Coik/Gamam
Ledaal Catala Gamam is an elder of House Ledaal. For most of her life, she has wandered the Threshold, learning the ways of strange lands and uncovering possible threats to the Realm.
Her attraction towards ancient and occult lore has led her to uncover more than one crazy conspiracy aimed at the Realm over the decades and a few false alarms have led much of the Dynasty to think that she was a nutty conspiracy theorist and dismiss her as someone who exaggerates threat at best, or a kook at worst. Those who know her well, however, know that she is actually a true patriot as well as a very rational individual, and they suspect that she has simply seen more than her share of Evil. And they begin to suspect that if she sees so much threat to the nation everywhere, it is not because she is a paranoid lunatic, but rather because Creation is actually that dangerous, even to a 700-odd year old empire who sits atop it.
Gamam’s latest cause started a couple of decades ago, when she noticed in her travels that undead-related activity – hungry ghost creation, ghostly influence and death magic use - was on the rise everywhere she went. The difference was subtle at the time, but years of on and off investigation revealed vague patterns and deep changes in the politics of the Underworld. Eventually, she learned about the existence of powerful ghosts who called themselves the Deathlords who were gathering power in the land of the dead, and everything she had seen hinted at designs over Creation. She pleaded with House elders and other powerful Dynasts, but none could see the danger these beings posed.
When the Mask of Winters took over the Kingdom of Thorns, an ally of the Realm, shortly after the Empress disappeared, Ledaal Catala Gamam received a message, delivered in a flash by a powerful wind spirit, summoning her back to the Blessed Isle to stand before the High Chamber of the Deliberative. That afternoon, she was asked to explain who or what the Mask of Winter was. Her research was incomplete, but she began explaining the situation. She had barely begun when she began being interrupted by questions. The questions turned to commentaries, then to partisan bickering as the representatives tried to take advantage of the situation. She was told in no uncertain term that Thorns was a completely isolated incident that could not happen again and that Thorns would be back in the Realm’s hands before the year was through.
As she departed the seat of government, she was met by elders of her House. They laid the situation in front of her: While she was away, the Dynasty had fractured and the Realm was turning into a mess. If the other Houses were too busy fighting among themselves for scraps of power while the nation crumbled around them, House Ledaal needed to protect the Realm from outside threats. In that chaos, House Ledaal needed her guidance and experience. They demanded that she stop her wanderings and join the Council of Elders. She took much convincing, but in the end, she agreed.
Now, based at the House of the Five Winds in Arjuf, she leads the House with her fellow elders. The work is not easy, as even in House Ledaal, politicians with short term visions hold much power and as a new member of the council, she does not have much influence yet.
Ledaal Catala Gamam’s spy network
Since being stuck in a House leadership role on the Blessed Isle, Ledaal Catala Gamam has gathered a somewhat large number of like-minded individuals, both Dynasts and low-born, to help her project influence and gather information abroad. This network, which has no name and is very loosely organized as most members don’t know each other, is bolstered by the large network of foreign contacts the elder made while wandering the Threshold for decades.
Ledaal Catala Serotan on “Aunt Gamam”
“Growing up in Arjuf as a Ledaal, you couldn’t help but be constantly bombarded with news of crazy aunt Gamam travelling the world, having adventures. The adults kept talking about her, some in envious tones, others with disapproval in their voice. To the kids of the household, she was something of a hero, even though most of us had never met her. She lived the life most of us dreamt of having : visiting strange locales, fighting wondrous beasts, destroying Anathema… She was just cool. She visited the region a couple of time, but somehow, our paths never crossed until after I graduated from school. After all, one of the consequences of being a wandering free spirit is that you are seldom home. Sad but true.”
“After I graduated from the Heptagram (with flying colors, if I may add), I found myself without a purpose. I did not want, nor have the capacity, to become a politician or merchant like my parents. My prospects for a good marriage were limited, given that I was a sorcerer with no accomplishment or wealth to his name. I was also quite depressed at how far the Realm had degenerated in the time I spent in near seclusion at the Heptagram. So here I was, moping around the House holdings in Arjuf, occasionally casting spells at the elders’ behest. It was then that I met legendary aunt Gamam for the first time, in a peach garden behind Kebok Suriyo’s ugly little manse (ah, experimental architecture !). We got to talking and discovered that we had a lot in common. We were both free thinkers, air aspects and sorcerers. We both loved the Realm for the qualities it had and hated it for its faults. We were both disgusted with politicians and the way things were. Of course, she was almost two hundred years older than me, so there were big differences as well. For one, her temper is legendary when she is thwarted. I, for example, would never punch the Speaker of the Deliberative for interrupting me.”
“But I have this to say about that woman : Of the people I have met, there are those I love or hate (in some rare cases, both at the same time). But I respect Gamam, not for the power she wields, but because of who she is. She has ideals, and she pursues those with no regard to tradition or what naysayers think. She is an intellectual, but is not afraid to ask. And she has seen and experienced so much… In a way, this respect is even stronger than love, though I have never had the slightest inclination to have sex with her. Go figure.”
“Of course, looking back on those discussions in the peach garden, I now realize that she was recruiting me to be her agent. So be it – I use people too, when it suits me. I was itching for a cause, anyway. Saving civilization as we know it is as good as any other, I guess.”
