NPC helpful and bane

Have been off writing for a while. I need to get my muse back. That said, I have a notebook full of outlines and a list of writing goals, so stay tuned. In the meantime, six quick NPCs to throw into a campaign or scene...

Big Mary
Mary is a scarred, burly woman sitting at the back of the bar. She bested many men as a pugilist and veteran of the pankration ring.  However, she fled the coliseum after being accused of throwing a match. She seeks employment and shares in an adventure in hopes of securing sufficient gold to quietly disappear to her home country, but will only join a party who appears to be well-sorted, with a strong fighter in the lead.  She speaks a bit slowly, and has short-term memory loss from much time in the ring (10% chance of forgetting a name or some piece of information, per day). Likewise, Mary has a limp from a chronic knee injury and is partially blind in one eye. She is a stout unarmed fighter, and wears a pair of stained cestus (1d4+2, 2 attacks), but can also wield a club or staff with efficiency.

“Sir” Willard DeVroy
Sir DeVroy is an exceptionally lanky mounted fighter or knight. He rides a donkey, but is so tall that his feet nearly drag the ground.  While he appears slightly comical, DeVroy is deadly with the lance.  He is not allowed in tourneys because of his “substandard” mount; however, in impromptu challenges on the road, he and his well-trained mount charge and dodge, the stout donkey outmaneuvering a massive charger.  DeVroy wears a battered gold-plated archer’s ‘kettle’ helm.  When turned upside down, it fills with water twice per day.  He will not go underground.  “Too tall,” he says (claustrophobic). He has the habit of singing poorly-translated foreign ballads.

“Boss" Taite
Thin and greasy, with a protruding potbelly, this knave is a fence and broker of illicit goods along Wharftown. He knows all the entrances to the “Warehouses below the warehouses”. The Boss has an unpleasant penchant for pale-skinned boys and girls, some of which he brainwashes and/or coddles into luring other youth into his slaver pens.  “How dare you accuse me of being a slaver, sir! However, can I help it if an urchin or two finds themselves on a ship for ports abroad?...” For parties of flexible morals, he has work transporting/escorting particularly valuable chattel to discerning clients.

“Lost Lily”
Found on a forest road, this youth of indeterminate age claims to have been abandoned by a caravan, lover, etc.  Tearful, she wiles and distracts travelers, before absconding with several items of value and disappearing.  For parties of substantial wealth, she will lure them to a local bandit band for a share of the loot.

Aleghetha Horsewarden
This exiled tribal queen lives incognito among the community.  She clandestinely seeks a party to assassinate the so-called ‘usuper’ conqueror-governor, allowing her return into the power vacuum.  Aleghetha discretely wears the iron torq of her royal office.  The torq allows her to either calm or panic horses within a 50 foot radius.  There is a low chance that it will be recognized here, several kingdoms from her homeland.  She is an able warrior and rides well, but prefers the chariot, where she rains a quiver of javelins against foes.  Horsewarden is accompanied by a mute guard wielding a bronze-bossed shield and spear.

Brother Orph
A pious itinerant preacher, living on an austere vegetarian diet, he seems wracked with conflict and guilt.  The brother has become afflicted with a moon-bound lycanthropism, transforming him into a were-tiger.  He seeks a cure for the curse, and hopes to find a party to escort him to a Were-priests of Inagha, who have reportedly secured a curative boon from the moon gods. Any party accompanying him must proceed with caution, for if travelling during a transition, there is a high likelihood that he will pick off one character during the night.

The Village of Croftsfford

The Village of Croftsfford sits on the east bank of the Tisov River. The town founders built on two low mounds above the floodplain, reinforcing their settlement with a pair of levees north and east of the settlement. Buildings not on the mounds tend to be built up on four to eight foot tall stilts. The village straddles the West Trade Road, and provides a brisk ferry service at a narrow spot in the river above a small rapid.

Travelers will spot the multi-colored roofs of the village's residences and shops at some distance. How a wilderness town came to be so gaily painted is open to some speculation, but the truth is that an over-weighted peddler's wagon toppled off the ferry several years back. The unfortunate peddler perished in the river, and the residents scavenged what they could, including many tins of pigment, which were mixed with tallow and re-purposed as paint.

The north levee and adjacent floodplain is lined with a rough palisade, with a watchtower overlooking the river.  The defenses are primarily a deterrent to raids from troglodyte tribes upstream. The troglodyte raids are an attempt to dislodge the humans from the mounds, which are actually ancestral troglodyte burial tumuli raised above the surrounding floodplain.

download map

Citizens of note:

Ratling warren

Ratlings R' in yer dungeon

Downbelow, in the part of the dungeon where the offal and runoff from the upper levels collects and stews, the ratling warren subsists on the leavings of the dwellers above.  Seemingly pathetic when met alone, the cringing, pleading creature becomes belligerent and aggressive when backed by a swarm of his colleagues. And that, indeed is what they are, flooding from warren-holes, passable only by rat-folk or similar small humanoids.  An unwary group will soon find themselves surrounded and overrun by gnashing teeth and flashing blades.

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Adventurers may note the distinct lack of kobolds in this region. The ratlings learned many tricks from the crafty little scale-dogs, and finally bested them at their game.  Treacherous, maiming traps, meant to attrit rather than kill, line the tunnels at the edges of the ratling domain. Murder-holes spew fire or quarrels. Tortuous tunnels allow for doubling back and flanking counter-attacks.

The ratlings have recently been co-opted by a were-rat skald, who has charmed them with his tales of sewers of the great cities, and of their destiny away from this remote, dank place, to a new, urban, dank place, where they may flourish.  To this end, they have been preparing for this endeavor by expanding their territory, displacing or killing seemingly more powerful neighbors in the dungeon.

The skald uses both his natural influence over rats and his lyrical storytelling to lead and influence his rodent thralls. One day he will return to his city, leading his warband, and displace those who believed they had made the sewers safe from subterranean threats.  They are becoming stronger, but it is not yet time.  He paces in his quarters, impatient.

Thanks, +Jim Magnusson 

 Were-rat Skald: (HD 3; AC 6/13; Atk 1 bite (1d3), Short sword+1, +2 vs. reptiles; Move 12; Save 14; AL C; CL/XP 4/120; Special: Lycanthropy, control rats, surprise, hit only by magic or silver weapons. Skills as Thief 3. Lyric-song - acts as charm while chanted or increases morale of allies by +2 . May also be used to implant certain trigger words into a recipient's subconscious, allowing later influence or to initiate actions.

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Le Brun's Lycanthropic Bestiary

Louis XIV appreciated Le Brun's art and portraiture, but he appreciated the artist's keen observation and  investigatory skills even more. During his patronage of  Monsieur Le Brun, Louis had discovered that the artist had a certain ... affinity... for seeking out the occult, the unnatural.  It was as if his artist's eye could pare out details that a casual observer may gloss over. More likely, Monsieur Le Brun noted that not only did those affected by the curse transform, but their repeated transformations left their indelible mark upon the individuals in their human guise.

In a secret missive to his court artist, Louis tasked him with seeking out the loup-garou and its kin that were making in-roads into Europe, taking advantage of the wars and instability of the time...

Minor nightmare fuel

Over several years, Le Brun made good his secret missions throughout Europe, leaving his art work and murals to talented apprentices. Le Brun's resulting notes and sketches, some of which are collated here for the first time, describe the various forms and nefarious deeds of many lycanthropes throughout Europe during the 1600's: