Taldor leads the Basilisk's Gaze, a group charged with hunting war criminals from the Last War. Even among the cerebral Medani, Taldor is considered something of an eccentric. He claims to have sharpened his powers of observation and reasoning through rigorous mental training and to have left “extraneous thought and counterproductive emotion” behind. If the typical House Medani member projects calm rationality at all times, then Taldor is like a living statue. Some say he doesn’t even blink without considering eyelid movement first. 

Densewood twigs have been thatched together to create a building that looks like a pile of sticks but has all the strength of stone. The Ship’s Cat is an inn run by a shifter named Harysh (NG female shifter ranger 1/expert 5), and while the neighborhood is questionable, Harysh has a reputation for fair dealing and discretion. The inn takes its name from Harysh’s dozen cats, which share the place with guests. Familiars and animal companions receive excellent care at the Ship’s Cat, and as long as they leave the resident cats alone, they are always welcome in the inn.