Lanevus

Biodata

Power Progression

Appearance

• Scholarly-looking man who wears glasses 16.
• Carries a dagger concealed inside his coat 16.

Personality

Lanevus is calculating, patient, and skilled at disguising his intentions. He greets prospective investors warmly, denies wrongdoing when exposed, and attempts to kill Wilt when his fraud is laid bare. After being overpowered, he feigns a willingness to die to extract information and gain bargaining leverage 16.

His confidence collapses after repeated, seemingly coincidental disasters prevent him from leaving Tingen. Nevertheless, fear does not erase his judgment: he recognizes that Wilt’s willingness to explain his predicament means Wilt needs something from him, and presses for the real terms of cooperation 17 18.

With nobles, Lanevus adopts a deferential manner without surrendering control of the conversation. He endures Earl Corodo’s deliberate delay, recognizes it as a test, and uses a threatened withdrawal to secure a private audience 23 24.

Background / History

Entry into the Beyonder World

Lanevus obtained a potion formula and a black badge from a corpse. He did not know that the badge was connected to the Hermits of Fate until Wilt identified it as a means of entering the organization 18.

After Lanevus came into contact with Sirius Arapis of the Aurora Order, the True Creator turned His attention toward him. According to Wilt, this made Lanevus a candidate for a Divine Descent Vessel despite his belonging to the Marauder Pathway rather than the Secrets Suppliant Pathway 17.

Iron-Mine Fraud

To digest his Swindler potion, Lanevus established the Lanevus Steel Company and falsely claimed ownership of a large, high-grade iron mine in Sivellas County. His fabricated plans and documents encouraged wealthy middle-class investors to buy into the company 9 16.

The deception extended beyond paperwork. Temporarily hired workers, rented premises, and enclosed land created the appearance of a working mining operation for visiting inspectors. Lanevus intended to finish digesting his potion and abscond with the investment money 9 16.

Wilt’s Intervention

Wilt selected Lanevus’s operation as the foundation for a larger fraud targeting Tingen’s nobles. His original intention was to exploit Lanevus’s work, collect the proceeds, and leave Lanevus to take the blame 8 9.

Posing as an interested investor, Wilt visited the company and presented documents exposing the existing scam and outlining its replacement. Lanevus attacked with a dagger, but Wilt incapacitated him with Mind Breath through a Manipulator Beyonder item. Wilt then exposed Lanevus’s attempt to bargain by threatening his own life 16.

The item’s negative effect caused Wilt to speak aloud his knowledge that Lanevus had been chosen as a Divine Descent Vessel. Seeing an opportunity to secure more willing cooperation, Wilt allowed the frightened Lanevus to attempt an escape from Tingen 16.

Failed Escape and Recruitment

Ince Zangwill used the Quill of Alzuhod to arrange successive failures of Lanevus’s escape attempts 17:

Madam D rescued him from the evil spirit, recognized the True Creator’s aura on him, and received a direct oracle to return him to Tingen. She subsequently placed a secret mark on him 17.

Unable to escape, Lanevus agreed to help Wilt swindle the nobles in exchange for assistance against his fate as a vessel and the manipulation surrounding him. Wilt made that assistance conditional on completing the fraud as a test and then infiltrating the Hermits of Fate as an undercover agent. No completed infiltration is documented 17 18.

Gold-Mine Operation

In the revised scheme, Lanevus represented Wilt Mirage, who posed as an impoverished noble’s descendant whose gold mine was threatened by the Rorsted Archipelago’s governor and military. Lanevus’s task was to recruit influential nobles by offering a share of the mine’s profits in exchange for protection 9 19 24.

His first major success was Earl Corodo. Lanevus invoked Corodo’s connection to Baron Mirage, secured a private audience, and supplied forged documents. Corodo agreed to consider the proposal, requested a meeting with Wilt, and began investigating the Rorsted Archipelago through his contacts 23 24.

Lanevus then arranged Wilt’s appearance before Corodo. When Wilt questioned why the meeting was necessary so early, Lanevus explained that Corodo had insisted and correctly identified his urgency as a sign of financial difficulty 28.

The operation subsequently gained support from Tingen’s New Party leadership and attracted the New Party in Backlund earlier than expected. Lanevus requested Wilt’s instructions through Madam D; Wilt told him to continue accepting all interested participants. At that point, Lanevus had only begun contacting New Party members, and the proposed gold-mining company had not yet been established 41 42.

Abilities & Skills

Swindler

• Uses deception and bargaining to conceal his intentions and seek leverage, including recognizing that Wilt’s disclosures reveal an unstated need for his cooperation 16 18.
• Wilt describes him to Avatar No. 037 as unusually suited to the Marauder Pathway, claiming that his talent restored abilities normally unavailable until the High Sequences. The specific abilities are not identified 9.

Fraud and Social Engineering

• Constructs investment scams using forged documents and staged physical evidence 9.
• Reads social tests and adapts his conduct to a target’s status and concerns 23 24.
• Combines financial incentives, personal connections, and controlled disclosure to persuade influential targets 24.

Combat Limitations

• Attempts a close-range dagger attack against Wilt but is immediately incapacitated by Mind Breath 16.
• While already injured, cannot withstand the evil spirit encountered during his escape and survives through Madam D’s intervention 17.

Equipment / Items

• Concealed dagger — Carried inside his coat; drawn against Wilt when the iron-mine fraud is exposed 16.
• Black badge — Found on a corpse. Wilt identifies it as an entry credential for the Hermits of Fate and returns it to him 18.
• Potion formula — Obtained from the same corpse as the badge 18.
• Fraudulent investment documents — Used in the iron-mine operation and the later approach to Earl Corodo 9 24.

Relationships

• Wilt Mirage — Coercive recruiter and operational partner. Offers Lanevus a possible escape from his predicament in exchange for completing the fraud and undertaking an undercover assignment 16 17 18.
• Madam D — Rescuer, watcher, and intermediary. Returns him to Tingen under the True Creator’s orders, secretly marks him, and relays messages between him and Wilt 17 19 41.
• True Creator — Deity who marks Lanevus as a potential Divine Descent Vessel and prevents his departure through an oracle to Madam D 17.
• Sirius Arapis — Aurora Order contact whose encounter with Lanevus draws the True Creator’s attention 17.
• Ince Zangwill — Hidden manipulator who scripts the failures of Lanevus’s escape using the Quill of Alzuhod. Lanevus is warned about Angel-level interference but is not told the culprit’s identity 17.
• Earl Corodo — Target of the gold-mine fraud whom Lanevus persuades to consider backing Wilt against the supposed seizure of the mine 23 24.
• Megose — Visits him at the company, brings him breakfast, and welcomes Wilt inside at his request 16.

Notable Quotes

“The fact that you're telling me this means I'm not as unimportant as you make me out to be.” 18

“There must be something you need me for. That's my value and my bargaining chip.” 18