Kaitor the Red is the spokesman of the Council of Delvers, the community of adventuring parties that operates from Glastumville and descends into the Ardis Vala Mega-Dungeon. Since about 2989 AEP he has been the parties’ direct contact with the warden, Sir Glastum.
| Type | Character |
| Role | Spokesman of the Council of Delvers |
| Group | Los Lanza del Cromático |
| Spanish entry | Kaitor el Rojo |
Description
The post is not formal but operational recognition by the active parties. When a common matter arises (division of dungeon zones, dealings with the wardenship, major threats), the captains choose the spokesman, usually by acclamation after brief debate in the main tavern. Kaitor has been reconfirmed for several consecutive seasons without serious challenge.
The Decadian archive places the root of Kaitor in provincial western Archontean, possibly from the verb kaitein, “to guard the door” or “to watch”. It is a working name: he is not noble and has no known surname. “The Red” is for his thick red beard, knotted at the belt on descent days and combed for village feasts. His hair, also red, is fading with age while the beard keeps its color; fellow mercenaries joke that when the beard turns white the nickname will change.
History
He has been an active mercenary captain in Glastumville for about ten years. Before that, according to fragmentary provincial records, he served:
- on the western marches of the Empire, against the barbarian kingdoms, in creature-hunting and long-patrol companies (never in direct imperial service);
- at Eusebio’s Pass, south of the valley, clearing out bandits;
- in the minor ruins of Arcturos, on semi-clandestine expeditions with poorly disciplined Archontean groups.
He knows dungeon traps, recognizes Varumani and goblin tactics, and quickly sizes up new parties seeking a license to descend. His own party, Los Lanza del Cromático, is named after the chromatic dragon of the Pact of Elías, under whose “informal patronage” it jokingly claims to be. The main tavern of Glastumville, where he receives other captains, bears the same name by custom.
Relationship with the warden
Kaitor deals with Glastum directly, not through the thesmothete’s chancery: two men who have been down in the dungeon and “do not confuse heraldry with scars”.
He brings the warden the parties’ requests (new licenses, tithe exemptions, complaints over overlapping zones); reports on the upper levels and the dungeon factions (King Weskenim’s goblins, the Priscians of the Floor of the Great Abyss, remaining beastmen) and on threats to the village; and disputes the warden does not want to arbitrate, which Kaitor settles in the tavern.
In return he passes on licenses processed by the thesmothete Eusebia Phokas, warnings detected through the network of the Azure Fortress, and logistical help on favorable terms.
Political position
Kaitor keeps a careful neutrality:
- He is not aligned with the frontier pincer of Glastum and Baron Argus beyond his working agreement with the warden.
- He is not publicly tied to the Benevolent Brotherhood of Wicktrimmer, though some of his party work for ambiguous clients he does not ask about.
- He is not doctrinally tied to the Sortians or Priscians, though he has descended to Priscian-influenced levels without conflict.
- He professes the Decadian Orthodoxy of the Imperial Church at public festivals, without visible fervor, and has not been seen praying in private.
Suspicion
The archivist of the Plata suspects Kaitor is not what he seems:
- He signs no documents: “adventurers sign for their party, not for the council”.
- His accent shifts with his listener: almost pure imperial with Archonteans of Narsileon, slightly local with northern thorcin, and with clandestine theosophist mages an inflection no common Archontean would recognize.
- His party’s membership rotates; some members stay a few months and vanish unexplained.
That he is an agent of an outside apparatus (the imperial chancery, the Phokas network, or another) is unconfirmed. Arkos notes that he does not seem poor, yet has no visible patron.
The Hiatus
Three hypotheses cover the Fifteen-Year Hiatus: he kept working in Glastumville if the village survived stitched to the Mist domain; he withdrew to the imperial exarchates if it was cut off; or he changed identity, if his operation ended with the Hiatus. The archive does not decide. In the present cycle he appears working as before, his beard still red.