Nathaniel Browne is a man looking for inspiration. Nathaniel describes himself as an author, finding titles such as writer or novelist limiting to his creative focus. Over the course of the campaign Nathaniel discovers much about himself, his desires and the darkness beyond dreams, experiencing horrors that - while driving him creatively - ultimately leads to his destruction.

Initially Nathaniel lives 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 has kept the same sort of life and habits, not abandoning his humble lodgings.

Nathaniel is an only child, 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 (mainly of grief) soon thereafter. Nathaniel, his creative urge always at odds with his strict upbringing, misses 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 who he met during the party's trip to India on the Viceroy of India.

Nathaniel wants to write stories that inspire great emotion in their readers. He has become 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 is now attempting to work on a sequel to his successful 'The Tatters of the King' anthology, but is increasingly finding himself rather bereft of inspiration.

• Andrew Saunders, Nathaniel's friend and companion in a number of mysteries prior to encountering the King.
• 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 who Nathaniel met by moving in writing circles.

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

Additionally, Nathaniel does not, as he appears to, live off any inheritance. In fact his parents left him very little. Instead he writes gossip columns for a London paper under a pseudonym (John Parker). He sends his stories to the newspaper's editor, George Baker, and receives 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.