I've only been in one
4e game so far, and it didn't last long- I'd be willing to take another stab at it. The description of the setting sounds particularly interesting. Here are my ideas/additions:
The Mentor:
Name: Marcos Tanner ("Da" or "Father", depending on the situation)
Description: A widower, he seems to have a soft spot for children- but for his own recruits and troops he is well-known to be a bit of a hard-case. In the case of both of my concept ideas, he is a father figure (in one case an actual adoptive father- in lieu of children he never had; in the other a stand-in for a dead or missing father- a status he accepts grudgingly, but with good grace).
Item: His former wife's wedding ring- when he is particularly maudlin he talks to it as if his wife is still there.
The Raftmaster:
Name: Guidry MacLynn
Description: A burly, nearly square fellow- as deadly with a bargepole or an oar as most men are with a sword. Once a promising sergeant at the outpost, he went into the bog to seek his fortune- when he returned he was changed; still respected for his strength and skill as a raftman, but now possessed of a dark, even cruel sense of humor- and a badly-hidden fear of the dark (The Blackwater Cat has far more lanterns than it needs, and he uses an awful lot of lamp oil).
The Ranger:
Name: Quinn
Description: Short and slight, but a master of the blade; the scar on his leg looks like a coiled burn mark- as if from a red-hot tentacle, and it has never fully healed, no matter what has been tried.
The King:
Name: Aleras works fine
Rumor: For several months before his "disappearance", it was rumored that he had developed a nearly overwhelming interest in oracles and fortunetellers- his agents scoured the kingdom for them, and many of those who answered the summons were never seen again (or so it is said). No one seems to know what question he wanted to find the answer to...
The Big City:
Name: Lindinus- an attempt to rename it New Lindin (during the rebuilding years after the Great fire a century ago) never seemed to take hold, and the older name has taken over in nearly everyone's mind.
What it is known for: The libraries and bookshops- it seems like there is one on every corner. And of course The Library- nearly anyone in the kingdom who has even the slightest spark of talent for wizardry ends up here, at least for a while. While it is not a formal school of magic, it is one of the most well-known places to learn.
Party role:
1st choice: Controller (Eladrin wizard, MC with fey-lock; a successful apprentice, brainy but mysterious- they say the blood of the Old People runs very strong in her veins); born who-knows-where, abandoned at the Outpost; spent her early years there but was sent to the Big City (or elsewhere) as a wizard's apprentice; returned to the Outpost after her apprenticeship, doing various tasks- she seems inordinately fond of fire.
2nd choice: Striker (Human rogue- artful dodger, MC with wizard; a failed apprentice, sarcastic and sharp); born near the Outpost/lost village area, sent to the Big City at a young age, returned in mid-teens to work as a scout at the outpost.
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