Rian Nightshade
Rian Nightshade
Rian Nightshade is the current leader of the Zhentarim, identifiable by the dragon amulet she wears. She has taken a personal interest in Shade since the Council of Waterdeep, raising her to Viper and, twenty weeks later, delivering her a crew of her own.
Background
As leader of the Black Network she oversees its operations across the Sword Coast, balancing its mercantile interests against intelligence work and political manoeuvring. She does not delegate the people she considers worth having.
The promotion [1]
Rian approached Shade as the party left the council chambers in Waterdeep. Shade recognised her at once from the dragon amulet.
She asked after the Bagpipes of Zariel's Lament — whether Shade had suffered any ill effects from carrying the thing — and sensed the infernal energy on them immediately. Whether she was satisfied by the answer or simply prepared to take the pipes herself if the answer had been different is not clear. She conferred the rank of Viper on the spot, along with an iron amulet marking it and a copy of the Zhentarim Guide to Poisoning Friends and Foes.
She was not a member of the Council and did not attend it. She knew what had been said inside it regardless.
The Elturel meeting
During the fortnight's downtime after the Battle of Nuts Deep, Rian was in Elturel on business with the Network's man in the city. She sent for Shade rather than writing, and they spoke in the back of a chandler's shop for under an hour.
She delivered The Broken Latch — a crew of four under a resident clerk — and opened by saying it was twenty weeks overdue and that she had come to correct that herself rather than send it. Her instruction on the crew's loyalty was blunt: they are hired rather than sworn, anyone can meet their price, and Shade should watch what her people are owed. She then told Shade to do the same in the other direction, on the grounds that the Cult of the Dragon's people are also paid and none of them well.
She left saying she would find Shade after the Council.
Standing with the Council
Rian holds no seat on the Council of Waterdeep and never has. The Zhentarim's interest is represented through her without her being a member of it. She was near enough to the first session to know its contents without attending, and there is no particular mystery about how.
Relationships
- Zhentarim – she leads it
- Shade – raised to Viper by her hand, and now handled by her personally rather than through a regional captain
- Ollam Pryce and The Broken Latch – the crew she placed at Nuts Deep
- Bagpipes of Zariel's Lament – she was interested in their condition, and in Shade's
Appearances
- Session 43 – confers Viper on Shade