Description
Marta “The Knife” is a lean, sharp-featured woman in her early thirties with short-cropped dark hair and calculating eyes. She moves with the practiced efficiency of someone who learned to fight on the streets before joining Southaven’s guard. A collection of throwing knives adorns her belt—her signature weapons and the source of her nickname.
Her guard uniform has been modified with scavenged bandit gear, creating a patchwork appearance that reflects her fractured loyalties. Scars on her forearms tell stories of close-quarters combat, and her expression rarely softens from its default wariness.
Personality
Marta is bitter, pragmatic, and survivalist above all else. She turned to banditry not out of ideology but out of necessity and disillusionment with Southaven’s leadership. She’s smart enough to know when she’s being used and cynical enough to expect it.
Unlike Rothgar, she has no real loyalty to the Order of the Black Star—she suspects the cult is using the bandits as expendable pawns. This makes her potentially negotiable if the party can offer her a better deal or proof of the cult’s betrayal.
She’s haunted by her past, particularly her relationship with Gareth Voss and her role in introducing him to Duskrunners when they were young. Seeing Lena Alwin with Gareth triggered old jealousies and led her to make the rash decision to capture Lena, a move that cost her two bandits and the respect of some of her crew.
Background
Marta grew up in Southaven’s rougher districts and joined Duskrunners as a teenager alongside her boyfriend Gareth Voss. She introduced him to the life, and they ran small cons and thefts together. Eventually, seeking legitimacy and a steadier income, Marta joined the Southaven guard while Gareth tried to leave the criminal life behind.
Years later, when corruption and favoritism in the guard became unbearable, and when she saw Gareth had moved on with Lena Alwin, Marta’s bitterness turned to action. She deserted, taking several disillusioned guards with her, and rejoined Duskrunners—this time as a leader rather than a foot soldier.
When the siege began and Rothgar established the northern blockade, Marta saw an opportunity to control the southern approach. She’s been running a more chaotic, less ideologically-driven operation—focused on survival and profit rather than the cult’s grand plans.
Her capture of Lena Alwin was a personal vendetta that she’s beginning to regret, as it revealed her weakness to her crew and made them question her judgment.
Story
The party killed Marta in Session 29 - Secrets Beneath the Stone while rescuing Lena Alwin from the Southern Blockade.