The Nebbi Conto – Known in Common Tongue as “The Debt” or “The Debtors”
“I tell you now of the gambling halls of the Nebbi Conto…Fearsome places to behold, where Builders and Glassblowers sit amiably and drink together, united in their greed for just one more hand of Hanged Man’s Bluff…No, I was not there, I heard it from a friend…”
–An elf of the Carraka to their mate, in a bluff pretending he had not attended the same Gambling Hall, and played many hands with a Zafir Nez…
The Nebbi Conto are like a ragged band of scavengers, following at the tail end of the Elven Nation. They have always been there, bartering goods to weary travelers, buying valuable resources from hunters who just want a drink or a good lay with a whore. They are the seedy dark side to existence, lurking in the shadows, always offering the sweet suckle of spice or the ragged sheets of a bed. By day, they are scorned, admonished of their ways. By night, all changes.
At the outskirts of every outpost built by the Ja’Ja Jik, a well-erected gambling hall and a dilapidated set of whore’s tents run by the Nebbi Conto is ever-present, attended by all people of the Elven Nation after long journeys through the Desert. They are the major purveyors of spice, poison, and flash-powder among the Elven Nation, procuring their products from places unknown.
Known as gatherers of information from their disparate ties, they are known as ‘The Debtors’ for their lack of forgiveness when it comes to paying what is owed. Though they are not highly ranked, or highly considered, in the Elven Nation, few would dare cross one of them on purpose. They are considered nefarious pranksters, pullers of strings, manipulators, and without moral scruples. Their tribe has survived from making friends in all of the right places and making sure their enemies are dead and in the ground or under their thumb.
It is rumored that they employ magick, even those of human or breed blood, to spy and seek information on their behalf, using it as blackmail chips against those they can put pressure on. Many tribes view them as a necessary evil, though the fair, well-respected Ja’Ja Jik (The Builders) are known to be tied very closely with them, assisting in the construction of their gambling halls and whore dens, perhaps taking a cut of the choicest meats.
Taking a slur used against them and making it an ironic strength, the Nebbi Conto are often called ‘Black Fingers’ for having their grubby hands in every pot. They have taken this in stride and most members dye their fingers black, wearing it as a badge of honor.