The characters for the video game Pathfinder: Kingmaker set in the Pathfinder universe.
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The Stolen Lands
Advisors
Bartholomew Delgado
- Affably Evil: As long as you don't object to his experiments, he'll treat you with respect and courtesy. If he is brought to court, he is quite grateful for the opportunity and becomes a loyal servant of the player character, towards whom he is always polite and helpful.
- Bald of Evil: A bald wizard, who also happens to be completely amoral.
- Beard of Evil: On top of being bald, Bartholomew has villainous mutton chops and a handlebar moustache.
- Covert Pervert: His whip being enchanted with S&M magic and his journal talking about how he's researching the Trolls Healing Factor so he can increase his pain tolerance implies he has fetishistic motives for doing his research.
- Dirty Coward: While every other advisor tried to defend the kingdom during the final chapter, Bartholomew flees the capital. He quickly falls into the hands of trolls, who have not forgotten his treatment of them, and needs to be rescued by the player character.
- Fat Bastard: He is quite heavy and an unapologetically evil scientist who freely does unspeakable things to his prisoners in the name of science.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Bartholomew is surprisingly loyal and dedicated to help the barony in his function as an advisor. Nonetheless, most of the people at court actively dislike him and not without reason. Octavia outright hates him due to his treatment of captive trolls, Linzi repeatedly writes how weird and creepy he is and despite him being the most experienced vivisectionist in the Stolen Lands, and Jhod only reluctantly accepts his help during the Season of Bloom.
- Irony: He notes in his journal that part of why he's so obsessed with the Healing Factor of trolls is that he has no tolerance for pain, and is envious of their gift.
- Karmic Death: As a wizard and scientist he prides himself on his massive intellect, and he frequently experiments on trolls without giving any thought to their pain and discomfort. If you don't recruit him but convince him to stay in the Kingdom you'll find his corpse in Trobold in the last chapter with his head bashed in and his brain removed. Alternatively, he can end up getting beaten to death by the trolls who raid his laboratory late in the Troll Trouble storyline, as revenge for his penchant for experimenting on them.
- Mad Scientist: He's pretty much a wizard version of this, with his main motivation being For Science!.
- Playing with Syringes: He employs the fantasy version of this trope.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Bartholomew doesn't seek to be evil, he simply seeks knowledge without moral consequences, thus the pursuit for it makes him evil. If butchering live monsters is the only means to acquire the information he requires for a research project, he will do so without hesitation. However, he does not go out of his way to inflict suffering for no reason. His entire motivation and cruelty make sense when seen from an "end justify the means" perspective. In short, Bartholomew demonstrates how without morality, solving mysteries and problems can become unnecessarily evil.
- Sadist: It's left somewhat ambiguous, but given the nature of his experiments and his quest to retrieve his stolen evil whip that is enchanted with S&M magic, it's definitely there.
- Torture Technician: His experiments on his captured troll are not exactly gentle.
- Whip of Dominance: His personal quest has you to retrieve for him a "valuable item", which just so happens to be a black whip that is ensorcelled to amplify pain and pleasure when using it, making it clear he's something of a Covert Pervert and a Sadist. The player can break the whip in disgust, return it to him... or give it to the bondage-enthusiast Octavia.
Kassil Aldori
- An Arm and a Leg: If the player supports Rostland's independence over the course of the game, the epilogue mentions that in the war that followed, Kassil lost an arm.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: As an Advisor, Kassil strives to help the people of the new kingdom above all, working hard to save as many people, and deal with any threats to the land. Of the potential Generals, he's the most morally upright option because of this, with his results usually being him doing the right thing.
- Happily Adopted: He's a half-orc who was adopted by the human leader of the Aldori. Jamandi is proud of him, and recommends him as an aide to the Baron/ess.
- Killed Offscreen: He'll die offscreen if the Baron chooses to do "Flight of the Betrayer" before "Hour of Rage". He can still die on-screen if "Hour of Rage" is done first as he's not an essential NPC, but the enemy will not go out of its way to target him.
- Mutually Exclusive Party Members: The player gets the chance to recruit either him, Shandra Mervey or Lander Lebeda at the end of Chapter 1.
- Not So Stoic: Carries himself with impeccable military professionalism but slips a bit from time to time, such as when recounting some of the more colorful details of how he met his adoptive mother.Kassil: I was fighting some lord's guardsmen - their master had expressed his wish, in a most inappropriate manner, to acquaint me with his female wolfhound in the hopes of producing offspring. (Kassil's lips turn up slightly at the corners, stopping just short of looking sinister. No other sign of emotion crosses his face.)
- Rags to Riches: Was a street kid before Jamandi adopted him.
- Square Race, Round Class: Kassil is a half-orc, who is also a dedicated member of the Aldori Swordlords, who are honourable and disciplined fighters.
- Token Heroic Orc: While many half-orcs are savage brutes, Kassil aims to subvert as many expectations as possible, by being a noble, well-spoken and honourable man instead of the beast most people would expect from a member of his race.
Kesten Garess
A disgraced ex-noble. Can be a Warden.
- The Alcoholic: Having grown bitter due to the circumstances of his exile, it is implied that Kesten has turned to the bottle. On several occasions during the story, he can be found drunken.
- Cowboy Cop: Though he has a lawful alignment, Kesten is more than willing to head off on his own and do what he thinks is right, even if it clashes with given orders. This is especially obvious during the Season of Bloom, where he acts without the player character's consent and potentially against their orders, but doing so out of desperation to protect the people.
- Happily Ever After: If Kesten survives, he eventually becomes the Chief of the Kingdom's Guard. He marries a girl from Brevoy some time after the events of the game...and well, see Interclass Romance.
- Impoverished Patrician: House Garess is a very influential noble family in Brevoy and Kesten was once part of its main line. However, his father disinherited him and his family cut all ties with him, which forced him to pick up lower work, such as becoming Jamandi Aldori's captain of the guard or later serving the player character.
- Interclass Romance: The incident that got him disinherited from his family was that instead of marrying a suitable noblewoman, chosen by his father, he fell in love with a common girl. When he had to leave Brevoy, she stayed behind to care for her sick mother. If he survives the game, the epilogue implies that they get back together again and finally marry.
- To Be Lawful or Good: During the Season of Bloom, Kesten comes into such a conflict when he is close to stopping the source of the Bloom. He has to decide to either lead his militia back and defend the capital from a massive monster attack, which would give the Bloom more time to spread, or to push on to the Womb of Lamashtu and stop the Bloom. His first instinct is to do the latter and only a lawful-aligned player character can remind him of his duties and send him back to the capital.
- Too Dumb to Live: Potentially, if the player character does not manage to appeal to his sense of duty and then chooses to save the capital instead of stopping the Bloom first, Kesten nonetheless travels to the Womb of Lamashtu, hopelessly outnumbered, where he is predictably slain by monsters. The only way to save his life is to either come with him or to talk him down as a lawful-aligned character.
Jhod Kavken
- The Fundamentalist: While he is certainly well-intentioned and the servant of a firmly good-aligned deity, Jhod is not exactly tolerant towards other religions. Should he be appointed as the High Priest, he advises limiting the religious freedom within the barony, in favour of traditional religions.
- Good Shepherd: A priest who strives to do good for everyone, without infringing on traditions.
- Grumpy Old Man: While always respectful towards the player character, he can be rather morose towards some of the other characters at court. When performing surgery to figure out what is causing the monster attacks, he practically is criticizing Tristian for his suggestions, though he does apologize if Tristian's advice is heeded.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Despite not being much a fighter, Jhod will try his best to hold off the monster army that attacks the capital during the Season of Bloom. Should the player travel to the Womb of Lamashtu before saving the capital (and Kesten is not convinced to head back to aid the defense instead of rushing to the Womb), he will die while trying to protect the citizens.
- My Greatest Failure: In his past, Jhod lived within a village that was plagued by werewolf attacks. When encountering a disheveled and suspicious stranger, he jumped to conclusions and riled up the peasants to hang the supposed werewolf. Later, it turned out that the man was not a lycanthrophe, but merely a scout for a local bandit gang. Despite having averted a different threat for the village, Jhod never forgave himself for acting rashly and without thinking twice.
Lander Lebeda
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: The epilogue mentions that Lander eventually disappears during another attempted scam, which is mourned by exactly nobody. There is even a joint effort by the Stolen Lands and their Brevoy neighbours to make it a national holiday, which fails due to the protests of his family.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Despite admitting that he has grown fond of the player character, he betrays them simply to gain more lands and power. Should he be resurrected after this, the epilogue mentions that he goes off on another scam.
- Hated by All: Absolutely nobody likes Lander, which is lampshaded by Jubilost, who calls him the only person in the entire kingdom who draws more ire than him.
- Mutually Exclusive Party Members: The player gets the chance to recruit either him, Kassil Aldori or Shandra Mervey during the reception at the end of Chapter 1.
- Obviously Evil: While his alignment leans more towards the neutral, it is clear from the very beginning that something is off with him, from his smug attitude, to the fact that he all but admits that he intends to use the barony for his own agenda while trying to convince the player character to accept him as an advisor.
- Royal Brat: House Lebeda is among the most powerful families in Brevoy. This fact has gotten to Lander's head a little bit too much, to the point where he considers everyone not of such high birth to be beneath him.
- Small Name, Big Ego: While his name actually is fairly important, as a member of the main branch of House Lebeda, Lander's own skills and accomplishments aren't even nearly as impressive as those of his ancestors, which doesn't stop him from considering himself smarter and more skilled than those around him, simply due to what said ancestors have done in the past.
- Smug Snake: Lander is absolutely convinced that he is the smartest and most capable person in the Stolen Lands, which naturally gives him the right to threaten and backstab everyone whenever he gains something from it.
- Suicidal Overconfidence: He eventually betrays the player character by pulling off a comparably well-planned scheme to take control of their kingdom through the help of spies and agents. While the debuff this causes can be potentially crippling to the kingdom, he makes the terrible mistake to finish the Baron/ess off personally. Just to be clear, the very same Baron/ess has, at this point, slaughtered hordes of bandits and their leader, trolls and kobolds and their kings, survived the wrath of the First World and a monster army and defeated an undead cyclops tyrant. Lander's own accomplishments are... not as impressive. This naturally gets him killed and despite resurrection being possible in the setting, the player can opt to prevent this and have him stay dead permanently.
- White Hair, Black Heart: Lander has white hair and is a treacherous, spoiled schemer.
Shandra Mervey
- Mutually Exclusive Party Members: The player gets the chance to recruit either her, Kassil Aldori or Lander Lebeda at the end of Chapter 1.
- Old Retainer: To House Surtova. Their leader, Natala, trusts her deeply and is willing to grant her as an advisor to the player character's new barony, knowing that she will not just be an asset to them, but also unquestionably loyal to the interests of House Surtova.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: As a neutral-aligned councilor, Shandra aims to find reasonable solutions and unlike the other possible councilors, who lean towards one extreme or the other, she prefers the middle ground.
The Storyteller
For his appearance in the sequel, see Characters.Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.
- 11th-Hour Superpower: During the final chapter, the Storyteller suddenly finds himself capable of casting powerful magic that can keep the Lantern King's forces at bay and even support the player, allowing them to rest despite the powerful curse lying on them and their kingdom, which should technically prevent this. He himself is not quite sure where he suddenly got these powers and even starts to question if he is truly an elf.
- Age Without Youth: Unlike the rest of the elves, who never grow physically old, the Storyteller looks ancient. He believes it is due to the weight of the stories he has collected.
- Ambiguously Human: Ambiguously elven, at least, but from his unusually old appearance to his outstanding knowledge and mysterious powers, there are a lot of hints that he is not quite what he seems to be. The Storyteller admits that much in the final chapter, where he begins to question if he might be more than just an elf.
- Blind Seer: Of course, this gives him the power to see the history of relics you bring him and reforge artifacts from shards.
- Cool Old Guy: The Storyteller is an ancient elf, who looks just his age. He is also a curious, wise and friendly man, who is always happy to have a conversation and to get an opportunity to learn a new story.
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Doing It for the Art: He is a firm believer in this, collecting his stories not to get rich or famous, but simply because he wishes to collect what would otherwise be forgotten. Should he be appointed as the Curator, he will encourage decisions that see cultural freedom for artists, but without supporting them in their desire to gain money or fame. - Only Known by Their Nickname: The Storyteller himself doesn't even remember his real name, if he ever had one to begin with and he chooses to be called by his profession.
- Psychometry: Bring him collections of artifacts, and he's able to recount the life stories of the people who owned them hundreds or even thousands of years ago.
- The Storyteller: It's literally the name he goes with and his main function in the game, as a collector of stories. That being said, he is reluctant to tell the stories he has gathered, revealing them only to those he considers worthy.
- Walking the Earth: This is what he did before the events of the game and the epilogue reveals that he continued his travels after the final victory. It turns out his travels take him to Mendev and the Worldwound...
Tsanna
- Affably Evil: She's much nicer than her alignment would suggest, even if she still openly serves one of the most evil deities in the setting. As a High Priest or Councilor, she keeps in touch with her rural roots, which means serving as a bit of a populist.
- Ax-Crazy: While Tsanna is one of the more reasonable followers of Lamashtu and makes for a capable advisor, the final chapter shows just how unhinged she can truly be. Having grown desperate to gain Lamashtu's support against the Lantern King's forces. When the player catches up to her at the shrine of Lamashtu, she is surrounded by monsters and has sacrificed a number of her followers. From that moment onward, she acts increasingly creepy and even wants the player to sacrifice Evindra to receive further blessings from Lamashtu.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Tsanna and her cult are grateful and loyal to the player character if she is spared and recruited. This manifests itself in a buff granted by some of her followers during a random encounter and during the final chapter, she offers an even greater blessing if the player agrees to sacrifice Evindra. Surprisingly, Tsanna remains grateful even if her offer is refused, admitting that she owes the player character for the chance she has been given, which leads to her giving the whole party a slightly weaker permanent blessing without demanding anything in return.
- Body Horror: Like all followers of Lamashtu, she considers this trope to be a blessing of their goddess. In her case, one of her legs is covered in repulsive sores, which only appeared after she became a follower of Lamashtu.
- Driven to Madness: If she survives the events of the game but is not recruited as an advisor she'll be driven insane by the events of the last chapter and try to kill you no matter how friendly you've been to each other, thinking it Lamashtu's will.
- Necessarily Evil: While Tsanna knows that she is by no means virtuous by conventional morals, she does not care for people who consider her evil. She believes that she is doing a necessary duty and her quest shows how a priestess of Lamashtu can help desperate people in extreme situations, when other churches are unable or unwilling to do anything.
- Not Me This Time: Make no mistake, the Cult of Lamashtu is not harmless or innocent and Tsanna herself has likely committed brutal human sacrifices in the past. However, when she is encountered by the player character and accused of having caused the Bloom, it turns out that she actually has nothing to do with it and really just wanted to help some of her followers.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Surprisingly, if she's appointed as an advisor, she turns out to be this, since she sees herself as representing the people's general opinion against city dwellers.
- Religion of Evil: As a follower of Lamashtu.
- Unusual Pets for Unusual People: Tsanna has a two-headed rat by her side. It is unclear if the creature is simply an unfortunate mutant, or actually sent by Lamashtu, as she believes.
Others
Elina
The innkeeper in the player character's capital.
- The Bartender: In her role as the innkeeper, Elina can always be found behind the inn's counter, where she is ready to chat with the player and tell them about the new rumours within the kingdom.
- Betty and Veronica: Compared to the icy and aggressive Ntavi, Elina fits the role of the Betty in this constellation, being a sweet and kind-hearted woman.
- Luminescent Blush: Whenever Ekundayo is mentioned, Elina utterly fails to keep her interest in him a secret, which is especially notable when she approaches the player to arrange for a feast to cheer him up.
- Nice Gal: Elina is supportive and kind, trying her best to not just help Ekundayo in coming to terms with the death of his family, but also concerned for the well-being of the kingdom. After the Season of Bloom, she approaches the player with the request to get a rare Roc's egg, in order to cook for the citizens and give them something to cheer up after the recent tragedies.
- Second Love: If she and Ekundayo get together, she is the second woman he truly loves, after his late wife, eventually marrying her and having a child with her.
Oleg Leveton
A merchant who has built a small trading post at the northern border of the Stolen Lands, which is one of the few elements of proper civilization within the dangerous and mostly untamed region.
- Nice Guy: Oleg is a friendly, supportive man, who helps the player out in the early parts of the game and is stated to be very generous, not just to them, but also to the old alchemist Bokken, whom he allows to live in his trading post out of pity.
Bokken
Race: Human
A hermit that hangs around Oleg's Trading post. Is also a decent alchemist.
- Cool Old Guy: Well cool is pushing it, but with a couple of side quests he can offer you good equipment or potions for free.
- Cowardly Lion: Despite the fact the very first thing you see is him running away from some bandits, he's squarely this. He's refused to join the Stag Lord gang despite their attempts, and he refused to abandon Oleg to the bandits.
- Forgets to Eat: Well somewhat. He doesn't forget to eat so much as there isn't much he can eat.
- The Hermit: Lives alone, only hangs out at the trading post when he needs supplies or some company. His knowledge of potions pushes him into this trope.
- Hidden Depths: Despite everything he's a perfectly capable alchemist, also he's friends with Oleg.
- Non-Action Guy: He's old and he's an alchemist. And not even the Player Class kind.
- Optional Party Member: Well not a party member, but a player can hire him as a Court Alchemist.
- Picky Eater: Played for Drama. He can't really taste much in his old age. He can't force himself to eat anything flavorless no matter how much he tries.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Fangberries and played for drama. It's one of the few things he can still taste, due to nerve damage from tasting his own experiments for decades.
Inhabitants of the Old Sycamore
Chief Sootscale
Ruler of the Kobold tribe infesting the Old Sycamore Mines.
- Adaptation Distillation: Has a somewhat larger role in the original AP. He continues to be the head of the Kobold tribe, but instead of asking players for aid versus Tartuk, Chief Sootscale trusts Tartuk implicitly and requests help versus Queen B'Daah.
- The Cavalry: If the player allies with him in Old Sycamore, he comes to their aid in the final chapter.
- Unwitting Pawn: He is oblivious to Tartuk's manipulation of him, believing him to be a real kobold and refusing to see reason, especially if the player character does not side with him.
Queen B'Daah
Ruler of the Mite tribe infesting the Old Sycamore.- The Cavalry: If the player allies with her in Old Sycamore, she comes to their aid in the final chapter of the game.
- Informed Attractiveness: Whenever she's mentioned by her subjects, they take the time to tell you how attractive she is. Since Mites are lumpy blue goblin-looking creatures, this is definitely a matter of beauty being in the eye of the beholder.
- Nemean Skinning: To visually set her apart from the other Mites, B'Daah has a unique headdress, made from the head of a wolf she personally slew.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: She isn't called 'Warrior Queen' for nothing and should she join the final battle, the other mites mention her deeds during it with great awe.
The Sweet Teeth
A trio of young tieflings from Qadira. They owe Kalikke their lives, and cheerfully follow her wherever she goes in order to help her out as repayment.
- And the Adventure Continues: If they survive the events of the game, the Sweet Teeth become full-time explorers, travelling Golarion in a mastodon-pulled wagon.
- The Fool: They can be sent on tasks that put them in severe risk of Random Encounters and will return with nothing but a grin, another outlandish story and a series of Noodle Implements they'll happily donate to the Baron/ess.
- Genius Ditz: They seem to have a gift for exploring and investigating, and Kalikke uses them to help hunt down the Mirror of Nethys.
- Hero-Worshipper: They refer to Kalikke as 'elder' and hang on to her constantly, much to Kanerah's annoyance.
- I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: If sent on a mission to polish all the bones in the Linnorm Graveyard, they'll return with a baby mastodont that followed them home.
- Locked Out of the Loop: They're unaware of Nethys' conditions and think Kanerah died in Qadira. Learning she's still alive and that they've been (unwittingly) interacting with her all this time comes as quite a shock to them.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Will tell a series of conflicting backstories about themselves if asked.
- The Münchausen: The majority of things they say seem to be either completely made up, or requires them to go through events that makes the Player Character's seem almost pedestrian by comparison.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: They'll disappear from the capital after the Forefather's visit, either from Kalikke sending them away or from the soul eater killing them.
- Snipe Hunt: The Baron/ess can send them on random tasks just to keep them out of Kanerah's hair, which they'll happily undertake.
- Sweet Tooth: Their nickname is well-given. The containers in their room are full of honey, sweet syrup and chocolate.
Restov
Jamandi Aldori
Fear nothing, my friends, and return victorious!
The most influential member of the Aldori Swordlords, Jamandi is pushing for the independence of Rostland. To achieve this, she hopes to gain reliable allies in the Stolen Lands, supporting adventurers who seek to create their own barony within them.
- Alternative Character Interpretation: In-Universe, Jamandi is subjected to this. Is she a benevolent leader, who wants to bring stability to the neighbouring Stolen Lands and supports adventurers who are capable of taming them, or is she a ruthless political schemer, who wants cheap, expendable allies to further her agenda of gaining Rostland's independence? There are conflicting opinions by the other characters and the player character gets to choose how they themselves stand towards her.
- Badass in Distress: If the player character waits too long to come to her aid during the barbarian invasion of Glenebon, her army is defeated, while she herself is captured and has to be saved.
- Braids of Action: Her official portrait depicts her with a braid and she is a capable fighter and commander of the Aldori forces.
- The Cavalry: If the player maintains an alliance with her all game, then when hearing of their trouble in the final chapter, she immediately leads her troops to their aid. She'll still show up without the alliance, but in that case it'll be because she wants to make sure her borders are secure, and will refuse to aid them.
- The Chessmaster: A more well-intentioned version than usual, as her schemes do bring order and stability to the lawless Stolen Lands. However, she is still the one holding the strings, sending adventurers into the Stolen Lands in the hopes that they become rulers and her allies against Brevoy.
- The Chooser of the One: Jamandi is the one who chooses the adventurers who are travelling to the Stolen Lands to become rulers. As such, she is the one who grants Maegar Varn, Hannis Drelev and the player character their baronies.
- Frontline General: During the war against the Tiger Lord barbarians and later, during the Lantern King's attack on the player character's kingdom, Jamandi personally leads her troops into battle, accompanying them to the battlefield and taking part in the fighting.
- Gone Horribly Right: Her goal was to empower the player character so that their territory would be an independent force that she could use to leverage against the Surtovas. Unfortunately, by the time she is in a position to cash in on her investment, the player has become too powerful to control, and they can potentially either declare that they don't want to get involved or end up supporting the Surtovas. Neither outcome is good for Rostland.
- Hero of Another Story: She is the subject of one of the Storyteller's stories, gained by collecting all the Restovic paraphernalia.
- Hypocrite: If you choose to chase Tristian and investigate the resurgence of the Bloom in your barony rather than ride to her aid right away in Chapter 4, she will angrily chew you out for not upholding your part of the alliance. Considering she never once helped you out when your barony was in danger, nor Maegar's, she doesn't exactly have room to speak.
- I Just Want to Be Free: Her main motivation in the game is to strengthen Rostland to the point where they can separate from Brevoy and become independent once more.
- Lady of War: Jamandi is a skilled fighter and leader of the Aldori Swordlords, who are considered to be among the finest swordfighters in the Inner Sea region. Beyond that, she is a political leader, graceful and dignified on the battlefield and in the halls of Brevoy's nobility.
- Off with His Head!: If the player character supports House Surtova instead of her, her rebellion fails and she is captured and executed in Restov's public square.
- Rebel Leader: At the beginning of the game, she is on the verge of becoming one in the brewing civil war between House Surtova and the Aldori Sword Lords. In the epilogue, she has the chance to become this in full, leading the Aldori forces against House Surtova and either succeeding, or dying in the attempt.
- Red Is Heroic: A prominent aspect of Jamandi's portrait and character model is her red gambeson and she is a well-intentioned and reasonable leader and possibly one of the player character's most loyal allies.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: A neutral baron/ess can serve as a guarantor of the peace between Rostland and Surtova. This forces Jamandi to work with Natale Surtova during the final chapter and the ending slides, a prospect that clearly doesn't please her but ultimately averts a civil war.
The Stag Lord's Kingdom
The Stag Lord
The leader of the bandits currently plaguing the Stolen Lands, the Stag Lord is a bitter alcoholic shaped by years of abuse at the hands of his brutal father. In order to gain the right to establish a barony in the Stolen Lands, your Aldori benefactors want his head.
- Abusive Parents: The Stag Lord had to suffer significant and traumatizing abuse at the hands of his cruel father, Nugrah, which ultimately started his descent into becoming an equally hateful monster.
- The Alcoholic: Copes over his abused life by drinking a lot. His reaction to you arriving to his fortress is annoyance over someone daring to interrupt his drinking. This also means spiking wine earlier in the game can cause him to be weakened when the fighting begins.
- Arc Villain: Of Claiming the Stolen Lands.
- Bow and Sword in Accord: As seen in his character portrait and in the fight against him, the Stag Lord is a capable fighter and archer.
- Broken Pedestal: Initially, many of his bandits saw the Stag Lord as a strong, capable ruler who can give them a purpose. Over time, however, as he showed himself to be an alcoholic, unstable mess, quite a number of bandits became disillusioned by him. His lieutenants Akiros and Kressle can potentially turn against him due to this and especially the latter is clearly deeply disappointed in how her former leader turned out.
- Cool Helmet: Wears a fanged stag skull as a helm. You can loot it from his body and wear it yourself, and it provides a couple of magical bonuses. It also changes one of your Idle animations to drinking from a mug in animation very reminiscent of Stag Lord. The Helmet makes you alcoholic.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: He doesn't seem to have any problem with having a woman among his closest associates, as evidenced by Kressle's position. The original AP even mentions that he executed his lackeys who tried to rape her back when she first came to join him, if only because she proved to be stronger than them. Another of his high-ranking bandits is Auchs, who is freakishly strong, yet mentally handicapped. In general, his gang consists of a wild mix of races and genders, indicating that the Stag Lord values everyone who can add something of value to his gang and doesn't particularly care about their backgrounds.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: If you kill Nyrissa, when you fight his shade in Chapter 7, there's "sincere grief" in his voice when he talks about her. In this case, avenging her will be his main goal.
- Face Death with Dignity: If you invoke Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse after fatally wounding him, he dismisses your display of compassion, saying that he'll sleep now.
- Flunky Boss: Aided by a number of bandits when you confront him, including Akiros Ismort, Auchs and Dovan from Nisroch should you not have dealt with them already. Even if you do, he always has reinforcements he brings out when the fight starts.
- Freudian Excuse: He became such a despicable man due to how his father mistreated him. You get to witness it through flashbacks when you visit the Abandoned House. The player can choose to sympathize with his past, but invoke a Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse when finally defeating him.
- Geo Effects: Attacks you from the second floor of his building, forcing you to either fight your way to the stairs or engage him in a ranged duel.
- King of Thieves: He rules over the bandit gangs and sees himself as the rightful ruler of the Stolen Lands.
- Never Given a Name: The Stag Lord never had a name, for his father Nugrah only called him 'boy'.
- Outlaw: Leads a band of bandits in the wilderness, with the bounty over his head being a whole barony.
- Revenge: Should the player character kill Nyrissa, the Stag Lord's shade will be enraged when you encounter him in the First World.
- Starter Villain: Defeating him is just the beginning, with it marking the founding of your barony. His shade will likely perform the same role in act 7, as he is by far the easiest shade to kill while under the Lantern King's Curse.
- Unwitting Pawn: To Nyrissa. He's convinced he can rule the Stolen Lands as a king with her as his queen. She just sees him as one more grain for her collection.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: As seen in his portrait, his outfit does not include a shirt.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: The Stag Lord's life has been thoroughly miserable from the moment of his birth. Raised by his father, Nugrah, he suffered extreme and constant abuse and even though he eventually turned the tables and inflicted the same abuse on Nugrah once he himself grew strong enough, his life isn't exactly a good one either. Nowadays, he might rule over the Stolen Lands and has an army of bandits at his disposal, but he is still traumatized and broken beyond saving from his cruel childhood and has to cope by extreme drinking.
Akiros Insmort
Race: Human
A former Paladin of Erastil. At the start of Kingmaker he is acting as the second-in-command of The Stag Lords' band, a position and life that he is becoming increasingly dissatisfied with.- Adaptation Name Change: In the original AP, his last name was Ismort, without the additional 'n'.
- Bow and Sword in Accord: Like his boss, The Stag Lord, he carries both a longsword and a bow and arrow. This would actually be fairly standard equipment for a Paladin, or ex-Paladin, of Erastil, who favours the bow as his Weapon of Choice, but also expects his Paladins to be able to fight up close.
- Changed My Mind, Kid: If he is convinced to turn against the Stag Lord and survives the following combat, he leaves the kingdom to atone for his past misdeeds. However, he returns in the final chapter of the story, leading an army of reformed bandits to support the player in their fight against the Lantern King.
- Death Seeker: In combat Akiros takes no care to protect himself, looking to die.
- Demoted to Extra: While his role in the Adventure Path is also limited to his collaboration during the attack against the Stag Lord, he could be brought in as an advisor to the kingdom. Here, he leaves after bringing down the Stag Lord and doesn't return until the very final mission of the story.
- The Dragon: To The Stag Lord, though he doesn't especially want the job. Given the Stag Lord's alcoholism and lack of interest in actually running the band, he could graduate to Dragon-in-Chief if he wanted to, but would much rather find a way out of the life he's stumbled into.
- Fallen Hero: Was once a promising Paladin of Erastil, and defender of his hometown.
- Heel–Face Turn: By the time the player meets Akiros, whether at the Thorn Ford bandit camp or the Stag Lord's fort, he's had enough of life as an outlaw and is swaying on the brink of this. Given the opportunity, he switches sides and fights alongside them against the Stag Lord. Of course, you can also send him away.
- Noble Top Enforcer: The Stag Lord is an alcoholic monster who'll murder anyone he can get his hands on. Nugrah is all just as twisted. Aside from Kressle this makes Akiros, who is Neutral rather than Evil, and still possesses something of a conscience, a definite oddity.
- Outlaw: Akiros has lost any connection he might have had to civilization and is a deadman walking if he returns to his home community. That said, unlike the Stag Lord and the rest of the band, he has an actual chance to escape this status and earn redemption.
- Redemption Earns Life: It can if the player sends him away before the final battle. Otherwise...
- Redemption Equals Death: If Akiros joins in the final battle against the Stag lord he will almost certainly die...unless the player turns the difficulty settings down low and makes a point of removing every enemy from the fort that they can before rousing the Stag Lord. In doing so, Akiros will begin the process of redeeming himself, and can eventually return to provide aide.
Kressle
One of the Stag Lord's lieutenants and leader of a small group of bandits overseeing their operations in the Outskirts.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Kressle is from the River Kingdoms in the original AP and has a comparably brief backstory that notes how she has never been anything but a bandit from a very young age. In the game, she is Svetlana Leveton's sister and from Brevoy, having joined the Stag Lord not too long ago, after moving to the Stolen Lands with Oleg and Svetlana. There is also no mention of a history of banditry or a connection to the River Kingdoms.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the original AP, Kressle is one of several named mooks within the Stag Lord's army, noted for being a sadistic career criminal. In the game, she is more fleshed out and not quite as sadistic. In fact, if the player talks to her and solves things peacefully at the fort, she realizes how much she hurt Svetlana and not only gives back the wedding ring she stole, but she also turns against the Stag Lord, due to seeing him as a weak ruler.
- Back for the Finale: If she survives the events of Chapter 1, she returns in the final chapter alongside other former bandits to support the player, after spending the time between at Oleg's Trading Post without having any involvement in the story.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: This is her motivation for joining the Stag Lord to begin with. Young and impressionable, she struggles to find a place for herself in Brevoy and at Oleg's Trading Post, which is why she is so fascinated with the Stag Lord, whom she sees as a strong leader who lives the way he wants to.
- Dropped a Bridge on Her: Convincing her to turn against the Stag Lord allows you to waltz up to the Stag Lord without needing to fight your way in, but the Stag Lord will respond by killing her in the cutscene that opens the fight. Only by going around and triggering the fight yourself can she avoid being killed.
- Dual Wielding: One of the few aspects of her character that remain from the original AP is the fact that she wields two axes in combat.
- Heel–Face Turn: If the player talks to her at the fort and manages to impress her, she turns against the Stag Lord and can support the player during the final fight of Chapter 1. While she can easily die during this combat, should she manage to survive she actually manages to change her ways for good, becoming an ally in the final chapter of the game and leaving the Stolen Lands to start a new life in the epilogue.
- Morality Pet: Svetlana is this to her, as she still has a soft spot for her. If she is informed about how much her sister is worried for her, it moves her enough to eventually turn against the Stag Lord.
Nugrah the Decrepit
Race: Human
Class: Druid
Alignment: Neutral Evil
The father of the Stag Lord, and the one responsible for making him what he is, Nugrah was a druid of the Green Faith, before he turned to necromancy to try and resurrect his wife by sacrificing the life of another woman. Driven from the order, Nugrah turned to the worship of Gozreh, and became a violent, sadistic misanthrope who took out all his anger on the son whose birth slew his wife.- Abusive Parents: To a staggering degree. He beat, burned, scarred, and tried to murder his son.
- Adaptation Distillation: His Necromantic motivations, and his attempts to avenge his wife's Death by Childbirth by murdering his son are cut completely from the game.
- Asshole Victim: Based on what he did to his son, it's unlikely players will feel any sympathy for him.
- Blamed for Being Railroaded: When you encounter his shadow after the Apology crashes on your kingdom he will blame you for killing him. If you didn't open the door to his cell (the only way to leave the Stag Lord's fort without killing him directly) he will blame you for leaving him to die instead.
- Death Seeker: Nugrah is locked up the first thing he does when you release him is try to commit Suicide by Cop.
- Elder Abuse: On the receiving end of it from his son, who physically abuses him and keeps him locked in his fort.
- Evil Cripple: Constant beatings from his son have left Nugrah impaired even by the standards of a man of his age.
- Evil Old Folks: Now an old, crippled man, but just as vile as before.
- Evil Sorcerer: Evil Druid anyway, which thematically plays out about the same. He's responsible for the magical fog ritual in Act 1.
- The Family That Slays Together: He and his son are both twisted, abusive monsters.
- Handicapped Badass: As stated above, Nugrah is old and physically impaired, but after the Stag Lord himself is the most dangerous member of the bandit gang. If he attacks the heroes, he's easy to kill because of this.
- Maternal Death? Blame the Child!: One note mentions that part of why he hates his son is due to having her eyes, as it reminds him that she'd died during birth.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: He was on the receiving end of this from his son, who has payed him back for every blow.
- Sadist: The flashbacks you see at the abandoned hut demonstrate just how brutally he treated his son, before he turned the tables on Nugrah.
- Ungrateful Bastard: The first thing he does when you unlock his cell is try to murder you.
Trobold
Hargulka
The self-titled king of trolls, Hargulka made a deal with Tartuk in order to create a kingdom for trolls and kobolds to live in peace. To see that done, he's willing to wipe the newly found barony off the map if he must.
- Adaptational Heroism: Slight example: In the original Adventure Path, Hargulka is the Unwitting Pawn of Nyrissa and is convinced by her to overthrow the Player Characters with his band of trolls. In the video game he and Tartuk instead seek to rule their own nation called Trobold, and the conflict with the Baron/ess is a result of the trolls' expansion into your territory. He will also leave the kingdom in peace if he surrenders, or can become a Chaotic baron/ess's vassal.
- Arc Villain: Of Troll Trouble, alongside Tartuk.
- Brains and Brawn: The brawn to Tartuk's brains.
- Combat Pragmatist: Should the player declare they'll kill him after their talk, he'll state he used the whole time to heal from his wounds using his troll regeneration.
- Dual Boss: Fights alongside Tartuk at the climax of the troll invasion.
- Everything Is Racist: Hargulka claims that the sole reason the player character assaulted Trobold is because they are prejudiced against trolls and kobolds trying to live in peace, when in reality, the trolls provoked the war by attacking human settlements while trying to establish their kingdom.
- Genius Bruiser: By troll standards; he's by far the most articulate member of his kind when speaking Common, and his use of strategy, tactics and even iconography like flags is stated to be genius for a troll.
- Lightning Bruiser: Tartuk will open his and Hargulka's boss battle by Hasting the troll, allowing Hargulka to dole out around 90 damage in a round if all his attacks hit. On top of this his Healing Factor, natural armour and tendency to quickly put down your frontline makes him very durable. Between him and Tartuk, he's the hardest of the two to kill.
- King Mook: The king of trolls (in the Stolen Lands at least). Apart from wearing a crown and some magic items, he fights exactly as one would expect of a troll.
- Moral Myopia: Hargulka justifies his attacking of the Baron/ess lands on the grounds that it was necessary to defend the trolls and kobolds from what he deems a threat to their kind and new kingdom. If the player characters points out that the only reason they are fighting is because he attacked their people unprovoked, he'll continue to blame them for why he did so while justifiying his actions, going so far as to claim racism as the reason you attacked Trobold.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: As seen in his portrait, Hargulka's lower jaw consists of an absolutely massive amount of teeth, even for a troll.
- No-Sell: As a branded troll, his regeneration isn't fazed by fire. Only acid can kill him.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: He attacks the Baron/ess new kingdom, partially because he fears that they will come for the new Trobold kingdom. In doing so, he ends up causing the Baron/ess to do so, which the player can point out when they confront him.
- The Social Darwinist: Ever since Tartuk branded him and removed his weakness to fire, Hargulka believes himself and the other branded trolls as a superior species, giving them the right to crush the weaker humans beneath them.
- Talking the Monster to Death: If you kill Tartuk first, you can convince him to stop fighting and either leave the Stolen Lands altogether, or accept him as your vassal, if your character is Chaotic.
Tartuk
See the folder for Tartuccio, under Pitax.
Varnhold
Vordakai
An ancient undead cyclops tyrant from Casmaron, Vordakai reawakens with plans to re-establish his old empire.
- Abusive Precursors: Ten thousand years ago, he and his fellow cyclopes ruled vast empires from Casmaron to the Shackles, and they were not kind rulers, save for those in Iblydos. He repeatedly talks down on the player for belonging to what he sees as a "lesser race".
- Arc Villain: Of The Varnhold Vanishing.
- Artifact of Doom: The Oculus of Abaddon, a daemonic artifact linked to Charon, the Horseman of Death. He saw fit to replace his real eye with it. Nyrissa wants it, and should you bring Tristian with you, Tristian either steals it for her or destroys it with the power of Sarenrae.
- Cyclops: Yup, he's one.
- Dual Boss: Fights alongside Horagnamon when finally confronted.
- Evil Sorcerer: Well, wizard, but he fits the trope.
- Eye Scream: Took out his own eye and replaced it with the Oculus of Abaddon. Tristian can potentially inflict one on him once more, as he destroys the Oculus of Abaddon when brought along to face Vordakai. This leaves the cyclops permanently blinded for the remainder of the fight.
- Familiar: He has one in the form of the raven Horagnamon.
- Fantastic Racism: Has nothing but contempt for non-cyclopes, seeing them all as Slave Races for his empire.
- Glass Cannon: Vordakai has a lot of devastating spells on his person, but faces you without active buffs or bodyguards (excluding his Familiar) and is vulnerable to being rushed down.
- Horned Humanoid: As seen in his portrait, he has four small horns on his head.
- I Know Your True Name: Vordakai made his own name an element of his own power, and the act of speaking it aloud makes him stronger and creates a connection between the speaker and Vordakai. Tristian will use this connection to curse him and steal his Oculus.
- Necromancer: He loves to target your weaker party members with spells like Finger of Death and Boneshatter.
- Orcus on His Throne: While Vordakai is the one behind the Vanishing of Varnhold and the final boss of the chapter, he does nothing to actually stop the party from reaching him and merely spies upon them with the help of Horagnamon. Even when they enter his lair, the sole opposition that is faced until reaching his chamber are the other inhabitants of his tomb.
- Our Liches Are Different: He's a cyclops lich, which's not something you see every day.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: A singular glowing red eye, which isn't even his actual eye but rather the Oculus of Abaddon.
- Rightful King Returns: This is how he sees himself. As the last ruler of the ancient cyclops empire, he still sees himself as the rightful ruler of these lands and everyone currently occupying them as nothing but usurpers. He sleeps and patiently awaits for the day where he can resume his rightful reign.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: For the last ten thousand years, Vordakai was asleep deep within his tomb and he wouldn't have woken on his own for at least several more centuries, if not for the theft of his ring at the hands of Willas Gunderson.
- Secret Character: If you're evil, you can recruit him as an advisor. He can serve as a Magister.
- Smug Snake: Horagnamon never skips the chance to taunt you during your encounters with it. His master isn't too much better either.
- Sorcerous Overlord: Was one in life.
- Soul Jar: It's implied he made the Oculus this, as he will be Killed Off for Real if defeated. An evil character can instead offer his soul a new home.
- Talking the Monster to Death: Should you be Evil, you can convince him to work for you via possessing Maegar Varn's body after you defeat him.
- This Cannot Be!: His response when Tristan removes his Oculus, and upon his subsequent defeat.
- Token Evil Teammate: While Vordakai is not the only evil-aligned advisor available, he is the only one exclusively available for evil-aligned players. He also lacks Bartholomew's loyalty and Tsanna's respect to the player character, making it very clear that he only serves because he has no choice and hopes to free himself to continue his plans in a couple hundred years.
- Worf Had the Flu: Gunderson's shade points out that Vordakai's long slumber has weakened both him and his mastery over the Oculus, so the Baron/ess and party can actually stand a chance against him.
Barbarians
Tiger Lords Tribe
Armag the Twice-Born
The leader of the Tiger-Lords, Armag the Twice-Born was raised to believe that he was the reincarnation of the ancient Kellid warlord Armag.
- Arc Villain: Of The Twice-Born Warlord.
- BFS: When fought at Armag's Tomb, he wields Ovinrbaane, Enemy of All Enemies, an oversized magical greatsword which holds the spirit of the real Armag. You can loot it from him once you kill him.
- Blood Knight: Armag is a barbarian through and through, convinced he is the reincarnation of the legendary warlord Armag and just as hungry for a good fight.
- Broken Pedestal: He becomes this to the Tiger Lords after leading them into a devastating defeat against Brevoy and abandoning them during the battle. It can potentially cost him their loyalty and many parts of the tribe never forgive him. The ancient Armag also becomes this to him, after he realizes that his predecessor was actually vicious and cruel even against his own people and not worthy of the worship he is being given to this day.
- The Cavalry: If he survives Armag's Tomb and is reinstalled as the leader of the Tiger Lords, he will lead them to aid the player character in the final chapter.
- The Dog Bites Back: By the time he is confronted in the tomb of Armag, he has realized that the Defaced Sisters, who raised him since childhood, have manipulated him for all his life. He snaps and personally kills the last Sister even as she desperately tries to keep up the lie she had been feeding him for decades.
- Flunky Boss: He's aided by a number of skeleton champions in his boss fight.
- Heel Realization: When the player catches up to him in Armag's Tomb, he has finally realized that he is not actually Armag reborn and that he has lead his people to die for nothing. He also realizes that the ancient warchief Armag, whom he tried to emulate as much as possible, was not the hero he is worshipped as and was not a ruler whom others should strive to be, having been a selfish, bloodthirsty maniac.
- Redemption Earns Life: Having realized that he was tricked and lied to for all his life, Armag comes close to a Despair Event Horizon during and after the fight against him. The player character can give him the chance to survive and atone for his actions, in which case he becomes their blood sibling and ally. However...
- Redemption Equals Death: After his Heel Realization, players can also talk him into committing suicide and indeed, should the player take too long until they catch up to him and don't have the Chaotic alignment to talk him out of it, he doesn't even need to be convinced to kill himself.
- Talking the Monster to Death: Though a fight against him is mandatory, the following conversation offers the opportunity for the player character to become his blood sibling, regardless of their own alignment, in which case Armag survives and becomes a firm ally.
- Third-Person Person: He always speaks like this, likely as a statement to how he is Armag reborn.
- Unwitting Pawn: To Nyrissa and the Defaced Sisters.
- Villain Respect: If Amiri dispenses with calling Armag out for trying to execute Dugath and Nilak and just says that she's there to kill him, he admires her boldness and notes that the Six Bears should be proud to have a warrior such as her.
Dugath
A cleric of Gorum and high-ranking member of the Tiger Lords tribe, Dugath serves as one of Armag's most trusted generals and the leader of the Tiger Lords within Dunsward.
- AcCENT upon the Wrong SylLABle: Though fluent in Common, he speaks it with a strange inflection. At times it's as if someone who knows the words and pronunciation, but never spoken them. A possible explanation is in his smile; he's described as missing numerous teeth, so it's possible he speaks carefully to avoid slurring.
- The Cavalry: He can potentially come to the player's aid in the final chapter, if made the new leader of the Tiger Lords.
- Cool Old Guy: Dugath is not just an old barbarian cleric, but also laid-back and easy to get along with for anyone who is not one of the Defaced Sisters.
- The Dragon: To Armag, initially. After realizing the Defaced Sisters' treachery, he is willing to turn on him and can potentially succeed him as the leader of the Tiger Lords.
- Genius Bruiser: Dugath is a barbarian through and through and a very capable fighter. However, he is also a cunning leader and far more intelligent than one would assume from someone like him.
- Old Soldier: In a conversation with Octavia, he mentions he has a granddaughter her age, which likely means that he is anywhere from his sixties to late seventies. To reach such an age as a barbarian means quite a lot and Dugath takes it a step farther by still being the most capable of his fighters.
- Properly Paranoid: He does not trust the Defaced Sisters at all and treats them with contempt to a degree that seems needlessly harsh at first. When it turns out that they are plotting to kill the player character and manipulate Armag, his concerns are revealed to be correct.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Dugath is smart and level-headed, unlike many of his barbarian companions, which makes him an ideal leader. His willingness to negotiate and see reason makes it easy to avoid bloodshed when the Defaced Sisters try to manipulate him and he is happy to make peace with the player character.
- Religious Bruiser: As a cleric of Gorum, Dugath is equal parts religious leader and warrior.
- Silver Fox: Despite his age, Dugath has quite a well-toned physique. Octavia even flirts with him if she is romanced by the player character, in an attempt to make them jealous.
Six Bears Tribe
Nilak
A young woman from the Six Bear tribe and Amiri's only remaining friend from her childhood.
- Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Her tribe eventually realizes that she is more than a worthy leader and they name her the new chieftain, which is a traditionally male position which has never before been held by a woman.
- Heroic Sacrifice: One potential end to Amiri's companion quest sees Nilak sacrificing herself to perform the ritual meant to seal the spirit that had been plaguing her tribe into Amiri's sword.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: While the old chieftain of the Six Bear tribe is nominally their leader, it is Nilak who actually led them through Numeria and Glenebon, negotiating with other tribes and locals, keeping the tribe together and solving problems. Should she survive the war between the Tiger Lords and Brevoy, her people eventually realize this and break with tradition in order to make her the new chieftain.
- The Man Behind the Man: The tribe's storyteller and wise woman, she's actually been making most of the Six Bears' decisions for some time. Depending on the Baron/ess's actions, the Six Bears can come to realize this and make the matter official.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Nilak is the only member of the Numerian barbarian tribes encountered in the game who is not a capable warrior. Instead, she solves conflict through diplomacy and guile, which is not a strong forte of her people.
- Only Friend: To Amiri. Nilak continues to believe in her innocence for many years and is clearly still fond of her when the rest of her tribe considers her a kinslayer.
Pitax
Tartuccio/Tartuk
Tartuccio
This arrogant and shady-looking gnome is your primary rival in your goal of gaining the right to rule a barony over the Stolen Lands.
- Adaptational Villainy: The gnome who would become Tartuk seemingly died in a Heroic Sacrifice. Tartuccio starts off as a villain immediately and dies trying to murder you in the Sycamore Hall.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Thinks he's better than everyone, especially the player, and believes he's always a step ahead of them.
- Beard of Evil: On top of being thoroughly unpleasant and unrepentantly evil, Tartuccio's portrait depicts him with a goatee, further cementing his status as a villain.
- Black Eyes of Evil: He also as entirely black eyes just to top it off.
- Dirty Coward: If confronted in the ruins, he'll run off while siccing his mercenaries at you.
- Evil Sorcerer: He's
Chaotic Evil and a sorcerer, so yes. He seems to favor illusions and fire spells. - Guest-Star Party Member: He's a playable party member in the prologue, up to the point where you get to the Stolen Lands proper.
- Jerkass: While not the most terrible of the player character's opponents, mostly due to his comparably low power compared to the likes of Nyrissa or the Lantern King, Tartuccio is easily one of the most unlikeable characters, due to his constantly irritating and smug behaviour. He never misses a chance to insult or antagonize the player character or any other character he encounters.
- Manipulative Bastard: A minor example, but his play with his ring at the start of the game, where he first gives it to the player as a boon and then tries to use it to frame them as a Pitaxian spy, establishes him as a shifty bastard.
- The Mole: He presents himself as just another adventurer questing for glory, but he's actually a Pitaxian spy sent to destabilize the political power of the region by establishing the barony and then handing it over to his superiors.
- The Rival: Explicitly described as such to your own character by a mysterious hermit you find on the road. He needs to be dealt with before you can confront the Stag Lord.
- Small Name, Big Ego: In the grand scale of things, Tartuccio is not particularly important, as he is just one of several agents working for Castruccio Irovetti. If confronted about him, it is clear how little the king actually thinks of him. However, you wouldn't guess this from Tartuccio's ego, as he acts almost like Irovetti's equal.
- The Sociopath: Lack of Empathy, overconfidence, and casually manipulation — he definitely fits.
- Smug Snake: You can tell he's a smug bastard right in the prologue over his dismissive treatment of the other adventurers and lack of empathy for their deaths. Justified with the reveal that he's spy, as he never planned to work with you to begin with.
- Starter Villain: Tartuccio must be defeated at Old Sycamore, before the player is able to face the Stag Lord. However, as the resurrected Tartuk he gets a larger role in the second chapter, where he once more serves as a villain. By that point, he no longer considers Tartuccio and Tartuk to be the same person, however.
- Suicidal Overconfidence: No matter how formidable the opponent, Tartuccio will treat them with mocking disdain. It is not just limited to his enemies, as he has the habit of insulting his allies as well, all the while believing himself to be smarter than everyone else, even when effectively outmatched.
- Villainous Widow's Peak: He's an antagonist who sports a prominent widow's peak.
- You Can't Thwart Stage One: No matter how hard you pursue him, Tartuccio will always reach Briar and teleport it back to Irovetti before you can reach him. Focusing on chasing him down immediately upon arriving in the Stolen Lands does allow you to hire one of his followers early on however.
Tartuk
A guise taken by Tartuccio to manipulate the Sootscale kobolds in order to gain access to the Briar within their caverns. Following being killed at Old Sycamore and being resurrected as a true kobold, he joins forces with Hargulka to create an empire of trolls and kobolds.
- 11th-Hour Ranger: If he is spared and allowed to become a vassal after the fight against him and Hargulka, he can be directly added to the party by neutral player characters in the final mission. Non-neutral characters can still recruit him and his kobold army, but he won't join the party in that case.
- Arc Villain: Of Troll Trouble, alongside King Hargulka.
- Ascended Extra: In the original Adventure Path, he was just a kobold shaman who served as an encounter when the party dealt with the Sootscale kobolds. In the game, he's a major antagonist of the first two chapters and a possible ally.
- Back from the Dead: The Lantern King resurrects him after he's killed by the player at Old Sycamore.
- Becoming the Mask: After his resurrection, he's convinced he really is a kobold named Tartuk, and only meeting you again allows him to vaguely recall his former identity. He ends up preferring his kobold incarnation in the end, realizing his flaws as Tartuccio and hoping to become something better.
- Brains and Brawn: The brains to Hargulka's brawn.
- Came Back Wrong: His resurrection has led him to forget his past as a gnome and be convinced he was always a kobold named Tartuk. If the player calls him out for being Tartuccio in disguise while defending Jubilost's cart, he reacts with confusion and anger. Inverted in that he feels (and makes a reasonable argument that) his resurrected self is better than who he was before.
- Curse: After you deal with him for good, your barony has a strong suspicion that his kobold form and behavior may have been the result of a curse.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: One of the few things of his old life he is completely aware of is how Tartuccio lacked any proper goal beyond personal short-term gain. The realization that he never had a real purpose greater than himself seems to heavily affect him. As Tartuk, he therefore vows to change this, giving himself the goal to give the kobolds of Golarion their own proper kingdom.
- Dual Boss: Fights alongside Hargulka at the climax of the troll invasion.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: One possible ending for him has him finally achieve his dream of a place where kobolds are respected and free to live without being attacked, as a loyal vassal of the player's kingdom.
- Evil Is Petty: He attacks Jubilost's cart for the sole purpose of stealing his fancy clothes.
- Flunky Boss: At Old Sycamore, he fights alongside a pack of kobolds.
- Heel–Face Turn: If he is recruited as a vassal, he claims a desire to change his ways and surprisingly, he stays true to his word. In the final chapter, he thanks the player character for the chance he has been granted, having fully realized the errors of his past life and should he join the party, his combat dialogue consists of him expressing his desire to atone and prove his worth.
- Heel–Face Reincarnation: While he still starts out as a villain, even as one he's considerably nobler than Tartuccio. He can complete a heel face turn if the correct options are taken.
- Purple Is Powerful: Tartuk is the only kobold whose natural skin colour is purple, a remnant of Tartuccio's hair colour. He is also the most powerful kobold faced in the game. If he is recruited in Chapter 7, he has reached Level 20, which is the highest level available and quite possibly higher than even the player's party at the time. This makes him the highest-leveled companion in the entire game.
- Split Personality: When spoken to after killing Hargulka, he's shown to be split between the kobold Tartuk and the gnome Tartuccio, though the former is the dominant personality between the two at that point, with the Tartuccio persona slowly fading away.
- Support Party Member: In his boss battle. His strategy mostly involves buffing Hargulka, who is more than able to wipe your party single-handedly, while hanging back. If attacked directly, Tartuk is considerably easier to kill.
- Sssssnaketalk: He ssspeakss like thisss a lot, as it's customary for kobolds in the game.
- Talking the Monster to Death: If you kill Hargulka first, you can convince him to stop fighting and either leave the Stolen Lands altogether, or accept him as your vassal, if your character is Chaotic. When talking with Hargulka before battle he also says that Tartuk wants peace with humans but Hargulka doesn't believe them. In a more literal example, it is possible for an evil character to push Hargulka into believing Tartuk thinks of him and his troll forces merely as easily-manipulated and disposable attack dogs, enraging the troll to the extent that he will break the alliance with the Kobolds on the spot and rather violently kill him. The party must still fight Hargulka, but the troll will then be alone.
- That Man Is Dead: After his resurrection, he finds it hard to remember details of his former life. He occasionally catches glimpses of how he used to be, enough to know that he indeed once was the gnome Tartuccio, but he also realizes that he never again wants to become like he used to be and is, in fact, quite happy with his new life as Tartuk. Should the player press for details about what happened to Tartuccio and insist on addressing him by that name, Tartuk will react with anger and insist that his old self is dead. He also reveals that the memory of his old life is gradually slipping away.
- Secret Character: Tartuk can actually be recruited as a playable companion character in act 7, assuming you didn't kill him anyway.
- Walking Spoiler: There is more to this disguised gnome than meet the eye.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: His main goal is to give the kobolds, who are among the most disrespected and ridiculed sentient races of Golarion, their very own home and kingdom, where they can live in peace and prosper. He tries to achieve this by forging a pact with the powerful, yet aggressive and dim-witted trolls, knowing fully well that he will likely provoke them into attacking their human neighbours. From his perspective, it is a necessary sacrifice to achieve his dream of a kobold kingdom.
King Castruccio Irovetti
The king of the neighboring kingdom of Pitax, Irovetti is a vain and cruel tyrant who has designs on the Stolen Lands from the start.
- Abhorrent Admirer: Quite a few of the women he is smitten with don't react too kindly to his advances. Annamede Belavarah has rejected him repeatedly to the point where she is sick of his very presence and Ilora Nuski is so disgusted by him that she is all too willing to turn on him.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: His in-game portrait is far more flattering than the one for the tabletop seen here.
- Animal Motifs: Peacocks represent self-confidence, dignity, sexuality, and beauty. Castruccio takes the negative aspects of those elements, being arrogant, haughty, vain and a rapist. A fitting name that Nyrissa assigned to him.
- Arc Villain: Of War of the River Kings.
- Beneath Suspicion: Nyrissa is so certain he's under their thumb that they never think to look at what he's doing. He actually acquired the item they've spent the entire game searching for in Chapter 1 and they don't even realize he's carrying it around with him. If Nyrissa gets the Eye from Vordakai she finds it and replaces it with a fake, but if Tristian destroys the Eye he still has it when you fight him at the end of Chapter 5 and you loot it from his body.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Commits suicide via poison if you don't kill him outright.
- The Caligula: Between being a Serial Rapist, deliberately keeping his citizens addicted to drugs so they won't plot against him, and murdering anyone who he thinks isn't on his side, Pitax has suffered greatly under him.
- Defiant to the End: The only Arc Villain besides the Stag Lord whose demise is set in stone. He refuses any kind of mercy from the Baron/ess and taunts them as he dies.
- Dual Boss: In the second phase of his fight, he's aided by the spirit naga sorceress Engelidis, who's just as dangerous as him, if not more.
- Drunk with Power: Irovetti was introduced in the First Edition River Kingdoms Sourcebook, where his alignment was given as Chaotic Neutral. Kingmaker's re-introduction explicitly states that he has since slid into decadence and is now Evil.
- Extreme Omnisexual: His diaries mention him coveting both women and men, is all to willing to flirt with the Baron/ess, he is very intimate with a Naga of all things (and you can find the aftermath of his nights with her in the castle's bedroom), and from a statuette it can be garnered he has the hots for Nyrissa as well.
- Flechette Storm: His bardiche, Rod of Razors, can launch a hail of razor blades in a cone in front of the wielder five times per day.
- Flunky Boss: When first confronted, he's aided by guards and troll soldiers. During his second fight, he is aided by different versions of himself, each representing one of his perceived virtues.
- The Hedonist: A particularly ruthless example. For Irovetti, his pleasure stands above everything else.
- It's All About Me: He thinks everything and everyone should love him, and that everyone must obey him. He also sees himself as the hero of the story and the player character as just another opponent of his.
- Magic Knight: As he multiclasses in Fighter and Bard.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Irovetti is extremely careful to conceal his past before he arrived in Pitax, which is subsequently the subject of a great deal of speculation. A riddle within his castle implies that his true name is Mandalarucio Bellander and that he comes from the town of Hajoth Hakados in Numeria.
- The Narcissist:
- To the extreme, even all but banning any art that isn't specifically about praising him.
- His second fight when the First World takes over the kingdom has him face you with nothing but clones of himself, labeled "Irovetti the Genius", "Irovetti the Invincible" and such monikers.
- Serial Rapist: Aside from being an Extreme Omnisexual, it is stated that Irovetti has a problem with consent. His naga slave has to be calmed with spells so that she doesn't kill him when he visits her and it is revealed that he eventually uses the Briar to make her fall in love with him, effectively overwriting her free will. He also tries to use it on Annamede and Ilora after they reject his increasingly pushy advances, though with them, it has the opposite effect and makes them hate him only more. While other victims of his are not shown in person, it is outright stated that he sees all of Pitax and the Academy in particular as his personal harem, whether they want to or not.
- Smarter Than You Look: It would be easy to see Irovetti as a stupid hedonist, whose ruthless pursuit of pleasure causes him to commit mistake after mistake. While this is partially true and he does alienate and antagonize a lot of people who would otherwise be firmly on his side, he is also actually highly intelligent, always has a scheme of his own at hand and he is the only one of Nyrissa's pawns who realizes that he is being played and tries to fight her influence, long before the player character comes to the same conclusion. His research even proves crucial to ultimately defeating her.
- Smug Snake: The man is pure poison. When invited to his festival, he goes out of his way to shame you and ruin your reputation, and even when cornered in his castle, he maintains a taunting attitude.
- Spanner in the Works: Having obtained Briar before Nyrissa could find it, he will potentially become this to her by allowing the baron/ess to obtain it.
- Unwitting Pawn: Subverted. At first he seems like merely another one of Nyrissa's pawns, but he turns out to be the only one of them who is fully aware of how much she manipulates him, and he is trying to break free of her schemes.
- Villain Respect: He seems to have a grudging respect for the player character as a Worthy Opponent, according to his sycophant Stefano. His own actions can be interpreted in this way as well, as he sees himself as the hero in his own epic, with the player character as his rival, all the taunts and belittling aside.
Annamede Belavarah
An ambitious and accomplished bard from Pitax, famous beyond the borders of her kingdom.
- The Bard: The most famous and accomplished of Pitax' bards, which has given her plenty of admirers and enemies alike.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Though seemingly friendly and sweet, Annamede is a cold schemer, who is willing to do a lot to become head of the academy. If the player supports her, she repays them by making the academy a scandalous home of free thinkers, who never shy away from criticizing the player character's actions. And earlier, she was the one who instigated the riot during the Season of Bloom, which may have led to many needless deaths.
- Caustic Critic: Especially if she is made head of the academy, in which case she becomes a full-time version of this, but even before that, she is one of the few in Pitax who are not afraid of harshly criticizing Irovetti's rule, at least to a certain degree.
- The Dog Bites Back: It is not hard to win Annamede's support against Irovetti. All she needs is some reassurance that the player will support her own aspirations to lead the academy, in which case she is all too happy to turn on her king and murder the current head of the academy. This comes from years in which she has been subjected to his increasingly pushy affections and the rightful fear that he will eventually try to outright rape her, all of which is ignored by Atalia. In fact, she is the only person inside Pitax whose support the player can gain without passing a hard persuasion check or choosing an alignment-locked option, she simply hates Irovetti that much. Even if the player does not agree to her demands, she will do nothing to support the king.
- Everyone Has Standards: Annamede is a scheming and highly ambitious woman, but she is disgusted by Irovetti's behaviour and how Atalia just ignores it to preserve her position.
- Fantastic Racism: If Kassil is the Baron/ess's advisor, she draws their attention by standing in the capitol and singing a song about "a certain lady from Restov, who fostered a street pup, dressed it in lace and velvet, and trained it to mimic the manners of court." This was likely a gambit to get the Baron/ess's attention, but calling the adopted half-orc noble a trained animal scrounged from the street is pretty harsh.
- In the Back: During the power struggle in Pitax, she can end up murdering Atalia Gitaren in this way, if the player agrees to make her the new head of the academy.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite her scheming and backstabbing nature, Annamede has some positive aspects as well. She keeps her word, supports the player against Irovetti, and is implied to be outraged not just at her own treatment, but at the way other good-looking bards are treated by Irovetti, who considers them his personal harem, when Atalia Gitaren is all too happy to look the other way. Compared to the other bards, she is also kind to Linzi, giving her some well-meaning advice, honest criticism and mentioning her talent in an effort to cheer her up. She also has limits on her ambition to become head of the academy — if Atalia is convinced to turn against Irovetti and Annamede's deal to lead the students against Irovetti is denied, Annamede is willing to accept Atalia's leadership and outright pleased to have the leadership of the academy made elected by the academy faculty.
- The Load: At the beginning of the Season of Bloom, the Baron/ess organizes a hunt, sending invitations to Mivon and Irovetti's followers to help cull the monsters invading their Barony. Annamede and two nobles arrive to represent Pitax, and all they do for the entire hunt is sit around having a picnic. To their credit, they do manage to catch a squirrel.
- More significantly, she is the one who instigates the riot during the Season of Bloom, adding yet another problem that either requires diplomatic fortitude or a lot of blood to deal with just before the Bloom's climax.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: One could be forgiven for assuming her to be an airhead or useless, given how she spends the hunt in Chapter 3 having a picnic. In actuality, she was gathering information for Pitax, and collects enough to paint a surprisingly accurate picture of your kingdom's recent events—in the worst light possible, of course.
- Precision F-Strike: As a bard, Annamede is usually well-spoken and hides clever insults behind sweet words. However, she makes an exception for Atalia Gitaren, whom she absolutely loathes, if she kills her during the power struggle in Pitax.Annamede: "I stab thee with mine own heart... Bitch!"
Atalia Gitaren
The head of the Academy of the Arts in Pitax and one of King Irovetti's most firm supporters.
- 0% Approval Rating: Due to the way she leads the academy, turning it into Irovetti's mouthpiece and personal harem, nobody is particularly fond of her. The other bards are mostly negative towards her, with Annamede outright hating her, while Linzi and Eobald have at least nothing good to say about her.
- The Bard: Though we don't actually see her performing, she is the head of a bardic academy and therefore has to have some credits to her name.
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite being mostly focused on securing her own position and gladly looking the other way when it comes to Irovetti's many atrocities, Atalia's patience is not limitless. After repeated offences, she fires Professor Eobald, who covered up his favourite student's crimes. A lawful-aligned player character can also appeal to her sense of justice and get her to finally turn against Irovetti during the power struggle in Pitax.
- Head-in-the-Sand Management: Atalia's style of leading the academy in a nutshell. She is mostly focused on securing her own position, so much that she is willing to let Irovetti get away with anything, even if he outright harasses one of her best students. She only gets involved during the most glaring cases and never directly against the king. This lead to the abysmal reputation of the academy, where students with the right connections can get away with almost anything.
- Karmic Death: She can die during the confrontation at Irovetti's palace, stabbed in the back by Annamede Belavarah, her most famous student, whom she repeatedly antagonized and ignored, doing absolutely nothing to protect her or other bards from Irovetti's lust. This makes it very hard to pity her. Since only a lawful-aligned player character can convince her to turn on her king at all, it is likely that she is killed right after declaring her loyalty to Irovetti for the last time, whereas Annamede's support can be won regardless of alignment and even after already making a deal with Atalia. Otherwise, she is killed right after finally making a stand against the injustice she ignored for so long. There is only one specific way for her to survive, which is for a lawful-aligned player character to talk her into standing up against Irovetti and then not making a deal with Annamede.
- Professional Buttkisser: At first, she is this to Irovetti, whom she supports by turning the academy into a place where all art must, in some capacity, praise him. Should she remain head of the academy after Irovetti's fall, she becomes this to the player character, which finally ruins what little bit of credibility the academy had in the first place.
Ilora Nuski
A bandit from Pitax, who leads the infamous River Razor gang, as well as a reluctant supporter of King Irovetti.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Once defeated, Ilora is quite willing to beg for her life to be spared, offering information and support in return.
- The Cavalry: If the player spares her, she comes to their aid in the final chapter, alongside what is left of her gang and other reformed bandits.
- The Dog Bites Back: Under Irovetti, Ilora lost many of her fighters, first when he hunted them down, then when he forced them against the player character's kingdom. He also grew quite attracted to her, trying to force himself upon her eventually. All this makes her so fed up with him that she will turn into the player character's most loyal supporter once they fight against Irovetti himself. She will appear in Pitax, leading what is left of her gang against Irovetti, all too happy to get a chance at some revenge, all without needing another persuasion check required.
- Forced into Evil: Ilora doesn't serve Irovetti willingly. As a menace to Pitax, whom the player character is at war with, she used to be more or less neutral towards them. However, when Irovetti hunted her gang down, he gave her the choice to either serve him or die, which forced her into the player's way, which makes her a minor villain when first met. Given the opportunity, she is more than willing to abandon her former employer and join forces with the player instead.
- Heel–Face Turn: If she is spared, Ilora won't just turn on Irovetti, she and her people can later be reformed and turned into a regular military unit, an arrangement she is quite satisfied with.
Kharne Vereel
The head of Pitax' thieves and smugglers, under whom the city has taken a turn for the worse, as he is freely dealing with dangerous drugs.
- Addled Addict: Kharne is heavily addicted to his own drugs, which have left a number on him by the time he is seen in the game. In fact, his addiction is so bad that even if he survives the game, both possible versions of his epilogue state that they end up killing him, either directly or indirectly.
- Ax-Crazy: It is very hard to see a side of Kharne that is more pragmatic, as he is so paranoid that his first reaction towards any stranger is to threaten them to back off. Some of it is the result of his drug abuse, but according to other Pitaxians, he has always been a bit unhinged.
- Improperly Paranoid: As a result of his addiction, Kharne has grown increasingly paranoid over the recent years. He suspects an enemy behind every corner and meets everyone with equal suspicion. This can be used to turn him against Irovetti, if the player character manipulates his paranoia into believing that the king is working to replace him.
- King of Thieves: This is his position within Pitax' underworld.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: During the Rushlight Tournament, he poses as a simple merchant. However, every single participant at the tourney knows who he is and is all too happy to inform the player about it. He still insists on keeping it a secret and, if confronted, tries to deny it at first, before offering to do business with the player in Pitax.
- Paper Tiger: For all his aggression and threats, Kharne is never seen actually following through with one of them. He can be fought in Pitax, but only if the player reacts to his threats with violence and during the confrontation at Irovetti's palace, he does not appear directly. Instead, he seems to rely on his unhinged reputation and position in Pitax' underworld to threaten everyone into submission. In combat, he is more or less a pushover.
- Stupid Evil: It is justified due to his severe addiction, which is implied to cloud his judgement and increase both his aggression and paranoia. He meets the player with hostility, which is a potentially stupid idea in itself, given that the player gets options to respond to this hostility with violence. Even if the player is pragmatic enough to overlook his threats, he still decides to visit them in the capital after Irovetti is dealt with, hoping to be made the new governor of Pitax, even if he previously tried to have them killed during the power struggle. The other two candidates at least have some degree of legitimacy, whereas his arguments ultimately boil down to promising the player a share of the loot he and his gang will extort from the city, which, at most, sounds intriguing for evil-aligned player characters. It crosses into Too Dumb to Live territory if the player has a Lawful Good alignment.
Stefano Moskoni
An arrogant Pitaxian nobleman and firm supporter of King Irovetti, Stefano often serves as his king's mouthpiece towards foreign rulers.
- Butt-Monkey: If the player wants to, they can humiliate Stefano at every occasion, verbally destroying him during their initial meeting and repaying his insults in kind, until he leaves in shame. On his way back to Pitax, he is attacked by trolls and potentially saved by the very player character whom he insulted earlier. Later on, he can be forced to participate in the uprising against Irovetti, with his earlier loyalty towards his king earning him nothing. While he can be made the new Governor of Pitax, even this can backfire on him, if the player character makes choices that essentially leave him in charge of a failing city on the verge of a civil war.
- The Dog Bites Back: A chaotic player character can imply that he is plotting against Irovetti, which is a clear lie at the time. Despite the lack of evidence and Stefano's history of loyalty to the crown, Irovetti immediately jumps to conclusions and orders him executed. This is the final straw that turns him against his king and he switches sides for good as a result.
- Fat Bastard: His weight is almost a Running Gag, as every time the player character encounters Stefano, he seems to have gained weight. If he is appointed as governor of Pitax, it is even mentioned in the epilogue that he continues to get fatter.
- Hidden Depths: If appointed as Governor of Pitax and the player manages to stabilize the city, Stefano turns out to be a surprisingly effective choice. Of course, he is openly corrupt, but he is loyal and capable enough to make the player character ignore this.
- Professional Butt-Kisser: Towards the one currently in charge of Pitax. At first, he is firmly loyal to Irovetti, but after the player defeats him, he switches sides and becomes a loyal subject of the new ruler.
- Suicidal Overconfidence: His belittling and smug attitude towards the player character can get him killed at more than one occasion. In fact, he can be killed in every single interaction and relies solely on Irovetti's favour to get out of such situations.
Fey
The Guardian and Her Court
The Guardian of the Bloom (Spoilers)
Nyrissa
Click here to see her "Good" form
A seemingly-innocent nymph who claims to need the player's help and offers her assistance in their fight against the Stag Lord. Once they gain their barony, she quickly betrays them for reasons unknown.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the original Adventure Path, it's completely impossible to redeem Nyrissa — if you offer her Briar, she takes it and uses it against you. Her sympathetic backstory is also present, but depending on the GM, not always something the players will learn. Here, you learn her history no matter what, and she can genuinely be redeemed.
- Affably Evil: Gets shades of this during War of the River Kingdoms, where you can sympathize with her and she in return gives you a clue to defeat Irovetti.
- Affectionate Nickname: Completing her Romance Sidequest has her change her nickname for you from her "hound" to her "spring".
- The Atoner: Her curse (and thus the entire plot of the game) stems from the punishment she must endure for her hubris.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: If the Player Character chooses to simply give her the Apology in the end, she will return it to the Eldest only for the Lantern King to throw a Twist Ending in her path: he reveals the Apology is for her to drink, crowning her the Queen of Dust and Sorrow and one of the Eldest — a Queen with no Queendom (as the Player Character destroyed it), no servants (the Player Character killed them all), no sisters (all dead as well), and no emotions (still locked away inside Briar, which she rejected forever). She never crosses paths with the player again.
- Big Bad: The main antagonist of the game. Almost all that goes wrong in your adventure links back to her to some extent.
- Big Fancy House: Her House at the Edge of Time could easily be the Palace at the Edge of Time. It's very large, well furnished and has very spacious rooms. Areas of note is a throne room, a very large dining room, a library, a well, several guests rooms, a pantry, guard's quarters, storage rooms, jail cells and a very Creepy Basement. Inhabitants include various monsters such as fairies, undead, golems, plants and other unpleasant creatures.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She's supportive and helpful until you destroy the Stag Lord. Once you have a barony of your own, she immediately starts plotting to kill you, though she still acts friendly and benevolent until you walk into her ambush (or you learn about her from Tristian in Act 4).
- Deadpan Snarker: She has a taste for irony and sarcasm, often delivered in a very bitter tone. This tendency even persists if her feelings are returned to her.
- Defiant to the End: When you finally beat her in battle, she refuses to beg for mercy and spitefully tells you to make whatever decision you plan to already.
- Driven to Villainy: Quite literally, as she was a carefree nymph who dreamed of making a fun little Queendom prior to incurring the wrath of the Lantern King, who removed her heart and cursed her to destroy a thousand kingdoms. The game notes, though, that it doesn't absolve her of all responsibility..
- Enemy Mine: You can choose to side with her against the Lantern King. Unlike the possible Heel–Face Turn she can pull during her Romance Sidequest, however, this route explicitly does not actually cause her to redeem herself, as she merely abandons her Redemption Quest in favour of revenge against the being who cursed her.
- Exact Words: When you first meet her as the Guardian of the Bloom, she recounts her story as a nymph who was punished for her own hubris, stripped of her title and rendered a shadow of her former self. Every part of her story is technically true, though she tactfully neglects the part where she's about to destroy the last of a thousand kingdoms to weasel out of said punishment.
- Fate Worse than Death: She can have several, depending on your actions in the final few battles — being killed over and over by the Jabberwocky, being doomed to repeat her struggle against the Lantern King forever, and being crowned an Eldest but having nothing, not even emotions.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: Unlike most nymphs, she has green skin with thornlike projections on parts of her face, but it doesn't change that she's very attractive.
- Hero Killer: She's reponsible for killing Linzi and trapping her soul inside a book.
- I Need You Stronger: Part of her MO is to empower those she guides, so that she can topple their fiefdom later.
- Kryptonite Factor: The sword Briar, made from her own emotions, is the only thing that can kill her.
- Love Redeems: By pursuing the hidden romance with her and giving her back her stolen heart, it is possible to convince her to genuinely atone and turn back into the kind-hearted and idealistic nymph she used to be. In this case, she ends up as the player character's queen and fully redeems herself.
- Madden Into Misanthropy: Part of her motivation, as not only was she tasked with ruining a thousand fiefdoms before the Lantern King would deign to forgive her for trying to "steal" one, he also removed her ability to love to make her more ruthless in pursuit of that goal.
- The Man Behind the Man: The Stag Lord, Tristian, Armag and King Irovetti are all her pawns.
- Manipulative Bastard: She manipulates people so that kingdoms may rise and then fall, so she may collect their ashes to add to her cup. Such as convincing the Stag Lord and Castruccio she would be their queen, making Armag believe he was the same barbarian hero as the one he was named after, making Tristian believe she could remove his link to Sarenrae, and indeed, sweet-talking you into killing the Stag Lord by playing the role of a Damsel in Distress.
- Mercy Kill: If you choose to kill her after her boss battle, Evindra will sadly say it's better for Nyrissa to have died than continue living without a heart. Whether the Player Character intended it to be this, Revenge, or just removing a threat is not stated.
- More than Mind Control: While an undeniably tragic figure and a victim of the Lantern King's curse, Nyrissa is not entirely blameless. Several characters, including her own cousin Evindra, will note that while he removed her heart, he did not remove her free will; she could have chosen any number of different actions, ranging from not playing along to focusing on solely seeking out her heart.
- My God, What Have I Done?: She'll have this reaction if you convince her to accept Briar, as her ability to empathize means she now feels the weight of the 999 kingdoms she'd brought to ruin.
- Nothing Personal: What she claims when initially betraying you — later events can fill in the blanks somewhat.
- Not Me This Time: While she is directly or indirectly responsible for almost every single obstacle the player has to face over the course of the game, she truthfully claims to have nothing to do with Vordakai and the events of Varnhold Vanishing, even if they do play into her own goals. The Lantern King, on the other hand...
- Omnicidal Maniac: She's orchestrated the fall of entire kingdoms over hundreds, possibly thousands of years, and goes through great lengths to destroy you and all those under your rule.
- Prophecy Twist: She bitterly notes this when, upon being defeated, the final grain falls into the chalice — her Queendom was the final one to fall to fulfill the Lantern King's terms.
- Redemption Quest: Her reason for attacking your fiefdom — she was given this by one of the Eldest as a means to "prove" she's sorry for what she tried doing.
- Redemption Rejection: If you offer her the Briar but haven't romanced her, she will refuse to take it.
- Shadow Archetype: The game emphasizes multiple times that Nyrissa is you, but unluckier. She too was proud and bold, sought out a kingdom for herself, and had a circle of True Companions. While your actions led to success, however, hers led to ruin.
- The Sociopath: Justified, since part of her curse involved the Lantern King removing her ability to empathize entirely to make her more inclined to destroy the kingdoms in the Stolen Lands.
- Stripperiffic: As it is common for nymphs, her clothes consist solely of a few strategically placed leaves.
- Terms of Endangerment: She's prone to naming her dupes and enemies like this, with Animal Motifs. In particular, she refers to Tristian as her skylark, Armag as her wolf cub, Irovetti as her peacock, the Stag lord as her stag, Linzi as a robin, and you as her hound. A quest in the penultimate dungeon also shows that she'd referred to the pre-death Wriggling Man as "wild cat".
- Villainous Rescue: If you make enough progress in researching her curse before facing Irovetti, she will recover Briar and turn his naga cohort against him, saving you from fighting him in the second phase of the battle.
- Villainesses Want Heroes: As seen under Love Redeems, this can be a motivation for her, depending on player choices, as she'll mention that yours is the only fiefdom she will regret destroying. She'll also exploit the everloving hell out of this trope, as seen under Manipulative Bastard.
- We Can Rule Together: Her main method of duping rulers into trusting her. If you spare her, she will make you such an offer to stand against the Lantern King, and this time she actually honors the promise.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Nyrissa's full story is actually quite tragic. She used to be a kind-hearted and innocent, if somewhat naive nymph, who sought to forge a kingdom for herself and her friends. The Lantern King curbstomped her and essentially took away all she cherished, turning her into the complete opposite of the good-aligned being she used to be. Now cold, bitter and without any hope, she destroys a thousand kingdoms to "atone".
The Defaced Sisters
Click here to see them unmasked
Nyrissa's sisters, who were affected by her curse and serve her loyally to break it.
- Co-Dragons: The eight of them share this position to Nyrissa.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: If you break the curse on Nyrissa, the curse on her sisters is also broken, which can restore the beauty of the remaining one who'd pulled the Heel–Face Turn
- Earthy Barefoot Character: They always go barefoot, as appropriate to their origins as Nymphs.
- Facial Horror: Their names are meant to be quite literal, they have no face, as a result of Nyrissa's curse. Instead, they have merely small openings where nose and mouth would be. After renouncing her allegiance to Nyrissa, the sole surviving Defaced Sister gradually recovers her face.
- Hated by All: Absolutely nobody among the Tiger Lords likes or even trusts them. Armag is the exception and he eventually realizes how they have manipulated him. It doesn't take much to convince the Tiger Lords to turn against them.
- Heel–Face Turn: One of them can make one of these if a good-aligned player character gives her a Kirk Summation during their initial meeting, calling her out on how she brings nothing but pain and death to those around her. It horrifies her so much that she eventually turns on Nyrissa and gives the player character advice and warnings, before hiding from her sister's wrath.
- Manipulative Bitch: The Defaced Sisters are masters of this, manipulating Armag for his entire life and during their first meeting, one of them manipulates the player character into saving her other sisters.
- Saying Too Much: The sister you face in your hunt for Tristian can't resist gloating about how Nyrissa manipulated him. Unfortunately for her, that is exactly what it takes to snap Tristian out of his Heroic BSoD.
- Ungrateful Bastard: After saving the abovementioned sisters, they are not the slightest bit grateful to the player character and try to rile up Dugath and his barbarians into killing the party.
Evindra
The sole sister of Nyrissa who did not fall under the influence of the curse, which makes the two firm enemies.
- Damsel in Distress: Since she refused to follow her, Evindra has been captured and imprisoned by Nyrissa. The player first meets her in Whiterose Abbey, where she is a prisoner of Irovetti's gardener, who has developed a sick obsession with her.
- I Choose to Stay: In one of her endings, she chooses to remain in the kingdom instead of returning to the First World, becoming a protector of the Tuskwater river and friend of the people.
- Ms. Exposition: Her main role in the plot is to reveal and explain certain aspects to the player, from providing exposition on Nyrissa and Irovetti to the general nature of Nyrissa's curse.
- Rebellious Spirit: In one ending, it is stated that she returns to the First World with the rebellious spirit of Nyrissa awoken within her. She goes on to speak against the Eldest, having witnessed how they are not omniscient.
- White Sheep: Evindra is the only one of Nyrissa's cousins who has not been corrupted by the curse.
The Horned Hunter
"Don't flatter yourself. You are but a pawn, which got to the end of the board by some chance. Truth be told, you're not supposed to be here at all!"
One of Nyrissa's servants, a satyr who works as her master of the hunt.
- Affably Evil: The Horned Hunter is a fairly jovial person, who only attacks the player character on Nyrissa's orders and comes across as indifferent to them the rest of the time.
- The Cameo: He appears at the end of the Varnhold's Lot DLC, offering the General the chance to become powerful enough to save Varnhold from every future threat. It is a hint at the fact that he is far more powerful than he appears to be.
- Exact Words: In the Varnhold's Lot DLC, he stays true to his word by granting the General the power to defend Varnhold from the dangers to follow, before summoning a neverending army of monsters for them to battle for all eternity without rest.
- God Was My Co-Pilot: The Horned Hunter is secretly the Lantern King, though he does not reveal this until after Nyrissa is defeated. It also means he notably held back in his earlier fight with the PC within the House at the Edge of Time.
- Horned Humanoid: It is right there in his name. He is a satyr, who have ram's horns as a racial trait.
- Interface Spoiler: The Horned Hunter is one of the very few characters in the game to be fully voiced. This is usually reserved to major characters, such as companions, advisors and main antagonists and only the latter have all of their dialogue voiced. This is a clue that the Horned Hunter is way more important to the plot than being just another of Nyrissa's henchmen. Sharp-eared players might also recognize that he shares a voice actor with the Lantern King.
- Kick the Dog: At the end of the Varnhold's Lot DLC, he will kill the General's followers no matter what the General chooses to do.
- Villainous Breakdown: He has a massive one upon realizing that you can turn the curse he bestowed upon you back upon him.
- You Have Failed Me: For his failure to defeat the player during their confrontation, Nyrissa chains him to her tree, with the implication that she plans further punishment down the line.
The Knurly Witch
An annis hag, the most powerful and feared type of hag, who is forced to work for Nyrissa.
- Arch-Enemy: The Wriggling Man is this to her and vice versa. She hates him so much that she is seemingly even willing to work with the player character to take him down.
- Co-Dragons: After the Defaced Sisters are all dead or redeemed, she and the Wriggling Man become Nyrissa's most important henchmen.
- Dirty Coward: The entire reason she works for Nyrissa in the first place is that she is afraid of her. An evil-aligned player can talk the witch into avoiding a fight with them by offering her to work for them instead. Clearly terrified by them, she will give them the potions she created for Nyrissa, before stating that she wishes to fight neither of them. She then flees to avoid the wrath of either.
- Faux Affably Evil: Speaks in a friendly, grandmotherly tone and is open about why she serves Nyrissa, all the horrible things she has done both in Nyrissa's service and out of it. None of it makes her seem any less monstrous and she quickly turns on the player.
- Obviously Evil: As an annis, her appearance is bloated and absolutely monstrous. Though most of it is thankfully concealed by a black cloak, it is immediately clear that she is evil to the core.
- Treacherous Questgiver: At first, the Knurly Witch seems to strike a deal with the player character, sending them to kill her Arch-Enemy, the Wriggling Man in exchange for her key to open Nyrissa's inner sanctum. Should the player go through with her demands, she will immediately turn on them and needs to be taken down as well.
- Wicked Witch: Well, she is an ugly hag and also firmly evil.
The Wriggling Man
Formerly a human sorcerer, the Wriggling Man is now a sentient mass of worms, who is working for Nyrissa.
- Arch-Enemy: He is this to the Knurly Witch and vice versa. His hatred for her is so immense that he is willing to briefly strike a deal with the player character to kill her.
- Co-Dragons: After the Defaced Sisters are dealt with, he and the Knurly Witch become Nyrissa's highest-ranking and most powerful servants.
- Driven to Suicide: Should he be reminded of the man he once used to be, his mind will be restored for a brief second. The anger and hate towards Nyrissa and what she did to him will cause him to drop dead immediately, therefore sparing the player character a fight against him.
- Pest Controller: Given his nature, it is perhaps unsurprising that his favourite spell is Summon Elder Worm.
- Sorcerous Overlord: He once founded his own kingdom in the Stolen Lands, which was The Magocracy with him as one of its heads.
- Tragic Monster: Unlike the Knurly Witch, the Wriggling Man is quite a tragic case, as he did not willingly become Nyrissa's servant. Instead, he actually tried to stop her from destroying his kingdom, before having his mind wiped and becoming her loyal servant.
- Treacherous Questgiver: When meeting the player character, he claims to be willing to work with them in order to take down the Knurly Witch, offering his key to Nyrissa's inner sanctum in return. Should the player character do as he asked, he will backstab them immediately instead of rewarding them.
- Was Once a Man: Once, the Wriggling Man was not too different from the player character as a king in the Stolen Lands, manipulated by Nyrissa. When his kingdom faced ruin, he and his companions went on to confront her, similar to what the player character is doing when they encounter him. Unlike them, though, the Wriggling Man was no match for Nyrissa. He was killed, with his body dragged away by the Knurly Witch, who subsequently forgot about him, but his ghost, unable to find peace in death, clung to existence by possessing the worms that were eating his body. Nyrissa was so impressed by his desire to live that she ordered the witch to wipe his mind, so that he may become her faithful servant.
- The Worm That Walks: His current form consists of hundreds of worms, all driven by his spirit, forming a roughly humanoid shape covered by a hooded robe.
- Year Outside, Hour Inside: While he was still a mortal, the Wriggling Man managed to actually confront Nyrissa within the House at the Edge of Time, demanding her to spare his kingdom. She then informs him that time works differently within the house and that he has been in there for many years, with his kingdom having long since turned to dust.
The Eldest
The Lantern King (major spoilers!)
One of the Eldest, godlike beings that rule over the First World, and the one who tormented Nyrissa and started the curse of the Stolen Lands to begin with.
- Adaptational Villainy: He was only one of several Eldest who punished Nyrissa in the original Adventure Path, and never takes a direct role in the Adventure. Here, due to Adaptation Expansion, he is personally behind her actions by crafting The Apology for her to fill, and both screws with the General, is responsible for Vordakai's awakening, and serves the role of the Baron/ess's final obstacle.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: He'll become the True Final Boss if you kill, ally with, or redeem Nyrissa, because he's pissed off that you "robbed" his play of a proper finale. If you romanced Nyrissa, the finale will end with his death.
- Break Them by Talking: Does it during your final encounter with him. And (since by then your kingdom has already sunk into the First World and adapting its rules) failing to stand up for yourself and giving him a decent comeback will physically break you.
- Contractual Genre Blindness: He knows a play needs a proper finale, and he knows the hero needs to properly defeat a Big Bad. Hence why he decides to cast himself in that role if Nyrissa won't play it, instead of just instantly killing you.
- Curse: Just loves spreading them about. When you meet him as Remus he puts a nasty one on you that will kill you if your kingdom falls. Also, because he's basically a deity, his "curses" have power more along the lines of Wish or Miracle spells, and are capable of effects that are way outside the boundaries of most curses in-setting; this gets discussed as early as Chapter 2, though it's a long time before you realize he's responsible.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The Eldest are akin to minor deities in the First World, and many have actual worshippers to whom they grant divine power. If you research all the game's curses you can inflict a curse on The Lantern King as karmic retribution, leading to this trope. Otherwise, you get an ending more on his terms.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Nyrissa's offense was to try and make a kingdom. The Lantern King's response was to doom her to destroy a thousand kingdoms and tear out her ability to feel emotions. Maghd the Three even specifically mentions she thought it was excessive, though Shyka doesn't agree.
- Evil Is Petty: As seen above, the Lantern King ruined countless lives with the curse he placed upon Nyrissa, solely for feeling slighted. In general, he is extremely petty, dishing out cruel punishments with far-reaching consequences for minor slights, or sometimes even just because he feels like it. Of particular note is his reaction if you kill Nyrissa, turn her against the Eldest, or break Nyrissa's curse
.The Lantern King: (The crowned living flame slowly turns to you, his glowing mask throbbing in rage. His wrath intertwines with the very essence of the surroundings, making the whole world change.) To drink without quenching thirst. To climb a mountain that has no peak. I staged the performance, and you left it without a finale. You took away Nyrissa, my precious toy, carefully crafted of despair and wrath. I could reduce you to dust, revive you, and turn you to dust once more, here and now. But the universe abhors inelegance. So instead I shall repay you — with your own coin! - Faux Affably Evil: The Lantern King speaks in a mockingly polite tone, claiming to be reasonable and even forgiving, but demands near-impossible tasks from those who even mildly upset him and violently crushes everyone beneath him without hesitation.
- For the Evulz: While everything he does comes from his desire to entertain himself, there are a few especially nasty actions of his that can only be explained by him being fundamentally mean-spirited and finding joy in the casual and ultimately senseless torment of mortals, such as his treatment of the General in the Varnhold's Lot DLC.
- Graceful Loser: Once actually defeated at the end of the game, he takes his loss surprisingly well as the Player Character has now ended the production in a satisfactory manner. He makes a genuine offer to support the player character from here on, and even accepts and respects their possible desire to be left alone entirely.
- Greater-Scope Villain: He's the one who cursed Nyrissa to begin with, but he remains an enigmatic background figure for most of the plot. He eventually steps down from this role at the very end of the game, where you can oppose and even fight him.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: The secret ending allows the player and Nyrissa to turn his own curses back on him using one of his once-discarded masks as a bond of essence, effectively killing him.
- It Amused Me: As an embodiment of trickery and deceit, this is the main motivation behind his atrocities.
- Karma Houdini: Will suffer no lasting consequence for anything he did during the course of the game, unless you get the secret ending.
- King Mook: He's a giant candlewick, and the setting's wider lore reveals he's heavily suspected of being the progenitor of all candlewicks.
- Kryptonite Factor: Thanks to the Storyteller, he can be weakened by collecting and destroying pieces of the Apology which he himself created and infused his power with. This doesn't kill him outright, but at the very least gives you a fighting chance against him. More significantly, Maghd can give you a mask he once wore and discarded, which can allow Nyrissa to curse him.
- Life Imitates Art: Brutally enforced. He sees himself as a playwright and treats the entire story as a narrative, with Nyrissa as the main character in a Greek tragedy suffering a fall from grace for her hubris and eventually accepting it in despair, which happens in certain endings. If the King/Queen kills, allies with, or redeems Nyrissa, he feels "robbed" or a proper finale and tries to retake control by making himself the villain.
- Lonely at the Top: Once defeated, he claims that this is indeed the case, as having godlike power means that he is unable to let anyone close to him. Nyrissa more or less confirms this earlier, mentioning that all the Eldest essentially hate each other on some level. He offers the player character to become his trusted agent, apparently in an attempt to have someone he can rely on for once.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The Reveal that he has been the gnome explorer whom the player meets during their trip to the First World in the Season of Bloom and who helps them navigate through the enchanted mists to stop the Bloom means that he is responsible for saving the kingdom. While it can be assumed that his intention at the time was merely to prolong the suffering of the kingdom, this act later allows the player to defeat Nyrissa and thwart his revenge on her. They eventually go on to humiliate and severely weaken him, when they could have long since been dead without his interference.
- Shapeshifter Showoff Session: He does this during the final battle and you fight each one. Doesn't mean your doing anything to him.
- Shapeshifting Trickster: With Voluntary Shapeshifting. A very dark example, considering the tricks he's playing in the storyline.
- The Sociopath: Everything the Lantern King does is solely aimed at pleasing himself and he gets the most pleasure from tricking, cursing and breaking those beneath him. As such, he commits casual atrocities, never even wastes a thought at the lives he ruins and the only being he truly cares for is he himself.
- True Final Boss: Can be skipped entirely, alongside the entire last chapter, by giving Nyrissa the completed Apology, ending the game in the House on the Edge of Time.
- Vocal Dissonance: Averted. The Lantern King speaks with the same baritone he does in the tabletop game, but his favoured avatar here isn't the normal four-foot ball of light but a giant sun at least four times that size.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: As all Eldest, the Lantern King is not bound to a single form. His default one is a giant orb of flame with a crown, but he can take on several forms over the course of the game. He is not just the Horned Hunter, Nyrissa's master of the hunt, but his boss fight reveals that he was also the mad prophet Remus all along, as well as the helpful gnome explorer whom the player encountered during their trip to the First World during the Season of Bloom.
- Willfully Weak: The Final Boss encounter pretty much only happens because he allows it. Even at level 20 and with Nyrissa at the party's back, The Lantern King makes it clear he's mainly just humouring you... Unless you successfully reverse a curse upon him.
Shyka the Many
"What an impossible encounter! You walked a long road to meet us here and now."
Alignment: True Neutral
Shyka is the Eldest of time, one of the godlike beings who rule the First World. They encounter the player character at several points during the game and offer potentially valuable aid.- Ambiguous Gender: Whereas the other Eldest are usually referred to by one particular pronoun and seem to have clear male or female identities, Shyka is harder to pin down, especially as they are capable of repeatedly changing their form.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: As to be expected from an Eldest. Notably, he believes that the Lantern King had every right to demand Nyrissa perform the Apology, but still helps the party deal with the Lantern King because the two are old rivals.
- If asked why he believes the Apology was justified, he claims that Nyrissa attempting to found her own kingdom was equilvalent to suggesting that she, a "lowly" Nymph, was on par with Fey lords or even the Eldests themselves, which he insists was a grave insult that needed to be punished.
- The Dreaded: As a godlike Eldest, Shyka is immensely powerful, not only within the First World. Their arrival alone is enough to cause the Knurly Witch and the Wriggling Man to flee in utter terror.
- Enemy Mine: Shyka hates Nyrissa, as you find out if the topic comes up, but hates the Lantern King even more.
- Foil: To the Lantern King. Shyka shows how it's possible have the same Skewed Priorities and fey-like Blue-and-Orange Morality as any other Eldest and meddle in the lives of mortals for amusement without being a complete Jerkass like the Lantern King is.
- God Was My Co-Pilot: Before their true identity is revealed, Shyka meets the player character several times in disguise, posing as their own servant.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Compared to the other Eldest, Shyka comes off as reasonable and well intentioned. Even if they aim solely to amuse themselves, they have some surprising moments of kindness, hinting at some degree of fondness for mortals. First, they allow the kobold during the Inconsequential Debates to accompany them back to the First World, simply because they are amused by the little creature's excitement. Second, even after Jubilost rejects their gift of immortality, they allow him to give it to someone else instead and even twist time to spare Xae and her gnomes an eternity of torment. Third, they support the player character against the Lantern King, by giving them advice on how to disrupt his game and using the first crown to ruin his plans for Nyrissa. The fact that this also grants Nyrissa a peaceful death is an additional kindness. Fourth, if Jubilost chooses to have Shyka help Xae instead of giving immortality to a random gnome, Shyka will not only help but give that immortality to Xae and then nudge Xae into repaying that favor thousands of years later — a favor Xae wouldn't be aware she owed if Shyka hadn't hinted at it — despite not being obligated to do either of those things. This not only lets Jubilost meet and speak with the most important gnome in history but also saves his life.
- I Gave My Word: Unlike the Lantern King, Shyka not only stays true to their word, but they don't find amusement in twisting it to unexpected degrees, to toy with mortal expectations.
- It Amused Me: As an Eldest, a lot of Shyka's motivations are incomprehensible for human minds and they mostly seem to aim at amusing outcomes. That being said, their humour is more well intentioned than what the other Eldest consider to be funny.
- Non-Linear Character: It's implied heavily that the order the Baron/ess meets Shyka is not the order in which Shyka meets you.
- Temporal Paradox: As the Eldest of Time, Shyka is capable of freely travelling through it, seeing past, present and future as interchangeable. The order in which they are encountered in the game is implied to be different for them than it is for the player character.
- Trickster Mentor: Unlike the Lantern King, who seeks to trick and torment mortals, Shyka's own amusement seems to come from actually helping them, even if the nature of their support is never obvious and always confusing.
Other NPCs
The Arcanotheign
The herald of the god Nethys, an immensely powerful being in her own right, whose curiosity in the affairs of mortal beings drove her to help Kalikke and Kanerah, for a price.
- All-Powerful Bystander: As the Herald of Nethys, the Arcanotheign is among the most powerful beings encountered within the story. By the time the player meets her, she could likely end the massive troubles their kingdom faces with ease. However, she does not get involved, does not pick sides and limits herself to witness how the dealings between the tiefling sisters and the Forefather end.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Though the Arcanotheign seems to be quite curious about how Kanerah and Kalikke will act in the new situation she placed them in and though she has a genuine interest in seeing them overcoming their differences, she laid down some harsh rules which affected the girls' lives for the worse and is ultimately just as willing to accept Kanerah's possible choice of going with the Forefather instead of reconciling with her sister.
- Fisher King: Her mere presence transforms the area around her and by the time the player catches up to her and the Forefather at the Sorrowflor tower, she has warped the landscape around her and risen several hostile elementals, likely without actively wanting to do so.
- It Amused Me: The Arcanotheign is fascinated by mortals and often chooses to get involved in their affairs for the better or worse simply because she is amused and curious how they will behave.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Though only appearing in a single scene in the story, the Arcanotheign's interference ultimately brings the tiefling sisters and their fiendish ancestor into the player character's lands.
- Spanner in the Works: Together with the player character, the Arcanotheign can ruin the Forefather's plans or at the very least damage them. At least in her case, this is implicitly accidental, as she does not seem to mind his attempts to corrupt the sisters.
- Trickster Mentor: This is heavily implied by the nature of the deal she made with Kalikke. Though the rules seem harsh and take a heavy toll on their lives, the Arcanotheign does not directly intervene even if one of them is broken, despite what she previously told Kalikke. Instead, her rules and the entire nature of the deal seems aimed at the genuine desire to help the sisters overcome their difference.
Darven
A pirate and fugitive, who is on the run after murdering a Chelian noble and starting a revolution. Linxia's hellknights visit the kingdom in order to hunt him down.
- Accidental Hero: His role in the revolution that plagued Cheliax has been entirely by accident. He murdered a nobleman who personally wronged him, with no intentions of serving as an example for the people of Cheliax. They, however, rose up in arms and made him their leader.
- The Cavalry: If the player supports him, he becomes a loyal ally, who comes to their aid in the final chapter of the game.
- Deal with the Devil: With Mammon, to be precise, who gave him the wealth necessary to start his own kingdom south of the player's borders. In return, Darven builds up a cult of Mammon within his new kingdom.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Darven is by no means a saint. As a pirate, he freely plundered from the weak and feels no remorse for it, his actions caused a lot of death and there is, of course, his deal with the devil Mammon. However, compared to Linxia, he is at least willing to negotiate, treats the player character with some degree of respect and, most importantly, does not go around interrogating and torturing perfectly innocent citizens as the Hellknights do.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: He supported the revolution in Cheliax only for as long as he had to, before making his escape, being on the run ever since.
- Rags to Riches: Initially, Darven started out as a simple Taldan sailor. After the fleet he served in was attacked by a Chelian noble, he lost everything and nearly his life. He started anew as a pirate, becoming moderately rich, before making a deal with Mammon, who gave him enough riches to eventually found a small kingdom of his own within the Stolen Lands, which he names Brineheart.
- Really Gets Around: Darven repeatedly mentions having had several lovers in the past and if he survives the events of the game, the epilogue mentions repeated encounters between him and the guards and servants of the player's castle, whenever he comes to visit.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Due to his deal with Mammon, Darven is incredibly rich and he uses this coin freely in order to try and bribe the player into supporting him over Linxia.
Enneo
Enneo at first appears to be a minor merchant selling Kyonin exports. In truth, he's an inquisitor of Pharasma and is after Jaethal personally.
- Black-and-White Insanity: His worldview basically boils down to, "All undead are bad, therefore anything I do to destroy undead is good."
- Evil Versus Evil: His involvement in Jaethal's questline. Jaethal freely admits she did horrible things in her pursuit of immortality, including killing several members of her own family, but he gleefully admits to having killed would-be Human Sacrifices to ruin necromantic rituals and using innocents as catspaws, heedless of the collateral damage he's causing in his single-minded pursuit of The Undead. It says something when siding with Jaethal against him is a Neutral Good option.
- In the Back: He ambushed Jaethal on the road after she was banished from Kyonin, fatally stabbing her in the back. It didn't stick: she revived as Urgathoa's Chosen shortly afterward.
- Knight Templar: Pharasma is goddess of both birth and death and hates the undead, but he's an extremist even by her standards: he will go to any lengths he has to in order to see Jaethal destroyed for good. Ironically, siding against him and calling him out for his Black-and-White Insanity can lead to Jaethal herself coming back to life as an Inquisitor of Pharasma in the Golden Path ending.
- True Neutral: His In-Universe alignment according to the tooltip, but he verges on Neutral Evil in behavior: he cares about nothing but destroying Jaethal and other necromancers, heedless of the collateral damage he causes in the process, such as a family of elves that he pits against Jaethal and the Baron/ess in his first appearance.
- Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: He appears in the capital shortly after the barony's founding as merchant selling some minor elvish exports from Greengold on the border of Kyonin. In truth, he's an inquisitor of Pharasma.
Farnirras the Pensive
A powerful evil wizard who once made the Stolen Lands his home, and is trapped behind a powerful barrier that prevents all but the strongest from freeing and challenging him.
- Apocalyptic Log: You find the first half of his diary in his old laboratory, describing how an unseen foe is sabotaging his experiments. Upon defeating him you find the second half, alongside a Note to Self from his good half.
- Death Seeker: His split personality is one, and prepared his trap for both of them in the hope that someone would one day kill them both.
- The Dreaded: An odd posthumous case. If you kill him, mages from Absalom will come to poke around his lair. Upon discovering what he was capable of, they spend a very, very long time thanking the King/Queen for getting rid of him.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: And quite firmly sealed, as you might go through the entire game without unsealing him.
- Sequence Breaking: Can be fought the moment you have Dimension Door by teleporting past his barrier from the right angle.
- Split Personality: Farnirras was cursed by a sorcerer he was experimenting on that caused him to develop one, which consequently sealed him in a cyclops ruin and made his phylactery the key to break the seal.
- Soul Jar: The key that unlocks his cell was his phylactery, hence ensuring that anyone strong enough to challenge him directly would find him at his most vulnerable when doing it.
- Super Boss: Can only be fought by exploring 100% of the map and killing a series of powerful optional enemies.
The Forefather
A devil and ancestor of Kanerah and Kalikke, who has a great interest in their lives.
- Absurdly Sharp Claws: It is a trait all members of his particular sub-type of devil share and he is more than capable of using them in combat.
- The Chessmaster: The Forefather is a deimavigga (apostate devil) who seeks to corrupt righteous mortals, which means that he is a master schemer. He has manipulated the tiefling sisters for most of their lives and is directly responsible for their arrival in the Stolen Lands.
- The Corrupter: This is his role in the hierarchy of Hell, as a corrupter of mortals, and it is his current goal to corrupt the tiefling sisters. Before he is first encountered, he already had some degree of success with Kanerah, who shares an alignment with him and is open to his Pragmatic Villainy. He also tries to tempt Kalikke and the player character into commiting acts of evil, making a good case for why doing so would be in their best interest.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Double Subverted. The Forefather knows exactly how good works and as a deimavigga, he is an expert in manipulating well-intentioned people and twist them to his desire, so he likely comprehends good alignments better than even most good-aligned beings. What he, however, fails to comprehend or account for in any way is neutrality. He notably succeeds in his plans to drive a rift between the sisters even if the player makes good-aligned choices during the sisters' quests, mostly because he understands and anticipates how Kalikke will act and how Kanerah will react to this. The only way to properly ruin his schemes is by Taking a Third Option and advocate for neutrality when dealing with the sisters, which he genuinely failed to take into account.
- He also was unable to predict that Arcanotheign wouldn't immediately revoke the pact he made with the sisters for violating one of the rules that he gave them. A motive for entering such a pact for reasons outside of altruism or profit never once came to him.
- Evil Patriarch: He is Kanerah and Kalikke's great-grandfather and arch nemesis.
- False Friend: While the player can be rightfully suspicious of him, he initially poses as an ally, concerned with the sisters' well-being, even if he admits it is solely for pragmatic reasons. He also tries to appear helpful and supportive to the sisters, if only so that he can corrupt them to his liking.
- Faux Affably Evil: As befitting for a devil, the Forefather respects the players lawful authority and is polite to them as long as he himself is treated with politeness. He also claims to genuinely care for the well-being of his offspring, if only because they are a valuable investment. However, behind that he is a predator, whose entire politeness is merely a mask to hide his true intentions and he has no genuine fondness for anyone.
- Graceful Loser: If the player character and the Herald of Nethys manage to ruin his plan to drive Kanerah and Kalikke apart and make them open for his manipulations, he accepts his defeat begrudgingly, but without causing much of a scene. He is even perfectly willing to just leave and can only be fought if the player character attacks him first.
- Manipulative Bastard: Everything the Forefather does is part of his schemes and he treats everyone as a pawn on his board, using their weaknesses against them and even manipulating them to hate him, in Kalikke's case, so that all end up playing into his hands.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: While he has a name, he never reveals it and is solely referring to himself as the Forefather, to place emphasis on his connection to the tiefling sisters. The Arcanotheign casually reveals his true name to be Auferon.
- Optional Boss: He can be battled and slain (well, defeated and humiliated by the destruction of his shell anyway) at the end of his questline, and while it's a tough fight he drops some good equipment and a ton of experience.
- Out-Gambitted: For all his clever scheming, his plans can potentially be spoiled by the player character and Nethys, if they manage to reconcile the sisters instead of driving them apart.
- Pragmatic Villainy: The Forefather doesn't have any proper moral standards, but he is a fundamentally pragmatic being, who justifies his acts of evil by explaining how they are pragmatic and in his best interest. He never goes out of his way to do evil just for the sake of it and if a course of action doesn't have a pragmatic reason, he does not do it. As such, he is willing to even work alongside a good-aligned player in his first appearance and should his plans be foiled, he swallows his pride and tries to retreat instead of facing the high-leveled party in anger.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The player can optionally react to his visit to their court in this manner.
Hannis Drelev
A fellow baron and member of a small noble family, who sees the player character as beneath him for not being of noble blood. He was appointed as the Baron of Glenebon by Jamandi Aldori
- Adaptational Heroism: Due to his drastically reduced role, Hannis never poses a threat to the player character's kingdom and it is never implied that he plots to invade them as he did in the original AP.
- Asshole Victim: Due to his rude, antagonistic nature, Hannis' fate, cruel as it is, is mourned by no one and when he is encountered as an Empty Shell within Irovetti's dungeons, he admits that no one came looking for him or was willing to pay ransom.
- Demoted to Extra: In the original AP, Hannis is an antagonist and rival, who plots to take the player's barony and prepares to invade them. In the game, he is seen only once, when the player receives their barony and then disappears entirely. He isn't even mentioned when the player takes over his barony of Glenebon after dealing with the barbarian invasion and it is later revealed that he has been captured by Irovetti after his initial appearance and been held prisoner ever since. He can be killed or freed, but either way, he or his fate are not mentioned afterwards.
- Empty Shell: His eventual fate after Irovetti's torture, which convinced him that he is dead, despite being perfectly healthy physically. If the player frees him, they can send him to the High Priest of Calistria, to perform a “resurrection”, potentially undoing this.
- Jerkass: During their first meeting, he is rude and condescending to the player character and Maegar Varn, seeing them as nothing but peasant upstarts who should have never been given the honour of receiving a barony of their own.
- Mercy Kill: You can choose to slay him to put an end to his misery.
- Mind Rape: Irovetti uses the Briar on him for testing purposes. It leads to him losing his mind and being convinced that he is dead.
Linxia Benzekri
A Hellknight from Cheliax, who is a high-ranking officer within the Order of the Rack. She comes to the player's kingdom in order to hunt down the fugitive rebel Darven.
Linxia is Pathfinder's Iconic Hellknight, originally featured in the Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path. See Characters.Pathfinder Iconics for her tropes in the tabletop game.
- All There in the Manual: Her last name is never mentioned in the game and only revealed by a tooltip that appears when hovering over her name in dialogue.
- Bald of Evil: Linxia is completely bald, as well as completely evil.
- Lawful Stupid/Villain Ball: If given the opportunity to search the realm for evidence of Darven, she and her Hellknights immediately proceed to do so... in accordance with Chelish law. For the uninitiated, Cheliax is controlled by a tyrannical monarchy that owes its power to the Church of Asmodeus. This inevitably causes conflict with the far more libertarian inhabitants of the River Kingdoms: her seizures of "seditious texts" in particular is a direct violation of the River Freedoms. After a week or so of her terrorizing your citizens and degrading your kingdom stats, you're given the opportunity to either kick her out of town or demand that she follow local laws during her investigation, whereupon she disparages you as a weak ruler and leaves in a huff either way. The quest was written by a high-roller Kickstarter backer and is pretty much set up to railroad you into siding with Darven, but nothing about what she does is considered out of character for either her established character or Hellknights and Cheliax in general.
- Obviously Evil: Linxia belongs to an order of Hellknights from Cheliax, called the Order of the Rack, who dress in all black armour. Her attitude is also as unsubtle as possible, being a smug, irritating woman who delights in torturing people to find dangerous criminals.
- Smug Snake: Despite supposedly having a lawful alignment, Linxia has absolutely zero respect for the player character's authority, doing her investigation with or without their approval. Her attitude is smug, insulting and even if the player helps her, she does not warm up to them by much.
- Special Guest: Similar to Amiri, she is one of the official Pathfinder iconics, namely the iconic Hellknight.
- Torture Technician: As a hellknight, Linxia specializes in torture to get valuable information and she uses it freely, even on innocent citizens, if it means getting a lead on the man she is looking for.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: If she is fought after the first meeting with Darven, she will escape, teleporting away in plain sight with the player being unable to stop her. During their second fight in Brineheart, she will fight to the death, however.
Ntavi
A caravan guard and old friend of Ekundayo, who returns to his life after he struggles with the loss of his wife and daughter.
- Betty and Veronica: Ntavi is a harsh, cold and seductive woman, who is way more aggressive in her attraction to Ekun than the nice, kind-hearted Elina.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: At first, Ntavi is just introduced as Ekun's old friend, a rival to Elina and a bit shady, but ultimately doing what she believes to be the best for him. Over time, it turns out that she wants to seduce him to worship Calistria and give in to his vengeful urges.
- Disproportionate Retribution: If the player encourages Ekun to let go of his tragic past, Ntavi will try to have Elina killed, simply because she insulted her earlier. Of course, she is also doing it to spite Ekun, who is, by this point, on the verge of getting into a relationship with Elina.
- Old Flame: She and Ekun knew each other for many years, even before he met his wife and daughter and while they initially didn't like each other, they grew on each other and had an on/off relationship in the past. When she returns, it is clear there still is some mutual attraction left and if the player encourages Ekun, he gives in on it.
- Revenge Before Reason: As a devout believer of Calistria (later revealed to have become one of her priestesses), Ntavi specializes in this. She tries to encourage Ekun to not just hunt down the trolls responsible for the death of his family, or not even every troll, but every monster within the kingdom, fully giving in to his vengeful urges. It is implied that she didn't use to be that bad back when she and Ekun were in a relationship.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Her influence on Ekun is less than positive. Having just begun to deal with the death of his family, he changes for the worse if she spends too much time around him, as she openly encourages him to give in to his vengeful urges.
Nyrd Zottenropple
A gnome first encountered during Jubilost's search to restore the gnomish race's immortality, who is suffering from the late stages of the Bleaching.
- Back from the Dead: The player has to fight and kill Nyrd during the War of the River Kings arc, where she joins Irovetti and sends an army of monsters against the player's kingdom. If Jubilost gave Shyka's gift of immortality away to a random gnome, however, she returns later, cured of the Bleaching, as it turns out that she is this random gnome.
- Big Damn Heroes: If she is cured of the Bleaching, she returns during the endgame, at the House at the Edge of Time, where she retrieves Jubilost's body after he has been killed by Nyrissa, in order to resurrect him.
- Disease Bleach: A safe sign that she suffers from the late stages of the Bleaching is the fact that her hair has turned nearly completely white. If she is cured at the end of Jubilost's companion quest, it is restored to its natural brown colour when she returns in Irovetti's palace.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: At first, Nyrd is a neutral character and minor nuisance during the Inconsequential Debates, where she plays an ultimately harmless prank on the other participants. Desperate to prolong her life by feeling anything new and exciting, she joins Irovetti and creates portals to send armies of monsters against the player character's kingdom. She appears as a boss and has to be killed. However, if Jubilost is convinced to use Shyka's gift to cure a random gnome from the Bleaching, she returns towards the end of the War of the River Kings arc, having been made immortal by the spell. She defuses a potential fight between the player's party and her brothers and expresses her gratitude. Later on, she gets even with Jubilost by saving his life at the House at the Edge of Time.
- It Amused Me: Nyrd doesn't have any long-term goals, especially as she is close to death when first met. Everything she does solely aims at amusing herself in some capacity. This is justified, because she is suffering from the Bleaching, which kills any gnome who no longer experiences new and exciting sensations, so she tries to prolong her life by entertaining herself.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: With Jubilost. During their encounters, she often flirts with him, which he reacts to with annoyance and increasing fascination. He can potentially end up saving her life, which she repays by resurrecting him at the House at the Edge of Time. The epilogue mentions that they are often seen having “very sweet and intimate arguments” with each other.
- Troll: A major character trait of Nyrd is that she enjoys shamelessly messing with others. During the Inconsequential Debates, she casts a spell on the rules so that anyone reading them is affected by a random temporary condition, to make the debates more exciting for her. One participant has to shout at random points during their sentence, another is turned into a frog and yet another has to say the word 'tentacles' at specific times. Since she considers it especially amusing, she also subjects her own team to the consequences of the spell, by turning her brothers into frogs.
- Your Days Are Numbered: When first met, Nyrd is actively dying from the Bleaching, the fatal condition that eventually claims all gnomes. In her case, it has progressed to a late stage, leaving her desperate to prolong her life.
Willas Gunderson
A young adventurer and writer, who seeks to follow in Jubilost's footsteps, believing himself to be an aspiring hero, when in fact, he never achieved anything truly impressive. His meddling with things he barely understands ultimately has catastrophic consequences.
- Butt-Monkey: Willas doesn't have it easy. His own lack of talent prevents him from being the hero he wants to be and predictably, his attempts all fail miserably, harming and ultimately killing not just himself, but dozens of others as well. This further drags him down and by the time the player meets him for the last time, he is torn apart by guilt.
- Casanova Wannabe: One of his books can be found, detailing his complicated and ultimately embarrassing encounter with a married woman and the fallout that ensues, written in an obviously biased way that is meant to portray him as a charming ladykiller. He can be romanced by the General in the Varnhold's Lot DLC, showing that he reacts highly awkwardly to someone actually flirting with him.
- Destructo-Nookie: A romantic encounter with the General somehow results in them breaking the bed, furniture, destroying the window shutters and breaking holes in the ceiling.
- Doorstopper: A book he's written can be found in-game, and it apparently fits this trope; We say apparently because it seems the Player Character can only bring themselves to read its table of contents.
- Fate Worse than Death: When the Baron/ess meets Willas again in Vordakai's Tomb, he has not simply been murdered by the undead cyclops, but his spirit has been torn from his body and prevented from passing into the afterlife. He himself is convinced that he is a terrible person, who is going to suffer greatly once he lets go of his grip on the world and stays as a ghost within the tomb, despite the fact that it is tearing him apart and slowly driving him insane.
- The Fool: Between the stories in his book and his adventures in-game, it's clear that Gunderson has fit this trope for most of his life, stumbling into and out of dangerous situations without any clue as to what he's doing.
- Heroic Wannabe: One of his primary motivations is to be a famed adventurer and explorer, similar to Jubilost, whom he considers to be his rival. However, he isn't really cut out for adventure; his attempts don't just fail badly, they bring ruin to himself and others.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Willas considers himself to be a famed and capable explorer, but he is, in fact, largely without real talent and doesn't have any impressive feats to his name.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Willas' action to take a trinket from a tomb will cause trouble for Varnhold and a good chunk of the Stolen Lands.
- Unknown Rival: To Jubilost, who clearly thinks very little of him, whereas Willas considers them to be equals and rivals.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: It is Willas' theft of Vordakai's ring that starts the Varnhold Vanishing arc, stirring the cyclops' wrath and ultimately causing his own death and that of countless others, as well as bringing the young barony of Varnhold to its knees.
- Unwitting Pawn: The abovementioned incident that causes the ruin of Varnhold is not exactly Willas' fault. Instead, he has been manipulated by the Lantern King, who led him to the tomb simply because he considered it amusing at the time.The Horned Hunter: The entire chain of events — everything that has happened and what will happen — was put in motion by Gunderson. That tireless knight, small but quick, keeps jumping onto squares where he's not expected.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Willas has a very naïve view on adventuring, especially considering how dangerous such a line of work usually is in Golarion. The player can either reaffirm his views, or set him straight.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Sees himself as a brave Adventurer Archaeologist and Only Sane Man in a realm of superstitious peasants who talk nonsense about 'curses' and 'ancient dangers' that should be left well enough alone. Unfortunately for him and everyone who has ever agreed to help him, those peasants are correct.
