Nek

Nek was the guardsman of the Old Camp in charge of the arena district of the outer ring - the man who collected protection money from the diggers in his quarter and kept the peace by his own definition of the word. He owned a protection amulet with his name engraved on the back, a small piece of ore magic that softened any blade that tried for the wearer. After squeezing his quota out of the diggers he took a mushroom-gathering errand from Snaf and walked out the south gate; he never walked back in. Thorus handed the arena district over to Fletcher on a provisional basis until the case was closed, while the shadow Sly quietly put the hero onto the same trail. The amulet turns out to be less useful than it looked. The hero finds Nek in a cave outside the south gate, torn apart by molerats - the errand for Snaf ended at the teeth of the rats he had gone hunting past. The amulet on the body is the proof Sly wanted, and when Fletcher hears the verdict he takes over the arena district for good.