Marcella¶
Contested
Named in the open question Marcella or Marcayllis at Urdhar; Malathar and the Circle. The Proturan notes give the seat at Urdhar to the human Witch Queen Marcella (S028, S061, S068) and, in the sessions set there, to a Riftborn pirate captain named Marcayllis (S045 to S050). The same question asks who gave the elf Argo his dagger. This page keeps both, Marcayllis as a section below, until a ruling.
Marcella is the Witch Queen of Urdhar, a rock in the Rift; "a VERY old Human", "one of the most powerful Warlocks of the Blue Flame", and a spy for the red dragon Eksuru inside the Circle of Eternity (S028, S061, S068). She was the hidden client behind the theft of the blood of Vixseranyol, and the dwarf Dala Stonefoot is her agent (S061).
Also called: the Witch Queen of Urdhar (S061, S068).
Eksuru's spy¶
The cast list sums her up: "Witch-Queen of Urdhar. Warlock of the Blue Flame and works for Eksuru, spy in Circle of Eternity" (S068). The arcs set her first among Eksuru's people: "Marcella, Witch Queen of Urdhar (in the rift) - a spy within the Circle. She is a VERY old Human" (S028, S061). Through her the Circle's own recovered treasures were turned against it: "The Circle organized the original expedition which recovered the blood + other objects which were intercepted by the party at the request of Hobard (via Marcella)" (S061).
Her reputation reached Hobard only as rumour: "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" (S061). When the White Hand tortured her name out of him, she sent Dala to "tie up loose ends", to kill any of the Hand who knew of her (S061).
The dagger and Malathar¶
She took an interest in the High Elf Argo, an amnesiac former member of the Circle, after the elf Kael'draes "pointed him out as a former member (and rival)". She "has interest in developing his magic and is hoping to make him an ally/minion (from Kael'dras descriptions, a powerful one)", and she "needed a High Elf to revive Malathar". For these reasons "Argo was given his dagger (by Marcella)", and through it she could watch: she "will look in using the dagger" (S061, S028). The older session notes say only that "one of their members", a member of the Circle, "was responsible for giving Argo his dagger" (S060). The dagger is described on the Mala'thazus page; Argo's story is the chronicle's.
Gap
The sources never describe Marcella in person, explain how a human came to be "VERY old", say what her rule at Urdhar consists of, or tell how she came to serve Eksuru. No session set at Urdhar names her.
What the party learned of her is told in the Proturan Campaign.
Marcayllis¶
When the campaign reached Urdhar, its notes put another woman in the castle. "Marcayllis is a RIFTBORN and the head of a mercenary company (privateers/pirates). They use Urdhar as a base, although they do NOT use the town or its docks. She is gone when the players arrive. They do use Urdhar Castle, which is an improved RUIN" (S045, repeated in S046, S048, S049). The castle is "a reinforced ruin where Marcayllis lives" (S045 to S050).
She is the power on the rock. The town's mayor is "appointed by Marcayllis. He is in on it with Marcayllis", and the thirty or so refugees, "outcast Riftborn and Humans", "get by on scraps from Marcayllis and trading with the occasional ship passing through". "Marcayllis has recruited the vast majority of the capable refugees to work with her as pirates"; their ships dock out of sight on the far side of the island and use jumpstones to reach the castle (S045, S049). Malathar's test subjects are "pulled in from Marcayllis's raid or taken from the townspeople", and when the townsfolk ask for help against the "demon" taking them, "Marcayllis has sent her guards out and found nothing" (S045, S049).
Whether Marcayllis is Marcella under a new name and a new people, or a different woman holding the castle for her, the sources do not say; the cast list written after these sessions still calls Marcella "Witch-Queen of Urdhar" (S068). The question is filed.