In particular, his King disguise fails to fool the only one it was meant for, and he is way too short to be rat guard. Silas later reveals that everyone except for the Commander knows he's a mouse, but don't really care.
- Tragic Keepsake: Part of his starting inventory are two Lutka, figurines representing a mouse's family. The one representing his son is sooted with ash, representing that his son is dead, while the one representing his wife is still white and clean.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Tilo has a lot of balls in the air at the same time, and sometimes he ends up doing something detrimental to one character while helping another. Of note is the time he finds the jailor's corpse for the Commander, accidentally causing Silas to take the fall.
- Wandering Minstrel: Tilo is officially a minstrel who's performed throughout the kingdom.
Gusto & Fatale
You've been robbed blind by Gusto (brown hood) and Fatale (blue hood)
A pair of thieves who were also dumped in Duinlan Heights, but escaped their cells around the same time as Tilo. They're now looking to escape the fort itself and travel to the city of Pesa, but they need some supplies for the trip, as well as some stuff to get past the guard.
- Atrocious Alias: Gusto first introduces himself as ShadowPhoenix. Fatale immediately reveals his real name.
- Brains and Brawn: With a bit of bickering regarding which one's which. They are both clever, but Gusto is the brawnier of them, and Tilo's song places Fatale as the brains of the operation (though she helped write it, so it might be a bit biased).
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Played with. They are both a bit goofy, but Gusto is more goal-oriented and less keen to trust strangers, while Fatale is open and immediately trusting to Tilo, as well as more willing to joke and have fun. Developments show that Fatale can be serious, though.
- Hidden Depths: Fatale first comes across as just as much the thief as her brother, but as the game goes on she shows a different side to herself; she's awake at night out of guilt for something, and she proves to be quite the poet.
- The Insomniac: While Gusto is asleep during nightime, Fatale can be talked to. She'll go to sleep again after absolving her guilt over stealing Tilo's lutka.
Farrow & Tamlin
A pair of mice rebels who were brought to Duinlan Heights on a prisoner transport. Tilo helps them escape in the hopes that they have heard news of his wife.
- La Résistance: They are fighting against the Red Claw, for the rights of mice.
Rezzia
The cook at Duinlan Heights. She recognizes Tilo as a mouse, but doesn't rat him out, though she may ask for a favor from time to time.
- Affably Evil: She is quite friendly and acts like a sweet old grandmother, even as she locks Tilo away to rot.
- Chekhov's Gunman: You're likely to encounter her way before you find out she's the ringleader of the smugglers.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The Emerald Flame melts her into a skeleton, though it's hard to say she didn't deserve it.
- Interspecies Romance: She was in a relationship with the jailor who disappeared sometime prior to the game taking place.
- Never Mess with Granny: A friendly old mouse cook who is also a murderous crime boss.
Merra
The unseen wife
Tilo's wife, whom he was sepparated from before the story began. Her refusal to dance for the rat baron is what got them in this situation in the first place, though Tilo is desperate to find her again.
- The Ghost: She's one of the most important characters in the game, but only appears in person in promotional art.
- La Résistance: It turns out that she was part of the mice resistance, without Tilo's knowledge.
Rats
Silas
Silas Wagstaffe
A soldier serving as lookout at Duinlan Heights, reassigned there for some past failure. He helps Tilo escape and is a source of aid throughout the game, though his reasoning is kept mysterious...
- The Alcoholic: There are bottles scattered throughout his hut, and once you reach a certain point in the story he'll move to the mess hall and be quite sloshed. His greatest failure also happened because he was too drunk to get Tilo's son to an apothecary in time.
- The Atoner: The reason he's helping Tilo. Years prior, he was captain of the guard in Tilo's village. On the night Tilo's son was bitten by a spider, he had taken to the bottle and the guards wouldn't let Tilo and Merra into town without his approval. When he finally arrived, he tried to take the child to an apothecar himself, but was drunk and couldn't find the way.
- Drowning His Sorrows: After finishing his personal quest and getting the parchment from the catacombs, you'll find him quite sloshed in the messhall, not happy about what he learned.
- Hypocrite: He tells Tilo that he shouldn't trust Gusto and Fatale, despite having provided little reason for Tilo to trust him.
- Interspecies Adoption: Silas was raised in a mouse village by a mouse Ouma.
- Lost Orphaned Royalty: He's the son of the last rat king, Rodrick. This is not a positive thing, as Rodrick was known as the Coward King, and Silas goes to drown his sorrows after learning it.
Rolo the Blacksmith
Otto Powderkeg
The blacksmith at Duinlan Heights. Rolo is one of the few rats in Duinlan Heights who aren't out to throw Tilo back in his cell. He offers various services and acts as a merchant, but takes a hefty price.
- Adam Smith Hates Your Guts: Played with. His prices aren't very high, but they do increase throughout the game and Tilo makes a point that he's ripping him of.
- He Knows Too Much: Turns out he killed the jailor because they'd been close to discovering the buried chest on the beach.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: He's a constant presence throughout the game, but doesn't appear to be particularily important to the main plot, only there to offer maps and services at a fee. At the end of the game, he becomes one of the most important NPCs.
- Kill and Replace: He killed the real blacksmith, taking his place to keep a watch on the emerald flame.
- Pet the Dog: It turns out that the reason he demands so much money of Tilo is that he sends it to the real blacksmith's family.
The Commander
The Commander
The commander of Duinlan Heights. A bit eccentric as he may be, he is still very proud of his position and will not tolerate prisoners who escape their cells.
- Dreadful Musician: "My Lovely's Lovely" is... pretty bad. You have to compliment it to get help from him.
- Punchclock Villain: To the point where it's hard to consider him a villain. While he would gladly throw Tilo back into the cells, and even tries to execute Silas, he is a pretty good guy who's just doing his job with pride. Talking to him while carrying your lute will even have him strike up a conversation about their shared love of music.
Faustus the Apothecarist
Faustus Rott
An alchemist working in the sewers under Duinlan Heights. Though he works with the smugglers, he is mostly out for himself, hoping to make some great alchemical breakthrough.
- Due to the Dead: He names his most recent concoction in honor of his late assistant. Not after him, mind you, but after the sound he made when he choked on the previous attempt.
- Insufferable Genius: Faustus is very full of himself, certain that he is the greatest chemist that ever lived... despite being stuck in the sewers under a place called "dwindling heights".
- Plague Doctor: His mask takes after the aesthetic (and Tilo can get one just like it), though he's an alchemist first and healer second.
Duinlan (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
The legendary hero for whom the fort is named.
- Bling of War: Their armor is notably shinier than the rank-and-file armor you usually use. It also provides all the benefits of rat armor while being light enough to run in.
- Horse of a Different Color: According to one of Tilo's songs, they rode a golden salamander.
- Posthumous Character: They are long dead by the time the game takes place.
- Samus Is a Girl: Duinlan, legendary hero of the rats, is a girl.
- Unfinished Business: Their main quest involves looking at the gravemarkers outside Duinlan Heights to find the name of their Lost Lenore.
- Walking Spoiler: Her gender and the fact that she's still around as a ghost
Other
Kerold
Kerold Redwhiskers
A frog pirate who's stuck in the Duinlan Heights cells, not that he seems to mind. The first friendly NPC encountered in the game, he doesn't seem to be of much importance. Seems to, that is.
- Chekhov's Gunman: He's the first NPC introduced, and ends up being vital for the endgame.
- Obfuscating Insanity: Possibly. He certainly acts nuts, but when you dress as a pirate and ask him about the wreck of his ship and what he and captain Powderkeg found on Periclave, he sobers up. Then again, he did at one point cook his own leg after being stranded for just a few hours, so he's a bit nuts.
Ravik
A magpie, proud and wise. Ravik and her kin covets knowledge of all kinds, but are a prideful bunch and will only accept the petitions of kings.
- Clever Crows: Magpies are renowned for their wisdom, having their entire culture built around gathering wisdom and preserving it.
- Troll: She spends a fair while playing along with Tilo's king disguise before calling him out on it.
The Emerald Flame
And so at last to Vaelia came
A mysterious, necromantic force of nature defeated by an alliance led by the rats in legendary days long before the start of the game.
- Generic Doomsday Villain: The Emerald Flame has no mind or personality. It merely exists to burn up all that is.
