Nysera Krivaltis

“My name may be stripped of heraldry, but my loyalty is carved in stone.”

Madame Selentis is not a queen of criminals or a self-styled ruler of Nulb. She is something far more dangerous—a loyal servant of Supreme Commander Hedrack, sent to the lawless village to safeguard the Temple of Elemental Evil’s covert operations. Once a noblewoman of Verbobonc, she was marked for execution after her father’s betrayal during the 569 CY uprising. Hedrack ordered her extraction and placed her under the watchful direction of Lucius Graeme. She now serves as Hedrack’s political shadow in Nulb, quietly stabilizing the village’s chaotic factions to protect the Temple’s supply routes, recruitment channels, and cult infiltration into the region.

Background: From Noble Exile to Temple Agent

• Family Disgrace: In 569 CY, Lord Eldris Krivaltis was exposed for providing intelligence and aid to the Temple of Elemental Evil. The family was stripped of land and title.
• Lucius Graeme's Intervention: Acting on Hedrack’s orders, Lucius rescued the young noblewoman from prosecution. She vanished from public records and reappeared in Nulb ten years later under Temple protection.
• Purpose Reforged: Nysera no longer seeks restoration or noble status. Her role now is to serve the will of the Elder Elemental Eye and Hedrack's command, ensuring Nulb remains a critical node in the Temple’s resurgence.

I. History: Treason and Exile of House Krivaltis

House Krivaltis once held a modest barony in the northern reaches of the Viscounty of Verbobonc, with estates nestled along the Velverdyva River. In 569 CY, at the height of the Temple’s first uprising, Lord Eldris Krivaltis was revealed to be supplying the Temple of Elemental Evil with grain, coin, and reconnaissance from the Verbobonc court. The betrayal shattered the family’s legacy.

• Downfall: Lord Eldris was executed after The Battle of Emridy Meadows The family lands were seized, and surviving members were declared traitors. Public outcry ensured that the Krivaltis name was scrubbed from noble registers and temple rolls alike.
• Lucius’s Intervention: On direct orders from Supreme Commander Hedrack, Lucius Graeme —courier and spymaster of the Greater Temple—rescued the young Nysera from arrest and certain execution. Her extraction was brutal and thorough, with loyalists of the Temple fabricating a rebel ambush story to explain her disappearance.
• Staged Death: Lucius arranged for a burned noblewoman’s body to be substituted for Nysera, complete with forged documents, false burial rites, and a sealed record of her "death" during transport to Veluna.
• False Identity: From that point forward, Nysera became Madame Selentis, a minor noble widow from the Kron Hills with trade ties to Dyvers. Her true name is classified as a Temple Secret by Hedrack’s direct decree.
• Ongoing Deception: In Nulb, no one—not even cult leaders like Romag or Belsornig —knows her real identity. Her alias allows her to move among pirates, slavers, and smugglers with a carefully crafted aura of legitimacy.
• Legal Status: The Viscounty of Verbobonc still lists Nysera Krivaltis among the “Notable Traitorous Offspring,” and a bounty remains in place for her capture or confirmed death.

“Madame Selentis” is just noble enough to command respect in dockside dealings, and just obscure enough to escape scrutiny by more zealous cultists. Her mask is a masterpiece of survival, forged in the flame of disgrace.

II. Occupation of the Ruined Manor

Following the Temple’s defeat at The Battle of Emridy Meadows, Nulb was purged by the allied forces of Verbobonc and Veluna. The village's central structures—including a small manor—were heavily damaged and left to rot. Years later, the manor was quietly reoccupied by a small band of cutthroat bandits dispatched by Smigmal Redhand.

• Ruined Legacy: The old Manor still bears scorch marks from fire and siege, its walls pitted and overgrown. One tower remains partially collapsed.
• Temple Backroom Deal: Lucius Graeme negotiated with Supreme Commander Hedrack to grant Nysera , as Madame Selentis, control of the manor. The bandits, originally squatters, now serve as her enforcers.
• Bandit Supervision: While these brigands report to Smigmal, they assist Madame Selentis in guarding Temple assets and intimidating rival cult or pirate factions.
• Safehouse: She operates from a run-down, partially fortified residence once used by a band of Temple-loyal bandits.

III. Bandit Allies of Smigmal Redhand

To stabilize Madame Selentis’s presence in Nulb, Hedrack ordered Smigmal Redhand to provide her with a small, capable group of brigands under direct command. Smigmal chose not her best killers—but those she knew would follow orders, sow fear, and report back.

Bandit Captain: Krael Vortash – "The Latchdog"

• Appearance: Wiry and wolf-faced, with crooked yellow teeth and thick mutton chops. Always wears a braided cord of nooses at his hip.
• Personality: Smug, territorial, and deeply loyal to Smigmal. Krael resents Madame Selentis’s haughty demeanor but fears Lucius too much to challenge her openly.
• Background: Once a poacher and smuggler from the Welkwood, Krael survived the Temple’s fall by switching sides twice. His band was “gifted” to Smigmal, who keeps him on a short leash.
• Current Orders:
• Hold the Manor under Madame Selentis nominal authority.
• Monitor her movements and report back to Smigmal.
• Offer muscle and intimidation as needed—but not unconditional obedience.

“Keep the noblewoman safe. If she starts preaching her own gospel, gut her in her sleep.” — Smigmal Redhand’s parting words to Krael.

IV. Key Relationships

Lucius Graeme

• Ally and Handler: Oversees her operations from afar and relays Hedrack’s expectations.
• Dynamic: There’s flirtation, manipulation, and subtle distrust in equal measure.

Smigmal Redhand

• Military Provider: Gave Madame Selentis her current bandit force. Tolerates her only as long as she remains useful.
• Tension: Smigmal views her as a temporary pawn—a shield for Temple activity in Nulb.

Lakash Quallad

Brother and Temple Agent

Nysera’s (Madame Selentis) relationship with her younger brother, Lakash Quallad, is strained at best. Lakash, now a devoted agent of the Temple, views Nysera’s pursuit of redemption as foolish and unattainable. While Nysera sees her brother’s actions as a betrayal of their family’s honor, she cannot deny the potential danger he poses. Their paths are destined to cross again, with consequences that could shape the future of both Nulb and the wider Viscounty.

• Role: Lakash acts as a liaison between Nysera and the Temple. His ultimate aim is to see his sister rise to power in Nulb while he strengthens the Temple’s influence in the Viscounty.
• Personality and Goals: Ruthlessly pragmatic, Lakash views his sister’s ambitions as aligned with his own but would not hesitate to betray her if she jeopardized his standing with the Temple.

V. Activities in Nulb (Spring 579 CY)

• Tavern Diplomacy: Madame Selentis frequents Boatman’s Tavern and the Waterside Hostel to keep ties with pirates like Tolub and Temple agents like Wat and Rentsch.
• Political Mask: Publicly presents herself as a noble lady leaving her life behind, quietly gathering debts and favors among the scum and exiles.
• Temple Strategist: Coordinates with Lucius and Hedrack to turn Nulb into a Temple staging ground once more.

VI. Motivations and Goals

Nysera's (Madame Selentis) ambition burns like a cold fire beneath her elegant exterior. Every move she makes in Nulb is part of a broader design—one that extends far beyond the village’s muddy streets.

• Immediate Goal: Support of Supreme Commander Hedrack for the rise of the Temple of Elemental Evil.
• Power Base Strategy: Sees Nulb’s lawlessness as opportunity: a place to amass wealth, influence, and loyal servants beyond the Viscount’s notice.
• Methods:
• Uses beauty, wit, and cunning to manipulate allies and rivals alike.
• Forges alliances with pirates, tavern masters, and Temple lieutenants while slowly undermining them from within.

VII. Web of Temple Alliances and Rivalries

Madame Selentis operates at the crossroads of the Temple of Elemental Evil’s criminal, cultic, and political activities in Nulb. Though Hedrack is her superior, she walks a razor’s edge between obedience and ambition, manipulating factions to build her base of power without triggering retaliation from rival cult leaders or agents.

Captain Tolub – River Pirate and Water Cultist

• Transactional Rivalry: Madame Selentis and Tolub maintain a facade of partnership, trading favors and threats while undermining each other. Tolub respects her cunning but prepares contingencies for her betrayal.
• Shared Control of Trade: While he rules the river, she manipulates land-based access points under the authority of the Greater Temple. Neither dares move openly yet, but both prepare to do so.

Skole – Defiant Smuggler - Boatman's Tavern

• Persistent Thorn: Skole refuses to work with Madame Selentis. He exploits her rivalry with Tolub and uses Lodriss’ tavern as a haven from her reach.
• Opposition and Tension: Skole openly resists her attempts to collect Temple funds or influence trade, while Lodriss maintains uneasy neutrality. Madame Selentis uses spies and bribes to track their connections to Tolub and Belsornig.

Lodriss – Mistress of the Boatman’s Tavern

• Barmaid Powerbroker: Lodriss, Tolub’s lover and co-owner of the 4: Boatman’s Tavern and Nulb Market, is a formidable rival. Her deep ties with river pirates shield her from Madame Selentis authority of the Temple.
• Social Resistance: Though the tavern is neutral ground, Madame Selentis bandit spies regularly infiltrate the premises disguised as gamblers, laborers, or bar staff.

Captain Marad Vesrek – The Crimson Trader

• Slave Trade Partner: Vesrek’s slaver galley is central to the Temple’s economic machinery in Nulb. Madame Selentis ensures her men coordinate with him to bring slaves to the Greater Temple.
• Political Caution: She views Vesrek’s ties to the Slave Lords and Scarlet Brotherhood as dangerous and keeps him close, yet compartmentalized.

The Crimson Reapers – Cult Enforcers and Executioners

• Occasional Cooperation: Madame Selentis has collaborated with Rom, leader of the Crimson Reapers, when Temple objectives required brutal enforcement in the streets of Nulb.
• Mutual Suspicion: Rom considers Madame Selentis influence over pirates and smugglers a liability to the Temple’s purity. She sees the Reapers as fanatics to be manipulated or avoided.

Dick Rentsch – Waterside Innkeeper and Earth Temple Agent

• Rival Aspirant: Rentsch believes himself the rightful ruler of Nulb and opposes Madame Selentis ties to the Greater Temple. He mocks her aristocratic airs and questions her Temple loyalty.
• Unspoken Understanding: Despite the enmity, both occasionally meet discreetly under Lucius’s watch to coordinate Temple shipments and recruitments.
• Contemptuous Rival: Rentsch views Madame Selentis as a meddling noble brat and resents her presence in the Temple hierarchy. The two maintain a careful distance, each leveraging Constable Edrick to outmaneuver the other.

The 47. Nulb Constable – Puppet Enforcer

• Tool of Control: Edrick Malvaar, once a loyal servant of the Viscount, the constable is now a shadow of himself, surviving on bribes, threats, and drink. Madame Selentis ensures he remains pliable through controlled chaos.
• Controlled Figurehead: Madame Selentis keeps the broken Constable under her sway through subtle bribes, blackmail, and threats. He enforces Temple-friendly policies while maintaining the illusion of independence.
• Temple Ties: While technically neutral, he is pressured by both Rentsch and Lucius, but answers to whichever bribe is largest. Madame Selentis often plays him against Rentsch in a deadly game of fear and favor.

Her Role Under Hedrack

Lady Nysera as Madame Selentis, serves as a strategic field agent and political stabilizer, embedded within Nulb by direct order of Supreme Commander Hedrack, leader of the Greater Temple. She is not a cult leader, priest, or military commander—she is Hedrack’s “civilian” asset, meant to quietly:

• Hedrack placed Nysera, as Madame Selentis in Nulb to act as his proxy. She reports indirectly through Lucius but acts in defense of his long-term plans.
• Protect Temple leadership in the region
• Coordinate logistics and smuggling without drawing attention
• Manage or undermine rival factions in Nulb
• Monitor internal threats and relay intelligence to Lucius and Hedrack

“She is a political shield and sword in velvet—where the prophets make blood oaths, Madame Selentis makes trade pacts and cuts throats behind closed doors.”

How Hedrack Uses Her

Hedrack leverages Nysera as Madame Selentis in a manner similar to how a general uses an embedded spy master or diplomat behind enemy lines:

• To counterbalance Belsornig and Romag, who each control major cults (Water and Earth) with competing ambitions
• To serve as a liaison through Lucius Graeme, his trusted courier and senior spymaster
• To shield Temple operations in Nulb without attracting divine scrutiny from Veluna or Verbobonc's nobility
• To suppress rival factions or cultists, such as Skole, Tolub, or Rentsch, when they threaten Temple unity or supply lines

Her orders are clear:

• Maintain deniable control of Nulb’s pirate, smuggling, and slaving economy.
• Monitor the Earth and Water cult agents and keep their territorial ambitions checked.
• Ensure all Temple supply movements into the upper ruins or moathouse are unimpeded.

Key Temple Agents Connected to Madame Selentis

These individuals are commanded by Hedrack and have significant interactions or overlapping agendas with Madame Selentis:

Lucius Graeme – Handler and Monitor

• Hedrack’s courier and master of espionage. He rescued Nysera from Verbobonc under Hedrack’s direct order.
• He delivers orders, manages her political leash, and ensures she stays loyal. There is tension, subtle affection, and constant manipulation between them.
• Pragmatic Alliance: Lucius and Nysera (Madame Selentis) share a carefully maintained working relationship. He acts as Hedrack’s eyes and ears in Nulb, while she feeds him intelligence and maintains contacts.

Smigmal Redhand – Military Overseer of Brigands

• Smigmal provided Madame Selentis with her current body of bandits under Hedrack’s orders.
• While the bandits obey Madame Selentis day to day, they report directly to Smigmal, who has no illusions about her ambition.
• Smigmal is Madame Selentis military counterbalance—keeping her from becoming too independent while giving her just enough firepower to survive.

Romag – Prophet of Earth

• Hostile peer. Sees Madame Selentis as a rival extension of Hedrack’s will.
• Romag quietly resents her proximity to Hedrack’s inner circle.
• Uses Dick Rentsch a Earth Temple agent and innkeeper of the Waterside Hostel, serves as Romag’s direct representative in Nulb. He openly opposes Madame Selentis connections with the Greater Temple activities.
• Romag tolerates her presence only because Hedrack forbids her removal.

Belsornig – Prophet of Water

• More cautious than Romag. Uses Captain Tolub to counter her land-based influence.
• Belsornig likely suspects her of taxing and infiltrating his smuggling routes—and he’s right.
• Belsornig’s agent, Captain Tolub, competes with Madame Selentis for economic dominance over smuggling and slave transport along the Velverdyva.
• Has not yet moved against her, but is one of her greatest threats.

Wat – Fire Temple Agent

• Bartender of the Waterside Hostel and minor Temple functionary.
• Fire Temple cultist with limited influence, but one of Madame Selentis greatest irritants due to his subtle sabotage and loyalty to opposing Temple factions.

Gefreid Patris – Logistics Captain at the Hunting Cabin

• Madame Selentis does not control him but receives intelligence about slave and supply movement through his operations.
• Gefreid is a brute and zealot, but useful. Madame Selentis considers undermining him should he grow too autonomous.

Lakash Quallad – Brother, Merchant Spy, and Double-Edged Ally

• Acts as a liaison between Verbobonc’s nobility and Temple sympathizers.
• Though loyal to the Temple, his ambitions may eventually conflict with Madame Selentis. They cooperate for now—barely.

Operational Influence Summary in Nulb

Madame Selentis and Temple Operations

Madame Selentis (formerly Lady Nysera Krivaltis) is a shadowy figure operating within Nulb under orders from Supreme Commander Hedrack of the Temple of Elemental Evil. While not a cult leader or prophet, she acts as Hedrack’s strategic civilian agent in the region. The Boatman’s Tavern, along with the adjacent Nulb Market, is one of her primary arenas of influence. Though she does not officially control the tavern, her spies and agents are a constant presence among the tavern’s gamblers, barmaids, and pirates.

• Spies & Influence: Selentis deploys her bandits (provided by Smigmal Redhand) in disguise to monitor conversations, manipulate smuggling arrangements, and report on Water Temple activity.
• Clandestine Operations: She meets informants in shadowed corners of the Boatman’s and occasionally visits the brothel upstairs under different guises using magical disguise.
• Rivalry with Skole: Skole refuses to recognize Selentis's status and openly defies her agents. The tension between them plays out in the form of economic obstruction and rumor mongering.
• Political Chess with Lodriss: Lodriss tolerates Selentis but remains fiercely loyal to Captain Tolub. The women’s factions remain in a cold war of influence over the tavern’s black-market operations.
• Selentis’s Cult Agents: While not overtly cultic in appearance, Selentis’s agents use the Boatman’s Tavern as a covert operations hub. They gather in secluded booths and private upstairs rooms, coordinating efforts that serve the Temple’s broader goals under the guise of casual trade and social contact.

Conflict with Belsornig & Tolub

• Tolub’s Rival: Madame Selentis and Captain Tolub maintain an uneasy alliance. She taxes his land-based smuggling operations while he dominates the river. The Boatman’s Tavern is often their neutral ground, but both have eyes and ears ready for betrayal.
• Belsornig’s Agent Watch: Belsornig, prophet of the Water Temple, views Selentis as a disruptive land force challenging his sacred influence. He uses Tolub to monitor her movements.
• Selentis’s Maneuvering: She manipulates Tolub’s crew with flattery, charm, and charm-person spells, often luring his men into divided loyalties or blackmail schemes.

Ongoing Plotlines and Interactions

• Spy Games: One or more of the Boatman’s barmaids or tavern servers may secretly report to Selentis. These informants feed her critical gossip and provide advance warning of Temple faction movements.
• Magical Intrusion: On occasion, Madame Selentis has been seen entering disguised or accompanied by Krael Vortash, her bandit captain. Her use of suggestion and command spells has disrupted Tolub’s meetings.
• Temple Safehouse: Selentis ensures certain hidden contraband and scrolls are funneled through the back rooms of the market or under the tavern’s floorboards.