NPC: Yoik Bluegranite, Valean archivist

Here's a GM character that will serve as a story hook carrier in an upcoming adventure:

Yoik has the unfortunate place in society of, what is ironically referred to as, a "first love". This is the role of a husband whose spouse has subsequently married more men (polyandry is the norm among the middle and higher class denizens) who outrank him considerably. It is a position of marked disgrace  and effectively caps off further social advancement. Not uncommon for a "first love" Yoik has become very devout in the ancestor veneration which makes up the biggest official civic religion in Vali. The ancestor which he has chosen as his patron is none other than the founder of the Delvers' Dominion, known to all the dwarves simply as Silverbeard. Silverbeard's era was the first generation of the third Aeon which is a time shrouded in much speculation and wonder among the Valeans.

Yoik's profession is archivist for the Academy of Dwarven Cosmology. If his career path hadn't been stunted by lessened esteem due to being a first love he would have eventually become an historian. As it stands he will likely spend the rest of his working days in clerical drudgery unless he can distinguish himself through some deed of significance. This is his highest aim: to set himself apart not only in the academy but in the community of Silverbeard venerators by reclaiming a lost relic of the third Aeon. 

The Map: Yoik has aquired a palimpsest of a Oamnic map pulled from an ancient vellum. The map depicts a city called  Onua and Yoik has deduced that it must be the capital city of the Oamnoi from before the fish eaters' war.  According to delver legend this would correspond with the forest city that Silverbeard's troops routed in an epic siege which was the coup de grace of the war. 

The Relic: in the battle, legend has it,  Silverbeard lost his brass helm (rumoured to be a blessed item forged by a devil) when it was knocked from his head as he lead the first charge. When the battle was over his attendants wanted to search the the field to find the precious item but Silverbeard forbade them saying that no dwarf should have any need to wear a helm of any sort from this point forward. Of course, this was only true for twenty odd years before a vicious religious war broke out among the delver clans. If Yoik could recover the brass helm of Silverbeard he feels that all his dreams would be realized.

NPC: Magnon Roash

   

This noble of the blue tower canton went missing while on a diplomatic journey to Vali. Some might speculate that there are sinister workings afoot. Magnon is best described as cool, aloof but surprisingly cruel when it's neither necessary or useful. His folk are spice growers to the north and occasional raiders of the Sister Hills Mines. 

As is not uncommon among the aristocracy in the Yaswan regions he has some Abbysal ancestry. This is most clearly manifest in his prominent ox horns. To many Yaswan nobles their Abbysal mark is of little concern beyond the vain matters of outward appearance but, as his attendants confirm, to Magnon Roash they are of utmost interest. Magnon has spent years mastering the feondish  tongue and is a competent conjurist in his own right. If only his abilities could take him to that plane of ruthless order where chaos marries hierarchy in bizarre manifestations. But alas even the ancients could only open a door one way, to allow those creatures into our plane but not out.

NPC: The venerable Pjok of the Apple-goose clan

An academic from the Vali school of cosmology. His primary area is the history of the third aeon with special interest in northern border diplomacy. Of course, this means that he has a cursory knowledge of abyssal matters which is actually his passion. He has a modest collection of Yaswan artifacts which reflect this interest: a miniature fiend carved from onyx, a tooth with a bas relief of an abyssal scene and a bag of lead arrow tips which he explains are specifically crafted against fiendish creatures. From Pjok the players can learn about fiends' vulnerability to lead weapons and their resistance to all others as well as their poisonous attacks, also that they are vulnerable to sunlight and tend to gravitate to the highest ranking fiend or summoner in the area (being creatures of strong lawful alignment and little to no individualism).

Pjok's physical description: a fashionable dwarf with the incongruously close cropped bear in the fashion a scholar.  He has a hare-lip and eyes the color of tarnished pewter. His voice is fairly high pitched but he speaks with a thoughtful measured cadence.