Larethene Haxx

The Spider of Silk and Secrets

Lady Larethene Haxx, wife to Lord Mayor Marakios Willem Haxx, is a figure as bewitching as she is divisive in the glittering courts and shadowed salons of Verbobonc. Known by many as “The Spider of Silk and Secrets,” she is the silken thread weaving rumors, scandals, and subtle manipulations through the noble society of the Viscounty. Born to lesser nobility in Veluna and elevated by marriage into House Haxx, she has since made herself indispensable to the city's social order—charming, scheming, and seducing her way through power.

Physical Description

Larethene is a vision of nobility clad in scandal. With cascading black hair often braided with pearls and silver threads, and storm-grey eyes that miss little, she is always attired in the latest high fashion, favoring flowing gowns with plunging backs, revealing her trademark spiderweb tattoo near the shoulder—an enigmatic mark whose origin she refuses to discuss.

Key Visual Traits

• Grey eyes with keen, calculating intensity
• Dresses in deep violet, black, or crimson silks
• Delicate spiderweb tattoo traced in silver ink over her left shoulder
• Perfume of jasmine and nightshade—a scent said to linger in closed rooms

Background and History

Born Larethene Vonnia in Veluna’s lesser court, she was groomed early for diplomatic seduction rather than martial power. Her marriage to Marakios Haxx was no accident—arranged as a calculated bond between two rising powers: her family of courtly whisperers and his mercantile empire. While Lord Haxx navigated trade and politics with ruthless ambition, Larethene embedded herself into the heart of Verbobonc’s elite, becoming its unofficial mistress of ceremony.

However, her ambition far outpaced her husband’s control. While he dealt with tariffs and councils, Larethene spun webs in parlors, masked balls, and temple receptions. Over time, she became less a noble wife and more a queenpin of gossip, blackmail, and courtly leverage.

Important Dates

• 553 CY: Born in Veluna to Baron Leont Vonnia
• 570 CY: Marries Marakios Willem Haxx
• 574 CY: Scandal erupts after her affair with the Rhennee Rhenn-folk adventurer Resputa is made public
• 576 CY: Now a fixture of the Council's courtly functions and private gossip rings

Personality and Motivations

Larethene is charming, caustic, and intellectually predatory. She thrives on social maneuvering and sees all interactions as a contest of wit and subtlety. While her husband is coldly pragmatic, she is flamboyantly manipulative—a connoisseur of secrets. She harbors no illusions of love or virtue, only the pursuit of influence and spectacle.

Her motivations are layered. She seeks freedom from her husband’s utilitarian worldview, the elevation of her daughter Savra Haxx to power (despite their fractious relationship), and the slow seduction of Verbobonc’s nobility into a courtly theater where she is always center stage.

Core Traits

• Flirtatious: Uses sensuality to disarm and manipulate
• Intelligent: A tactician in courtly politics
• Ruthless: Keeps dossiers of secrets and scandals on every noble
• Vain: Obsessed with her legacy and legend
• Resentful: Feels caged by House Haxx’s brutal pragmatism

Political Role and Influence

Larethene is not a formal political actor, but her web of influence is deep. Through salons, gossip, and masked revels, she guides opinions, sabotages rivals, and promotes causes beneficial to House Haxx —or detrimental to its enemies.

Her most powerful weapon is her extensive network of spies, servants, disgraced nobles, and courtesans. Through them, she keeps her finger on the pulse of the Viscounty’s elite. Many a council vote or noble marriage has been shifted by her whispered words.

Tools of Influence

• “The Velvet Net”: An informal network of noblewomen, servants, and spies loyal to her
• Secret Letters: Maintains a black book of secrets and leverage
• Masquerade Balls: Hosts infamously decadent events where deals are made in whispers and shadows
• Clerical Ties: Patroness of the lesser shrines of Wee Jas and Syrul in the artisan district

Religion and Faith

Larethene professes casual reverence for Wee Jas, the Suel goddess of vanity, death, and magic. She patronizes her temples with coin and cosmetic piety, but few doubt her devotion is more symbolic than spiritual.

She also dabbles in the teachings of Syrul, the goddess of deceit and lies—unsurprisingly.

Religious Practices

• Wears a silver eye-shaped pendant of Syrul beneath her gowns
• Sponsors veiled priests of Wee Jas to perform funerary rites for fallen nobles
• Consults with seers and illusionists regularly

Scandals and Secrets

Her greatest scandal was her affair with Resputa, but many others linger just beneath the surface. Rumors suggest she may have arranged the exile of rivals, bankrupted enemies through false investments, and even poisoned a former mistress of her husband.

Known Scandals

• The Resputa Letters (574 CY): Still missing—rumored to reveal political blackmail material
• The Godeleva Feud: Ongoing public spat with Lady Godeleva Langmuir, whose daughter is betrothed to Savra
• Whispered Involvement: Ties to a failed smuggling operation on the Velverdyva traced back to her jewelry shipments

Notable Allies and Enemies

Allies

• Lady Vessindra Tilani: Head of a minor noble house and gossip confidante
• Cornelius Arx: High Priest of Trithereon, a reluctant ally with mutual interests in weakening Lord Haxx’s political foes
• Lady Nysera Krivaltis of Nulb: Occasional correspondent, sharing whispers from the underworld of Nulb

Enemies

• Godeleva Langmuir: Longstanding social rival
• Bishop Haufren: Detests her moral corruption and influence
• Savra Haxx: Estranged daughter turned air cultist and rogue noblewoman

Adventure Hooks and Campaign Uses

• The Resputa Letters: Adventurers are hired to retrieve or destroy love letters now in the hands of a smuggler in Nulb.
• Masquerade of Masks: A grand ball hosted by Larethene becomes the site of political intrigue, assassination, or even an attempted coup.
• Gossip as Weapon: PCs must curry favor with Lady Haxx to spread (or squash) rumors that could change the outcome of a major election.
• Daughter’s Redemption: Larethene secretly hires the party to find Savra and bring her home—or ensure she never returns.