Of the Arkonas

[Zyraen]

Streetwise 27 (by Loli)

The Arkonas noble family, the first noble house that maintains their old palace in Korvosa. Some say they are the true nobility of Korvosa, with the later families like the the Arabastis (of which Ileosa is a member of, by marriage) taking prominence some time later. The Arkonas are darker skinned than most of the locals, ie the Shoanti (not red indians), the Varisians (not gypsies), and the Chelaxians (not white colonials), and have long maintained a sort of ongoing friendly trading relationship with the Vundranis (not indians).

The family is currently led by Glorio Arkonas, said to be a youthful and powerful looking dark skinned man. However, word is that he has a cunning and capable sister named Vimanda Arkonas, and the siblings often engage in "friendly" rivalry over who is the more capable and skilful one.

When Korvosa saw better days as a flourishing port city, there were many ins and outs of Vundrani from old Korvosa. Even today, with the blockade/quarantine by the Gray Maidens, there are still foreign Vundrani seen about the western side of the city. Rumour has it the Arkonas have some water inways and presumably outways from Old Korvosa, but no one can be sure. Still, the more interesting query is why have the Arkonas themselves not simply fled Old Korvosa, especially with the blockade/quarantine?

[Zyraen]

Arcana 30 (nat20 by Murmur)

Murmur knew a fair bit about Vundrani back in his home country where they had many dealings due to proximity, and they generally kept their hands visible, especially when eating where they relished eating with their hands. However, on querying about those in Korvosa, he realised most of the Vundrani described in Korvosa wore gloves, even for many years in the past, way before the plague happened. In addition the gloves were not so practical sometimes, being more like soft mittens rather than the usual five-fingered gloves, and notably Glorio Arkonas and his sister Vimanda Arkonas were certainly never seen without them. Indeed, it seemed to be a tradition passed down by the family.

Drawing upon what he knew, Murmur concluded that most of the Arkonas or at least some notable members or agents of the family were probably Rakshasas, man-eating native spirits of sorts that could easily take on the form of a man, save that their fingers and thumbs were often the wrong way. He also recalled about the last time they heard about Rakshasas, which was the lesser Rakshasa they found on Verik Vancaskerskin, in the guise of a dagger. Presumably also, it had something to do with Vimanda, whose name they might have recalled Verik or one of his men mentioned in the past.

Rakshasa tend to have considerably high Spell Resistance based on their ranks as Rakshasa, and apart from their natural weapons, can use various methods to influence their target with the likes of suggestion and even dominate. They also have access to spells such as lightning, burning hands, invisibility, etc, and at higher levels ice storm, dimension door, flame strike. They're generally weaker to good-aligned effects.

[Zyraen]

( Arcana 30 in conjunction with Streetwise 27 )

Considering the situation of the Arkonas, and the changes given Queen Ileosa in charge in the form of an apparently invincible "witch", the party reasonably concludes that the Arkonas is likely very uncomfortable with this situation. Certainly although the noble family was just "one of many" in the past, for a "family" of Rakshasas, it stands to reason they could easily turn members of other families to their advantage, or simply assassinate one of them if things got troublesome, making them the de facto "shadow rulers" of Korvosa. However, with Ileosa's ascendancy, and the added presence of the bloatmage Togomor now, that might no longer be possible. Indeed, the quarantine/blockade of Old Korvosa might be due to Ileosa herself perhaps being somehow aware or wary of the Arkonas, possibly intending to force the family to wither and die along with the rest of the population, or to leave the city and start afresh elsewhere away from being a thorn in her side. Regardless, given the current situation, the days of the Arkonas in Korvosa were numbered.