World of Redemption

Francis Drury is an older man whose weary face reflects the constant stress of running a high-stakes poker game in a town like Rhodes. His graying dark hair is long and somewhat unkempt, framing a face lined with deep-set wrinkles from years of watching hands and reading faces. He sports prominent, thick sideburns that are a shade greyer than the hair on his head. His eyes are dark and tired, having witnessed fortunes won and lost, and friendships broken over a single hand. He dresses in the manner of a professional dealer: a simple, collared shirt, often with a dark vest and a loosely tied cravat. His posture is often slightly stooped, the bearing of a man who spends hours leaning over a felt table. He is a man who looks as worn and storied as the deck of cards he shuffles with practiced ease.

Francis is a man who has adopted a friendly but ultimately passive demeanor as a survival tactic. He is generally welcoming to all players, his smile practiced and his service professional. However, his friendliness is a shield. He is deeply weary of the constant conflict in his town and has chosen the path of least resistance. His tolerance of the Lemoyne Raiders stems from a mixture of quiet sympathy and pragmatic fear; he would rather deal with their boisterousness than risk their open hostility. He is not a brave man, nor is he a particularly principled one. He is a simple businessman trying to keep his game running in a town that could tear itself apart at any moment, and his primary concern is ensuring that when the dust settles, his table is still standing.

Francis Drury has run the poker table at the Rhodes Parlour House for many years, a game that sits at the geographic and social crossroads of the Gray and Braithwaite feud. While officially neutral, Francis has learned that true neutrality is impossible in Rhodes. He has developed a quiet, pragmatic sympathy for the Lemoyne Raiders, a faction of disgruntled locals who share his resentment for the town's controlling families. He allows them to play and cause minor trouble at his table, seeing it as the price of doing business and avoiding becoming a direct target himself. His poker game is a place where secrets are whispered and tensions simmer, and Francis has become a master of hearing everything and saying nothing, his survival depending on his ability to deal a fair hand and look the other way.