Sebastian of Ustaya

I was going to write about my die rolling app, but James requested an NPC. As fate would have it, I came up with an NPC idea while I was out for a run the day before. I chatted with frequent commenter Zomus Prime about it a bit, and he liked the idea, too. Zomus also helped me flesh out the NPC’s motivation.

And, just to make James happy, I will break my rule about telling the NPC’s secret.

But to understand Sebastian, you first have to understand his religion...

The Cult of Saintess Ustaya

Ustaya is a saintess of the god Hume. She is the saintess of repentance,

Followers believe that she observes each person’s deeds. When someone performs a good deed, they are rewarded with a golden acorn in the spirit realm. Evil deeds are “rewarded” with an offal pinecone instead. When a person dies, Ustaya weighs their acorns against their pinecones. If the acorns are heavier, the person is admitted in the Whitehall—an afterlife of joy and happiness. If the pinecones are heavier, the person is sent to the Ashen Fields instead.

Followers try to do good wherever they go in hopes of earning a place in Whitehall. They provide food, shelter, and clothing to those in need, but their good deed are not limited to that. They seek to give of themselves according to their gifts and abilities for the betterment of those in need.

Many followers are trying to atone for grave evils that they have previously committed.

Ustaya’s symbols are the acorn, the pinecone, and a balance.

Sebastian the Repentant

Sebastian is a young man in his mid-twenties who lives is the lower part¹ of Crowfield. Instead of a job, he helps others in need and lives on their charity. He is a thing, plae mane with stringy red hair. Like most followers of Ustaya, he wears periwinkle robes. He wears a wooden pendant that features a raised and gilded acorn. Upon the acorn is engraved a pinecone.

He is quiet and humble, but a gifted (non-magical) healer and apothecary. He uses the skills to care for any injured person he comes across. He never asks for payment, but gladly accepts whatever is offered.

He is a classic penitent. If someone is as rude to ask what horrible deed he’s committed, and will just smile sweetly and ignore the question. No one in town has any idea what it may have been, but the rumors are wild.

In truth, Sebastian has done nothing terribly sinful—yet. In a confused misunderstanding of the Ustayan philosophy he’s trying to “store up” his good works in hopes of becoming Crowfield’s evil overlord in the future. He plans to live out the latter half of his life in murderous debauchery, but still go the Whitehall when he dies.

When he first meets the party, he’s be a simple healer for them. As the party grows in influence, he’ll try to get them to bring him along to an event as Lord Crowfield’s castle. Once there he will use his apothecary skills to poison the food and/or well of the castle killing everyone. That will be the start of his power grab.

Epilogue

What do you think of Sebastian? I'm not sure that I can use him now that I published him here, but maybe if I change his name a bit…

Notice his plan to take over has a start (kill all the nobles) but no follow-up. That's intentional. Sebastian is quite naïve in the ways of the world. He also has some justification that I didn't mention. With Crowfield’s limited resources after Starfall, he feels that they should only be spent on “true Crowfielders.” In his mind, that's only families who have lived there for more than 3 generations. Lord Crowfield does not meet that definition.

Update

After a conversation with James, I changed Ustaya from a goddess to a saintess.

Inspirations

The acorn & pincone were inspired by the ancient Egyptian belief that Maat would weigh the heart/soul of the deceased against the feather of truth to determine their fate in the afterlife.

Ustaya's name is pretty much the word “justice”with the first letter removed and the ending mangled.

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1. I don’t know if I ever talked about it before, but Crowfield is on the side of a large slope. Lord Crowfield’s keep is on the upper part of the slope, and the further down the hill you get, the poorer the neighborhood.↩