Expanding Iomandra: Knights of Ardyn NPCs

In my last post, I expanded upon the Knights of Ardyn, as they’ll be a major player in my Iomandra campaign. In this post, I want to present a few NPCs who’ll be the main Knights the PCs interact with. They’ve already met two of them, not knowing or even suspecting them to be anything but what htey presented themselves to be. Remember, these Knights are secretly trying to bring down the Dragovar empire, they are not openly waving their affiliations around.

Here’s how the fan-made Iomandra document presented the Knights of Ardyn:

THE KNIGHTS OF ARDYN

Ardyn is a silver dragon that seeks to destroy the Dragovar dynasty. She has nothing against dragonborn, but she believes wholeheartedly that the Dragovar bloodline and the Grand Viziers have forsaken Bahamut and become corrupt beyond salvation. Ardyn seeks to depose the tyrannical monarchy, and this desire makes her very popular with enemies of the royal bloodline.

She is served by scores of loyal knights from all walks of life. These Knights of Ardyn are always on the lookout for others who share their aims, but for the moment there are too few of them to challenge the Dragovar openly. The Dragovar want to crush Ardyn’s knighthood but cannot act against Ardyn directly because she’s a true dragon. Her knights, however, are fair game.

Ardynrise

Ardynrise is the name of Ardyn’s secret refuge. Here she meets with her knights to plot the downfall of the Dragovar dynasty. The location of Ardynrise is the most closely guarded secret of the knighthood, and getting there is difficult to say the least. High-ranking knights carry a magical talisman that enables Ardyn to summon them when she seeks their counsel; this is the only way by which a knight may enter her secret refuge.

This line stood out, and it’s what I am working with:

These Knights of Ardyn are always on the lookout for others who share their aims.

That tells me that the Knights will eventually seek out new prospects. Whether the PCs are interested or not is another story! But their main patron right now is a secret Knight of Ardyn. And one of the PCs ended up in Kheth because he had vivid dreams of a silver dagger, and that led him there.

Here are three NPCs for the Knights of Ardyn faction:

Johias Ilum (Human Male)

Johias Ilum is a familiar face around Tyrak’n, a fisherman by trade, and a town drunk by reputation. His weathered face is often flushed, his eyes bloodshot, and his speech slurred, though no one truly knows if he’s perpetually tipsy or just skilled at maintaining the facade. But what most people don’t know is that Johias was once something more—a secret member of the Knights of Ardyn.

Years ago, he was summoned to Ardynrise and sworn into the order under a different name, far from the quiet, broken man the townsfolk see today. During his time as a Knight, Johias carried a sacred dagger—one crafted from a scale of Ardyn herself, shaped into a razor-sharp blade. He was entrusted with vital missions, working undercover to undermine the Dragovar influence, and was a trusted confidant of Ardyn. However, when Dragovar emissaries arrived on Kheth in search of Shan Qabal Wyrmworn Experiment survivors, Johias was caught and arrested. The dagger was confiscated, and Johias was taken by ship to Io’Galaroth where he is currently an enslaved thrall (his enslaving gemstones are grafted onto the top of his hands). 

*Johias is an NPC on Kheth in Chris Perkins’s original campaign and was eventually revealed as a knight in his game. He’s described like this in the fan made document:

Johias Ilum (male human): Local fisherman and town drunk.

Strife(Tiefling Female)

Known as the Knife Between Stars, Strife is a tiefling rogue and shadow-sorceress who moves like a whispered curse through the empire’s turbulent waters. Regal and beautiful, she cloaks herself in layered silks and shadowy glamour, her violet-glowing eyes never betraying her intent. Her curved horns are etched with Draconic poetry, and she carries the scent of myrrh and iron. Her talisman is embedded in a silver dagger that vanishes into smoke when she sheathes it.

Born in the Grand Vizier’s court and trained from childhood to assassinate Ardyn, Kessara was the empire’s perfect blade—until the moment she met her mark. Ardyn refused to fight and instead offered a mirror from the Mirrorwood that showed Kessara the truth: she was the child of a knight slain by the Dragovar, stolen and raised as a weapon. That night, Kessara turned on her masters, murdered her handler, and vanished into myth with Ardyn’s talisman in hand.

Now, she serves as Ardyn’s dagger in the dark—a master infiltrator and silent assassin, slipping through enemy courts to kill tyrants, steal ancient relics, or stir rebellion with a whisper. Kessara has no allegiance to law or chaos, only to Ardyn and the grim poetry of justice.

Strife is an original creation for the campaign.

Aubreck Drallion (human male)

Drallion walks the world in the guise of a traveling merchant noble, his name whispered in port cities from the Dragovar coast to the harbors of Bael Nerath. Draped in fine wool and tarnished gold, he carries himself with the weary charm of old money—silver in his hair, stories in his eyes. To most, he’s a man of means and mystery, dealing in rare wines, lost maps, and debts others are too proud to collect. But beneath the coin-laden persona lies a sworn Knight of Ardyn, tasked with guiding the tides of fate with subtle hands.

Aubreck’s true loyalty belongs not just to Ardyn, but also to the dwarven Sea King, under whose banner he once sailed in his youth. That allegiance is kept close, known only to a few, hidden behind layers of trade alliances and old favors. Where Strife is the dagger in the dark, Aubreck is the coin on the table and the whisper in the counting house. He moves between empires, sowing dissent, shifting power, and gathering fragments of ancient knowledge for Ardyn’s cause. He wears no visible talisman, but he keeps a heavy signet ring on his gloved hand—a gift from Ardyn herself, said to burn with cold fire when lies are spoken near it (Ring of Truth Telling). 

*Aubreck Drallion is the quest giving NPC from Saltmarsh’s “Salvage Operation” Adventure and a patron of the PCs in my campaign.

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