Morwenna Penola

Morwenna Penola, the Chair Fifteen Feet Away

Morwenna Penola, wife of the Marquis of the Breakers (the lord who defends the coast and governs the region), runs a shipyard north of Havermere so vast that half the families in town earn their bread there, and her influence reaches far beyond the harbor. Where most merchants close their deals over a drink or a dinner, with her you do business in a large, empty room, seated on a chair set fifteen feet from her cherrywood desk, a man-at-arms at your side, while she writes without looking up. No one has ever seen her share a drink with a client, and along the whole coast, the worst thing that can happen to a trader is to owe her a favor.

Describe Her

Your footsteps echo through the empty room all the way to the chair you’re shown, and she makes you wait until she has finished her page; her quill is still moving when she starts to speak. Her voice is crisp, neither warm nor harsh, and never wastes a word. The room smells of ink, sawdust, and the tar drifting up from the shipyard through the open window. She only raises her eyes when you name a figure.

Play Her

Seat the players far from her and let them speak first, keep writing while they lay out their business, then ask a single question, about the figure. Refuse anything that resembles an invitation, a drink, or familiarity. The distance crushes her visitors, but she chose it for her own comfort: she doesn’t like talking to people, and fifteen feet spares her their breath and their effusions. If she agrees to a deal, she demands a favor in return, to be repaid later without saying which, and has it written down in black and white before she holds out the quill. What guides her: everything she writes down, she eventually collects.

What She Says (Rarely)

“Sit down. No, not there. Over there.”
“Your offer fits on one page. Mine takes three. Sign at the bottom.”
“(without looking up from her quill) I’m not asking you for anything today. Sign here.”