Duchess Elara Pendergast

Title: High Auditor of the Grand Arcane Bank
Role: Elara is the primary oversight officer for the Grand Arcane Bank, responsible for ensuring that the flow of Aether-gold remains stable and that the High Council’s taxes are properly allocated. She is a woman of sharp features and sharper wit, always seen in silks that shimmer with protective abjuration magic. She is one of the few people in Kigum who has direct access to the lower vaults where the "Golden Hoard" is kept.

Secret Motivation: Elara has discovered a series of massive, unexplained "interest payments" being diverted to a private account that she cannot trace, even with the highest-level divination. She suspects that the Bank’s leadership is not just hoarding wealth, but actively funding a secret paramilitary force. She is terrified that if she reveals this, she will be "liquidated," so she is looking for external agents to investigate the trail for her.

Adventure Hook: Elara approaches the party during a high-society gala, slipping them a coded ledger. She asks them to infiltrate a specific "ghost warehouse" in the docks that shouldn't exist according to the Bank's records, but is currently receiving massive shipments of enchanted weapons.