Simon



Simon is the innkeeper of Monitor during as well as being a Goblin spy who has taken on a human shape.

Description
When the Avatar met Simon, the man was ostensibly a aged Monitorian Knight of the Bear Command who had lived in the city all of his days, and he could generally be found managing his inn, the Sleeping Soldier, on Town Hall Road. If asked, Simon would claim to have been orphaned as a young boy when his parents were killed in a Goblin raid and that, despite having come of age and undergone the Knight's Test, he had lost all stomach for fighting after his bride was murdered in a similar fashion on a journey to Fawn. A quiet, reserved man, Simon was nevertheless forthcoming with information regarding the party that had swept through the city under Batlin's leadership, and could prove quite a font of information about the interactions between Gwenno, Deadeye, Brunt, Palos and his fellow Knights.

Unbeknownst to any of the race of men, Simon was -in secret- a Goblin who had long been masquerading as a Monitorian for the purposes of espionage and had long been relaying the city's military maneuvers to the horde. Having been entrusted with this mission by Pomdirgun's father, Simon had passed the bulk of his life imbibing an addictive potion devised by some Moonshadian mage to give him the visage of a man. After the city's Knight Champion, Astrid, and her patrol were slain in a Goblin ambush, talk of a traitor spread rapidly through the city, but none suspected Simon of the conspiracy, as the bulk of suspicion came to rest on Krayg, the local provisioner who was well-known for his long walks in the nearby forests.

After speaking with Krayg about the accusations leveled against him, the Avatar learned of a Goblin rendezvous in the wood where Krayg had once spied a second figure in the wilderness: a creature that he claimed was "not a Goblin" but "not entirely Man-like" either. Investigating this site, the hero found an unbroken, brown bottle that could eventually be identified as the type used to store Fawnish ale. This led the Avatar to Simon, whose one notable eccentricity was a particular love for this bitter, unpalatable drink.

When pressed, Simon revealed his true form and made an unsuccessful attempt on the Avatar's life, and after being mortally wounded in the ensuing fray, he proved eager to tell his story, recounting his many years as a spy and bitterly reflecting on his wasted life unnaturally masquerading as a man, slowly growing dependent on the transformative potion until he could not live without it. In particular, he would voice his great hatred for Pomdirgun, whom he alleged to have falsely promised him the Helm of Courage. Should the Avatar agree to slay the Goblin king, Simon would betray his people's secrets, revealing there to be a secret passage hidden beneath a dead tree that led to the Goblins' village.

Trivia

 * It is unclear what one is to make of Simon's initial stories of his life as a Monitorian. The death of his parents and wife seem to be events that would prove difficult to fabricate, and it may be that he replaced someone called Simon who was slain at some point. Given Simon's age, however, it could be that these stories are fictions, told to a populace too young to remember Simon's origins.
 * Simon will offer the Avatar an opportunity to sample some Fawnish ale should the hero so like, although drinking it will result in the hero becoming violently sick and befouling the Sleeping Soldier's carpet.
 * Should the Avatar ask Harnna about the bottle of ice wine that came into the hero's possession during a Teleport Storm, she will recommend asking Simon about it, given his profession. Simon, if shown the bottle, will suggest that it is of Moonshadian origin.
 * Simon is secretly a Goblin spy, and Templar is an expert on Goblins. The two characters' names are likely a reference to Simon Templar, the protagonist of the book series and TV show The Saint.