Characters (canon)

• NPCs
• Harlan Fletcher
• Duke Cedric Blackwood
• Count Marvelo Heartfire

NPCs

Harlan Fletcher

Harlan owns and operates the Locked Antler Inn. He is a stern, burly human and a veteran of the King's levies. He has a limp from severe gout and runs his inn with military discipline. He personally locks the gate every night and carries the only key on a heavy iron ring around his neck.

Harlan previously hired Marta as a barmaid without knowing of her secret affiliation to the Duchy of Greycliff. She poisoned a smuggler staying at his inn, and so he consented to have a party of adventurers haul her off to the authorities in his stead.

Duke Cedric Blackwood

Duke Cedric Vance the Duke of [[BookStack/Worldbuilding/Kingdom of Eusia/Duchy of Ironwood]], where the [[Wild North Hexcrawl]] will take place. He is a deeply honorable, tired man who wears his worries on his face. Cedric never wanted the heavy crown of a frontier lord; he would honestly rather be fishing for trout in a quiet mountain stream or hunting deer in the deep woods. Instead, he spends his days trying to keep all his plates spinning. He is desperately short on gold, soldiers, and food, and he is actively looking to hire bands of heroes to deal with the dangers his own small guard cannot handle. Despite his noble outlook, the realities of keeping a struggling region afloat has resulted in him making some difficult and sometimes deeply dishonorable decisions.

Count Marvelo Heartfire

Count Marvelo Heartfire is the ruler of the [[County of Verstrad]]. He uses the Bandit Captain statblock, but he replaces his Deception+4 with Persuasion+4, has an Insight+4, and wears a Breastplate, bringing his AC to 16. Finally, he wields a +1 Rapier (+6; 1d8+4). He answers to [[Duke Cedric Blackwood]]. He rules his rural and large territory from a hill-fortified [[Heartfire Keep|manor]]. By not ruling from the regional capital, he keeps himself independent of the city’s merchants, guilds, and the Duke’s shadow. He also avoids being trapped by Tollgate’s constant paperwork, factional pressure, and the symbolic problem of appearing to serve the city rather than the county.