Tanwen

Tanwen (TAN-wen) is a merchant and shipper, the owner of Compass Rose Trading, newly established in Sunton. She appears to be in her early-to-mid forties: a striking woman with fair skin, hazel eyes, a light dusting of freckles, and long, thick red hair in natural curls. She dresses in rich greens — emerald, forest, fern, and moss — in clothing expensive but practical enough for warehouses, docks, and caravan yards.

She is friendly, gregarious, generous, clever, and difficult to intimidate; she enjoys laughter, playful teasing, and occasional flirtation, and is best known for treating laborers, servants, small merchants, and officials with the same direct respect. Her reputation holds that she pays fairly, keeps her word, protects people who are being pushed around, and accepts personal inconvenience when she believes something is right.

She chose Sunton over Aberdeen for its lower tariffs, its welcome to independent and foreign merchants, its freedom from the magical clans’ interference, and the day of overland travel it saves southern caravans. In her own words:

“Better roads, kinder taxes, fewer magicians inspecting my undergarments, and one less day spent listening to caravan masters complain about their feet. Sunton was not a difficult choice.”

Her daughter Seraphine is her apprentice in the trade.

The missing son

Tanwen’s youngest son, Rowen, came to Sunton with the family. Soon after their arrival the local boys dared him to cross onto Tyre, and he did not return — two weeks to the day before session 3. Tanwen believes the permanent rainbow bridge drew him into the unknown realm beyond it; he is now counted among the Lost — those who entered Tyre and vanished without returning.

She seeks adventurers willing to learn where the rainbow bridge leads, discover whether her son is still alive, and bring him home if rescue is possible. She offers coin, supplies, shipping assistance, introductions, and the long-term support of Compass Rose Trading — but the request is not merely business. It is the plea of a mother who believes her child is still alive.

Her position is the opposite of Ewein’s, who holds that those carried across the rainbow bridge are beyond rescue and that the way must remain closed.