Quick facts
Role: Retired judge · Home: Brinewick Hollow · Known as: “the Gavel” · Status: Dead (killed by Escher, C2 Session 56)
Judge Marius Vellum was a retired judge in Brinewick Hollow who bought ghost petals and supplied them to the Velvet Truffle Company. He was Escher’s second contract kill.
History
In Session 47, Escher took an outside job from the organization The Whisper had recommended him to, targeting an old retired judge. A contact gave him a dossier on Marius Vellum in Wild Reach Village and told him that if he did this “the right way,” he would get a shot at a high-priority target called the “white whale” (Session 49).
In the Temple of Cyrollellee, the party found crates of ghost petals meant for a retired judge named Vellum (Session 53). Sawyer Elmheart had been growing them to sell to a buyer in Brinewick Hollow.
Reconnaissance (Session 55)
The party went to Brinewick Hollow to investigate “the Gavel.” Ellery slipped invisibly into his gated estate, a sprawling mansion, and spotted a third-floor window that looked vulnerable. Nelda intercepted his mail and found a letter in Elvish from Lazra Vant, the VTC’s correspondent on the Saline Coast, confirming the judge’s high-level ties to the company. The party debated burning the house down or staging a business deal gone wrong, and recaptured the halfling Pella to use in a staged delivery.
Death (Session 56)
The ambush was set for a midnight shipment drop at a remote intersection. Wilbur disguised himself as Pella, and Escher hid in the trees. When Vellum arrived and began inspecting the cabbage crates, Escher seized his throat with a magical hand and drove a poisoned dagger into his heart. To hide their part in it, they staged the scene as a violent dispute over money, killed the real Pella with a concealed crossbow, and left a forged letter from Sawyer suggesting betrayal from within. Then The Gnoloo descended, looked over the bodies, and flew off with the whole wagon of ghost petals.
His death disrupted one known VTC supply channel.