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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Camelot" data-source="post: 4920759" data-attributes="member: 82617">Nedd LightheartRen is not the only person who works at the Dragon’s Den Inn.  He has a helper, a half-elf named Nedd Lightheart, who does most of the cleaning.  He keeps quiet and doesn’t talk to the patrons unless talked to, and then only as much as necessary.  If you gain his trust, though, you will find out that there’s a lot more to the kid than meets the eyes. Nedd is seventeen years old, and spends almost all of his time sweeping and cleaning up at the Dragon’s Den Inn.  When he speaks, he speaks clearly, but his voice is just barely audible.  He is clearly uncomfortable in social situations, and prefers to do his duties as efficiently as possible.  However, when talked to, he is never rude and will always answer (though the answer is short), unless the question is about his personal life, which he prefers to keep secret.  He does have one quirk that prompts him to initiate a conversation, however.  Whenever he meets a male elf who looks to be somewhere from forty to fifty years old, he will ask for his name.  Once the name is given, Nedd will usually look disappointed and return to his normal shy behavior. Nedd does this because he is looking for his father, an elf named Heronius.  His father left him and his family when Nedd was only eight, and he hasn’t heard from him in ten years.  Nedd now lives near the poorer part of Fannen-Dar, the southeast quadrant, with his human mother and two younger half-elf siblings.  Nedd is the only one able to make an income for his family, as his mother, Jilian, is ill and his siblings, a sister of thirteen and a brother of eleven, are too young to work.  As such, Nedd takes his job at the Dragon’s Den Inn very seriously, arriving early and leaving late, in order to sustain what is left of his family. Nedd also has the artistic talent of music.  He keeps a lyre at home, which he plays for his family when he has the time between his work hours.  Recently, Nedd discovered from a conversation with his mother that Heronius, Nedd’s father, was studying arcane magic, though for reasons that he wouldn’t tell even her.  Nedd took up to studying magic with the hope that he would learn where his father left to so many years ago, and where he is now.  Nedd took his father’s longsword and armor, the only things he left behind, to train in, and has become adept in his combination of magic, music, and swordplay. Nedd desperately wishes to travel to find his lost father, hoping at the very least to discover his fate, but he can’t leave his family because they then won’t have anyone to sustain them.  If he were to come across a fair amount of wealth, he would give it all to his family and be able to join a crew of adventurers in their travels. You can have Nedd play a number of different roles in your campaign.  He might be a simple background character that the PCs never learn more about, or he can be the hook for a decent adventure in which the PCs try to discover where Heronius is.  The PCs can find out about Nedd’s goals in a number of ways to launch the adventure.  Maybe they accidentally come across him while he’s training, discovering that this introverted broom boy is actually a skilled bard.  If one of the PCs is a male half-elf who’s not too old or young, the story could be introduced when Nedd inquires for his name. To get Nedd to leave his job for a life of adventuring, the PCs will need to acquire a treasure that will sustain his family while Nedd is gone.  The DM can include extra treasure that the PCs can give to Nedd to begin the adventure. As to where Heronius is, that is left up to the DM.  If you are planning for another adventure after this one, you can use Heronius, dead or alive, to ease the players into that story.  In a later post I’ll detail some possibilities for Heronius’ fate, but for now I’ll leave it up to your imagination! If you do include Nedd in your campaign as an ally to the PCs, I have made a convenient stat block to use for him.  Remember, Nedd is a companion NPC, so he can use his second wind once per encounter.  His healing surge value and number of healing surges in one day are included in the stat block next to his hit points.  These are to be used if he travels with the PCs through multiple encounters.  Feel free to adjust him to fit your ideas and your campaign. Nedd Lightheart, Level 1 Soldier (Leader)Medium natural humanoid (half-elf), XP 100 Initiative +1, Senses Perception +7Group Diplomacy aura 10; Allies within the aura gain a +1 racial bonus to Diplomacy checks.HP 23; Bloodied 11; HS Value 5; HS per Day 9AC 18; Fortitude 13, Reflex 14, Will 15Speed 6 M Longsword (Standard; at-will) * Weapon+5 vs. AC; 1d8 + 2 damage. m War Song Strike (Standard; at-will) * Arcane, Weapon+7 vs. AC; 1d8 + 4 damage, and any ally who hits the target before the end of Nedd Lightheart's next turn gains 2 temporary hit points. c Majestic Word (Minor; encounter) * Arcane, HealingClose burst 5; targets Nedd Lightheart or one ally in burst; the target can spend a healing surge and regain 3 additional hit points, and Nedd Lightheart slides the target 1 square.  Special: Nedd Lightheart can use this power twice per encounter, but only once per round. m Inspiring Refrain (Standard; encounter) * Arcane, Weapon+7 vs. AC; 2d8 + 4 damage, and each ally within 5 squares of Nedd Lightheart gains a +1 power bonus to attack rolls until the end of Nedd Lightheart's next turn. m Bolstering Strike (Standard; encounter) * Divine, Weapon+7 vs. AC; 1d8 + 4 damage, and Nedd Lightheart gains 2 temporary hit points. m Verse of Triumph (Standard; daily) * Arcane, Charm, Weapon+7 vs. AC; 2d8 + 4 damage.  Miss: Half damage.  Effect: Until the end of the encounter, Nedd Lightheart and any ally within 5 squares of him gain a +1 power bonus to damage rolls and saving throws.  In addition, whenever Nedd Lightheart or an ally reduces an enemy to 0 hit points with an attack, Nedd Lightheart and any ally within 5 squares of the enemy can shift 1 square as a free action. Song of RestWhen Nedd Lightheart plays an instrument or sings during a short rest, he and each ally who can hear him are affected by his Song of Rest.  When an affected character spends healing surges at the end of the rest, that character regains 3 additional hit points.  A character can be affected by only one Song of Rest at a time. Alignment Good, Languages Common, Elven, Deep SpeechSkills Insight +7Str 12 (+1), Dex 12 (+1), Wis 14 (+2)Con 15 (+2), Int 14 (+2), Cha 16 (+3)Equipment chainmail, light shield, longsword, lyre Also, you can use the summary I’ve given you as a springboard for your own character.  These ideas are free for the taking, tweaking, and playing! That’s all that I have for the Dragon’s Den Inn, but it’s only an infinitesimally small glimpse at life in Althai, and it’s only a launch pad for you to get ideas of your own.  Feel free to make characters of your own creation that frequent the inn.  Maybe an old dwarf spends his time here to chat with Ren, gloating about a treasure he had a long time ago that was stolen and hidden deep in the Clover Woods.  Maybe a dark hooded traveler sits in the back, searching for a group of foolhardy adventurers to lure into his murky plot.  If you have an idea you really like that you think should be in the world of Althai, feel free to post it here!  I love seeing new ideas, especially when I inspire them! In my next post, we’ll leave the comfort of the Dragon’s Den Inn to explore Fannen-Dar’s town square, a bustling market scattered with decorated booths, where sensory overloads of flashy colors, foreign smells, and fantastic tastes await!  It’s also a good place for PCs to refresh their stock of mundane items, or find an adventure where they least expect it.</blockquote>

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