Ganelial Crade

Overview

Ganelial Crade ("Gnel") is an extramuros (outside-the-walls) driver from Samble in a community of Deolaters (religious group). He speaks Orth and joined a small traveling party connected to Bly's Butte. He remains with the group as they head north, often taking the lead on driving, outfitting, and route logistics, while consulting co-religionists and relaying information about Orolo. On the over-ice route he helps arrange a smuggler transfer for the avout (cloistered scholar) traveler, providing coins and scouting smaller sledges along the catwalks. In Mahsht, he takes part in the group's extraction from street violence and in the evacuation alongside avout from the Ringing Vale.

On Ecba he joins planning for a direct approach to Orithena, urging a short delay to gather information. After admission to Orithena with Cord, Yulassetar Crade, and Sammann, the group is lodged in a guest lodge, allowed to keep jeejahs (handheld communicators), and formally welcomed at dinner by Fraa Landasher. After the evacuation from Orithena, he states he will remain with the Orithenans on a trial basis arranged with Fraa Landasher; others in the party planned to travel to the Convox (rare avout convocation) at Tredegarh.

Appearance and Traits

• Projects a set-apart bearing that reflects strict religious identity; even among other extras he "doesn't blend."
• Prefers concrete tasks and leadership around vehicles and camp craft; comfortable giving detailed, practical instruction.
• Reads scripture in Old Bazian and is quick to defend his tradition in debate. Adopts the familiar name "Gnel."
• Technically minded in a hands-on way: keeps a three-wheeler in his fetch (flatbed utility vehicle), manages tools and supplies, and uses earphones with a jeejah to coordinate on the move.
• Improvisational first-aid helper: contributes practical materials (e.g., household glue, tackle-box line) when medical supplies are scarce.
• Plain-spoken in abstract debates, reducing issues to simple analogies while teasing his cousin without taking the bait.

Roles and Actions

• Canvasses co-religionists by jeejah for news; reports that Orolo passed through recently, stayed in the back of a cousin's fetch (flatbed utility vehicle), was outfitted for extreme cold, and then rode north on a drummon.
• Vehicle preparation and cold-weather logistics: helps procure hobnailed, deeply grooved tires; works with companions to replace coolants and lubricants for sub-freezing conditions; shifts loads so his fetch can carry a three-wheeler; insists on traveling with two vehicles for redundancy.
• Arranges with station management for long-term parking for a companion's fetch while the group reconfigures for the push north.
• Leads long highway stages through taiga and tundra, keeps the caravan moving amid slow sledge convoys, and uses the three-wheeler for short hops when needed.
• At the polar sledge port, secures a place for both vehicles on the flatbed, with his fetch at the edge so the three-wheeler can be deployed; helps stage gear aboard a housing module on the locomotive.
• Old Mahsht extraction: drives a three-wheeler into a crowded square to reach a beset companion; under scooter and foot pursuit he coordinates by earpiece while Yulassetar Crade provides armed overwatch and avout (cloistered scholars) from the Ringing Vale break the mob's momentum. He then helps shuttle the Valers to safety using the group's vehicles.
• Field medicine at a riverside site outside Mahsht: assists with improvised care—applying glue to close a split eyebrow, providing tackle-box line used for stitching, and supporting a broader first-aid effort until the patient is stabilized.
• At Orithena (tour and lodging): first accompanies the group to the gate and waits outside with Cord, Yulassetar Crade, and Sammann under a prearranged fallback; afterward all four are admitted, lodged in a guest lodge set apart from the cloister, allowed to keep jeejahs (handheld communicators), and are formally welcomed at dinner by Fraa Landasher. On a tour of the dig the next morning, Gnel is described as having a moment of religious intensity.
• At Orithena (probe landing and aftermath): helps retrieve a vast parachute linked to the visiting probe and, with Yulassetar Crade and others, stuffs much of it into the back of his fetch (flatbed utility vehicle) before leading a larger effort to spread and suspend it as a canopy over the plaza; drives his fetch down into the excavation to reposition and uses its high-powered lights to illuminate the probe so Cord can examine its hatch; provides the fetch's bed as a clean surface for the probe's occupant while the physician examines her; described diagnosing the wounds as consistent with a close-range shotgun blast; when soldiers order an evacuation, immediately starts his fetch and proceeds toward the ramp, allowing Suur Maltha and an assistant to ride with the casualty and pausing to pick up slower-moving avout (cloistered scholars).
• Post-evacuation: around a beach campfire with companions and Orithenans, states "I'm staying with these people," adding that he has spoken with Fraa Landasher who will "try [him] out" for a while; companions toast the decision.

Relationships

• Cousin: Yulassetar Crade—an apostate relative who equips travelers and later joins the journey; their exchanges mix tension with practical cooperation.
• Traveling companions: Cord (works with him on vehicle outfitting and repairs) and Sammann (often contrasts with him on information sources and methods). Collaborates with Fraa Erasmas while providing transport and route leadership.
• Orithena community: expresses intent to join and is invited to try a stay arranged with Fraa Landasher.
• Occasional theological sparring with a Kelx magister in the group's orbit; exchanges are sharp but intermittent.

Current Status

Following the emergency at Orithena and relocation to a nearby beach camp, he declares his intent to remain with the Orithenans on a trial basis arranged with Fraa Landasher, while some companions plan to continue toward the Convox (rare avout convocation). His vehicle's subsequent status is not specified.