The Ratfolk Emissary for The Land of the Silver Star. Born Samuel, the son of Chittel and Divdes, he assumed the false identity of Kiede the gunslinger and traveled from Greyhaven to The Stolen Lands to be someone memorable. The Voice seems to take particular enjoyment in harrassing him.

Samuel

Samuel worked happily as a tailor in Greyhaven until he came across an unattended backpack with a gun sticking out. He stole both and found a letter inviting "Kiede", a High Priest of Nethys, to Aldori Manor. He took the pack and name for his own and reported to Aldori Manor with none the wiser. He used a character from a dwarven story he heard as a child as the basis for the personality of the ill-tempered, unsociable gunslinger he pretended to be.
 
At some point, the stories Samuel told about "Kiede" began to manifest into reality. Samuel claims that powers from the First World are causing the world attempts to accommodate his story. He believes it is not necessarily him telling stories, but an audience hearing stories told (perhaps by anyone) about him, which triggers this. When Kiin, not knowing Samuel's actual name, mislabeled Samuel's family as Kiede's family, "the world did not know how to handle it" and now Samuel's family struggles to recognize him. Disloyal Sister suggested that this may be a result of Nyrissa's cursed energy, which allows words to manifest and alter reality.
 
In effect, Samuel believes that by others hearing about his fictional background, the world has made his fiction into reality, and both Samuel and Kiede occupy the same mind. They contribute separate skills and personality traits to the combined whole. Samuel is afraid that one cannot live without the other, as a storyteller without a subject or a subject without a storyteller don't really work. He also doesn't believe that both can coexist indefinitely. Supposedly they cannot act independently.
 
Samuel believes that others are able to be caught up in his "story" as well. He said that forces grew bored of his story not being told fast enough, and that because others are included in his story, their own stories are advancing faster as well. When asked if his gun was named, he lied in the moment claimed its name was Stacy (his sister's name). In doing this, he connected both his gun and sister to each other and to his lies. She is able to feel it when the gun causes harm or death, and when he kills someone outright with his gun, a tally mark appears on its stock and on his sister's neck.
 
Samuel desperately wants help from the council of The Land of the Silver Star will help him, though after they "almost removed (him) from existence", he's wary of them. He says they don't know him well.
 

Stacy (firearm)

Samuel's gun, named after his sister Stacy, is very unusual. It was allegedly made by an infamous weaponsmith, and in the limited time Avarice was able to investigate it, he determined that the wood used to make its stock is of hellish origin and is able to feed on blood. Perhaps related, Samuel's gun seems to punish or feed off him by draining or injuring him. Concerningly, it seems to have some wants and needs.
 
Samuel's gun was too large for him to use easily, so during his travels he cut down the stock for better handling. This caught the attention of the weapon's creator, who tracked him down and offered to make him a replacement gun which was better suited to him in exchange for the stolen firearm. Samuel concealed this information until Avarice Skjegge noticed that it was different and pressed for details.
 
Samuel has made additional modifications to his gun, including a scope and suppressor, to improve its effectiveness. The designs of the modifications are extremely advanced, beyond even Avarice's understanding. Stacy has a white stock which changes based on what it's being used for.
 

Kiin's Assassination Attempt

In Abadius 4714, Kiin was shot in the shoulder by one of The Rat's children while giving a speech about tolerance. As the child was assuming the appearance of The Rat, Kiin and Alturi thought they saw The Rat fire at her, and ordered his arrest. The bullet extracted from her shoulder was a black ball bearing which spread necrosis, similar to an object The Rat was known to have, though not the same on close inspection.
 
Blueprints for an advanced self-loading "Bolt action" rifle, inspired by Numerian technology, were found at the scene of the crime. The Rat recognized them to be the work of Irsei Caelysse / Rabnr Ljnuhbbn but refused to disclose their creator.
 
The Rat agreed to be taken into custody but refused to be separated from his gun, fleeing from guards and approaching Kiin for questioning. After Irsei explained the identity of the assassin, The Rat agreed his family should be secured, but then slipped away and warned them to flee the country.
 

The High Priest

Samuel's gun and invitation to help claim the Stolen Lands belonged to a High Priest of Nethys. He did not draw attention to this until others who were aware of "his" background hinted at it and forced him to explain his supposed history. Presumably this was to prevent conflicts with the fictional backstory he was already using.
 
The fate of the actual High Priest is unknown, and there is concern that the church may track down Samuel, either as punishment for the High Priest's transgressions or out of the assumption that Samuel killed the High Priest.

Kiede

Kiede is the assassin alter-ego of Samuel. He has killer instincts, dark thoughts, and a mild hero complex. He believes his existence endangers others and his life will end in tragedy, but he takes great risks to protect people and hopes his final acts will help others. He does not claim to be good, however.
 
While generally solitary, Kiede has befriended several Fey with whom he regularly interacts. Kiede has slowly been opening up to others, though Kiin's revelation of his family to the rest of the Council violated his trust, and he considers his openness to be a weakness. Samuel's family lives with him, which he didn't tell anyone about initially for fear of making them targets of his enemies. He planned to send them away to keep them out of danger before Kiin helped convince him that they would be in danger either way and could be better protected in Ornisk.
 
Kiede possesses a bullet-like object with a chaotic evil aura which is covered with necrosis and goo. It seems to be slowly killing him, but he must keep it accessible to fulfill "a promise". At one point he even embedded it in his body to keep it hidden, though this nearly killed him.
 
Avarice has inspected Kiede and felt an evil unlike any he had felt before, though he couldn't tell whether it was the rat himself, one of his souls, a curse, or something else about him.
 

Kiede's children

Kiede adopted the changeling children from the Ornisk orphanage. Because they mimick his appearance, he was able to conceal that Samuel's family moved in with him. His children have started working part-time at farms outside Ornisk, earning money here and there. Some have also observed his shooting and training, becoming somewhat adept at combat.
 
After Kiede discovered that his children could be controlled by the Knurly Witch, he revealed this, mortifying them. When it became apparent they would need to be confined to keep from harming others, Kiede told them to flee the kingdom. One was taken over by the Knurly Witch, and attempted to kill him and escape, but failed at both. When tied up, the child said Kiede would never be safe because "my mother likes you".
 

Kiede or the High Priest

There are a number of claims which Samuel made about Kiede's background which were intermingled with the story of the High Priest. It is unknown whether these are actual facts about the High Priest which Samuel has discovered and wove into the fiction, or complete fiction he invented:

• He is from Abadar


• He was a High Priest for 12 years before acquiring a sentient gun which spoke to him


• He felt driven to research and understand the gun's unique magical nature so he could learn something genuinely new, but the church forbade it


• He was excommunicated and branded a heretic for leaving the church to continue his forbidden research


• Nethys stripped his knowledge of and ability to use magic, as well as most of his memories, after soulbonding with his gun and finding out more about it and its history. He is repulsed by magic, unable to activate magical spells or effects, though he can benefit from passive magical enchantments.

Samuel and Kiede dynamics

It seems that Kiede was created and got control of Samuel's body as a way to keep him safe. Kiede was an additional layer which knew how to sneak, shoot and survive. When Kiede was suppressed and Samuel was forced to lead, he lost much of the skill that Kiede had developed, although he regained much of it with time and practice.
 
When Samuel was heavily injured in a fight, Kiede took over again, but Samuel appeared to have completely left their body. Because Kiede had been using Samuel's experience for basic mobility and activities, hadh to learn how to do them himself, and was clumsy for a time.
 
After an encounter with a Soul Eater, Samuel disappeared from Kiede's body and appeared back at his home in Ornisk. When the two rats got close to each other, The Voice merged them back together, and they're now able to feel each other's thoughts. They both have to control their shared body. They believe they're not meant to exist separately. Ezvanki Keeg has confirmed that their body contains two souls, which is great news for Kiede, who wasn't sure he had a soul at all.
 
Alain Orlovsky considered looking into transferring one of The Rat's souls to another body, but The Voice protested, saying it would be "uncouth" of Alain to break the rules it had made.
 
Kiede doesn't mind the idea of Samuel going away. Samuel doesn't like the Changelings that Kiede adopted and has been withholding the information that they are bound to a hag and could turn bloodthirsty at some point. Samuel is not willing to risk his family for Kiede's.
 
After Samuel left, Kiede has had little to think about during his downtime. He has attempted praying to Nethys to apologize, and believes his prayer has been heard, but doesn't believe Nethys cared.