Grimwill Locke



Grimwill Lock is a spare young man with a sardonic smile and a cunning eye. The clothes he wears change frequently depending on his situation, but if you look closely, you can always spot a flash of yellow cloth poking from somewhere.

The Rules
There are three rules that must be followed in the art of the long con. They're not hard and fast. They're not written in stone. But for the Game to truly be called "art," the rules must be followed.

1. Do not resort to violence.

There is something genuinely inelegent about violence. It is the lowest and the first resort for brutes and thugs. Therefore, it must be the artist's last. The Game is one of wits, not muscle.

2. The mark must freely give up the prize.

Any second story roof-rat can pick a lock. Guile and deception are the are the fields on which the Game is played. The mark can have the best security wealth can buy, but none of that matters if he gives you the key.

3. You can't con an honest man.

The Game relies on managing greed. Playing to the mark's greed while controlling your own. The all-encompassing greed that clouds judgement and betrays perception. Those without greed cannot be marks. They can be victims, but not marks. Without greed, the Game falls apart.

The rules are simple, but at the same time, extremely difficult. There is nothing stopping a job from succeeding by breaking the rules, but then the thief is reduced to a mere brute, pickpocket, or swindler. No legends are told of these sorts of men. No, legend is the sole purview of the artist.

Background
Grimwill Locke does not like being told what to do. As such, this makes him rather poor at holding down any type of actual job. Grimwill was raised by his single father up until the age of 12, when his father contracted the Black Gasp from his work in the nobles’ manufactories. After that he was taken in by the priests and prostitutes of the temple of Calistria in the heart of Marshlight.

It was at Calistria’s temple that he learned the thieving arts from the priests there. Pickpocketing, lying, false-facing. Positioning your target for the sting.

Now, by the age of adulthood, Grimwill has perfected the art of the long con. His plans are intricate and precise. It’s not about the money for him. It’s all about the Game. The higher the stakes, the more he loves it.

Persons of Interest
Inspector Finwicke Slate: A severe young man with blonde hair, wearing the uniform of the Consul’s Lamplighters. He’s a no-nonsense inspector and Finwicke has dealt with crime all across the Republic. When the city watch is not sufficient for a crime, they can request the Lamplighters to come and take over the investigation. Recently, Finwicke has been in charge of patriciate crime in the capital, Delmar, but has been chafing under the scrutiny of his superiors. He’s come close to catching Grimwill a couple times, but each time he has escaped. Much to Slate's embarrassment.

Erellen Sidera: A half-elf femme fatale and priestess of Norgorber. She's a sophisticated and highly skilled thief, consort, and trickster. Also brought up in the temple of Calistria, she's been Grimwill's rival for years. Where he makes elaborate plans, she gets by on sheer force of charisma and deadly good looks.

Madame Sophia: A graying beauty adorned in yellow silk, Madame Sophia is the high priestess in charge of the Calistrian temple in Marshlight. Oversees the running of the temple, brothel, and thieves' den all operating out of her half-sunken triple-decker galley.