Morvengarde

**Lucy Bluecrowne**: No, sir.

**Christopher Swifte**: [Morvengarde] commented that it would do nicely for tearing out a fellow's throat.

— Christopher Swifte on the Albatrosss, *Bluecrowne*, pg. 180 |  | ”

****M******orvengarde** was once called **Drogam Nerve**, and is known as **The Great Merchant**. Along with Octavian Deacon, Morvengarde is one of the original owners of the company Deacon and Morvengarde. He is known for being ruthless. He is presumably a roamer.

## Biography

### *Bluecrowne*

**Foulk Trigemine**: I am *employed* by Mr. Morvengarde, yes.

**Christopher Swifte**: I hear that's not how he usually sees it.

— *Bluecrowne*, pg. 32 |  | ”

Trigemine met up with Blister, a peddler who was going to work with Morvengarde too, and Blister seemed daunted at the idea of the head of Deacon and Morvengarde. Trigemine explained their mission: find a conflagrationeer, for one of Morvengarde's customers, and that he himself was also supposed to pick up something else Morvengarde wanted. Trigemine met with Christopher Swifte, the keeper of the knife Albatross that Morvengarde desired, who identified him as one of Morvengarde's. Trigemine explained that Morvengarde wanted twenty more Albatrosses, and Christopher Swifte decided to consider whether or not he wanted to accept this deal.

Trigemine told Blister that the customer who wanted a conflagrationeer was Jack Hellcoal himself, one of the only more frightening beings than Morvengarde himself. Morvengarde wanted a piece of Jack's coal as payment for the conflagrationeer. Trigemine wondered again what would happen if he failed this job, though he thought he would be okay because of how valuable he was to Morvengarde. Trigemine knew that if he and Blister failed, Morvengarde, being a man of business, would take the blame, but would still be very angry at the sutler. Though perhaps Jack Hellcoal would go after them, and Trigemine knew that the loss of him would damage Morvengarde. They wondered what Morvengarde would do if he got the hellcoal and the Albatross, if maybe he would start his own hell.

The Ironmonger decided not to give up the Albatross or make more, and Trigemine asked why, explaining that he would need to tell Morvengarde. When Trigemine realized that Xiaoming was a reliquary, he considered trying to catch her and give her to Morvengarde, who would think her very valuable. Forgeron and Swifte told Lucy what Morvengarde would do with the Albatross and how powerful he was, and how ruthless Morvengarde was, and that he would do something terrible with the Albatross. After failing to get both Liao and the Albatross, Morvengarde's junior partner Seleucia Deacon showed up, and expressed contempt for the two of them. Trigemine explained what had happened, and after Jack Hellcoal killed Deacon, Blister declared that he would not be the one to tell Morvengarde about it.

### *The Raconteur's Commonplace Book*

Reever told a story of the creation of a trap. After the arrival of the peddlers Alphonsus Lung (who sold clocks), Cassiterides Bone (who sold tinware), and Ignis Blister (who worked with fire), a man called Drogam Nerve came to the town. The other peddlers found only paper in his wagon, and were disdainful. Nerve explained that they were catalogs from which many things could be ordered. The townspeople received word of invaders coming, and each peddler tried to sell their wares to the townspeople to help them defend themselves. In the end, Nerve won out, showing a blueprint for a massive device that would turn the city into a trap. The townspeople paid the price and began to build it, ordering parts from the warehouse of Nerve's partner, Octavian Deacon, and getting some parts and supporting weapons, fortifications, and timepieces from the other three peddlers. At the end, however, they had no mainspring, and took Lung's suggestion to make it out of whalebone. Nerve warned that it might not work the same way, but they had no choice, and built it with that. However, the trap did not spring at the arranged time, and was left still ticking.

Madame Grisaille told a story about how Pantin prevented a robber from stealing a coffrett from a roamer's grave. The man came first to look around, and he brought catalogs from a company called Morvengarde (which, according to Madame Grisaille, seems a name rather similar to "Drogam Nerve"). Mr. Haypotten told a story about how a boy called Hugo acquired a bottle of fog from Deacon and Morvengarde. When the bottle broke and the fog began to escape, Hugo went to the Deacon and Morvengarde office, and the clerk threatened to call Morvengarde if he did not leave.

Morvengarde met the boy Foulk, though he was not in Nagspeake. Morvengarde explained to the boy that he saw a crossroads in the puddle, and that he was part of the Roaming World. Morvengarde gave the boy a loupe and explained about the worden and ferly it revealed. He instructed Foulk to contact him if he found a relic (an object with weyward light) or a reliquary (a person with weyward light). After seeing ferly in Jacinda's garden, Foulk wrote to Morvengarde to evaluate Jacinda's meteorites. Seleucia Deacon, his junior partner, showed up, and declared that the meteorites were normal; but Jacinda soon disappeared. Morvengarde denied having taken her, but as time went on, Foulk found that this was usually what happened with reliquaries. Foulk left town, but eventually ended up working for Morvengarde, though he didn't want to. Eventually he was given a special charge: a device that could manipulate time, and sent out to use it for Morvengarde. He planned to one day go back and rescue Jacinda, but he never did. He failed a few assignments, but Morvengarde spared him, and Foulk realized that he was too valuable to be killed. The device was broken, though, and he was tasked with making it again, a process that took years.

### *Ghosts of Greenglass House*

Peter Hakelbarend noted that Morvengarde used to help bounty hunters in Nagspeake for pay, and that he'd helped bounty hunters find Whit Gammerbund. This had been before he partnered with Octavian Deacon and created the empire Deacon and Morvengarde. According to Mr. Hakelbarend, Morvengarde had his own hunters, who were fierce and nearly impossible to shake, and were also expensive. One of these had been hired to chase Whit Gammerbund. Morvengarde's bounty hunter was ruthless, killing on his way to Whit. But Whit was protected and granted asylum. The bounty hunter gave up eventually. He told Whit that, though his orders were to return Whit even if he had to hunt Whit to the ends of the earth, not even Morvengarde could say he had not done that.

### *The Thief Knot*

Marzana noted that she had heard many tales from her mother, who was a smuggler, in which the villains were often named Deacon or Morvengarde.

## Personality and traits

Morvengarde is ruthless. He will do anything to get what he wants, and makes sure that those employed by him are just as ruthless. Morvengarde does not really care about those he employs. Most are afraid of Morvengarde and daunted by him, and not much is known about the Great Merchant.