Maurits "Mongoose" van Aelst

🧾 What the Players Know (DC 10 Knowledge: Local)

Maurits van Aelst, better known by his moniker "The Mongoose", is a name whispered in smoke-filled taverns and shadowed marketplaces throughout Appledorn and beyond. A former noble from Seregon—disgraced, disinherited, and vanished—he reemerged on the frontier as a well-dressed ghost, too smart to pin down and too slippery to kill. Known for his silver tongue, flawless manners, and unsettling ability to be exactly where he’s not supposed to be, Maurits deals in secrets like other men deal in coin.

He’s a smuggler, a spy, and an information broker who knows how to make problems disappear—sometimes people, sometimes just inconvenient truths. The Wezen Brothers, the Fossicker’s Guild, even a few corrupt officials—everyone in Appledorn wants his services, but no one knows quite where his loyalties lie. Recently, word is he’s being hunted by the Sunblade Inquisitors, the elite agents of the Court of the Sun. Some say he betrayed a high judge. Others whisper he stole something too precious to forgive.