Tristen (Ghost-9, "the Hush", "Lord Trevor Phillips")

Locked Protagonist of Campaigns One and Three. Born nameless, raised as a number, crowned as a lie. He is now the fugitive King-Consort of Aldoria.

Names	Born nameless in Ashmar. Nine / Ghost-9, "the Hush", to the Lotus. Lord Trevor Phillips, "the Torchbearer of Blackwater", to Aldoria: a hero first at Oakhaven, named at Blackwater (R-032). Tristen, a private alias Kira gave him, not a formal name, which only Lyra uses now
Looks	Locked Border-born, like Alyssa: Ashmar mixes the two peoples' names and looks. Accent and upbringing would mark him as Kaelen, but as a trained assassin he hides that far better than she ever could (R-023)
Age	About 33 at the start of Campaign Three. Taken from Ashmar at about 5 (R-015)
Titles	King-Consort of Aldoria and Lord Protector of the Marches (the "Warden"). Both are meaningless in law now, and dangerous in practice
Nature	Cold, patient, precise. A master manipulator who wears warmth like a costume, and has worn "Trevor" so long that parts of it have become real
Skills	Stealth, poison, alchemy, disguise, surgical killing, social engineering, Lotus tradecraft, intelligence networks. Speaks Aldorian, Kaelen and Lotus cant fluently
Tools	Pulse-stopping herb (fakes death), Pale Lotus root (slow poison), Sunstone reagents (explosive, light-based)
Status	Alive, in hiding with Queen Lyra on a remote coast

Origin

He doesn't remember Ashmar. Lotus scavengers found a boy small enough to fit under a fallen beam, silent for so long that the crew thought he was mute. There was no one left to say his name. So they gave him a number, because, as the scavenger crews say, "a number has no mother to come looking."

He was raised in the Lotus cadre, where children are taught that affection is a "soft place" an enemy will find. There, Nine and Twelve secretly gave each other names: she called him Tristen, and he called her Kira. These are aliases the two children gave each other, not formal names. Neither has a family name, and neither name is recorded anywhere in the Lotus. (R-005)

As Ghost-9 he became the Lotus's apex of stealth, poison and surgical killing. Like the other Numbers he carries a code-name: "the Hush". The scavengers thought the boy under the beam was mute, and as an operative, rooms went quiet after he had been in them. (R-026)

The signature: "Do you fear death?"

He would ask a helpless, defeated enemy "Do you fear death?"

• Those who said no were spared and mutilated as living messages.
• Those who admitted fear got a coin toss. Win, and live as a collared servant. Lose, and die cleanly.

It's a legend in the Empire, where the coin toss reads as deeply pious (see Kar'esh). Using it now would tell the Empire exactly who he is.

DM only: where the question came from

The Rise of Ghost-9 says he never understood that the question was Kira's. He aimed it at every stranger's throat because it could no longer be aimed at hers.

Life in brief

See The campaigns for the full sequence.

1. Taken from the ash of Ashmar and raised as Ghost-9.
2. Ordered to kill the Trade Prince of Aldoria. He did, and Vane, Solaris and Malakor had him burned. Kira, as Vane's instrument, lit the fire and took the Ghost-Zero seat. (R-006)
3. Survived with the pulse-stopping herb, the drains and the river. Vesper pulled him from the water and nursed him back. (R-004)
4. Over three years, rebuilt himself as "Trevor Phillips" and destroyed his betrayers from inside Aldoria's court. It began at Oakhaven, as Bram's caravan guard. He killed Kira, Gorath, Vane and Solaris. Malakor stayed out of reach.
5. Married Lyra and became King-Consort.
6. Fled with her when Solis fell.
7. Now the Imperial Council knows he is the Ninth. Ordinary Aldorians don't know yet.

Vesper and Crow

Locked Vesper and Crow are the closest thing Tristen has to family, and both would die for him.

	Vesper	Crow
Debt	She pulled him from the river and hid him for six months. He freed her from the boss who would have sold her	He gave Crow back a voice, by answering him in Lotus sign, and a name
Role	His eyes: the network, the Ring of Ghost-Zero, his own Syndicate	His hands: locks, graves and the knife at the throat

What holds them together: all three were thrown away by the people who made them. See Vesper.

Who knows what

Person	Knows
Vesper	Everything. She pulled him from the river and nursed him back, and she's the only person who knew him before "Trevor"
Crow	His true nature, from before the conquest
Oren	His true nature. He was Vane's personal Ledger-man, deduced Ghost-9 from the coin ritual, and defected
Queen Lyra	The name "Tristen". She has just learned from a message that he was a Lotus assassin, and they haven't talked about it yet
The Imperial Council	That the King-Consort is the Ninth, taken from Ashmar
Four	Believed it first and kept quiet for two years. His sealed confession exposed it
Edric Morrow	Nothing. He doesn't know Tristen killed his grandfather

At the start of Campaign Three

He should feel odd. (Use this, don't announce it.) Three men disowned him. He killed two. The third, Malakor, was killed by a girl from his own burned village, someone he shared one Midwinter with, using a weapon he has never heard of. He never got the chance. She died partly for his secret, and Ashmar, a place he remembers only as ash, is now a pilgrimage site for her.

Mechanics

Stats weren't carried over. A sensible default is a level 11–12 Rogue (Assassin) with proficiency in a poisoner's kit and alchemist's supplies, high DEX, INT and CHA, and Expertise in Stealth, Deception, Insight and Persuasion. Confirm with the player first.

Through the years

Ghost-9, "the Hush", before the fire (about 899 AP)

"Trevor Phillips", caravan guard and the hero of Oakhaven (902 AP)

Lord Trevor, Lord Protector of the Marches (902–903 AP)

King-Consort of Aldoria, before the war (904–906 AP)

Sources

• The Rise of Ghost-9, Chapter One
• Campaign Three handoff, §2 and §4
• Campaign handoff (Campaign Two), §4–§6
• The Ledger of Nine
• Rulings R-004 to R-006