Nathaniel Browne was a man always looking for inspiration. Nathaniel described himself as an author, finding titles such as writer or novelist limiting to his creative focus. During the campaign, Nathaniel discovered much about his desires and personal darkness, experiencing horrors that, while driving him onward creatively, ultimately led to his destruction.

Initially. Nathaniel lived off an inheritance when not earning money from his stories. Later, despite having come into rather a lot more money thanks to his successful Tatters of the King anthology, Nathaniel kept the same sort of life and habits, refusing to abandon his humble upbringing.

Nathaniel had an interesting family history:

• Nathaniel was an only child, and his parents are both deceased. His father, a Navy captain, was killed when a German shell struck the bridge of his ship during the Battle of Jutland, and his mother died (likely of grief) soon thereafter. Nathaniel, his creative urge always at odds with his strict upbringing, missed them less than might be imagined.
• Nathaniel has a cousin, Joseph Browne, who is a Catholic priest living in Norwich, and two second cousins – one a spinster living in London, the other having moved to Australia with her husband.
• At the end of the campaign, Nathaniel married Francesca Nicholson, a fellow enthusiastic reader of fiction whom he met during the party's trip to India on the Viceroy of India.

Nathaniel was a driven individual who always set himself challenging life goals:

• He always wants to write stories that inspire great emotion in their readers, and became very interested in the story of Carcosa and The King in Yellow after seeing the play Carcosa, or The Queen and the Stranger.
• Having read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and interested in the idea of translation and adaptation of older works, Nathaniel keeps pestering Andrew Saunders to introduce him to his friend, John.
• Nathaniel struggled to complete work on a sequel to his successful 'The Tatters of the King' anthology, finding himself rather bereft of inspiration. After meeting Francesca Nicholson, he soon found his spark again, although these future tales became much lighter in content until his love's death.

• Andrew Saunders, Nathaniel's friend and companion in several mysteries before they encountered the King in Yellow.
• Alan Cooper, a Librarian at the British Library, is an old school chum of Nathaniel's.
• Jean-Paul Etienne, a gentleman of leisure (originally from Paris), is a friend whom Nathaniel met by moving in writing circles.

Nathaniel's friend, Jean-Paul Etienne, was a user and supplier of certain mind-expanding substances (including opium). Nathaniel partook of these on occasion.

Additionally, Nathaniel did not, as he appeared to, live off any inheritance. His parents left him very little, and he instead found an income writing gossip columns for a London paper (under the pseudonym, John Parker). He sent his stories to the newspaper's editor, George Baker, and received payments via a post-office box.

After the success of Nathaniel's 'The Tatters of the King' anthology, he gave up writing these columns. Unfortunately, his increasing use of hallucinogenic drugs to substitute for the inspiration brought on by the events of this campaign threatened to drive Nathaniel back to poverty before he met Francesca Nicholson.