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De Sardet and companions
Lord / Lady De Sardet
Lord and Lady De Sardet's default appearance.
Voiced by: Jamie Blackley (Male), Cassie Layton (Female)
The protagonist of the story, cousin of Governor Constantin d'Orsay and diplomat for the Congregation of merchants- The Ace: De Sardet is insightful, quick-witted, a master of combat and a capable tactician and diplomat outside of their specific skills.
- Adopted into Royalty: De Sardet was adopted by Princess Livie De Sardet as an infant.
- Ambadassador: Lord/Lady De Sardet's role is a diplomat who deals with problems among the various factions of the island. Being an RPG protagonist however, they are also capable of kicking a lot of ass.
- Alleged Lookalikes: Upon first bringing Síora to Constantin's court, he will remark on how similar De Sardet and Síora look. De Sardet is a customizable character, and the only constant of their appearance is the mark on their cheek. While this mark is identical to the type some Natives sport, De Sardet's general appearance is often claimed to be similar to the Natives'.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: If Kurt betrays De Sardet and Constantin during the coup, they will call him out on his attempt at regicide and challenge him to a duel with the Coin Guard's motto: "Fight with honor".
- Catchphrase: "Good Day. My name is De Sardet, I am the legate of the Congregation of Merchants. May I ask you some questions?"
- Cradling Your Kill: De Sardet holds Constantin upright after sticking a knife in his chest, then lays him gently on the ground when he dies.
- Facial Markings: Ones very similar to those of the Natives. They can also get Naut facial tattoos after learning the truth about their origins.
- Guile Hero: When equipped with a high Charisma and/or Intuition, it's very easy to play them as this.
- Hammerspace: While most characters have their weapons clearly tied to their belt or slung across their back, De Sardet's weapons are nowhere to be seen until used.
- Marry for Love: If a female De Sardet romances Kurt, she can propose to him in the De Vespe Conspiracy DLC, citing this as a reason to avoid a possible Arranged Marriage.
- Mighty Whitey: Averted. While De Sardet is a noble from a colonial power and can end up saving the natives, the problems they're saving them from are caused by the colonials in the first place and they only pick up the basics of the native's ways, frequently needing help from them to advance. They also don't become some sort of native champion, either, just a foreign emissary they trust at best. Plus they're actually a native themselves.
- No Cutscene Inventory Inertia: Generally averted with De Sardet's armor, which will be displayed properly in cutscenes (even where it would make more sense to take it off), but played straight with the "execution pistol", which De Sardet will often use to finish off bosses (particularly Guardians) in cutscenes even if they don't have a handgun equipped in the gameplay anymore (likely having graduated to using Rifles).
- Only One Name: As far as the game is concerned, De Sardet doesn't have a first name. Everybody refers to them exclusively as "De Sardet" or some other name (cousin, my lord/lady, their Love Interest's Affectionate Nickname, etc.), and you can't even choose a name during character creation.
- This initially seems to be a family trait, as in the base game De Sardet's mother is only ever named "Princess de Sardet". The De Vespe Conspiracy DLC at least reveals that her first name is "Livie".
- Staking the Loved One: De Sardet has to kill Constantin in order to save everyone else.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Twofold: De Sardet grows up believing they look exactly like their Disappeared Dad, and when/if they meet their biological aunt she quickly recognizes them as their mother's kid.
- Tragic Keepsake: De Sardet has an amulet given to them by their mother before they leave for Teer Fradee, knowing she will die before they can get back. This turns out to be a twofold Tragic Keepsake, since in addition to being a gift from the woman who raised them it also belonged to their biological mother, an islander.
- Unnecessary Combat Roll: Learns how to do this in the Technician/Warrior tree. They also do a backflip whenever they throw a bomb.
- Undying Loyalty: They go through hell and high water to keep Constantin safe. Even when he goes mad and threatens to destroy the world, it could still be argued that they killed him to save him from himself.
- Young and in Charge: Already serving as a Legate at 23.
Kurt
Voiced by: Liam Garrigan
Captain of the Coin Guard in Sérène, as well as De Sardet's bodyguard and childhood combat instructor.- Age-Gap Romance: If romanced by Lady De Sardet, given that she's 23 and he's 35.
- Badass Normal: The de facto fighter out of all the companions, with Attributes focusing on raising his health/melee damage and capable of using nearly every close-quarters weapon in the game.
- BFS: Starts the game equipped with a claymore that can be replaced with even stronger variations throughout the game.
- Bodyguard Betrayal: If his available sidequests aren't completed before the Coup starts, he'll turn against De Sardet and Constantin.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: De Sardet is fully capable of taking care of themselves, though this is due in large part to Kurt himself.
- Bodyguard Crush: Romancable by Lady De Sardet. May also apply to Lord De Sardet; the first question either can ask Kurt is whether he ever "feels lonely" and Kurt will interpret this as flirting and turn his lordship down.
- Close-Range Combatant: Despite the Coin Guard being shown wielding rifles and pistols, Kurt is completely incapable of equipping them. The only time he uses a gun is if he's defeated when attempting to assassinate Constantin and De Sardet, upon which he shoots himself with De Sardet's pistol.
- Crutch Character: He's useful at the beginning of the game, but eventually the fact that he's a pure melee combatant build without any special abilities like Siora's buffing spells or Vasco's health-draining poison attacks causes him to lose ground in terms of usefulness. Also, the Ability he boosts for getting to Friendly approval rating, Craftsmanship, is arguably the weakest of all Abilities.
- Deadpan Snarker: He makes a few witty quips from time-to-time.
- Driven to Suicide: If De Sardet spares Kurt if they fight during the coup, he takes their gun and shoots himself out of guilt.
- Face–Heel Turn: Should you fail to complete his side missions, Kurt will join the Coin Guard's coup to take control of the island.
- Good Is Not Soft: He's usually a decent guy, but he's not above getting violent when sufficiently angered, even against unarmed opponents.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has more than his fair share of scars on his face, but is still a good guy.It's implied that he got them during "night training" early in his career.
- Insult of Endearment: His nickname for De Sardet is "Green Blood", a jab at their inexperience with combat and political machinations when they were younger. It stuck, and eventually loses its bite when De Sardet proves themselves a capable adult, although Kurt will still tease them about it should the opportunity arise.
- Lightning Bruiser: He can move just as fast as someone in lighter armor and deals massive damage with two-handed weapons.
- My Greatest Failure: His protegé, a young recruit named Reiner, is murdered by a Coin Guard shadow regiment. His first loyalty mission involves discovering said regiment's hidden camp and taking it down after confirming its captain is torturing the recruits.
- The Nicknamer: Has a nickname for most of the group: He always called De Sardet "Greenblood", Síora is "Flower" or "She-wolf", and Vasco is "Sailor". The only one not nicknamed is Petrus, who he refers to by his religious title, "Father".
- Rape as Backstory: At the end of Kurt's personal questline, if you ask him about his personal stake in bringing down Major Harmann, he'll talk about how he was trained under similarly abusive conditions, and that Major Harmann would sometimes slip into the cadets' barracks at night. He doesn't elaborate, but his tone makes the implication perfectly clear.
- Training from Hell: Part of his backstory involves being trained at the original Ghost Camp, where he was on both the giving and receiving ends of beatings, torture, and heavily implied sexual abuse.
- Younger Than They Look: Justified by his Training from Hell. Underneath the grizzled stubble and Rugged Scars, he's only 35.
Vasco
Voiced by: Benjamin O'Mahony
It is truly pastoral. Seeds, knotted roots... Oh how I miss the ocean!
A captain of the Nauts, who was gifted to them as an infant.
- Broken Pedestal: With De Sardet's, he tries to find out more about his blood relatives. However, after seeing that his brother Bastien is a foolish drunk, he decides that the Nauts are his real family and doesn't reveal himself.
- The Captain: He became captain of his ship, the Sea-Horse, at a young age. His crew all agree he's a great Captain, and even after he's temporarily confined to land he still introduces himself as Captain Vasco.
- Declining Promotion: Should Vasco survive to the epilogue, he gets promoted to Fleet Commander. However, if he and De Sardet are together, he will decline the promotion and remain a Captain to stay with them.
- Earned Stripes: Upon completing the Loyalty Mission assigned to him, Vasco earns a new tattoo for it along with the ones he already has. In certain epilogues, he's shown with a few more tattoos after being promoted to Fleet Commander.
- Elopement: In the De Vespe Conspiracy DLC, Vasco will suggest to a romanced De Sardet that, if their uncle sticks them in an Arranged Marriage, the two will take ship and elope.
- Embarrassing First Name: Vasco is glad he wasn't raised by the d'Arcys. Otherwise, his first name would have been Léandre.Vasco: No more regrets... And I certainly don't regret not being called "Léandre d'Arcy"!
- Facial Markings: Like all Nauts, Vasco has tattoos on his face symbolizing his past accomplishments. With your assistance, he gains a few more.
- Family of Choice: His entire personal quest chain revolves around him reaffirming that the Nauts are his real family.
- Gay Option: For Lord De Sardet, as he can be romanced by either gender.
- Happily Adopted: He was given to the Nauts as a child and fully considers them his family.
- Loyalty Mission: Admiral Cabral gives him one after he spends some time on land to affirm that he was choosing to stay with the Nauts.
- Luke, You Are My Father: Subverted. Vasco goes to great lengths to discover the identity of his birth family, but when he meets his biological brother, he decides not to reveal his identity to him, as he realizes he's happy being a Naut.
- The Musketeer: He's skilled with light blades and pistols.
- Only One Name: Zig-Zagged. As a Naut he only has one name, but he wants to learn more about his birth family, so he discovers his birth name, first and last. Ultimately, he decides he wants nothing to do with his blood relatives and reaffirms his identity as a Naut.
- Out of Job, into the Plot: The Admiral removes him as Captain of his ship for unknown reasons and tells him to give De Sardet any help they require. Conveniently, he now has all the time in the world to follow De Sardet. It's later revealed he was stranded to test his loyalty to the Nauts, as he was becoming increasingly curious about his birth family.
- Poisoned Weapons: As he loves to remind you, he puts "a bit of poison on (his) blade" at the start of every fight.
- Really Royalty Reveal: Technically "nobility", but Vasco is the firstborn son of the well-known d'Arcy family (his birth name was Léandre d'Arcy) but he was given to the Nauts for his parents' financial gain and records of him were hidden or destroyed. Unaware of his origins, Vasco asks De Sardet to help him steal the information from his personal file.
- Sword and Gun: Wields one-handed blades and firearms both. He's the only companion capable of equipping two different weapons at the same time.
- Universally Beloved Leader: His crew all absolutely love him and the way he runs his ship. The only slightly negative thing anyone has to say about him is that he doesn't smile enough.
- Unperson: Downplayed. When he was given to the Nauts, most information regarding his original identity was either hidden or destroyed. The only surviving information is in the hands of the Nauts.
- Vague Age: The most anyone knows is that he's younger than 25. Even the De Vespe family, who are notorious spies, only have a "probable" birth year for him.
- Young and in Charge: Made the rank of Captain before the age of 25. Other Nauts believe he could easily make Admiral soon. It's also possible he attains the rank of Fleet Commander within the year.
Síora
Voiced by: Kezia Burrows
The daughter of a Native chief who seeks out Constantin's court to beg for help with her clan's war against the Bridge Alliance.- Action Girl: Doesn't hesitate to jump into action, and is very good at it too.
- Badass Native: She's a capable fighter and mage.
- Berserk Button: Conflating the natives' beliefs and culture with demons or curses will automatically put her on the defense. Additionally, she outright refuses to meet with the Bridge Alliance because she knows she won't be able to control herself.
- The Chief's Daughter: Subverted. While she is romanceable, it's more of a bonus and not her role in the larger story. And De Sardet is ethnically Native anyway.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Síora was close to her mother, and considered her very wise and good at her job. Although she doesn't speak much about him, she also implies her father was a good man before he was killed.
- Flaming Sword: Much like Vasco's Poisoned Weapons, she uses her magic to set her blade on fire during every fight.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: In cutscenes, her native magic lets her grow roots and vines to strangle and immobilize enemies. In gameplay, she does not have any attacks to this effect. To be fair, both times we see her do this in cutscenes she was deeply emotionally distressed.
- Gay Option: For Lady De Sardet, as the second bisexual love interest.
- Healing Hands: Her specialty skill is a group heal effect.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Síora cannot wear any of the headgear available in the game. This is presumably a result of the branches growing amongst her hair meaning they won't fit.
- Honorary Princess: As noted by Constantin and De Sardet, being the daughter of the chieftain essentially makes her a princess, although the term confuses her.
- Magic Knight: She specializes in light blades and Elemental Powers.
- Plant Person: To an extent. Her status as a on ol menawi gives her vine-line markings on the side of her face and tree branches growing from her head.
- The Red Mage: She's a melee fighter with magic spells and healing magic.
- Squishy Wizard: Unlike Petrus, she's incapable of wearing any of the heavier armors, and thus somewhat more fragile.
- Survivor's Guilt: She feels guilty for not having been present for the battle in which her mother and many of her clan members died. You can help ease her guilt and somewhat redeem herself to her sister by helping her retrieve their mother's body from the Alliance and returning it to their village.
- Transflormation: As an on ol menawí (a person whose spirit is bound to Teer Fradee), she has begun growing branches from her head and will become more plant-like with time.
- Warrior Princess: As noted by Constantin and De Sardet, being the daughter of the chieftain essentially makes her a princess and she is also a very skilled fighter.
Petrus
Voiced by: Steven Hartley
Politics is an extremely subtle game and just as satisfying as fighting in an arena...
A fatherly missionary of Thélème with political ambitions who joins De Sardet at the Mother Cardinal's court.
- Ambadassador: Years back, he was an ambassador in Sérène and met De Sardet and Constantin when they were very young. He carries this skillset with him still, and whenever at Constantin's court he essentially acts as one for Thélème.
- Armor and Magic Don't Mix: Averted. He specializes in offensive magic and wears heavy armor.
- The Atoner: The reason he's been acting as a mentor figure to De Sardet is because he knew and fell in love with their biological mother, but was unable/unwilling to do anything to help her. His personal questline eventually leads to him helping them seek out their original clan in order to make amends.
- Badass Preacher: A Thélème missionary who uses powerful magic to fight alongside De Sardet.
- Cool Old Guy: Far more relaxed than most of the Thélème.
- Dark Secret: He knew De Sardet's biological mother. He spent time with her when she was brought to the Continent, and denied her Last Request because he'd fallen in love with her. He's perfectly content to keep this information to himself, and protests greatly when the only other person who knows decides to reveal it.
- Deadpan Snarker: How he expresses his disapproval.
- Guile Hero: He is very politically savvy and generally prefers diplomatic solutions to problems.
- The Lost Lenore: He states that he has only loved a single woman in his life: De Sardet's birth mother.
- Magic Knight: He's a powerful spellcaster clad in heavy armor and with a shield spell.
- Manipulative Bastard: A bit of an Informed Attribute, as it's stated multiple times by different characters that Petrus is very manipulative, and he can be used to provide alternate solutions to problems, but he's easily outplayed by others.Candy Cane: You [Petrus] have a reputation for being a first-class manipulator. You really take me for an idiot!
- Meaningful Name: The party member who represents the Fantasy Cultural Equivalent of the Papal States is a clergyman named
Petrus. - My Greatest Failure: As a young man he was unable to Mercy Kill De Sardet's mother despite her pleadings.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: His own opinions tend to lead to this if Síora is also in the party.
- Secret-Keeper: He knew the truth of De Sardet's origins, having gotten to know their mother as she was being shipped to Sérène.
- Token Religious Teammate: Though he's far more casual a believer than anyone who isn't the Mother Cardinal, he's the only party member that's religious in a non-pagan way. Even then, Síora worships beings that have recently and directly affected the island, and Vasco just lets others think he's a pagan because the Nauts consider it a decent excuse to let others believe why the Nauts are able to sail in the ocean as they want, thus keeping their navigation tools hidden to eliminate competition.
Aphra
Voiced by: Vineeta Rishi
An Alliance scientist who came to Teer Fradee to study the flora and fauna of the island.- Badass Bookworm: She's a brilliant biologist, and a crack shot.
- Broken Pedestal: She was once the student of Doctor Asili, the greatest scientist of the Bridge Alliance until Asili Jumped Off The Slippery Slope and began crossing every conceivable line.
- Character Development: Over the course of her companion quests, she learns to appreciate the Natives and their perspective in her own way.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: When you first encounter her, she's armed with a pistol and a short sword. She's capable of wielding neither once she officially joins your party, limited only to rifles.
- The Gunslinger: As a pure-Technical companion, she equips rifles (and only rifles) as her main weapons.
- Incompatible Orientation: Like Kurt, she's only interested in the opposite sex and will quickly turn down advances from Lady De Sardet.
- Innocent Bigot: Initially has no issues decrying the native's beliefs and generally feels superior to them. She does learn that there is wisdom to be found in said beliefs, and is horrified to learn what her fellow Alliance members have been doing to them for their experiments.
- Insufferable Genius: Aphra is an incredibly skilled biologist, but she made camp away from her fellow scientists because she couldn't stand their "constant cackling" and one of them describes her as "bad-tempered" in a journal entry.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Beneath her cold exterior, Aphra is much kinder than the other Alliance scientists you encounter, willing to temper her For Science! attitude with humanity.
- Shut Up, Kirk!: Will pull this on Siora if the player brings her with them on their first encounter with Aphra. Siora will mention that Aphra's expedition was attacked because of the Mainlanders' torturing and killing her people, to which Aphra will retort that her people were scientists cataloging the local flora, and didn't even have so much as an armed guard with them when the Teer Fradee raiders attacked.
- The Spock: Prefers choosing the most logical course of action, which usually falls in line with what you're about to do anyway.
- This Is Going to Be Huge: At the end of her personal quest, she realizes that there's more to people than their biology, and states her interest in what amounts to founding the field of Anthropology - the study of human cultures and beliefs.
The Congregation of Merchants
In General
A nation from the Old Continent comprised of merchant families who command enough commercial power that they can maintain neutrality between warring factions.
- The Federation: A union of several cities ruled by merchant-princes, with Sérène as the most powerful and influential.
- Team Switzerland: They refuse to engage in conflict, trading with all factions equally and acting as diplomats between them.
Governor Constantin d'Orsay
Voiced by: Ben Lloyd-Hughes
De Sardet's older cousin, who has known them his entire life. He is very eager to take over as Governor of New Sérène and finally prove himself to his family.- A God Am I: After bonding to the island and gaining a fraction of its power, Constantin gets a little too invigorated and plans to become the god of "the new world".
- Big Bad: He ends up becoming the main antagonist of the game, seeking to take control of the island's power for himself.
- Break the Cutie: His enthusiastic demeanor takes a hard hit when he's diagnosed with the Malichor, and it only goes downhill from there.
- Cutscene Boss: After defeating the Nadaig he sics on you, you're given the choice of joining him or killing him, in which case you just stab him.
- Deadpan Snarker: Possesses a quick wit to go with his youthfulness and inexperience, though he does know when to tone it down around polite company.
- Definitely Just a Cold: After mysteriously falling ill on Teer Fradee, Constantin waves his symptoms off as fatigue and a weak stomach. Turns out he has the Malichor.
- Establishing Character Moment: Constantin's introductory cutscene makes his personality very clear: It starts with him still running his mouth at the guys he's already annoyed enough to kidnap him, and then when he hears the door open he launches the wine bottle he was gesturing with at his "attacker" so he can slam them into the wall — But then De Sardet talks, and he gleefully embraces "(his) lucky star" as they laugh in delight. His mood immediately tanks when De Sardet mentions his father, and he instantly rebuffs his cousin's belief that his father made him Governor because he cares about him, insisting that he's just "ridding himself of a source of constant disappointment." He then grins, declares "Enough said!" and turns his attention back to their leaving for the island. Thus the player understands that he's a Stepford-Smiling "Well Done, Son" Guy who adores his "dear/fair cousin" as much as they adore him and isn't quite as harmless as you may first write him off. Unfortunately.Constantin: (The delegates are) a den of old foxes, and they think me a young, brainless rabbit.
- We also get a glimpse of his vindictive streak after the cutscene ends: He suggests to De Sardet that, now that they have Kurt backing them up, they should "give ("these river scum" as he calls them earlier) their money's worth." If challenged, he points out that they're dangerous criminals who may very well go after other victims — Evidently, having them arrested didn't occur to him.
- Family of Choice: He assures De Sardet after The Reveal that even if they aren't biologically related, he will always consider them his cousin.Constantin: You have always been the only one to care for me, you are my Only Friend. That's all that matters to me.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Technically they think they're cousins, but he still counts as the foolish to De Sardet's responsible.
- Guest-Star Party Member: He's a temporary party member during the prologue in Sérène after De Sardet rescues him.
- Heroic BSoD: Has one when when he finds out that he's been suffering from the Malichor this whole time.
- Hypocrite: Ultimately, his desire to become a god and wipe away human corruption at any cost makes him just as ruthless and power-hungry as the civilization he claims to despise. Should he get what he wants, his reign causes more damage and chaos than anything the other nations could've done.
- Keet: He's highly energetic.
- Kick the Dog: To De Sardet of all people: When it's proven that he has the Malichor, De Sardet immediately promises to find him a cure. He reminds them that they made the same promise to their mother, who De Sardet knows probably died of the Malichor before they even got to the island, and insists he'll be dead before they can. De Sardet doesn't really react to the reminder about their mothernote , but it's still a seriously low blow.
- Pet the Dog: Even at his most insane, he still loves his cousin dearly and specifically instructs his corrupted guardians to not kill him/her.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: At the start, particularly with regards to the natives. He receives Síora with the respect due to an envoy of a foreign power and none of the condescension or hostility of the other governors. He loses this quality, and most of his sanity, when he develops the Malichor.
- Staking the Loved One: De Sardet ends up having to kill Constantin in order to save everything else.
- Strong Family Resemblance: According to the De Vespe Conspiracy DLC, he looks a lot like his father. It's why sir De Courcillion isn't worried about Aurelia's rumor that he's not really Claude's son gaining momentum.
- Unfit for Greatness: While Constantin is the governor, it's pretty much an open secret that his advisors and De Sardet are the ones actually managing the Congregation's holdings and efforts on the island. Later, he's driven by a mix of his fear of death and an honest desire to match his cousin's contributions to grab mystical power in the most violent and destructive way possible, yet both the High King and the God of Many Faces name his fear, impatience, and greed as the main reasons he should have never been granted such power in the first place.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: After bonding to the island and violently attempting to seize power, he claims that all the blood he has shed will rid the world of corrupt governments and protect Teer Fradee from anyone that would do it harm.
- Walking Spoiler: As anyone can tell by the numerous plot-heavy tags, he doesn't stay the resident "nice guy politician" for very long.
- We Can Rule Together: In your final confrontation with him, he asks you to rule Teer Fradee alongside him as a god. Accepting this pretty much destroys the world.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: His father despises him (and he despises his father) and his mother evidently tends to ignore him.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: He was put through the bonding ritual of the doneigada in an attempt to ease his pain. This gave him the powers of the Natives, but the sudden power boost coupled with his fear of death quickly drove him mad.
- Young and in Charge: Appointed Governor at 24 years old.
Prince Claude d'Orsay
Constantin's father, De Sardet's uncle and head of the powerful d'Orsay family. He is a merchant prince of the Congregation and ruler of Sérène, who sends his son to govern Teer Fradee and appoints De Sardet (his niece or nephew) to act as diplomat on behalf of the Congregation.
- Abusive Dad: There is no love lost between him and Constantin whatsoever.
- Ambition Is Evil: Regards his son and niece/nephew De Sardet as just more pawns in extending the Congregation's (i.e. his) influence on Teer Fradee.
- The Ghost: Doesn't make an actual appearance in the game, but is talked about and referenced enough that his presence is nonetheless felt and his ambitions are realized whenever De Sardet secures a diplomatic win on behalf of the Congregation.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Constantin (allegedly) looks a lot like him.
- Outliving One's Offspring: His oldest son was assassinated by Constantin's mother, and De Sardet has to kill his younger son Constantin to save both the Continent and island.
The Bridge Alliance
In General
An amalgam of several nations from the Bridge Union, created some 200 years ago. They are the most scientifically advanced faction in the game and locked in a seemingly endless war against the nation of Thélème.
- Fantastic Racism: Surprisingly, even more than Thélème at times. They see the Natives as savages, and are currently involved in a total war with them.
- The Federation: A union of several nations, although it's been around for so long that it may as well be one nation.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: While the Bridge Alliance can't deny the existence of magic in general, they refuse to be convinced of the natives' religion behind their magic even as the evidence builds up.
- For Science!: They tend to be somewhat amoral in the pursuit of knowledge, and are not above kidnapping natives for their own purposes. Even when Doctor Asili is arrested for his experiments with overwhelming evidence he still has many Alliance scientists willing to excuse his actions. The most positive ending for them results in them establishing a proper Ethics Council to properly regulate experimentation.
- Magic Versus Science: The Science to Thélème's Magic.
- Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide": They kidnap, torture, and kill the native population... But it's all For Science!, and according to them the natives are nothing but hostile savages, so they're just acting out of self defense.
Governor Burhan
Voiced by: Timothy Watson
The governor of Hikmet and the lands of the Bridge Allience on Teer Fradee.- Arbitrary Skepticism: Burhan finds the very notion of godlike beings living on the island an absurd concept, despite the fact that magic is real and other forms of the supernatural are already proven to exist in the world of Greedfall.
- Everyone Has Standards: Even knowing that the Malichor is ravaging his country, he's willing to hold Asili responsible and put him on trial if the protagonist insists.
- Fantastic Racism: Whatever problem he's facing, Burhan will find a way to blame the natives no matter how many times he's proven wrong.
- Flat Character: He gets very little characterization compared to the other power players on the island.
- Manipulative Bastard: He has a habit of asking De Sardet to fix a problem, then sending agents to pre-empt him/her if s/he doesn't resolve the situation the way Burhan would prefer.
Doctor Asili
One of the most respected doctors of the Bridge Alliance and the former mentor of Aphra.
- Arc Villain: He's the central villain of the Bridge Alliance questline, and is responsible for everything bad they do.
- Fallen Hero: He's considered one of the greatest medical minds of his time, and is the inventor of vaccination in the setting. Then he lost his family to the Malichor and became obsessed with curing it no matter the cost.
- Mad Scientist: Repeatedly exposing innocent people to the Malichor in order to test resilience causes hundreds of deaths.
- Off with His Head!: If he is found guilty in his trial, he is sentenced to execution via public decapitation.
- Playing with Syringes: His general motif is to kidnap people, imprison them, and brutally torture them under the auspices of finding a cure for the malichor.
- Smug Snake: If De Sardet chooses to arrest him rather than kill him he boasts that his prestige and political connections will soon get him released, even as De Sardet is still in a position to change his/her mind and just kill him. If you gather sufficient evidence against Asili, his confidence proves misplaced.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Played with: He was the one that ensured Constantin was infected with the Malichor, but he couldn't have predicted everything that followed.
- Villainous Breakdown: If found guilty, his last words before being executed are to lambast everyone for being too stupid and cowardly to do what's necessary.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Despite his crimes, his achievements still mean that he'll be well-defended in his trial unless you convince his peers otherwise.
Thélème
In General
A deeply religious nation, built around the teaching of Saint Matheus. Over the years, its reach has expanded via conquest and is locked in a seemingly endless war against the Bridge Alliance.
- Activist-Fundamentalist Antics: To varying degrees. The missionaries mostly keep to well-meaning but patronizing preaching, but some of the more fanatical missionaries and basically all of the Ordo Luminis are willing to resort to extremes.
- Burn the Witch!: The Ordo Luminis' preferred method of dealing with heretics.
- The Church: They're a faction onto themselves, but their highly religious nature makes them this.
- Corrupt Church: Not all of them, but like any major faction, corruption is a big problem. Especially among the Ordo Luminis.
- Fantastic Racism: The average citizen, and even the average priest, is quite moderate. But the Ordo Luminis (Greedfall's version of the Inquisition) sees the Native religion as a threat to its own, and seeks to eliminate it completely.
- Knight Templar: The Ordo Luminis are completely zealous in their beliefs, to the point of hunting down perceived heretics and executing them.
- Magic Versus Science: The Magic to the Bridge Alliance's Science.
- Token Evil Teammate: Whenever Thélème ends up being involved in something especially bad, it's almost always the fault of the Ordo Luminis.
Mother Cardinal Cornelia
Voiced by: Liza Sadovy
The governor of San Matheus and the lands of Thélème on Teer Fradee.- The Confidant: Petrus confided in her 25-ish years ago that he knew De Sardet's biological mother, had spent time with her, and let her die alone in a pit, and she kept this information to herself ever since. The only reason it gets revealed is that Petrus tried to manipulate her.
- The Gambling Addict: Petrus' personal quest is all about uncovering hers to get some political leverage against her. Turns out that she has a weakness for gambling by betting on arena fights. Bets she rigs.
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite her own religious devotion, she thinks that the Ordo Luminis is often too extreme. Eventually she will outright have them disbanded, and even sends a regiment of soldiers with you to wipe them out.
- Iron Lady: She's easily in her fifties, but extremely cunning and ruthless towards perceived enemies of Thélème.
- Manipulative Bastard: As the leader of Thélème, she's got her hands in more than a few pots, and she's not above blackmail or outright revealing other people's Dark Secrets if they won't dance to her tune.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: In comparison to Burhan. She doesn't undercut De Sardet's efforts and is willing to hear out their accusations against the Ordo Luminis, and even supports a major change in her religion's doctrine when the evidence supports it.
Inquisitor Aloysius
A prominent member of the Ordo Luminis, Thélème's inquisition. Extremely fanatical, he will stop at nothing convert or purify everybody he considers a "heretic".
- Advertised Extra: He is introduced in a very dramatic scene involving a fraught confrontation with De Sardet and their team (particularly if Síora is there), but after that he only plays a minor role in a few side quests and not even all of the side quests that involve the Ordo Luminis.
- Enemy Mine: During Kurt's final companion quest, Aloysius will help De Sardet and Kurt get the last Coin Guard traitor executed even if De Sardet has opposed the Ordo Luminis because Aloysius believes in punishing the guilty.
- Establishing Character Moment: He is introduced with a series of Kick the Dog moments: Burning a Nadaig alive in front of a native to show him that his gods are false, then strangling said native when he refuses to convert. Depending on the choice of dialogue, he may then even attempt to murder De Sardet and their companions on the spot, despite them being representatives of an allied nation.
- Knight Templar: Bar none.
The Nauts
In General
A guild of sailors and navigators, the Nauts are the unquestionable kings of the sea. They maintain their numbers by making contracts with partners, who give them their children at a young age.
- Bluff Worked Too Well: The Nauts' claim that they use magic to help them navigate the open sea was just a lie to protect their scientific equipment from other nations. It lands them in the Ordo Luminis' line of fire, as they plan to purge them for being heretics.
- Born Under the Sail: Some of them quite literally, the so-called "sea-born".
- Clarke's Third Law: They exploit this concept to disguise their scientific advances from possible competitors, claiming that they master the high seas through magic only they know, rather than with instruments anyone could learn to use. The downside of this, and one they've reluctantly accepted, is that they're often branded heretics but the most devoutly religious, especially the Thélème's Inquisition, and there are even some who believe their "magic" is responsible for the Malichor.
- Color-Coded Patrician: While an individual's facial tattoos can be a good indicator of their position, the Nauts have specific clothes and colors for each position: Lower-ranked sailors wear brown or tan short coats, while higher-ranking individuals wear full-length coats. Second-in-Commands wear a grey/light blue, Captains wear dark blue, and Fleet Commanders wear red. The Admiral gets to wear black.
- Dressed to Plunder: Although they're not fully pirates, the Nauts do dress a lot like it: Tricorn hats, bandanas, naval jackets, jewelry (usually earrings), etc.
- Earned Stripes: The Nauts as a guild operate using this system with facial tattoos. The more tattoos a Naut has, the greater their life experience and the higher their rank.
- Facial Markings: They sport distinctive tattoos.
- Impartial Purpose-Driven Faction: The Nauts are the only truly neutral faction in the game, as the Congregation is only "neutral" in that it tries to act as the middleman between fighting sides and to profit from it, and the Coin Guard, or at least its leadership, turns out to have ambitions of dominance, too. The Nauts, meanwhile, really only care about the ocean and their ships, ferrying members of all factions for a set price and usually fiercely resisting involvement with other factions.
- Leonine Contract: The Nauts are the only people capable of long-range naval travel, and as such everyone else's economy is dependent on them. The Nauts use this fact to set their own prices, even demanding children from their customers to keep their own numbers up.
- MegaCorp: The Nauts are technically only a guild, but due to their closely-kept secrets of naval travel they have as much power as any major geopolitical entity.
- Only One Name: Nauts are a sort of found family, so family names aren't necessary. Any that are sea-given are renamed to reinforce the new identity and to prevent families from reclaiming their children.
- The Runaway: A lot of the Naut's recruits that aren't taken as infants are people from the continental nations looking for an escape from their lives for various reasons.
Admiral Cabral
Voiced by: Olivia Darnley
An Admiral of the Nauts, she stays busy running a tight ship and keeping a secret or two.- A Father to His Men: Her number one priority is to make sure all Nauts are safe and treated well, and asks De Sardet a couple of times to help her when a Naut is in trouble.
- Facial Markings: As the highest-ranking member, she has more tattoos than any other Naut.
- Secret-Keeper: Is one of only a few people to know De Sardet's origin, as the Nauts were the ones who shipped their mother to Sérène.
The Coin Guard
In General
A guild of mercenaries who serve as soldiers, bodyguards and sometimes combat instructors like Kurt. Both the Bridge Alliance, Thélème and especially The Congregation of Merchants frequently make use of their services.
- Band of Brothels: In addition to working as mercenaries, the Coin Guard also manages brothels attached to taverns that are hooked up to their guild halls.
- Bodyguard Betrayal: They've been positioning soldiers trained as assassins as bodyguards of the island's Governors as part of their upcoming coup.
- The Coup: They eventually launch a coup against the three cities to take over the island.
- Dirty Cop: Not only is there a criminal conspiracy among the ranks of the Guard, but they also try to execute a coup to take over the cities.
- Faction Motto: "Fight With Honour." Sadly, few of their leaders seem to live up to this.
- Gladiator Games: They run fighting arenas that pit gladiators and beasts against each other, and also manage the betting on said games. Some of the gladiators are willing participants fighting for money, but others are prisoners who are being given a Trial by Combat or just a particularly cruel public execution.
- Hired Guns: A mercenary guild.
- Law Enforcement, Inc.: It's unclear to what extend they serve as a police force on the island or Continent, but in New Sérène they are frequently shown performing law enforcement duties - though they're ultimately beholden to Congregation law and are outranked by De Sardet in these matters.
- Share Phrase: "Fight with honor". Usually said before a battle of some sort, inspiring the guardsmen with the implication that whatever they are about to do is honorable or for an honorable cause.
- Training from Hell: Those in the Shadow Regiment are forced into torturous training meant more for crafting assassins than bodyguards. Any who complain are subject to "Night Training" where they are beaten (often to death) by their fellow trainees at the orders of their superiors.
Commander Torsten
Voiced by: Alastair Parker
The current Commander and overseer of the entire Coin Guard guild, and therefore the highest official for them on Teer Fradee. Why a man of his caliber is so personally invested in a small island is a mystery De Sardet eventually needs to address...- Arc Villain:His attempt to take over the island in the mid act of the game qualifies him as such.
- Didn't Think This Through: Ultimately, though Torsten's plan was masterfully executed, he clearly never stopped to consider the logistics of trying to directly rule an island nation like Teer Fradee. It's lampshaded that should his plan have actually been successful, the Coin Guard would have essentially made enemies of every government power in the known world, cut themselves off from supplies and essentially trapped themselves on a nature-infested rock surrounded by hundreds of miles of ocean. In the end, Torsten just wants to indulge a power fantasy and has no long-term scheme to properly bring it into fruition.
- Green-Eyed Monster:It's implied that years of kowtowing before the powerful and affluent drove Torsten mad with envy, and he became obsessed with being seen as an emperor rather than a soldier.
- Police State: His ultimate goal is to convert Teer Fradee into a militarist island nation ruled with an iron fist.
Major Sieglinde
An old friend of Kurt's and one of the few Coin Guard members able to keep her nose clean.
- By-the-Book Cop: One of the few high-ranking officials in the guild that doesn't have aspirations of becoming a dictator or gangster.
- Da Chief: Becomes this [[spolier:if the coup fails]].
Egon
A mysterious and ruthless crime syndicate that has imbedded itself into the Coin Guard's operations on Teer Fradee, making a profit off black-marketeering and assassination.
- Collective Identity: De Sardet originally assumed that Egon was an individual, but it's quickly confirmed that "Egon" is actually a committee of numerous criminals running the enterprise.
- The Dreaded: Nobody who knows about Egon dares say a word about them for fear of their corpses turning up in the river.
- From Camouflage to Criminal: Unlike most other examples of this trope, they're all still in the military and run affairs just fine from it.
- He Knows Too Much: They don't appreciate the Legate of the Congregation sticking their nose in their affairs.
- Human Traffickers: They've set up a lucrative business in selling Natives back to the Continent as servants.
- Les Collaborateurs: As it turns out, they were sympathetic to and aided Commander Torsten's coup, and pick up where he left off even after his defeat.
- Membership Token: High-ranking members identify one another by keeping a distinctive silver coin on their person. Coincidentally, the presence of these coins helps De Sardet know who's involved with the organization.
- Protection Racket: One of their more prominent methods in conducting business is strong-arming local shopkeepers to pay them a "tax" or else face terrible consequences.
- Resignations Not Accepted: Woe betide any member who gets cold feet...
- The Syndicate: A strange one, in that this is the first of its kind in a Colonial-Fantasy. Egon's reach is long and rock-solid, with operations in all of the major cities and smaller bandit gangs subservient to them.
Reiner
A young member of the Coin Guard and Kurt's protegé, found dead under mysterious circumstances during one of his personal quests.
- The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much: His death is officially listed as drowning despite his death obviously being caused by severe physical trauma from being beaten for defying the Shadow Regiment.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: As punishment for defying the Shadow Regiment's barbaric training methods, he is brutally beaten to death by several (partially unwilling) recruits.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: His death was poorly covered up as him drowning after partying to hard, despite his being known to never drink heavily.
- My Greatest Failure: His death is this to Kurt.
Yecht Fradí (The Natives)
In General
Teer Fradee's aboriginal populace, broken up into numerous clans spread throughout the island.
- Crown-Shaped Head: Some chiefs, called "mals", have branches growing out of their heads that evoke this.
- Doesn't Like Guns: While several natives are shown to have obtained metal blades either through plunder or trade, none of them ever use guns despite having plenty of opportunities to take guns and ammunition from dead colonials.
- Facial Markings: Many natives paint their face in various ways. The on ol menawi also have plant-like facial markings from their bond. The two are often combined.
- Foreign Cuss Word: If a native is particularly pissed at you, they'll call you a renaigse — foreigner.
- The High King: Ruled by one, Vinbarr, who has authority over all the clans. You end up killing first his wife and then him to save Constantin. De Sardet ends up in a Kingmaker Scenario when elections are held for a new one.
- The Nicknamer: The natives have some trouble with the names of the colonial factions, so they come up with their own: Thélème are the "Mind Shakers" for their Activist-Fundamentalist Antics, the Bridge Alliance are the "Lions" after their flag and possibly mishearing "Alliance" and the Congregation are the "Yellow Eyes" after mistaking the gold coins on their coat of arms for eyes.
- Plant Person: The on ol menawi — natives magically bound to the island — have various plant-like features, including vine-like markings on their cheeks and trees branches growing out of their heads.
- Was Once a Man: Their shamans, called doneigada, eventually become the guardians the Island is known for, called Nádaigs. They take different forms based on what they guard, and the transformation is permanent and usually takes several years to achieve.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: The Natives speak with an accent that sounds mostly like Irish melded with various other accents that vary from person to person.
