Isaac was a former squire of Prince Arutha conDoin. He appears in Betrayal at Krondor and its novelization, Krondor: The Betrayal.
History
Isaac has always been a rumormonger. He currently seems to stand half a hand shorter than he had at Arutha's court, and retains the signature limp for which Krondor's young squires, including Locklear, had admired him. James, however, can discern that the limp is a convincing sham, a trick likely learned from Krondor's beggars and used along with the purses clinking at his waist -- likely loaded with iron chips -- to affect the persona of an ordinary man of business.
Eleven years earlier, Isaac, then living in Krondor, pretended to be the son of the Count of Dorgin in order to attend the wedding of Prince Arutha and Princess Anita. James, who did not know him at the time, discovered that he was lying about his identity and informed Master of Ceremonies deLacy of the imposture. deLacy was too busy with the details of the wedding to personally toss Isaac over the palace walls, but nonetheless saw that he was expelled from the court. The incident was a tragic blow to Isaac and his friends.
Isaac's current living involves odd jobs done along the border. In company with some moredhel, he played pokiir with Devon at Eggley, later recounting that Devon had played like a mind-reader and the month's income lost in the game had taken some time to recoup. Devon, however, would describe the match quite differently.
Chapter 1
The party can meet Isaac northeast of Hawk's Hollow. He teases Locklear's darkened hair and Locklear, who has not seen him since Arutha's wedding, laughs that he would have expected Isaac to have been hanged for impersonating a Duke by now. Since then, Isaac has kept busy and spent the past few years doing odd jobs on the road along the border.
Seeing Locklear accompanying an "elf," he immediately surmises that they are going to Krondor on an urgent matter.
- Traps (if the party has encountered any magical traps)
- Locklear mentions that someone has set traps to keep them from the eastern side of the Orseinnes. Isaac dismisses the idea that they were laid for the party specifically and doubts that the intent was to bar people from Hawk's Hollow and Loriel, but guesses that there would be an advantage to keeping someone from reaching LaMut. He suggests that they stay on the south and western side of the mountain range.
- Hawk's Hollow
- Isaac relays warnings not to spend the night there due to a local prowler who can open any lock in town.
- Safe Passage
- Remarking that elves do not normally travel with boys and nobles, Isaac notes that such a strange party must be on Kingdom business. Asked about a safe way to the South, Isaac advises against the road between Eggley and Tanneurs if they want to remain inconspicuous, since Gorath would probably draw remark during Eggley's upcoming festival.
- Mind Readers (after Safe Passage, if the party has not yet defeated Nago)
- Asked about the moredhel who anticipate the party's movements, Isaac denies any knowledge of mind-readers in the area, but mentions losing a month's income to the uncanny pokiir skills of Devon in Eggley.
- Stolen Gems
- If the party has spoken with Captain Belford and corrupt gem merchant Keifer Alescook, they can ask Isaac about his recent purchase of a ruby originally stolen from Makala in LaMut. Isaac readily admits to the purchase, but refuses to recoup his funds from the broker upon learning of the ruby's provenance, stating that he bought the gem in good faith to trade to a swordcrafter at Highcastle for repairs to his blade.
- If anyone in the party has a high enough Weaponcraft Skill, they can repair Isaac's sword themselves and receive a 1% ruby in return.
- If the party's Weaponcraft isn't high enough, the repair is unsuccessful. Isaac tells Locklear to return the sword before doing more damage, and keeps the ruby for his planned exchange with the Highcastle weaponsmith.
- Weapon Repair
- Asked about the specialist to whom he had planned to travel, Isaac directs the party to The Battleworks at Highcastle for quality weapons repair.
- His Spying (after discussing him with Devon, before defeating Nago)
- The party confronts Isaac about the moredhel companions accompanying him during his pokiir game, brushing off his retort that he is not the only one traveling with moredhel. Isaac confesses that the moredhel have dismissed him and reveals that he was the one who connected them with an old farmer near Yellow Mule who, having no loyalty either to his lord or to Prince Arutha, was not particular to whom he rented his land, allowing a moredhel named Nago to use his barn as a base of operations from which to hire Quegian mercenaries. Isaac had made it a policy not to know too much about their plans, making paid pickups and drop-offs to riddle chests but considering the matter purely a business operation with lunatics.
- Nago (after His Spying)
- Asked what to expect in encountering Nago, Isaac describes him as a well-armed magician with enough funds to pay several dozen mercenaries for months on end. He suspects, but is not certain, that Nago may have been ruthless enough to hire Rowe, the farmer, who nearly fainted when Nago paid him 400 sovereigns for the use of his barn.
- Last Orders (after His Spying)
- Asked about his last orders before being released from Nago's service, Isaac retorts that he released himself, having realized that his usefulness to them was ending and that the order to transport the stolen ruby from Alescook to a specific lockchest would have ended in his assassination, erasing any evidence of the ruby's movements.
If the party encounters Isaac again, they explain that they have been "muddling about" taking care of other errands before continuing on to meet with Prince Arutha.
Chapter 2
The party encounters Isaac on the Highway near the charnel house southeast of Hawk's Hollow. James sizes up Isaac's businesslike disguise and, asked if he traveled all this way to unmask Isaac again, deflects his bitterness at the results of the eleven-year-old drama, retorting that he could have taken no chances with a disguised imposter at the wedding after learning of the threats against Arutha's life.
Isaac waves the matter off, claiming to have fallen on better times with business unencumbered by state affairs, but James notes grim rumors of him. When they take their leave, Isaac complains about his suspicious manner. James denies a grudge, saying that his bump of trouble always warns him when someone is trying to trick him.
Chapter 6
Isaac can be found just north of the first fork in the road east of Hawk's Hollow.
Trivia
- The party can only learn about Isaac's pokiir game with Devon, a prerequisite to receiving Devon's self-defense lesson, if they meet with Isaac before fighting Nago. Once Nago is defeated, the enemy's anticipation of the party's movements is no longer a mystery and the Mind Readers dialog about Isaac's pokiir game with Devon, if not already accessed, cannot occur.
- While all of Isaac's available dialog can be accessed in Chapter 1, much of it can occur in later chapters if the conditions for its appearance still apply.