Tessa Rook

Canon Facts

• The Undercurrent: Confirmed as the black-market network name. Tessa is a key node.
• The Clarion Crate: Known as “Siren’s Gift.” The Rust Rangers currently hold it and are auctioning its location at the Tar Pit.
• Tar Pit Auction: Confirmed to take place on Day 8 in the afternoon. Known bidders: Baron Korth, Sedge, and Vesper.
• Dark Iron Scraps: Tessa provided “scraps” of a heavy, dark, iron-threaded fabric (likely Children of the Salt ritual material) to dampen the Siphon Core’s pulses.
• Atlas/Consortium: Reacted with visible trauma/fear to both names. Softened when the party declared opposition to Atlas.
• Zyla’s Code: Highly amused by Zyla’s code phrase: “The blue goose must not poop in the garden.”
• Siphon Core: Witnessed a pulse event; visibly alarmed by the device’s influence.

Description

• Visuals: Mid-40s, skin toughened by sun and salt like old leather. She wears a salvaged Atlas Group officer’s coat, the insignia roughly scratched out, and heavy leather gloves. She carries herself in a way that keeps her left side slightly obscured. A DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check (or a high Passive Perception) reveals her left arm is a modified Iron-Graft piece — instead of the horrifying “body horror” industrial look of the Atlas soldiers, it is polished brass, fine clockwork, and etched with protective runes. It clicks softly as she moves.
• Voice: A low, gravelly rasp. Sounds like she spends too much time breathing in the Rust Bucket’s fumes.
• Vibe: Sharp-eyed and weary. She doesn’t just sell secrets; she weights them.

Personality

• The Pragmatist: Everything has a cost. Not just gold — influence, favors, information. “You aren’t just paying for the rum, kid. You’re paying for the silence.”

• Anti-Authority: She hates Atlas for what they do to their soldiers (the Grafts), but she isn’t a revolutionary. She just wants to be left alone on her floating pile of wood.

• Logistics Expert: She sees the Archipelago as a series of flow-charts. If a ship goes missing, she can tell you where the tides took it.

Quotes

• “Don’t lean on that railing unless you want a swim. It hasn’t been lashed since ‘the Swallow’.”

• “You’ve got that TSL look. High cheekbones and low morals. Who sent you?”

• “We call it ‘the Siren’s Gift’ because whoever holds it eventually starts hearing a call. And then Atlas answers.”

Mechanics

• Stat Block: Use Assassin (MM) but replace Poison with Clockwork Punch (Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, 1d8+3 bludgeoning + 2d6 Lightning damage).

• Expertise: Insight, Investigation, Logistics (Advantage on rolls regarding shipping and travel times).