Lady Verena Gabel

Verena showed an aptitude for diplomacy from a young age, earnest and attentive to her lessons, whereas her twin brother, Reinhold, was rarely exceedingly engaged with any of it. She understood well the lofty position of her house, and also the fragility of its position should it mismanage its affairs. She has been a frequent traveller, going either on one of House Gabel's excellent horses or ship from town to castle to estate, between House Gabel's vassals and beyond. She hears out complaints, relays messages, and offers niceties, or, occasionally, puts forward something concrete.

Verena and Reinhold are second cousins to the duke and so somewhat removed from the main line. Verena takes some pride in having the Gabel name, and occasionally prevails upon her brother to do the same. To date, he hasn't really.

Verena smoothes over problems, unruffles feathers, and tucks issues away so that they are hopefully forgotten about. She addresses symptoms, and rather less commonly the actual root causes. That is enough for her, because it is enough to keep Southreach functioning in its day-to-day. Perhaps there will be a time when everything can be addressed all at once, but she isn't going to force it. Once a superficial remedy has been applied, she sets off about her other business again. She's charming, warm, and has a great talent for sounding reassuring while not really getting into the specifics of why a person should be reassured. She understands the issues of Southreach and indeed further afield well enough to be conversational on various political matters, though she steers deftly clear of delving into detail.

Verena is a competent diplomat and excels at assuaging people's concerns.