Smythe the Ferryman

Smythe is a Mordentish ferryman who carries passengers across Smythe's Shadow, a ferry crossing in Mordent. He once worked at then-inhabited, now abandoned town of Steadwall, the former home of the Halloway Clan. He tells stories about the purported treasures of Halloway House to those who will listen and mentions that adventurers often go to claim them. Nobody ever seems to make it back alive.

If the dread possibility Smythe's Secret is true, then Smythe is a murderer and the singular cause for the Halloways' destruction.

Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove briefly describe an interaction with Smythe in Van Richten's Guide to the Mists (Item) when he took her to explore the Halloway House after he told them of a strange sight. Gennifer describe him as fairly innocuous save for the fact he is a repeated liar and teller of tall tales. While there, Gennifer encountered a group of Mistlings, only to have Smythe abandon her, cryptically mentioning they "haunted" him. The Mistlings grabbed and assaulted her, ultimately causing her to fall into the river. She later woke up once again in Smythe's ferry. Curiously, Smythe asked Gennifer if all that she was currently carrying was all that she brought with her.