Ettvard Needle

Ettvard Needle was the founder and the editor-in-chief of the Baldur's Mouth Gazette news carrier in the mid-to-late 15 century DR.
==Description==
Ettvard was a foppish human with a light skin tone, brown eyes, and short wavy brown hair. He usually could be seen waring quality finery and a big hat adorned with two large feathers.
==Relationships==
Ettvard Needle was close friends with Rilsa Rael of the Guild, despite the man's disdain for the crime cartel. He hoped that Rilsa would one day change Guild for the better from the inside.
Ettvard employed a gaggle of writers, journalists, clerks, delivery laborers, guards, and town crier children. He also was always on the lookout for new "investigative reporters" who would be willing to follow threads of many rumors that flooded the Gate, especially if they proved the corruption of the city officials.
==History==
Ettvard was born to a wealthy tailor, who, despite his wealth, was forced to grovel before the rich and powerful of the Upper City. Since his early days, Ettvard dedicated himself to helping the common folk by spreading information. His first news stories were dedicated to various injustices and were delivered through word of mouth. Ettvard paid lamp boys to cry the stories out, making them memorize the entire piece verbally, as many of the kids were illiterate. Eventually, that practice became tedious, and Ettvard decided to teach the lamp boys and assess how to read, making the story delivery easier. Subsequently, the operation became too expensive to maintain, and Ettvard started collecting coin from advertisers and covering more diverse material.
Soon after, the business grew, and the number of advertisements led Ettvard to purchase several mechanical scribes from the Gondians of the Hall of Wonders. This allowed him to produce broadsheets swiftly, all filled with advertisements to be distributed through delivery couriers and town criers. His business was run from a warehouse in the Heapside neighborhood of the Gate, and by the late 15 century DR, Ettvard's publications were bound by the obligations to the advertisers and implicit orders from the city. Under such function, the editor-in-chief printed stories preferred by the governing body of the Gate and suppressed pieces the city would want to remain unpublished. Some of the more preferred types of articles from under Ettvard's management were scandals, corruption, and anti-Upper City editorials.
Ettvard's attitudes changed in the , when the Cult of the Absolute loomed over Baldur's Gate, threatening peace with secret cultist agents, an army, and a flood of refugees from the surrounding lands. Ettvard began a friendship with the new Lord of the city – Enver Gortash sometime before the crisis struck. Through being a confidant and a sponsor, Lord Gortash turned Baldur's Mouth into his personal propaganda machine, with Ettvard willingly printing fluff pieces and spreading fear among the readers, calming only Gortash and his steel watchers could protect the Gate from the cult. Ettvard was also inclined to print according to Gortash's will thanks to a generous gift of an enchanted printing press with the pixie named Jelliwig inside it. When a group of adventurers known as the Absolute Adversaries found a way into Baldur's Gate, Ettvard was instructed by Lord Gortash to print an "expose" on the "dangerous" group – accusing the heroes of smuggling refugees with cult's spies into the city and disturbing the peace, among other wrongdoings. However, it was not known of that issue ever saw print. It could've been stopped by the adventurers seeking to clear their names, or the broadsheet could've been released, turning many inhabitants of Baldur's Gate against the group.
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
===References===
Category:Members of Baldur's Mouth
Category:Journalists
Category:Humans
Category:Writers
Category:Editors (in-universe)
Category:Commoners
Category:Commoners (5e)
Category:Inhabitants of the Lower City
Category:Inhabitants of Baldur's Gate
Category:Inhabitants of the Western Heartlands
Category:Inhabitants of West Faerûn
Category:Inhabitants of the Sword Coast
Category:Inhabitants of Faerûn
Category:Inhabitants of Toril
Category:Inhabitants of chaotic good alignment
Category:Year of Metropolises