Slelvin is a poet and a writer, who owns his own bookshop. Slelvin is known for his particularly dark fiction, most of which revolves around serial killers. His books are well known for killers who are particularly gruesome, oftentimes cannibalizing the remains in some way. Slelvin sells his own books in his bookstore, along with many others. His books are always bound in black leather and have the entwined double “S” imprinted on the binding.

Slelvin’s earliest memories were of the orphanage where he grew up. His parents abandoned him, leaving him nothing except his name. Slelvin was a thin and sickly child, and no parents would adopt him. The other children avoided him, saying that he was cursed to never be adopted and the curse would spread if you spent too much time with him. The priestesses who ran the orphanage were nice to Slelvin, but with so many other children they rarely had time for him. As such, Slelvin retreated into two things he really loved: reading, and watching the city guards. The city guards noted that Slelvin would follow them around, and would sometimes give him fruit or candy if they had it. A few select soldiers would sometimes invite Slelvin over to the crime scene and ask his opinion. These guards found that Slelvin had a good mind for crime, and even suggested that he become a guard himself. However, Slelvin found that he was too weak to really handle the physical ordeals that came with being a guard. Still, crime fascinated him.

The only time that Slelvin was able to attract other children to talk to him was when he told about what he saw when he was with the guards. Stunned by the attention, Slelvin began to exaggerate the tales, until he had constructed entire, elaborate mythologies about killers, whose crimes affected one another. It became evident that Slelvin was making up much of what was in these stories, but the children did not care. They were fascinated by him, and the fact that the priestesses tried to stop him from telling these stories made them all the more attractive.

Slelvin was never adopted, and when he was old enough he took an apprenticeship as a bookbinder. However, he spent every spare minute he could get either reading or writing. Slelvin’s master found him writing one day when he should have been working, scolded him and grabbed the papers he was working on, intending to burn them. That night Slelvin’s master read the pages and was captivated. He asked Slelvin if he could publish the short story, and soon everyone in the city was reading “The Tale of the Woman with No Thumbs.” Slelvin and his master worked out an arrangement, Slelvin would write, his master would publish the stories and they would split the profits. Slowly, Slelvin’s notoriety grew, until he had accumulated a modest following. When his master died, Slelvin inherited his store and turned it into a bookstore.

Slelvin has been writing all his life. Now he is old, but still writing and productive. He is known as the kindly old bookshop keeper by most of the people in the city, and a handful have drawn the connection between him and the books he sells. Slelvin is always happy to welcome customers, and even offers them tea in his untidy shop, and gives no pressure to buy anything. He simply loves fiction, and can go on talking for hours about it. Whenever anyone tries to visit Slelvin’s shop, there is a 30% chance that he has closed for an hour to sneak into his office and read. There is also a 5% chance on any given month that Slelvin has acquired a magical book (at the DM’s discretion) though it requires a DC 20 search check to find. Slelvin buys books in bulk, he simply cannot restrain himself. There is a 60% chance that Slelvin has read any individual book in his bookshop, and remembers the plot in great detail.

There has been a disturbing trend recently for the murders in Slelvin’s books to actually come true. Whether these are copycat murders, some psychic power of Slelvin’s or something more is yet to be seen. Slelvin had not heard about most of these murders, and has chalked the one that he has heard of up to coincidence. Slelvin uses real murders to inspire his own books, after all, and he argues that the copycat might actually be copying the murder that he used to inspire the book, and not the book itself.

Slelvin grew up admiring the guards, and as such they always portray a strong force in his books. Most of the time the main characters are actually members of the guard, and if they are not they certainly look to the guard for help. Ultimately the guards always catch the criminal, oftentimes with help. Mages who try to sell their services to help solve the crime are portrayed as bumbling idiots or scam artists at best, and actually in league with the killer at worst.

Slelvin Slown
Lawful Neutral male human (medium humanoid)
Commoner 4th
Hit Dice: 4d4-1 (14 hp)
Initiative: -2
Speed: 30 ft
Armor Class: 8 (-2 dex)
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+0
Attack: None
Damage: None
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Saves: Fort +0, Ref -1,Will +3
Abilities: Str 6, Con 9, Dex 7, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 19
Skills: Craft (written story) +13, Swim +5, Climb +5, Listen +9, Spot +9
Feats: Skill Focus (written story), Dodge, Toughness
Special Abilities: None
Languages: Common, Elven, Dwarven, Gnomish

Equipment: All of Slelvin’s money is in his store and in his inventory.

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