Octavian Drell¶
Octavian Drell is a fence who deals in relics and old artifacts out of Bay 14 on the wharves of Saltmoor. Shipments move through his hands discreetly; he keeps to initials and acronyms rather than real names to avoid leaving a paper trail. He is gruff, quick to lose patience with hopeful relic hunters, and by his own admission has been on edge of late.
He knows the Fixer by the name Giovanna, and warmed noticeably the moment that name was spoken — he is her contact in Saltmoor, and the way to a rendezvous with the figure called V runs through him.
On the caves the party had come asking about, Drell was blunt: the Vex Caves in the Harrows can be reached only at low tide, the tide floods back faster in its final stretch than newcomers expect, and those who misjudge the window drown. He put the cave mouth about six miles northwest along the coast, reachable by boat, and called the whole thing a death trap he doubts holds any real treasure. He will buy what hunters bring back to him, but he will not do their hunting for them.
His business sits in one of the cavern-warehouses on the lowest level of the wharves, where goods are moved and stored along the bottom of the cove.
The Path to V¶
When the party came back from the caves, Drell bought the relics and texts they had brought out — his dwarven assessor Bevin appraised the haul at 2,400 gold — though they kept the lens and the throttle for themselves. Shown the lens, he took one look and named its intended buyer: a distinguished client of his with a great interest in retrieving exactly such a device. He offered 2,400 gold for it on the spot.
That client, he confirmed under pressure, is the figure the party had been chasing — V: an eccentric collector of Second Epoch artifacts, a very old elf with a blackened hand. Drell had met him only once and was openly afraid of him, calling him "a creature," warning that the party did not grasp how dangerous he was, and noting that V's wealth and reach made the council of six no obstacle to him at all. He strongly advised against seeking him out.
The party insisted anyway. Drell reaches V by a swift magical correspondence — ink that pools and sinks into the page, and an answer that wells back moments later — and with it he arranged a meeting at his storehouse the next morning. When it came out that the party had deposed his Aristonian contact, Giovanna, Drell turned cold and refused any further help, content to let them keep the appointment he had already made.
At the meeting itself he was a sullen host and nothing more: he barred the warehouse doors, said not a word while V spoke, and the moment V vanished he snarled at the party to get out. Whatever partnership they'd had with him is plainly finished.