Ashek's boss. The crew will never meet him. They will absolutely feel him.
Ashek's boss. The crew will never meet him. They will absolutely feel him.
Maron doesn't do meetings. He is a voice on a secure channel, a name on a contract, and a consequence that arrives three sessions after the crew crossed him. Middle management of the Cobalt Syndicate in Procyon — which means he has enormous local power and zero interest in anything beyond his quarterly numbers.
The Ur signal is a commodity. He doesn't care what it does, what it means, or who gets hurt. He has three buyers lined up: the Hegemony, a private noble family, and a mystic collective he believes is the Cult. He intends to sell to all three simultaneously. The resulting chaos will keep any single faction from retaliating against the Syndicate long enough for Maron to retire rich.
Maron arranges the trap for the crew in Act 2 through Ashek. The crew is meant to deliver an artifact to a Syndicate vault on Vos. The Hegemony is waiting. The crew's capture generates a payoff from two directions simultaneously.
Because if things go wrong, he needs to credibly say he didn't know. Ashek is his plausible deniability.
Never appears in person. Communicate through Ashek, dead drops, or encrypted messages.
If the crew burns the Syndicate badly enough, Maron escalates to the Scarlet Wolves.
If somehow confronted directly (a very Act 3 move), he is surprisingly calm and businesslike. He doesn't hate the crew. It was just math.
Commands Broker Ashek
Has a business arrangement with Commander Idris Ohe (the artifact hand-off deal)
Fears Pasha Qu'olin (Ashen Knives) who would happily absorb the Cobalt Syndicate if given the chance