Northern NPCs

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People we know about in the North.

The Family of the Khan

  • The Great Khan - now rumored to be in failing health (whether natural or man-made is unknown)
  • The Beastmaster of Men - now the Necrobeastmaster of Men and going for Necro-Beastmaster of War, the first son of the Great Khan.
  • The Second Son of the Great Khan - a beast master and ally of Wolf, beloved of Shen Mei

The Great Khan and his sons are mentioned in many runs.

Information Hunt - the clan might even impress the Great Khan
Life in the North - the name of the clan (Borjigin) which has the khan trying to become Great Khan by uniting the clans.
Terra Cotta - Mei explains a little bit further - the large Wolf spirit is allied with some of the northern beastmasters; in exchange for their aid putting Wolf in the Imperial Cycle, he is aiding them in overthrowing the Great Khan.
Bear for Sale - A vision of Lok Mo's past shows him the trio of northerners bowing before the Great Khan, as they go off to get the blood of the great enemy, to forge the Spear of Victory.
Mini Mammoths - He has been raising mammoths in this camp - he brings them to west, to the camp of the Great Khan, when they are more grown. "Go and talk to the Great Khan's son. He will tell you many things, for he is a beastmaster of men!"
Driven to Distraction
Xian fills everyone in on Hana's briefing: the Great Khan has two sons. The first son is the "Beastmaster of Men." They both want to be Great Khan in the future. Son One wants to attack now (and win), while Son Two thinks that this whole attacking every year thing is wasteful - he wants to build up strength and attack in twenty years (and win). The second son has cut a deal with Wolf to somewhat sabotage this year's campaign, which is why the attacks are happening on the Cycle Spirit days. The interesting thing is, nobody talks to the Great Khan except his sons, but both of them do seem to behave as if he's still alive, despite a lot of mystery.
Not on Schedule - "The son of the Khan will not be happy, but you have earned this with your blood."
"As you know, the Great Lord had made contacts and influenced events so the attacks would fall on our days of power. But it was too blatant - he is, perhaps, not strong in subtlety. The Beastmaster of Men realized that the intelligence leaks were coming from wolves, and had the beastmasters lay traps. The next battle will occur unscheduled, tomorrow - well before the Empire is ready. But I am told to say unto you that if you go to this battle, you will lose. The battle will not be a victory for the Empire. Too much is arrayed against it. Given the other thing you have done today, you would not die were you to go to the battle, but you will lose. The Beastmaster of Men is using much of his strength on this battle now, since it is perhaps the only true surprise he will get. Once that strength is expended, we will be able to take back what is lost, and move forward to defeat him. This is what my Lord says will happen." -Ni Cheng
Escort Mission - He explains to her that the Beastmaster of Men is the one true lord. (a corrupted scout)
Against the North! - The Beastmaster of Men (calling himself the Great Khan, which Xian particularly notices) calls on everyone to serve him. (during the battle)
Drawing Blood - (The Circle of Blood) They are not the Great Khan, and they are not of the clans.
Finding them is usually hard. They gather irregularly, but they are awaiting the judgement of the Great Khan, so they are north of his camp now. The Life Masters clearly find it distasteful that the Great Khan presume to judge them, though the Circle were fools to have let themselves into a situation where the Great Khan does judge them.
Merit wonders if the Circle has anything to do with the Beastmaster of Men. The Life Masters admit that they do not know; some speculate that the Beastmaster of Men gained his power from them after defeating them, but they think that seems too great a power for a simple boon. But if anyone could do such a thing, it would be they.
The Benevolent Fist of Xiao Fa - However, Ni Cheng is also obliged to provide information that wolves have learned in fulfillment of former deals.
"As you know, the Beastmaster of Men escaped back to his stronghold to increase his power for the next season of war. His brother is still independent, because he has assistance from us. But the Beastmaster of Men is now a Necrobeastmaster of Men, so he will be more fearsome than he was in the last season of war."
Zombie Statistics - Who does the necrolord work for? He'll work for anyone who pays him - even the Great Khan.
Tripartite -These three scouts (named) met the Beastmaster of Men during their patrols, and were controlled by him. He determines that he has been "beastmaster of men’d" into wanting to change the patrol routes to divert attention. He also checks what Broken Sword and Yue Mei can tell him about the Beastmaster of Men's evil plans
Black Ravine - Listening to the guards talk, it sounds like they are all beastmastered, and they're waiting for the Beastmaster of Men to return and turn the current prisoners.
Beating the Drum - The Pagoda of the Moon, having not fallen, is able to provide some intelligence - the Beastmaster of Men has worked with the Beastmasters of the Direwolves, and they have created what we will call "werewolves", which were unleashed on the Arcade along with the direwolves during the attack. Basically, they are men who are animal enough that ordinary beastmasters can master them.
Saving Spear Carrier Ri - The guard, a fanboy of the Beastmaster of Men, is suddenly very excited. Is he outside Daizhou now?
Walking Behind - Hana has some knowledge of how things are going in the north. The clans are not fighting amongst themselves, in part because the Beastmaster of Men tells them not to, and in part because fighting the Empire is a better source of glory. She has heard rumors of a secret underground opposing the Beastmaster of Men, led by someone close to him, but this seems implausible, since everyone close to him falls under his beastmastery.
Northern Tents - the party goes to the current war camp headquarters of the Beastmaster of Men.
""I've figured it out. The younger brother is the younger brother of the Beastmaster of Men. It's pretty terrible, which makes it absolutely compelling."" -Cai Wen
The clansmen are speaking of the Great Khan, who is still near death. Well, at this point he seems to be past near death, but not actually dead. They hope that he will hang on long enough to clear the succession, and put the nonsense of his younger son down.
The Life Masters know, even if no one else does, that the reason the Beastmaster of Men cannot control his brother is that no matter how depraved his thinking, he cannot believe his blood brother is simply an animal.
Prison Break - Anyway, Master Zhou is going North to rescue prisoners from the Beastmaster of Men.
"The Beastmaster of Men will imprison all whom he cannot control." -Purple 2
The scout was able to dodge beastmastery, as he says he is a powerful battlemage.
She says that she cannot be controlled by the Beastmaster of Men, because she is no man.
He could be controlled by the Beastmaster of Men, but he would heal the effect away afterwards, because he was blessed by the Life Masters when he was a baby.
One was immune to the tao, and the Life Masters couldn't read him either.
One had two souls, and said that only one could be beastmastered at a time.
Finally there was one who erected a barrier of southern mysticism. (That last one, the party concludes, was probably Gi-Su's apprentice.)

Other Northerners

Abominations and Horrors


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