Tom

Tom, known to Lucien first as Ferryman, is a Congress contact who guides hunted apprentices from Sturk toward Allyn. He manages safe houses, maritime routes, and negotiations with people whose cooperation is necessary for the passage to survive Church scrutiny. (Chapters 169–182)

Biography

Carrying apprentices through a compromised route

Tom receives Lucien at a concealed house where young apprentices study while waiting for transport, and he helps clarify that instruction from Lucien will not prevent other Congress sorcerers from taking them later. A traitor has exposed the normal route, so Tom shifts the group to a backup voyage and warns them that the destination is either their hoped-for magical world or the gallows. When murlocs and Church inspectors threaten the ship, he fights outside, hides the apprentices below, and deliberately flatters Pastor Cody to keep inspection away from the concealed group. (Chapters 169–180)

Tom also serves as the Congress's credible local guarantor. Lucien names him as the representative who can uphold a promised Blessing potion for Jacques, and later information from Tom helps Lucien understand apprentice outcomes in Allyn. His consequence is quiet but essential: the apprentices reach the Congress because Tom combines logistics, trusted relationships, combat assistance, and the willingness to improvise under exposure. (Chapters 181–182)

Personality and skills

Tom is serious about risk, patient with rebellious teenagers, and quick to use deference as camouflage. He knows secret waterways, safe houses, shipboard contacts, and Congress procedures. He can fight a second-circle murloc mage long enough to survive, but is surprised when Lucien kills it; the corpus does not state Tom's own circle or signature spells. (Chapters 169–182)