Ooh, "fresh off the boat" doesn't have to mean "No contacts." Here's a few possibilities:
----------
Sháli, the Egg Girl
Female, age 19, no clan, no lineage, worships Avánthe
Appearance +1, Advantage: Connected
Provenance: born in the Foreigners' Quarter
"The Egg Girl" comes around every day, selling salted and spiced Káika eggs that she purchases by getting up before dawn and walking to the other edge of the city, where farmers sell their wares. She has the kind of face that people confide in, and she's privy to a lot of the local gossip. She is apparently the daughter of the hostel-keeper (himself a Tsolyáni citizen) who runs a squalid tenement of tiny rooms. Her "father" has promised her he will adopt her officially when she has paid off her debt to him. (In truth, he has no such plan, and does what he can to keep her around as a free worker. Shortly after Sháli was born, her mother caught the eye of a Medium Clan man, who accepted her as his second wife. When the woman revealed she had an infant daughter, however, the man refused to take the child in. The hostel-keeper adopted Sháli. (Befriend Sháli, and she'll give you the best deal on street-vendor eggs... and maybe an adventure lead or two!)
Grú'ik the Beaked Mouse-man (a Ninínyal, or "Pygmy Folk")
Male, age 20, no clan, no lineage, no religion
Quirk: Humble, and especially respectful of females, Talent: Stealth, Phobia: other Ninínyal
Provenance: from Yán Kór (a strangely cold and very far-off land of barbarians to the north)
When Grú'ik's attraction to his own gender was discovered, it was practically a death sentence. Amongst Pygmy Folk, their children are allowed to kill those who do not fit into the group. Grú'ik's former playmates attempted to kill him. He managed to fight them off and escaped by stowing away in a merchant ship. After it arrived in (campaign town/city), he snuck out, the ship's crew none the wiser. (The heroes can meet Grú'ik at the moment when some slaver thugs are trying to make a slave of him, and perhaps other foreigners, and rescue him. Lonely, and cut off from his own kind, Grú'ik could become a very loyal "Planchet" lackey to his saviors.)
Mother Lóshi, freelance healer lady
Female, age 49, Flowering Life Clan, Low Clan/High Lineage (hiJunái), worships Hnálla
Quirk: compassionate, Advantage: Educated
Provenance: from the current campaign town/city
This is an older woman with glossy black bangs, crows' feet lines, and sun-baked weathered-looking skin, a white cloth over her head. She tends to the ailments of human foreigners. She asks no money for her services, but grateful former patients donate enough money for her upkeep. She was originally trained by the Temple of Ksárul. Their constant inter-competition and intriguing drove her out (not to mention, her Low Clan status was an obstacle to serious promotion). She discovered her services were badly needed in the Foreigners' Quarter and this work has her brought a deep sense of fulfillment.
Lón Hú, self-styled "Fearless Lón"
Male, age 24, no clan, no lineage, worships animist nature spirits
Disadvantage: Unattractive 1, Quirk: Egotistical, Distinctive: 1, Guardianship 2: his mother and his two young siblings, Disadvantage: Dark secret- used to be a pirate
Provenance: Port Miyél in the Tsoléi Islands
He's stoutly built; he's got a nose like a round lumpy tuber and reddish-brown hair. He dodges a tragic past with a goofy smile and bravado. Lón's father was a pirate who fell victim to alcoholism, and Lón was forced to care for his mother and siblings. In his homeland, he became a promising young gladiator; he's got some small skill with a sword and shield. He and his family boarded the boat because he had learned about the Tsolyáni way of 'clans'. He longs to earn his way into one himself, even if it's Very Low Status... just as long as it's not cleaning dung. And not washing corpses. Oh, and not loading crates and barrels, either. He thinks he is better than that, and if you do, too, maybe he'll let you join him on his rise to stardom. If you're his friend, you might be able to talk him into some dangerous venture. (Fearless Lón paid for his family's passage by serving aboard a few successful pirate ships, and he learned Tsolyáni from sailors. He may have been instrumental in our heroes learning the convoluted and flowery Tsolyáni language.)
Changadésha (Sergeant) Nálum hiKhaiséna, Foreigner's Quarter guard
Male, age 33, Eye of Flame Clan, Low Clan/Medium Lineage, worships Karakán
Temper 1: set off by abuse of the physically weak
Provenance: from the current campaign town/city
Folks around here agree: he's an honest and likeable fellow. Maybe he's pious; at least, he practices his ritual weapon forms every morning. It's not common knowledge just how Nálum ended up patrolling this area. If you're his friend, though, and he's had a bit to drink, he just might tell you the story. When Nálum was a rookie, assigned to patrol the Sákbe Road, he caught one of his unit-mates roughing up an old man. Nálum lost his temper and killed his fellow guard. Nálum's clan paid Shámtla restitution to the other family, and Nálum was demoted to this lowly post.
Arikóbu hiVálikesh
Male, age 57, High Clan/High Lineage, White Stone Clan, worships an Aspect of Grugánu said to favor merchants.
Wealth, Lackey (Yógh, his eight-eyed Ahóggya bodyguard), Enemy: bandits, Reputation: delighted by actual magic, and folktales involving magic, Quirk: patient
Provenance: from a prosperous rural community
Word on the street is that, if you find this Arikóbu some charming local storyteller with a fanciful tale of talking furniture, flying cats, and whatnot, and he may tip you quite well. Arikóbu's father is a highly placed judge in the service of the province's governor. After a rash of assassinations of the family of various government officials, Arikóbu himself was raised out in the country, on his rich family's plantation. He is actually the heir to an aristocratic title of "Arsékmoi" ("Baron"), and a sizable piece of the family fortune. It is Arikóbu's dream to visit five of the "Stations of Brave Peripatation", a merchanting feat once accomplished by his grandfather. If the heroes could keep him safe as he pursues his goal, they would be well rewarded. Used to both the crude manners of his land's peasants and the fancy courtly graces of his mother's villa, he would tend to be tolerant of foreigners' ways, while willing to impart tips on etiquette.
-----
|