Backstory

To the patrons of Fernsby's Pub in Westcheap, Lucius Fernsby appears to be the benevolent, if slightly eccentric, human uncle of the establishment's tiefling proprietor, Silas Fernsby Krell. Lucius claims to be a retired importer of exotic curiosities who provided the initial capital for Silas to transform the salvaged barge into a coffee house. He spends his days sitting in the corner booth, tallying ledgers and smiling at the clientele.

In truth, Lucius is a relic of Coia's darker past, specifically the tail end of the Civil War's brutal commerce practices. He was never an uncle to Silas; he was his owner before the laws changed. Lucius has rebranded himself as a legitimate businessman, but his heart remains shackled to the illicit trade of sapient life. He uses the pub's 'barter system' not out of altruism, but to entrap the desperate. When a patron trades a 'secret' for a coffee, Lucius records it. When they trade 'scrap,' he values it for pennies. He is slowly building a web of blackmail and debt upon the 'Unwanted' of Westcheap, turning them into thralls in all but name. He harbors a deep resentment for the legacy of the Dragonbone Vanguard, viewing their liberation of Coia as the destruction of his family's 'property rights.' He possesses a shard of a corrupted Bukhara Spire, which he keeps hidden, whispering to it in the dead of night, hoping to contact the entities that once made men like him kings.