Adon Zeenoth

Archivist Adon Zeenoth is an elf and an archivist at the Valley Archive of the Cobalt Soul in Zadash before being ousted for corruption and bribery. As an NPC, Zeenoth is played by Matthew Mercer.

Description
Zeenoth is a delicate-looking elven male with shoulder-length, curled, blond hair.

Background
Around 833 PD, Zeenoth was bribed by Thoreau Lionett to kidnap Beauregard Lionett and take her to the Cobalt Soul.

During the carnival of curiosities zombie incident, Law Master Norda called upon Archivist Zeenoth to help identify from what sort of entity the head of Kylre had come, which he later confirmed was indeed a nergaliid from the far east.

Beau encountered Zeenoth at the Cobalt Soul while looking for Dairon: he sought her out on Beau's behalf.

Beauregard returned to the Archive to see if Dairon was there to continue her training. Instead, Zeenoth came out to greet her. Beauregard was disappointed to see him and they exchanged their usual insincere pleasantries. Zeenoth explained that Dairon went beyond the frontline to assess threats beyond the Eastern Border, being gone for thirty days and set to be gone for another forty-five. Beauregard was suspicious and asked if the Cobalt Soul sent Dairon into enemy territory, but he responded, "She progressed behind enemy lines and then wrote to us that she was staying for an extended period. She's impetuous." He recommended that if she was looking for training she ask Tubo to tutor her whilst Dairon was away. This is one of the few pieces of Zeenoth's advice that Beau actually listened to.

The Mighty Nein returned to the city of Zadash and learnt that Zeenoth was among those injured in an attack on the archive by the Angel of Irons cult. Beauregard asked another archivist to go see if he was well enough to speak with them, which he was. Zeenoth was heavily banaged but recovering well thanks to magical assitance. He was surprised to see Beauregard and filled the party in on the severity and cause of the attack. He explained that a their assailants were heading for a specific chamber, and lead the party there, Beauregard helping him walk. They asked him a few more questions pertaining to the attack and what they were seeking, before beginning their own research.

Once their research was complete, the party reached out to Zeenoth again and convinced him to allow them usage of the Cobalt Soul's teleportation circles. The party then teleported to Rexxentrum without prior warning, and the archivists there were alarmed by the sudden appearance of a mercenary group so soon after an attack on one of their archives. Archivist Kathedoc contacted Zeenoth to confirm their right of passage.

The Mighty Nein then told Kathedoc they actually intended to go to Port Damali, and were once more granted permission to use the teleportation circle, again forgetting to send advance notice, and again alarming the archivists. Once more, Zeenoth was contacted to confirm, and he asked for a message to be relayed to Beauregard: "please, for the love of Ioun, stop." The party then returned to Zadash and Zeenoth, ignoring their apologies, told them to leave, which they did immediately.

Jester Lavorre Sent a message to Zeenoth, asking if they were allowed back in the archive yet, and he informed them that everything had been smoothed over and they were welcome any time.

When they arrived at the archive, Zeenoth was still recovering from the attack but looked much better than last they saw him. He apologized for how things went when they last visited, and informed them that Dairon had notified the archives of the Nein's recent accomplishments and Beau's promotion, handing her her raiments. Beau apologized to Zeenoth for their behaviour last time and admitted that they should have perhaps taken the time to better explain the situation before rushing into things. Zeenoth accepted her apology and welcomed her to the higher ranks of the Cobalt Soul, then told her that Dairon had been informed of their arrival and was expecting them.

As Zeenoth lead them to Dairon, he told them that their permissions to use the teleportation circles have been reinstated, and that the archives were once more at their disposal. The party and Dairon updated each other on recent developments regarding the Angle of Irons cult, then Zeenoth showed Beau to her new room, where she donned her new raiment.

The Mighty Nein rushed to the Valley Archive to use their teleportation circle to Rexxentrum after seeing the Angle of Irons cult approaching the city. They briefly spoke with Zeenoth, asking him to to tell Oremid Hass what's happening and where they're going. Zeenoth told Beau to give the information to Archivist Kathedoc when she arrived, and to ask to be introduced to High Curator Yudala Fon, one of the two heads of the entire Cobalt Soul.

When the Mighty Nein returned to Rexxentrum while seeking assistance against the Tombtakers, Yudala Fon took Beauregard aside and told her that Zeenoth was under arrest by the Cobalt Soul. Dairon had been investigating Beau's story of being kidnapped and forced into the order, and had determined that Zeenoth had accepted a bribe from Beau's father in return for overseeing Beau's capture, in addition to other briberies and illegal activity. Yudala sincerely apologized to Beau for what had happened to her. The trial was planned to be held in two months.

Beauregard testified at the trial of Zeenoth at the King's Hall in Zadash, presided over by Lawmaster Orentha Stonegrasp. Zeenoth was found guilty of bribery and corruption, kidnapping, and conspiracy. His estate was forfeited to the Library and he was imprisoned in the Umber Dungeon of Zadash for a minimum of 35 years. He was further barred from holding any office or position of management within Imperial lands for the remainder of his days.

Beauregard Lionett
Beauregard's father Thoreau Lionett sought out and paid the Soul to take her in, and Zeenoth took it upon himself to teach and train her in the disciplines and lifestyle of monkhood and the ways of the Knowing Mistress. Although showing great promise, her personality clashed with that of her teachers and so she ran away.

Unbeknownst to Beau or anyone else in the Soul at the time, Thoreau had paid Zeenoth personally and the archivist pocketed the money as a bribe. And due to Beau's belief that "money talks" as part of the system, his corruption had gone unnoticed for three years.

That all changed when, having searched for her for some time, Zeenoth eventually by chance found her chained up with the party in the Loch Ward while Law Master Norda was conducting her investigation. Later in the evening, he confronted Beau in the Nestled Nook Inn and together they entered one of the Baumbauch Brewery's warehouses. After some time trying to convince Beau to return with him and continue her teaching, he was interrupted by Expositor Dairon and released of any responsibility concerning her teachings.

Afterward, Zeenoth was still actively involved in analyzing intelligence collected by Beauregard. In at least one instance, he acquired missing pages of her journal (about Caleb revealing his backstory) by means that would make other members of the Cobalt Soul uncomfortable; the name of Trent Ikithon had twice been rendered illegible.

Eventually, his corruption was exposed and he was arrested, the news of which greatly shook Beau, who had come to slowly respect the archivist.

Expositor Dairon
Dairon was specially called in by Archivist Zeenoth to help find Beauregard and would later teach her the monk tradition of the Way of the Cobalt Soul. Dairon did not seem particularly fond of Zeenoth, and used him as a punching bag to teach Beau how to Extract Aspects. This animosity would later prove to be justified as Dairon uncovered evidence of his corruption, primarily due to Beauregard's testimony in Trostenwald. The Expositor then personally had Zeenoth arrested.

Lawmaster Norda
The Lawmaster Norda of Trostenwald has a cordial professional relationship with Zeenoth.

Appearances and mentions

 * Campaign 2

Trivia

 * Taliesin Jaffe dressed as Zeenoth for the Halloween 2020 episode.
 * Zeenoth is "a fan" of von Brandt, one of the family brands of Trost ale brewed in Trostenwald.