Runyan Millworthy

Special Advisor to The Chancellor (formerly)

Not much is known about **Runyan Millworthy**. Like so many other lower class people in the Burgue, he sleeps where there’s space and scrapes together a living doing what he can, which in his case is performing puppet shows on the street.

## History

Runyan Millworthy was briefly popular as a performer and actor in the Burgue before taking his act on the road, traveling to and performing in many different countries.

## Biography

### Season one

#### Return to the Burgue

Inspector Rycroft Philostrate and Constable Berwick enter Aisling Querelle’s apartment to find Runyan and his Kobold hiding in her closet. They suspect that he’s the killer, but Runyan denies any wrongdoing. He claims that Aisling was his friend from years ago. He only just arrived in the Burgue that morning. He needed somewhere to shelter, but when Aisling didn’t answer, he invited himself in. He hid in the closet when he heard Philo and Berwick coming. Runyan has not the slightest idea who would want Aisling dead. While they were both performers, she far surpassed him in talent. He turns on Aisling’s vintage gramophone and plays for them her singing "Grieve No More". She sang this during her height of fame. Runyan knew her before her rise to fame, when she used to sing in a little cafe on the Row. Soon, the rich and powerful lined up around the block to hear her. She even gave a recital at Finistere Crossing. Once, even a command performance at Balefire Hall. Aisling’s life was her art. Never married and never had children. Which is why it hit her so hard when she fell out of favor. After that, she became a recluse. Runyan last saw her years ago; some time in the aughts.

Runyan hosts a street theater performance acted by his Kobolds in the park. He attracts the attention of a single passerby, though he doesn’t pay much.

A very large crowd has gathered around as Runyan hosts another one of his street theater performances. This one dedicated to Aisling Querelle. Madame Moira is among those in the crowd. Afterward, she greets Runyan and expresses just how much she enjoyed the show. Constable Cuppins interrupts and asks to see Runyan’s permit and papers for his Kobolds.

Cuppins takes Runyan and his Kobolds to the constabulary as all fae are required to have papers, meaning they’ll have to be sent back to their native lands if they don't have any. Runyan argues that they’re not fae, but his pets. Cuppins heads in the back to check the statute on Kobolds within the Burgue.

Runyan wakes to find that his Kobolds have been taken away. The clerk reveals that they were sent to the docks and deported. With the name of the ship, Runyan rushes to the docks hoping to catch the ship before it set sail, but he’s too late.

#### Mourning Aisling

Philo finds Runyan on the Row to discover that his Kobolds were deported. However, the reason he’s there is to learn more about Aisling's past. Philo reveals that Aisling did have a child and the circumstances of that child’s birth had something to do with what got her killed. Runyan reveals that ought six or ought seven is when Aisling was at the height of her fame. There was someone she wouldn’t talk about. Runyan had never seen her so happy. One day, she changed. She canceled her standing engagement at the Abbey and went away for months. When she came back, she was sadder. She wrote a song about it. Aisling stayed with a benefactor in the Crossing for that time she was gone. Things were different back then. Friendships between fae folk and humans were not so impossible. The benefactor in question was Simon Spurnrose.

As Runyan prepares to leave the train station with a one-way ticket to Keranganz, he runs into Master Horatius Symes, an old friend. He’s been hired as a tutor for Jonah Breakspear. He recalls Runyan getting a degree from Oppidian and offers him a job as a tutor for Jonah Breakspear as well. Initially reluctant, Runyan agrees.

#### Tutoring Breakspear

Runyan arrives to tutor Jonah, though he doesn’t seem the slightest bit interested in his studies. He can tell Runyan needs this job and because of that, Runyan will confirm his attendance to Master Symes and report that Jonah is making splendid progress. He even offers to double whatever it is that Runyan is being paid. Should he refuse, Jonah will have him fired. Runyan calls Jonah’s bluff. He knows Jonah’s type, and he’s been brought in to equip him with a little wisdom. Jonah can either take or leave Runyan’s proposition, but what Runyan won’t do is lie for Jonah. Jonah quickly realizes that Runyan is nothing like his other tutors and decides to take a seat.

Following the assassination of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear, Jonah is positioned to take his place. He calls in Runyan, who asks if Piety has been found yet, which she hasn’t. Among her personal belongings, they found a supposed blackmail letter from Aisling Querelle. Runyan reads the letter and surmises that it was written by someone else. Jonah then fires Runyan as his arts and letters tutor, and as acting Chancellor, he hires him as a special advisor as he'll need his guidance in the dark days to come. Jonah has discovered that Quill, the Puck assassin, is a member of a larger radical organization. Knowing that Runyan is an honorable man, Jonah realizes that he is one of the few people that can be trusted in the dark days to come.

## Appearances

### Season one

* Aisling
* Grieve No More
* Unaccompanied Fae
* The World to Come
* The Gloaming

## References

1. ↑ Season 1, Episode 01: Some Dark God Wakes
2. ↑ Season 1, Episode 05: Grieve No More
3. ↑ Season 1, Episode 06: Unaccompanied Fae
4. ↑ Season 1, Episode 07: The World to Come
5. ↑ Season 1, Episode 08: The Gloaming