Partic Thistle

Lord Partic Thistle was an ex-adventurer noble of the Thistle family, and the Registrant General of Cormyr in the mid-to-late 14 century DR. He resided at Thistleflame Keep in Suzail.

Personality
Lord Thistle was a kind and generous man who loved hosting guests at Thistleflame. He was fiercely dedicated to his King and country, and saw the promotion of adventuring companies as a way to advance the safety and welfare of the adventurers and the realm as a whole.

He had a morbid fascination with the past, especially his family's, an eccentricity which was gossiped about by society. He was extremely fond of sneaking down to his family's crypt and wandering about the tombs of his ancestors.

Abilities
Lord Thistle was an adept fighter and swordsman, having adventured in his youth.

He possessed an eidetic memory able to perfectly recall almost anything he witnessed. This was a great boon to his work as Registrant General, as he memorized every detail he could about the adventuring companies he dealt with, far beyond what official documentation recorded.

Possessions
He casually wore bracers of defense and carried a rapier, and bore the Thistle signet ring. In case of need, he kept a magical suit of +2 full plate armor and a +4 defender broadsword in his bedroom. He also had a +1 flame tongue longsword and a +3 vorpal longsword that he displayed in the Grand Hall, trophies of his ancestor's victories.

Activities
As Registrant General of Adventuring Companies, Lord Thistle was ultimately responsible for the state of adventurers in the realm. From his office in the Royal Court, he oversaw the dispensation of charters to groups of adventurers in Cormyr, as well as potentially withdrawing the charters and penalizing the groups. He monitored the behavior and progress of these parties, judging whether intervention was needed to correct them through punishment or reward. Although rogue adventurers were typically handled by the Purple Dragons, he would delegate lower-risk missions to trustworthy adventuring groups.

Relationships
Lord Thistle carried on a romantic engagement with the barmaid Annalise at the Bubbling Bulwark, but feared the derision his peers would lavish him with for marrying such a lowborn commoner. This relationship was much-gossiped about in Suzail's noble circles.

His closest friend and confidant was his butler, Moorefield, who he entrusted with the most vital aspects of his life.

Despite her best efforts, his maid Tami was endlessly frustrated by his refusal to respond to her flirtations.

History
In 1369 DR, he hosted a party at Thistleflame for King Azoun Obarskyr IV and a number of other distinguished guests, hoping to raise the reputation of adventurers in the realm. Instead, he was kidnapped by the Emerald Swords adventuring company and replaced by the doppelganger Xixis. The Emerald Swords were working for Zhentil Keep and intended to spirit him away for interrogation, as his eidetic memory made him the single greatest repository of information on adventuring groups in Cormyr and possibly the Realms. Xixis was to impersonate him for a time so that his kidnapping would go unnoticed until the Emerald Swords were well away from the scene.

The plan immediately went awry after the Swords hid Lord Partic in his family crypt. Xixis acted recklessly in his new guise, having come to enjoy the luxuries and benefits of his noble persona far too much. Deciding that Xixis would be revealed and spoil the whole plan, the Emerald Swords killed their ally, hoping to throw suspicions on the entire body of visiting nobles and adventurers at the estate, and prevent any pursuit for their kidnapping by having the target already apparently dead.

This new plan also quickly went wrong, as his butler Moorefield happened to check on him almost immediately afterwards. Finding what seemed to his murdered master, the alarm was raised and the entire estate detained by the Purple Dragons. Despite the array of eccentric and suspicious characters at Thistleflame, the investigation that followed uncovered the Emerald Sword's involvement, with the kidnappers detained and Lord Thistle recovered unharmed. In thanks to his rescuers, he awarded them a handsome sum of money as well as the Seal of Iron, part of the Four from Cormyr.

Later that year, he hired adventurers (possibly the same ones) to investigate the status of the Wolfmasters adventuring company, which was late in paying for its charter. The trail led from Thunderstone to Orvaskyte Keep in the Vast Swamp, and the discovery that the Wolfmasters were not delinquent, but dead.

Trivia
Partic Thistle is likely a reference to the Partick Thistle Football Club, in Glasgow, Scotland.