Diego

Shadow · Old Camp

"You're a greenblood, and I'm the guy who takes care of your lot, let's leave it at that."

Diego introduces himself to the Hero the moment he arrives, refusing to even hear his name and making clear that as far as he's concerned the Hero is just another greenblood and Diego is the one who looks after his kind. He offers to show the Hero the ropes on the spot, warning that running off alone is a good way to end up dead.

He explains the setting is called the Colony, where prisoners mine ore for King Rhobar behind an inescapable Barrier; trying to walk out gets a person hit with a lightning bolt so nasty even the Scavengers won't touch what's left of you. The Colony holds three camps: the Old Camp, the biggest and the first to be established, the New Camp, and the Swamp Camp.

He describes the New Campers as working with Water Mages who claim they can blow the Barrier open by channeling the magic of ore, and dismisses the Swamp Camp as the Loons, who spend all day smoking swampweed and praying to a god who has so far stayed rather quiet. His verdict on both camps is blunt: they aren't worth the Hero's time.

The letter

When the Hero mentions carrying a letter for the highest Fire Mage, Diego tells him to keep it quiet until he actually meets a mage, since he isn't on good terms with them and most people in the camp are dirt poor while the mages pay well for such letters. He notes only Gomez's men are allowed into the Old Camp castle where the mages live.

The Old Camp

Diego lays out what it takes to join the Old Camp: build a reputation with the key figures of the Outer Ring, most of them Shadows, pass Diego's own test, and learn some useful skills to become more of an asset. He names himself and Thorus as two of those key figures, and says the Hero has to identify the rest on his own, since he'll have no business there if he can't manage that much.

He recommends Fingers as the best teacher of thievery, offers to personally train dexterity or strength, and directs the Hero to Graham the cartographer for a map to the Old Mine.

The Old Mine

His own test is fetching a supply list from a man named Ian in the Old Mine, using the password the crawlers look mighty hungry; when the Hero returns with it, Diego confirms it will earn him some points with the camp. He explains he stepped in against Bullit's men because there was a real chance Bullit and his lads would have killed the Hero, calling Bullit a damn good fighter, and uses the encounter to pitch the Old Camp as the safest path to survival, since the Colony is no place for lone wolves.

He sends the Hero toward the Old Camp down the canyon, telling him to find a weapon first at the abandoned mine, since the trading post is off-limits Old Camp property. He describes Gomez plainly as the biggest ore baron, the boss of the Old Camp, and the most powerful man of the Colony, and advises the Hero to be upfront with him, since Gomez puts a lot of stock in his gut.

Earning the Old Camp's trust

As the Hero works through the Outer Ring's other figures, Diego relays what each one reports back, Scatty on fights with Kirgo and Kharim, Whistler on the sword job, Sly on finding Nek, Fingers on his usefulness, Dexter on the stolen recipe, Thorus on the Mordrag affair, and Fisk with a final judgment, before weighing it all together. In the best case he tells the Hero, all in all, good job, you left a lasting impression, and sends him back to Thorus for his audience with Gomez.

After the Old Mine

When the Old Mine floods, Diego does not pretend the disaster is anything but a catastrophe. He finds Gomez on edge, senses Raven beginning to shut him out, and warns the Hero to keep a low profile. Gomez has blamed the Hero's allies and their ritual for the flooding, even though Diego is clear that the New Camp had nothing to do with it; the Hero's work for other camps and the search for focus stones make him an easy target for suspicion in the Old Camp.

The focus-stone journey

After the Sleeper ritual fails, Diego has hoped, briefly, that Lester's faith might have offered a way out. Instead, he directs the Hero to Saturas and gives him a map to a meeting with Gorn, Lester, and Milten. The four friends have already divided the remaining focus-stone sites between themselves, and they join the Hero because the Water Mages' plan is now their best chance of leaving the Colony.

At one of those sites Diego waits with the others above a dangerous crypt. Milten has told him the mages never dared explore it and that grave robbers who tried did not return. The focus-stone route also takes the Hero to the stonehenge; when the group comes through the crypt alive with a focus, Diego treats survival as the immediate victory. He then moves to the lighthouse for a while, keeping his head down as the camps grow more volatile.

The Sleeper and Xardas

When the Hero later looks for Milten over business connected with Xardas, Diego immediately understands the direction of the search. After the Hero returns from the Sleeper's temple with a weapon whose magic must be restored at the New Camp's ore pile, Diego cannot help directly; he sends him to Milten, who is with the Water Mages, and makes him promise not to get himself killed. His manner stays dry, but the advice follows the same protective instinct that first brought the Hero into the Old Camp.

What other NPCs say

Most references arise when the Hero is being passed from one task to the next: Diego's name opens the route to the Old Mine, the Old Camp's inner circle, and contacts in the other camps. People ask for his approval, report the Hero's performance to him, or assume he has already explained the situation, showing how much of the early network runs through Diego. For example, Fingers tells the Hero, “If Diego asks me, I'll sing him your praises,” showing that Diego's approval is actively sought by people trying to establish themselves in the Old Camp.

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