Baxby is Drifter, an organization of loosely affiliated explorers hiring out their services, Baxby himself being a treasure hunter. He is an old man who values his freedom.
Baxby is introduced by Corvo to Thorn in order to assist in the exploration of Rakkam, the underground labyrinthine stone dwarf city. Baxby hires out his services to Thorn as a treasure hunter, and he assists Nova Luna in discovering many valuables as well as in figuring out that the dwarven relics in their possession are halves of maps.