Behind the Dark Fist - More NPCs

Here's today's dose of BTDF!

I'm actually holding back some material for any contests that crop up  
in the near future, but here are two NPCs that I wanted to put on the  
list now because they're actually modifications of NPCs that already  
have a mention at Beyond the Moons. They're creations of Night Druid,  
that I've taken small liberties with and updated to use them in  
Behind the Dark Fist: Valonelle the Lost Princess, and Greygore  
"Gregory" the Enforcer.

I'd like to briefly discuss some of the choices I made in re- 
presenting these characters in my work. (mostly for Adam's benefit)  
First I gave Valonelle an extra level in this update. I figure, she's  
probably had some time to acquire the necessary experience since the  
last time she was updated. So why not!? Second, and maybe most  
significantly, I changed around her backstory so that it's now a  
cursed tiara she is wearing, rather than a cursed helmet.

I thought about it a little, and I had a hard time believing that  
Valonelle wouldn't have a cursed helmet removed before her moral  
crisis caused her to leave Vodoni space -- especially given that her  
hair is a nest of living snakes. That's gotta chafe! If I were her, I  
would have had the curse removed that night when I noticed I couldn't  
remove my helmet to go to bed. I mean, ouch! As a Royal it probably  
wouldn't be too difficult to find someone to cast remove curse on  
her. So I made the cursed item comfortable enough that the idea of  
removing it wouldn't be nearly as pressing as her moral dilemmas. And  
I made her original reason for wearing a tiara different as well,  
starting her out with access to the ability to change her appearance  
to pass for something closer to human. This sort of shows off how the  
influence of her family gave her access to a lot of powerful items  
while she was still a relatively low-level character. I also should  
note that I removed references to Valonelle's wearing a veil; I did  
this because I am writing the campaign on the assumption that a  
Medusa's gaze-weapon is an at-will power, rather than a passive  
effect of looking at the Medusa's eyes.

About halfway through editing/adding to Valonelle's backstory, I  
decided I wanted to also flesh out Greygore more fully as an NPC  
character. Since the campaign would feature PC Enforcers, I figured  
it only made sense to provide an Enforcer NPC who wasn't either a  
monstrous opponent (like the droves of Enforcers encountered by the  
heroes in UTDF) or a villain (like my Vodoni Conqueror NPC, Valgol).  
I wanted to make Greygore so that people could sympathize with him  
and even like him. The romantic angle I threw in because I couldn't  
resist. There really is something delightful about forbidden/ 
impossible romances, especially given that Greygore doesn't fully  
understand what he's feeling (which, given that he's a magically  
engineered psychopathic werewolf, adds an element of danger and  
volatility to the whole situation).

Personally, I like what I turned out, but that may well just be me --  
it could actually suck quite a lot and I'd have no idea. I really  
like the idea of this pair adventuring together; it calls to mind  
memories of other favorite D&D duos, most notably Alias and  
Dragonbait, and Minsc and Dynaheir (okay, that last pair was from  
Baldur's Gate, but it still counts :-p ).

 From a 2nd edition mechanical standpoint, I did a couple things with  
Greygore that might be unorthodox. First, I made the decision to  
create him as a "normal monster," rather than a member of a character  
class. I don't know why, but I like NPCs who are normal monsters. In  
a way it underscores the fact that Greygore's "advancement" is not  
charted by way of experience points, but rather in terms of his  
gradual humanization over the course of his story arc. (but then  
again, that sounds awfully pretentious, so let's just stick with the  
"I like monster NPCs" thing I said before) I gave him numbers bumps  
to his hit points and armor class based on his high physical traits.  
He's only strength 17, but I figured that between all of his other  
abilities a higher strength score wasn't really necessary. 17 is a  
respectable number for a warrior, and probably decent for a magically  
engineered killer wolfman as well. But given that I don't know very  
many magically engineered killer wolfmen on a personal basis, I could  
be wrong there.

Again... to those using 3rd/3.5 editions: don't be put off by my  
writing of drafts in 2nd edition rules. I promise a 3.5 translation  
once I've worked through all the kinks, but this is the roleplaying  
language I know best.

My ultimate plan is to somehow write these two into the mid-level  
range adventure scenarios for BTDF. Possibilities may include a  
confrontation with Xavil Mu and the Sky Marauder, or Valonelle  
leading a prison raid to rescue her mother from the Occupation.  
Valonelle sort of provides me with a break from the standard NPCs  
I've been writing for this campaign, most of whom to date have been  
either completely evil, mostly evil, or else are thinking very  
seriously about doing evil things. (and even then, Valonelle used to  
be evil, so evil wins in the end anyway, kinda)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Valonelle
the Lost Princess
Vodoni Medusa
8th level Mage (Patrician kit)
Chaotic Good (due to curse)

Str 10		Int 15		HP 23
Dex 12	Wis 12	AC 5
Con 11	Cha 17	THAC0 18

Equipment: Scroll of Protection from Lycanthropes, Wand of Lightning,  
Wand of Magic Missiles, Ring of Djinni Summoning, Dagger +2, Gem of  
Seeing, Slippers of Spider Climbing, Cursed Tiara, Hooded Cloak
Special: Valonelle, being one of Vulkaran's kin, was not altered to  
be more "subdued" as PC Medusae and Maedar have been. She has the  
standard Medusa abilities, including poisoned hair-bites and  
petrifying gazes (though, because of her alignment, she rarely uses  
these abilities).

((original text by Adam Miller, with minor updates/modifications [and  
also apologies where necessary...]))

Valonelle is a beautiful woman, with long shapely legs and an  
athletic body. Her skin has an odd golden pigment, but the golden  
color is not noticeable from a distance. Standing 6'2" tall and  
weighing about 150 lbs., Valonelle can be an imposing woman when she  
wants to be. Her hair is a nest of snakes, given her medusa heritage.  
The snakes are green with bright yellow and red patterns on their  
backs. Valonelle often wears a hooded cloak to hide her serpentine  
hair, though she used to own a tiara that behaved as a Hat of  
Disguise, which allowed her to appear human without discomfort to her  
hair-snakes. She wears lacey robes and favors reds and greens,  
usually decorated with elaborate wolf themes. A tattoo of two fierce  
wolf heads, facing away from one another inscribed in a circle, is  
found over her left breast.

This noble medusa hails from the Vodoni Empire and is a member of the  
royal house. She is a lesser scion of that family, far removed from  
the Emperor and the center of power of the Empire. This allowed her  
the luxury of enrolling in the Academy and eventually earning command  
of a ship. With a little political maneuvering and a great deal of  
actual talent, Valonelle received command of the Werewolf-ship the  
Sky Marauder, a veteran of numerous battles who's captain retired the  
year before. Though she commanded the ship well for four years, her  
political moves earlier earned her a number of enemies, who plotted  
against her. Finally, they made their move against her. They switched  
her Tiara of Disguise with one that was physically identical, but  
instead had the properties of a Helm of Opposite Alignment.  
Valonelle's enemies did not know the exact nature of the cursed tiara  
when they planted it in her quarters; only that it was cursed and  
looked exactly like the magical tiara that the Princess normally wore.

The cursed tiara's effects on Valonelle were not immediately obvious,  
but it changed her whole outlook on life and gave her a rather  
inconvenient moral compass. A year after donning the tiara, Valonelle  
came to the realization that she could no longer serve the Empire in  
good conscience. Her duties required her to commit acts that she  
could not bring herself to do, and give orders to her crew that she  
found it harder and harder to give. The burden of a good alignmeent  
slowly ate at her resolve. She resigned her commission and quietly  
left the Empire, joining a band of adventurers for a time. Together  
with her companion, the Enforcer Greygore (whom Valonelle  
affectionately calls "Gregory"), she eventually made her way to the  
Travelling City of Songspace, where she settled down. Having earned a  
fortune in her life as an adventurer along with what wealth she took  
with her from the Empire, Valonelle opened the Lost Princess Tavern  
and Inn. Valonelle served as hostess in the common area, while  
Greygore tended bar and served as bouncer when necessary. It was as  
good a retirement from the Empire as could have been imagined.

But it was not to be, it seems. The fall of Vulkaran brought chaos  
and internal violence back to the heart of the Empire in a way it had  
not known in centuries. Unsettling news began to reach Valonelle in  
her refuge in Songspace. She learned first of the death of her  
father, Valkris, at the hands of a radical religious sect in  
Vulkarus. Then she learned that the Occupation Authority had arrested  
her mother, Ysavel, under suspicion of collaborating with insurgent  
elements. Emotionally torn by the news, Valonelle considered  
returning to the Twelve Spheres for the first time since she quit her  
post in the Vodoni Navy. And it was as she was weighing the pros and  
cons of going back home that an assassin sent by the same religious  
sect that killed her father arrived at the Travelling City.

After Greygore was finished mauling the assassin, Valonelle sat down  
with her lupine bodyguard and had a serious discussion about what to  
do next. Resolved, Valonelle left her Inn and most of her fortune in  
the hands of an old adventuring companion and set out for Vodonispace  
with Greygore at her side. Her trip would last as long as it needed  
to for Valonelle to gain the closure she felt she needed -- though  
what, exactly, she needed to do to gain said closure remained to be  
seen.

Greygore the Enforcer
aka "Gregory"
Vodoni Enforcer
7 HD
Chaotic Neutral (residual Evil tendencies)

Str 17		Int 10		HP 67*
Dex 18	Wis 10	AC 0 (chain, shield, Dexterity)
Con 19	Cha 8		THAC0 14
*with bonuses from exceptional Constitution

Equipment: Chain Mail, Shield, Long Sword +1
Special: Having left the Empire before its fall, Greygore did not  
undergo any of the "neutering" processes that mark the PC Enforcers  
of the Neo-Imperial movement. Greygore has the standard Enforcer  
abilities.

((from a concept by Adam Miller))

Greygore is a proud warrior, in the storied Vodoni tradition of  
magically-engineered lycanthropic murdering machines. He is tall and  
menacing, his lupine features sharp and feral. His fur is brown-grey  
in color (from which he derives his name), darkening toward the  
muzzle and the "mask" around his yellow eyes. An old injury from a  
brawl while on "shore leave" messed up his lower teeth, and so he has  
a slight underbiting fang that protrudes over his lips when his mouth  
is closed. As a nervous habit, when he is thinking or anxious he  
unconsciously plays his tongue against his underbiting tooth. His  
journey, from expendable footsoldier in Vulkaran's legions to  
glorified berserker bodyguard of an exiled Princess, is a unique one  
that has slowly changed Greygore and allowed him to, over time,  
reclaim some fragment of his lost humanity.

His story probably begins aboard the Sky Marauder, a Werewolf-class  
Vodoni warship, where he served as Enforcer Captain. On most Vodoni  
vessels, an Enforcer in this position would report to the ship's lead  
Breeder, and have only as much command-rank authority as that Breeder  
would permit. On Sky Marauder, however, Valonelle preferred a more  
direct hand in the affairs of her vessel. She constantly used her  
position as a member of the Royal House to overrule the lead  
Breeder's commands, and directly coordinated with Greygore over  
boarding tactics and matters regarding the Enforcers. This earned her  
great respect among her ship's common crewmen and Enforcers -- but  
more importantly, it earned her the enmity of her lead Breeder, Xavil  
Mu, and the loyalty of Greygore.

Xavil Mu was one of the conspirators who switched Valonelle's Tiara  
of Disguise with a cursed item -- unbeknownst to them an item of  
Opposite Alignment. In so doing, he caused Valonelle to quit her post  
in the Navy and leave the Twelve Spheres. Greygore, displaying  
loyalty that was nearly as uncharacteristic as the respect that  
Valonelle had first showed to him, accompanied the Princess, and  
remains with her to this day.

In his time with Valonelle, Greygore has slowly begun to shed his  
Evil alignment. Though his thought processes still follow the same  
general logic routines of a Vodoni Enforcer (obstacle = kill it as  
much as you can until it is dead, and then kill more), Valonelle's  
example has tempered him somewhat. He is fierce in his defense of  
Valonelle (as he recently had the opportunity to demonstrate when an  
assassin came a-calling), though he now appears to experience shame  
after he enters the Blood Rage and apologizes to Valonelle profusely.  
Her voice is able to calm him when he enters this state (thus losing  
all of his Blood Rage bonuses), and recently has even been able to  
keep him from his monthly lycanthropic rampages (though he does still  
indulge himself a howl or two when the moon is full).

In the last two years, Valonelle and Greygore's relationship with  
each other has become slightly more affectionate. They hug each other  
when they meet, and Greygore holds her hand as he leads her through a  
crowd. Though Greygore doesn't recognize it (because the memory of  
such feelings is now alien to him), and Valonelle would never admit  
to it, the two are falling in love.

Whatever name one would give to these feelings, Greygore does know  
that he values Valonelle over anything else in this world (even, as  
he recently admitted, the glory he once revelled in as part of the  
Emperor's Legions) and would gladly butcher a thousand worlds (or die  
trying) in her name. Though a macabre and somewhat monstrous  
sentiment, for Greygore it is as heartfelt as he is presently able to  
manage.