Hobard¶
"The little I can give you is the name of your killer: Her name is Marcella." — Hobard, in the Pale Pit (S061)
Hobard was a relic-hunter, fence and smuggler of Spillwater in Proturas, who ran a small crew out of his relic shop in Dockside and a coal business beside it (S068). His crew's theft of the blood of the primal dragon Vixseranyol drew him into the war between the Circle of Eternity, the White Hand and the witch-queen Marcella. He was captured, tortured and killed, and his spirit was found trapped in a cell beneath the mansion of the warlock Valtor (S061, S042).
The crew¶
Hobard was a Freelancer of the Dockside Cutters: "a tolerated non-guild thief who knows not to make trouble for the guild and who may be hired out for some jobs" (S029). His shop, Hobard's Relics, stood in Dockside, and Ergstrom's Coal Distributors was "Hobard's Coal-selling business in Spillwater" (S068). He paid off warehouse guards as a matter of routine, on the understanding that his people would not take enough to get the guard in trouble (S036). He kept his clients' names in code in his books (S074), and his agents reached as far as Banbridge in the High Vale (S047, S102). By the time of the campaign he was old, "too old" for physical work, running only the shop and "keeps saying he is going to retire with his fortune … but hasn't done it yet" (S074). He took in a kobold child "to keep you safe" and bought a slave cheaply from a trader (S074).
The blood and his death¶
On a tip from the coded client K31 his crew raided a warehouse of the Blue Banner Brothers and came away with a small mithril dragon skull, a dragon-egg stand that was the Dracius Cradle, and the Blood of Vixseranyol (S036). The goods had been recovered by an expedition the Circle organized, "intercepted by the party at the request of Hobard (via Marcella)" (S061).
The White Hand "captured Hobard for stealing it and to force a confession about who he gave it to (Marcella)" (S061). Hobard's own prying had exposed him: he had learned that the original buyer worked through the White Hand, "and their contact was Valtor" (S061). Under torture he gave Marcella's name, and the White Hand passed him to the Stone Syndicate, whose boss meant to fight him in the Pale Pit himself, "as he is a known local figure" (S061). His confession to his crew:
Quote
I have betrayed our client to agents of the White Hand. I am sorry, I resisted the torture, but was unable to resist those haunting eyes … I have killed us all, I am so sorry to get you all tangled up in this. We are all dead now. The little I can give you is the name of your killer: Her name is Marcella. She is one of the most powerful Warlocks of the Blue Flame and is not someone to be trifled with. I have heard others refer to her as the Witch Queen of Urdhar, but I am unsure of the significance of this and I don't know what or where Urdhar is. … If my estimation of her is correct, she will seek to tie up any possible loose ends that know about the blood, which, my loyal friends, includes yourselves. (S061)
Valtor was overheard "talking about package (Hobard) being delivered (to the Circle) and info being extracted (Marcella)" (S061). In the prison under Valtor's mansion, cell three held "The corpse of dead human. Hobard. His spirit is trapped here" (S042). The Cutters seized his property; "Hobard's place is no more, them Cutters have already seized it all" (S062).
Earlier accounts¶
The first arcs had the Drowned Ring holding him, negotiating to sell him to the Cutters "(who REALLY want him)", and had him confess "who he stole the blood for (Dala)", Marcella's agent Dala Stonefoot (S028). Later notes send him from the White Hand to the Stone Syndicate instead, and the name he gives is Marcella's (S061).
Gap
His people, age and origins are not given, nor exactly when and by whose hand he died between the Pale Pit and Valtor's cells.
How his crew carried on after him is told in the Proturan Campaign.
Crew and contacts¶
Anita¶
"Hobard's partner, runs his shop. Now works for the Cutters" (S068). In the earlier arcs the Cutters "have already had Anita sign over all Hobard's property (she is nowhere to be found … she has skipped town)" (S028).
Ben¶
"Friend of Langston. 20s. Muscle and stealth. Confident. Part of Hobard's crew" (S068).
Finny¶
"A big female human, part of Hobard's crew" (S068).
Giles¶
A wagoner of Banbridge who hauls goods for the Silver Vein Transport Co and is "an informant for Hobard" (S047, S102). He met Hobard's people at the Silver Plow, told them of the abandoned expedition camp of Radulf's Relics & Recovery and drove a second wagon to it (S047). He caught the plague of Malathar's tomb (S058, S060) and is listed "(Dead)", "an agent for Hobard in Banbridge, helped the players at Malathar's tomb" (S068).
Jack¶
"Member of Hobard's crew … died during warehouse op" (S068).
K31¶
The code name in Hobard's books for the client who bought the silver knife his crew stole from a man named Helmut, and for two other warehouse thefts of "slightly magical relics (one a sealed jar and the other a small metal statue)" for 400 and 500 gold. K31's drop was "under a loose board at a different warehouse" (S074). The tip for the Blue Banner Brothers raid came from K31 (S036; the same note also writes it X31). Who K31 is, the sources do not say; the warlock who traced the knife found that its buyer "has gone through some magical effort to conceal their identity" (S074).
Langston¶
"Middle aged human rogue, good with disguises, often the face of smuggling ops. Part of Hobard's crew" (S068).