Natis Fieltler

Natis Fieltler is a Senator of Andris who began her term of office in the Year 429, not long after the Lancaster Wars. She is perhaps best remembered for her leadership during the struggle with the Venom Priests, and for her kidnapping at the hand of pirates. Nowadays, ever since the disappearance of Senator Morgans in Year 441, Fieltler quietly serves as the most senior member of the Senate.

The Venom Priest Conflict[]

Fieltler took on a very active role in the conflict with the Venom Priests, occasionally even assisting the citizens of Andris on the field of battle. After the priests were evicted from their cave, the senator remained vigilant, knowing that the cult would one day rise again.

Captivity[]

When the venom priests finally did make a brief resurgence in 434, Fieltler was unable to assist, as she was kidnapped by the pirate crew of Jack the Red and the Witch Doctor. At first the populace suspected that the venom priests had orchestrated the kidnapping, since the senator had conducted extensive research into the cult’s activities. But the remnants of the priests were quickly defeated, and it became clear that the threat of their return was exaggerated. Then, the pirates came to Andris with a ransom note, offering to return the senator in exchange for Jack’s katana, which the pirates had lost in an earlier raid on the city.

There was just one problem: Big Jack's Katana, as the sword came to be known, had been auctioned off to Hayate at the recent Blue Moon Festival. Arrangements were made for the great fighter to meet with the senators. But when he got to Andris, a large crowd had amassed in protest. They argued that the Senate should not give in to the kidnappers’ demands, as Andris could not afford to show any signs of weakness. Hayate gave the sword to Andris all the same, and thus the protestors went unheeded.

The senators sent out a message to the privateers, informing them that the katana was in Andris’s possession. A reply was promptly received: the privateers would come to make the exchange in nine days’ time. The appointed hour arrived and so did the delegation of privateers, who provided only a lock of Fieltler’s hair as proof of her safety. The delegation instructed the Andrisians to come to Crescent Island, where the senator was being kept.

The parties gathered at the island, but Senator Fieltler was nowhere in sight. The privateers demanded that the katana be shown first, and Andris complied. At last, the senator was brought out. But just before the katana was handed over, someone shouted to the senator to run, and a scuffle was heard coming from the privateers’ camp. Fieltler, however, did not budge – she was under the powerful mind control of the Witch Doctor. Fighting broke out, Andris held on to the katana, and the privateers fled - leaving behind the senator's severed hand as a warning.

After this disaster, negotiations were stalled for quite some time. Senator Fieltler spent many moons imprisoned on the pirates’ ship, kept sedated by the Witch Doctor’s black magic. One day, Fieltler’s pet wolf Shalrim led a group of adventurers straight to the senator herself, standing alone in the woods of Andris. The senator revealed that her kidnappers were hiding nearby, and that the Doctor had temporarily allowed her to speak. She only had time to say that the pirates would still trade her for the sword, before she was spirited away again. Still, Andris made no attempts to make an exchange.

Good news finally arrived in the Harvest Moon of Year 435. A note written by the senator was found in an empty rum bottle. It would appear that Doc (the Witch Doctor) had drunk a little too much rum, thus losing some control over the senator for a short time. The senator wrote that the crew would be landing in Port Gast just after the full moon.

The day came, and a group assembled at Mirith. The rogue Libe scouted ahead, and had even more good news to tell: Doc was nowhere to be found, having left to attend to some more important business. The rescue force descended upon the unsuspecting pirates, retrieving both the senator and the voodoo doll that was being used to control her. The battle was intense, but without Doc, the pirates could not win. After almost a year in captivity, Senator Fieltler was free at last.

Later that day, the people would learn that Doc had entered Andris during the rescue operation and stolen the katana. The timing of the whole ordeal caused some to suspect the Senate of making dealings behind the scenes, but nothing could be proven. Senator Fieltler, for her part, disregarded the accusations. Scarred by her captivity, she stopped appearing in public and continued to serve silently on the Senate.

440s and Present Day[]

Several years later, while the world was struck by a series of assassinations and kindappings, she went into hiding alongside all the other surviving members of the Senate. After the crisis subsided, she returned to service, at some unknown point in the mid-440s. And now, with Senator Morgans having gone missing during that same crisis, Fieltler remains the de facto senior member of the Senate.