Sedge

A local Undercurrent fence who bid at the Tar Pit auction believing he worked for a wealthy mainland collector. He was Elder Kaia’s clean hands, and he never knew it.

[!summary] Named to the party in S08 as one of three known rival bidders, seen bidding in S09, and seen giving up and leaving The Drift by boat in S10. He has never spoken to the party.

Canon Facts

• Named before he was seen (S08). Tessa Rook gave the party the list of known bidders for the Siren’s Gift: Baron Korth, Sedge, and Vesper. At the Gilded Keel the party caught the names on the air without learning who they attached to — the DM’s line was that these were “underground folk,” names without faces.
• He bid, relentlessly (S09). At the Tar Pit the party watched him pass off his gold in a steady stream, immediately re-offering on top of every one of Baron Korth’s bids. Korth eventually stood up and complained about being outbid with “fake money.” The party’s read on Sedge was that he didn’t care — he was simply going to keep bidding.
• He did not win. The auction collapsed into fog and theft before a hammer fell.
• He gave up and left (S10). The party spotted him boarding a boat out of The Drift — not excited to leave, visibly unsuccessful, bailing on whatever he had come to do.
• Tessa could not place him. Asked about the bidders, she had nothing on Sedge — she did not know exactly who he was.
• He was Kaia’s proxy, and oblivious. Established in prep and confirmed by its consequences: Kaia ran a two-pronged strategy — win “legitimately” through a third party to avoid a political scandal with Atlas, while keeping Brother Lorn in the room as a fail-safe. Lorn knew Sedge was a pawn. Sedge did not know Lorn existed. When Sedge lost the bid, Lorn’s salt bombs were the backup plan.
• His failure is why Lorn came to Isla Hela. Lorn sailed home in bitter defeat aboard The Pale Wake, stalling at the Stilt Docks out of shame at having to tell Kaia that Sedge lost the bid — which is how he ran into the party and died. Sedge’s bad night is the hinge of Session 11.
• The party still does not know he was a Children of the Salt proxy. To them he is a name that bid hard and sailed away.

Description

• Visuals: Established only as a heavily-cloaked figure who smells of brine and incense, with a nervous twitch. His face has never been described.
• His bidding table (S09, read aloud): a string of black pearls, a carved bone disk, and a sealed glass vial of dark water. The Siphon Core leaned toward them — these were culturally significant relics, not currency. Prep also has him bidding with sacks of tarnished silver and promises of “Sea-Mother’s Favor.”
• Voice/Mannerisms: Never spoken to. Plays it grey and functional; the twitch is the only tell.

Roleplay Traits

• Ideal: A job is a job. The patron’s money is good and the patron’s business is the patron’s.
• Bond: Whoever is paying this week.
• Flaw: Incurious in a way that will eventually get him killed. He was handed a spending cap and holy relics by people who smell of brine and incense and did not ask why.

Background

A low-tier fence on the Undercurrent circuit at The Drift, handed a budget and a story about a private mainland collector. He believed the story. Prep notes have him low on funds but willing to use force — a man out of his depth bidding against a Baron and a pirate with relics he does not understand.

Mechanics / Stats

• No stat block exists and none should be invented. He was written as a low-threat social presence (09_Plan.md §139 rates him Low threat) and never entered combat.
• If he must fight, run a generic low-CR humanoid — but note that the S09 encounter never armed him; his “force” was rated as a bluff, not a capability.

Relationships

• Elder Kaia — his true patron, whom he has almost certainly never met.
• Brother Lorn — the fail-safe standing in the same room, unknown to him. Now dead.
• Baron Korth / Vesper — rival bidders. Korth publicly accused him of bidding with unreal currency.
• “Rusty” Jax — the auctioneer he was bidding to.