Grandmaster Vane¶
Grandmaster Vane
| Office | Grandmaster; ambassador to Aldoria |
| Served | Emperor Malakor |
| Ledger-man | Oren |
| Killed by | Tristen, at Blackwater, spring 903 AP |
| Status | Dead |
Locked In public, Kaelen's ambassador to Aldoria, sent by Lord Regent Malakor. In secret, Grandmaster of the Jade Lotus, commanding Kira and all the Ghosts. One of the three men who burned Ghost-9.
"Every man's luck is another man's plan, worn inside out."
Two faces¶
| In public | In secret |
|---|---|
| Ambassador of the Kaelen Empire, sent by Lord Regent Malakor, living in the Eastern Embassy in Solis | Head of the Jade Lotus Syndicate in the field, commanding Kira and every Ghost |
The scheme¶
Vane conspired with Emperor Malakor and Archon Solaris. He contracted the killing of the Trade Prince, signed the secret accord, and helped burn Ghost-9 to bury it. He used Kira as his instrument, and he personally saw Nine burned; Kira lit the match. For a long time he believed Nine was dead.
It was Vane who supplied Archon Solaris with the Lotus poison, Pale Lotus root, that slowly killed King Aldor IV. He also held the gambling debts of Cassian Corvane, the heir Solaris meant to marry to the princess. He once let the Duchess of Thessaly know he had studied her grandson's life in detail.
Campaign One¶
Locked Vane did not know that the rising Lord Protector of the Marches was Nine. He just found Trevor a nuisance: a simple, benevolent hero the common folk loved, who kept stumbling into Vane's plans at Oakhaven, Greyrock and Hollowpass. He was the one mind still hunting the plan under Lord Trevor's luck. He sensed a hidden hand, but pointed it at the crown party, not at Nine.
He carefully sent his own Ledger-man, Oren, into Trevor's household to spy on him. Oren was turned, and from then on Vane received only what Tristen wrote for him.
Death¶
Locked When King Aldor IV appeared healthy before the council, Vane knew the game was over and fled to Blackwater. Trevor found him there. Before he killed him, Tristen revealed who he was: the last thing Vane learned was that the nuisance had been Nine all along.
A real-world comparison
Think of a spymaster who files a report on an annoying local sheriff, never imagining it's the agent he had executed years ago. The worst intelligence failures are the ones where the answer was already in your own files.
Related¶
Sources¶
- The Aldorian Codex
- Kaelen Codex, §0
- Campaign handoff (Campaign Two), §5
- The Ledger of Nine
- Rulings R-006
- Owner's notes of 6 November 2026