Harbor-Master Bren Salwick
The Tide; Voice of the Confederacy (unofficial)
Saving Throws
- +1 Strength
- +7 Dexterity
- +2 Constitution
- +3 Intelligence
- +2 Wisdom
- +9 Charisma
Skills
- +3 Acrobatics (DEX)
- +2 Animal Handling (WIS)
- +3 Arcana (INT)
- +1 Athletics (STR)
- +13 Deception (CHA)
- +3 History (INT)
- +6 Insight (WIS)
- +5 Intimidation (CHA)
- +3 Investigation (INT)
- +2 Medicine (WIS)
- +3 Nature (INT)
- +6 Perception (WIS)
- +9 Performance (CHA)
- +13 Persuasion (CHA)
- +3 Religion (INT)
- +3 Sleight of Hand (DEX)
- +3 Stealth (DEX)
- +2 Survival (WIS)
Spellcasting
Cantrips
- Vicious Mockery
- Minor Illusion
- Prestidigitation
- Friends
- Mending
Level 1 Spells
- Charm Person
- Detect Magic
- Disguise Self
Level 2 Spells
- Enhance Ability
- Suggestion
- Detect Thoughts
Level 3 Spells
- Hypnotic Pattern
- Tongues
- Sending
Level 4 Spells
- Dimension Door
- Locate Creature
Level 5 Spells
- Modify Memory
- Seeming
- Legend Lore
- Scrying
Features & Traits
Bonus action: grant a creature within 60 ft. one Bardic Inspiration die to add to one check, save, or attack roll in the next 10 minutes.
Creatures who hear his performance during a short rest regain an extra 1d8 HP.
Action to begin a performance; allies within 30 ft. have advantage on saves against charm and frighten.
Knows two spells from any class list (Locate Creature, Modify Memory).
Reaction: use Bardic Inspiration to subtract the die from an attack, check, or damage roll of a creature within 60 ft.
When making an ability check, can expend a Bardic Inspiration die and add it to the check.
Equipment
| Item | Qty | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rapier | 1 | Worn. Functional. Used less often than the impression he gives suggests. |
| Lute | 1 | Battered. Irreplaceable to him. |
| Leather Armor | 1 | +1. Worn under his harbor-master's coat. |
| Cloak of Many Fashions | 1 | Attuned. Changes appearance at will. Used more than he admits. |
| Ledger of Contacts | 1 | Encoded. Contains the most comprehensive list of maritime contacts in the Settled Lands. Worth more than most ships. |
Personality
Personality Traits
Treats every conversation as a negotiation and every negotiation as an opportunity to learn something useful. The learning is not always the part he makes visible.
Ideals
Saltmere runs on information as much as cargo. The Harbor-Master who knows what's coming before it arrives is worth more to this city than any fleet.
Bonds
The Confederacy is only as strong as Saltmere's willingness to carry it. I intend to keep Saltmere strong enough to carry it indefinitely.
Flaws
He has been managing people's perceptions of him for so long that he occasionally forgets what his actual position is versus the position he has been performing.
Languages & Proficiencies
Backstory
Bren Salwick has been Harbor-Master of Saltmere for eight years, having won election to the Harbor Council twelve years ago and to the Harbor-Master's seat through the combination of accumulated favors, a genuinely impressive maritime intelligence network, and an ability to make every member of the Council feel that his election served their specific interests -- a feat that remains remarkable in retrospect, given that several of those interests were mutually contradictory.
He was a sailor before he was a politician, a merchant before he was a sailor, and something that predated both that he does not discuss. What he carried from those years into the Harbor-Master's office is an understanding of how information moves through port cities -- who knows what before the ships arrive, who tells whom, how the same cargo manifests differently depending on whose account of it you read -- that has made him the best-informed person in Saltmere about what Saltmere actually contains and what is actually passing through it.
His status as the Coastal Confederacy's loudest voice is informal, self-appointed, and effective. The Confederacy has no formal spokesperson because the Confederacy has no formal structure -- it is a trade alliance bound by mutual economic necessity, not a government. Salwick has, over eight years, positioned Saltmere and himself as the de facto point of contact for anyone who needs to deal with the Confederacy as a bloc. The other Confederacy members have not objected, partly because he is effective at it and partly because being the loudest voice means being the target of complaints, and none of them want that role.
He is better at this job than most people outside his network realize, and most people outside his network significantly underestimate him. This is not accidental.