Puny Sploor

Puny Sploor was the single Embassy servant that was allowed the Ambassador of Nightmaria to Farrog, Ophal D'Neeth Flatroq. Puny was described as having "rheumy eyes", skinny arms, small weak hands and, in general, a physique that could well have inspired his first name. Although not specifically mentioned, Puny was most probably a subject of Nightmaria.

Being the only servitor at the Nightmaria Embassy, Puny had to fill multiple roles that would normally have been assigned to multiple people: groundskeeper; stabler/ostler; sentry; personal servant to the Ambassador; and so on and so forth. Puny had a somewhat rocky relationship with the only other habitue of the Embassy, Beetle Praata, the Imperial Courier who travelled between Nightmaria and Farrog carrying news and messages. Of necessity, Puny was close to the Ambassador and, as his body servant/valet, Puny was allowed a certain degree of familiarity and even mild impertinence. It was mainly because of Puny's high tolerance of a number of Ophal D'Neeth Flatroq's more disturbing personal habits that the Ambassador continued to keep Puny on as, essentially, the Embassy's general factotum.

In The Fiends of Nightmaria

On the night that Beetle Praata raced back to the embassy from Nightmaria with directions for the ambassador to declare war on Farrog, the Imperial Courier's horse dropped dead outside the embassy's stables. Despite his mount's obvious condition, he ordered the flustered Puny Sploor to brush it down and drag it close to some hay. Sploor was still furious over this command a day later while he, the ambassador, and courier were fleeing a burning Farrog in the wake of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach's hurried departure. Praata's complaint that Sploor had tried to strangle him failed to elicit any sympathy from the irritated ambassador, who commanded Sploor to clear a path through the refugees who shared the road with them.

Notes and references

List of abbreviations • Paginations • How to reference an article