Aspen Watch

Intro
Aspen Watch is a retired Gloom Stalker ranger who seems to be a local vigilante (or "problem solver") in the town of Wending.

Description
Aspen is a navy blue tiefling with red eyes, numerous battle scars, and many silver piercings including in her ears, nose, and horns. She has one wooden hand which has a notch carved into it for winding her crossbow. When the party encountered her, she was wearing a hooded cloak.

She has been described by others as unsociable and seems to be suspicious of others, quick to distrust them or question their motives. However, although she was initially wary of the party, she made an effort to come across as more open and trusting than she actually seemed to feel.

Background
Aspen Watch was previously a Gloom Stalker who travelled the Underdark hunting monsters. However, she retired from this work several years ago when she lost her hand. She took this as a cue to slow down and reassess how best she could use her skills.

Aspen settled in Wending "a few years" ago. She chose the town because of its popularity with retired adventurers, which meant that she would stand out less than she might in any other small, quiet town.

"The Broken Sigil" (2x6)
Having heard of the party via Scuttle, Aspen first made herself known to the group during their fight with the animated scarecrows in the Wending aqueducts. She attempted to recruit them into her own investigation of the ongoing strange occurrences and offered a Bag of Holding as payment. However, her admission that she had been following the group for the past half a day was met with a great deal of suspicion, especially from Ignatious. As a show of good faith, she shared some information about animated puppets which she had dispatched at the Shrine to Errant the previous day. The party agreed to discuss her offer and meet her later with their answer.

Later, outside the Sanctuary of Mayadine, the party and Aspen Watch came to an agreement to pool their information. Aspen revealed that similar unexplained occurrences had happened during the Wendingsfael festival of five years ago. She also identified the invisible creatures which the party had previously fought as Skulks, thus beginning a hunt for their summoner. Finally, she provided the party with a list of people she considered worth investigating in The Dark Quarter, which included: Keeper Basil, Radia, and Weaver Nightswallow.

Aspen then noted tracks which indicated that someone had entered the Sanctuary of Mayadine that day. The party, upon establishing that the culprit was Yen'sal, sent Aspen to check for them at the Wending Archives, allowing Ignatious to slip invisibly into the Sanctuary to investigate before Aspen returned.

"She Lies About Time" (2x7)
Before departing for The Dark Quarter, the party sent Vangdondalor to deliver the following note to Aspen Watch: "Missing shipment of cloth, bound for Spinneret."

Scuttle
Scuttle is one of Aspen Watch's contacts, whom Aspen described as an "ally of convenience," and "someone who might be willing to do me a favour every now and then."

It was Scuttle who alerted Aspen to the party's investigations.

Wending Townskeep
Aspen has a poor reputation with the Townskeep and seems to be dismissive of their capabilities. According to Keeper Amaran, Aspen used to frequently visit the Townskeep with reports that they considered 'not worth bothering with' - likely including the events of the Wendingsfael festival of five years ago.

Keeper Basil
Aspen Watch admitted that she cannot move freely in The Dark Quarter. She attributed this to her past investigations (most recently into bandit attacks on the canals) being poorly-received, as well as the fact that she was a Gloom Stalker. Aspen counted Keeper Basil amongst her suspects in her current investigation, claiming that The Dark Quarter Townskeep had impeded her investigation and that she suspected Keeper Basil was hiding something.

Abilities

 * Aspen is a proficient spy and tracker

Items

 * Crossbow