William Maynots

*"Seriously, no joke, I have some great magical candles. They're really magic this time. Honest."*

William Maynots is a Halfling trader and current head of The Mixer's criminal organization. He is an original member of the Sandstriders and traveled with them during Episode I: Reclamation and part of Episode III: Awakening.

### Backstory

Ah, William Maynots. Traveler and
salesman extraordinaire. A Halfling who could sell wood to a forest. Loud,
boisterous, and not in the least bit pushy, the public persona of William
Maynots is the epitome of snake oil salesman. Underneath, though, lays the soul
of a cold-blooded businessman, a criminal with his eyes on the prize.

The
duality of William Maynots – the public and annoying, the private and
relentless – is what drives him. He learned this duality mostly from his
father, Jerad Maynots, who was also a trader of wares both legal and illegal.
Maynots spent most of his childhood traveling with his father, the two thick as
thieves (as well as being actual thieves, on occasion). Maynots’ mother had
died in childbirth, so his father was all he had.

One day, the two were traveling
up the road and were accosted by some bandits. Jerad, who had sunk much of his
money into the merchandise he was carrying – spices from Vitaurum – fought back
against the bandits instead of giving them everything. A fight ensued; Jerad
told William to run and hide. When he came back, he saw his father dead on the
ground, the spices gone. He took his father’s dagger, tracked the bandits down,
and killed them in their sleep. He then took the spice and continued his
father’s work.

Part of this work, which Maynots
had been unaware of, was working for The Mixer, the Central Continent’s premier
crime boss. Maynots, following a book of contacts his father kept, came into
contact with a half-elf named Haydon Panetierre in Anin. When he discovered
what his father’s real business was with Haydon, Maynots, without hesitation,
agreed to continue his father’s work.

While in Anin, Maynots ran many
jobs, simple and complicated, easy and dangerous. One such job nearly got him
killed. The Mixer mostly ran the crime business in Anin, but a local competitor
called Third Eye had been giving them trouble. What was supposed to be a simple
exchange at the docks became a shitshow when Third Eye operatives ambushed the
deal. After that, Maynots decided it would be a good idea to skip town for a
little while.

### Campaign

Unfortunately for him, travel along the roads was heavily
restricted, due to a combination of bandits and guards working together.
Maynots got into it with one such group and ended up locked in a chest until
the Sandstriders found him.

Maynots traveled with the group,
all the while working angles for the Mixer. He met up with her when they
visited Raj; when the group visited Anin, he led them to the Black Quarter. On a trip to Dryadis, he brought her back from the brink, and helped her to frame a particular politician who had been giving her (and the organization) trouble.

After the Reclamation of Stin Cepel, Maynots became one of the Mixer’s two right-hand men. He also was the
provider of a drug called Myriad to the Queen. Eventually, he was sent to Vitaurum, both to expand the Mixer’s business and to keep an eye on the operations of the Eighth Son, who had been looking to expand his own business into the Central Continent.

When he heard of the assassination of The Mixer, he began plotting revenge, which dovetailed nicely with the Sandstriders arriving in Vitaurum to deal with the Eighth Son himself. The group was able to capture him and send him to Stin Cepel for justice.

Maynots is currently the head of the Mixer’s organization and has been partially using the network to gather information that could help the Coalition in the Astral Civil War.