NPC Focus - Guarin Félix

Guarin Félix is as much a fixture of Ville des Marie as its markets themselves - a shadow moving easily between stalls, whispers, and coin. A Cajun by birth and a broker by trade, he deals in whatever the city hungers for, whether that be fine objets d’art, rare contraband, or things far more dangerous. As head of the Guilde Furtive, his reach extends well beyond the bazaar, threading through back alleys, counting houses, and quiet rooms where deals are struck without witnesses. He is not merely a merchant - he is a gatekeeper to the city’s undercurrent.

His relationship with the law is less a struggle and more a performance. Lord Gy Lévesque and Marquise Désirée Fournier have both made efforts to bring him to heel, yet Guarin remains frustratingly untouchable. Coin flows where it must, favors are called in at the right moment, and cases against him have a way of collapsing just as they begin to take shape. Arrests are inconveniences, nothing more. By the time the dust settles, Guarin Félix walks free - often with a smile.

For all his self-serving instincts and carefully cultivated chaos, Guarin operates by a code that is, in its own way, dependable. So long as one remains on his good side, his word holds. Deals are honored, arrangements are kept, and protection is quietly extended where it benefits him. He is not kind, nor generous, but he is consistent - and in a city like this, that alone makes him valuable.

Cross him, however, and that same consistency becomes something far darker. Misfortune begins subtly - a lost shipment, a broken contract, a quiet threat delivered by someone who never gives a name. If the slight continues, so too does the escalation. Guarin does not forget, and he does not forgive easily. Only a formal, public apology will suffice, and once it is given, the storm passes as suddenly as it came. The “accidents” stop. The pressure lifts. Balance is restored.

There is one truth, however, known only to a rare and carefully guarded few. Guarin Félix and Marquise Fournier share blood - an illegitimate bond neither denies, though neither speaks of it openly. It is the single thread that has spared him from execution more than once. The Marquise clings, perhaps foolishly, to the hope that he might one day change. Guarin himself finds that notion almost amusing. As he has said with disarming ease, “Chère, we are in the same business. I am simply honest with myself about what I am, comprendre?”

The entrance to the Guilde Furtive.