Grindle

Grindle does business from The Rusty Hook, a low, cluttered barge tied to a rotting pier along a slow stretch of the Silverbend. Nets, chains, old tools, crates, and curious bits of salvage seem to collect around him.

Once a month, he brings copper-dust down from the Northern Mines. He is the only trader around Riverpost known to carry it, which makes his cargo far more interesting than he would like anyone to realize.

Large for a raccoon, with oily fur and a ragged ear, Grindle is watchful, threatening, and fiercely possessive of his business. His dry laugh rarely puts anyone at ease, and visitors to his barge are not encouraged to stay.

Grindle believes the river rewards those clever enough to search it. As he puts it, “The river is full of treasures if you know where to look.” Marlowe soon discovers that some treasures carry dangerous secrets with them.