Noreth

Noreth, better known as Mr North, is a centuries-old Familiar who severed his bond with his Essence User. He is one of the cardinals (named after the cardinal directions: North, South, East and West) of the Engineers of Ascension, and is recognised as the First Among Equals, the leader, of them.

Jason first meets him in the Fundamental Realm (Node Space) when he absorbs the builder's magic door (Fundament Gate). Noreth is described as having "a sharp suit, an expensive haircut, dark eyes, and a predator's smile."

Through their initial conversation, it is revealed that Mr North was a magical creature from Pallimustus (a Rune Spider) which became a familiar to the Network founder. Due to irrevocable differences (perhaps relating to the Founder being a zealot for his God, in league with The Builder), their familiar bond was severed. Noreth claims to have handed off The Founder to a gentleman in Philadelphia during the colonial days and before the current Network properly began. He regrets the unpleasant end his former bondmate came to. The secrets gained from The Founder are why the US Network branch is more advanced than the others.

He meets with Jason to ensure he absorbs the door rather than just claiming it, and to set him on the path to the future he expects. Jason absorbs the door and removes The Builder's influence from it using his own powers, rather than through Noreth's elaborate ritual. The space it was in breaks down, Jason takes all the supplies Noreth had prepared for the ritual, and uses his newly upgraded portal power to return Noreth and himself to the underground chamber he'd entered it from, where Noreth leaves without further incident.

Noreth follows his friend, Adrien Barbou, into the Saint-Étienne astral space in an attempt to rescue him from Jack Gerling. As such, he is caught up in the second Transformation Event in which Jason establishes a Spirit Domain. Jason, Noreth, Gerling, and the surviving arisen greater vampires (Elizabeth and Georges) are trapped by a diamond rank Nightmare Hag. Noreth and Jason are able to escape from the Hag on their own, and Jason explains his plan to kill the others with Travis' Big Rocket, the transformed MADM sun nuke, so that the Hag must return to the astral. Jason invites Mr North to join his party interface so that he can be sure North is killed - the interface labels him 'Noreth', prompting Mr North to explain that it was the name his essence user, The Founder, gave him.

Noreth tells Jason about EOA resources he'd hidden within one of the mana accumulators for Asano Village. Jason allows Noreth to protect himself from the nuke, kill Jack Gerling (as revenge for getting Adrien Barbou and himself killed), and take his own life.

Noreth's abilities are presumably typical of a rune spider: shooting webs from his hands to create ritual circles/runes in spider-web patterns with various effects (including as a floating platform and a trap that fires binding webs at nearby enemies), floating wisps of invisible but aura-laced webs around himself to use as an additional sensory organ, and building a cocoon around himself as a defence. He can also switch between his human form and his Rune Spider form, and has proficiency with spider-like skills (e.g. climbing).

## References

1. ↑ Volume III: Chapter 379
2. ↑ Volume III: Chapter 444
3. ↑ Volume III: Chapter 450