Here's another concept, a heavy cavalry warrior-type halfling. He'd either be a dutiful fighter or a holy paladin depending on the makeup of the party. I might also consider levels in either Cavalier, some type of dragon-slayer or knight of the realm-type prestige class depending on whether it'd fit with the campaign's theme.
I'd see him focusing on the lance as his main weapon with an assortment of mounted combat related feats and skills.
Name: Jacoby of Amberlea
Race: Tallfellow
Race: Fighter and/or Paladin (and possibly Cavalier)
Alignment: Lawful Good[sblock=Background]Jacoby grew up amongst a peaceful community of halfling homesteaders in a small pastoral area along the foothills of the eastern mountains south of the Tulgey wood. Known for its swaying fields of golden grain, the halflings named their land Amberlea. Jacoby grew up knowing a simple life, helping his father by tending the farm's draft dogs. The years rolled by and they were a blur of sowing and reaping, interspersed with the simple joys of an urban life; the birthing of new livestock, harvest festivals, holidays and simply growing up. All that began to change in one dark summer when death came to Amberlea. A large green scaled wyrm, with wide spade-like teeth, long talons and small wings began to stalk the livestock of the community. None of the simple country folk were well versed in monster lore so none could properly identify what type of beast terrorized their land. Though some called it "the dragon" others thought it bore a resemblance to the creatures that lived in the nursery tales told to frighten children and thus named it the "Jabberwock".
At first it's victims were simply fat sheep, but then pigs and eventually a hen house full of chickens were slain and gobbled up. Many in the community were terrified and some families began to pack up their belongings to move on; the halfling way. Others sought to protect their livestock with clever traps and alarms and nighttime vigils, but the creature was wily and easily circumvented or overwhelmed the simple defenses set in place by the halflings. The slaughter continued. One night, when the farm next to Jacoby's family's own was attacked in the night, the grisly remains of the defenders who had stood vigil were found dismembered and half eaten. From then on the wyrm didn't limit itself to the lure of livestock, preferring the taste of halfling flesh. The community was horrified and most were ready to leave en masse when along came a mighty knight bearing a silver star pennon at the tip of his lance, clad in gleaming armor and mounted upon a huge horse easily the size of the Jabberwock itself! He addressed the community's elders and introduced himself as Sir Johann of Barduth. He told the townsfolk that we was a veteran warrior of the Order of the Dragon and assured them that he'd faced similar creatures before. He promised to confront the beast and return peace to Amberlea. The elders accepted the man's claims and encouraged their fellows to remain for an extra day or two. The knight, mounted upon his mighty steed, patrolled the community for two days without incident. Some thought that the creature had caught wind of the mighty hero and had died of fear.
Two days later the dragon skulked out of the Tulgey wood and into Amberlea. In the dwindling twilight, the Jabberwock lay siege to Jacoby's family's farm. As his father herded his wife and children into the root-cellar he instructed Jacoby to take a draft dog and ride like the wind to fetch the knight. With his heart pounding Jacoby fled the farm with all haste and soon found the knight. The two quickly returned to the farm together where they sighted the Jabberwock's tail poking out of the barn. The squeals of the terrified pigs and chickens could be heard as the beast feasted. The knight fired a few shots from his bow, skewering the visible tail and rump of the creature, which howled in pain and quickly turned to confront the new threat, its swift motion knocking down the barn's supporting wall with it's great head as it turned. The knight successfully shot a few more arrows at the beast before it sighted him, loudly burbled a challenge and began to charge while furiously beating its wings. The knight quickly dropped his bow and spare spears, spurred his horse into a gallop and leveled his lance at the Jabberwock. Mounds of turf flew into the air as the two combatants raced towards each other. The knight's lance found it's mark first and skewered the beast in the shoulder joint, badly wounding it. It roared in pain but still the beast was not yet dead and so it lunged forward and clamped it's mighty jaws onto the knight's leg, breaking the bone and tearing through greeve, muscle and flesh. The knight's horse reared and crashed it's mighty hooves down onto the Jabberwock's back and wings in a succession of thunderous blows which caused the wyrm to release the knight’s leg. In retaliation, the Jabberwock spun quickly in place and crashed it's serpentine tail into the horse's legs, bringing the mount crashing down and sending the knight rolling across the field. Down and defenseless, the horse was quickly dispatched by the beast's great claws and teeth. The knight, limply climbed to his one good leg and drew his sword and called out to the creature. It's maw dripping with blood and it's shoulder bleeding the beast looked up from its feast and slowly began to stalk towards the knight, carefully studying it's one remaining foe. The knight hopped forward and braced himself as best he could to receive the creature's attack. Jacoby couldn't believe the man's bravery; no halfling would have approached the beast in the first place let alone have remained teetering defiantly on one leg ready to continue fighting. As the beast charged the two combatants came once more together. The knight managed a few good sword strokes into the Jabberwock's wing and neck before himself being knocked back down. Even from his vantage point Jacoby could see the knight's bloody sword swinging and cleaving into the monster's torso as it fell upon the fallen knight. Too soon the fight was over. The blood soaked and gravely injured beast pulled itself off the dead knight and roared in victory. Apparently having had its fill, the Jabberwock began to limp weakly back towards the Tulgey wood to nurse its many wounds in relative safety.
Jacoby was crushed; he was certain the valorous knight had been going to succeed. Now that he was dead, Jacoby knew what would happen next. The halflings would pack up, abandon their farms and livelihood and flee. They would travel to other villages, beg for food and shelter and pray to survive the coming winter. Amberlea as he knew it would disappear. All the while, the Jabberwock would lick its wounds and slowly recover from the battle. It would be back to hunt other poor souls far too soon. That's the moment that Jacoby realized that he could not afford to run from the beast, nor could his people wait for another mighty human hero to come and challenge the beast. Opposing evil was as much his responsibility as it had been the fallen knight's.
Bending down, Jacoby picked up one of the knight's discarded spears lying at his feet. He walked forward to where the knight had dropped his lance after he’d used it to impale the beast and undid the blood-stained silver star pennon that graced it's shaft. This he tied to the spear he carried, which was still quite sizable for his small stature, though it would have to do. Raising the pennon back into the air as the knight had carried it, he continued forward to where the brave warrior had fallen. Who had been this valorous man who gave his life to defend a people he didn't even know? He closed the knight's wide, vacant eyes and uttered a prayer to the being whose silver star graced his pennon. He then picked up the large sword from the fallen knight's limp hand and strapped it to his own back with the knight's belt so that its point wouldn't drag along the ground. Ignoring the knight's sundered shield, which he couldn't have hefted anyway, Jacoby went to the remains of his family's barn. As the surviving animals continued to squeal in fear, Jacoby found the hen house's diminutive door torn from it's frame, yet still whole. This too would have to do as well. He took the small square door and strapped it to his forearm with rope while using that arm's hand to hold the door's handle as an impromptu shield. The remainder of the rope he spooled across his chest to serve as a meek layer of protection for his torso against the Jabberwock's long claws.
Finally, as the crows began to descend on the fallen knight and horse's remains, his family emerged from their refuge. His siblings stood about, mouths agape, staring at the carnage and destruction the battle had wrought on their humble farm. His mother wept and tried to reassure them that the monster had fled, that everything would be alright now. Jacoby heard her words but found no comfort in them. Her promises sounded hollow to his ears. Jacoby was trying to coax one of the family's draft dogs to carry him on its back when his father found him. Seeing his son arranged as he was, he immediately knew what Jacoby intended: "You're going to seek the Jabberwock?!?" "Yes. Someone has to." answered Jacoby as he mounted his uncertain steed. His father opened his mouth to protest but then saw the resolve in his eldest son's purposeful movements and the steady set of his eyes. That determination was the reason he'd sent Jacoby to fetch the knight while the rest of the family had taken shelter. "Beware it's bite..." his father finally said as he fixed his own leather cap onto his son's head, "...and don't let it catch you in its claws. Surely the animals of the Tulgey wood will be spooked by its passing. Don't let the calls of the birds distract you and keep clear of any other upset animals."
And so it was that Jacoby, astride his draft-dog, dressed in his farm clothes, armored with a coil of rope, his father’s leather cap and a hen-house door and holding aloft a large spear with a silver star pennon, left his farm behind and entered the Tulgey wood to hunt and slay the injured Jabberwock. He followed the trail of blood and ground up dirt left in the beast’s passing for nearly a league. He continued to track it late into the day when he finally came to rest at the foot of a large tumtum tree. Jacoby was beginning to grow frustrated at his lack of progress in sighting the creature when he was startled by the cracking of a twig from the direction he'd come. Whirling about, he saw in the long shadow of the tree a pair of hungry eyes, burning like twin embers in the dark. The beast had circled back in an attempt to surprise him! His dog began to bark, quickly turned tail and ran. The beast roared and charged the halfling, loudly beating the air with its small tattered wings as it came. Quickly raising the door to shield himself from its fangs, Jacoby planted the spear but into the ground and set it's point towards the Jabberwock ever-growing form. Although the spear bit deeply into the creature's hide, it's headlong rush snapped the spear’s shaft and the beast collided forcefully with the diminutive halfling, shattering the impromptu shield and knocking Jacoby senseless.
When he miraculously awoke sometime later, it was dark out and his dog was insistently licking his face. He found himself lying in a large pool of thick blood beneath the head of the Jabberwock. Wild eyed and breathing quickly, Jacoby scrambled backwards and desperately tried to free his limp arm from the ropes that had secured the door to it. Panicking, he drew the knight’s sword, but in the dim light, the halfling could see that the wyrm was long dead and already growing cold. Jacoby slowly walked back towards the wyrm. After a few long moments he hefted the sword overhead and began to slash and stab at it's hide while screaming in surprise and elation. After several deliberate strikes Jacoby succeeded in severing the dragon's head and, using his coil of rope, tied it to his dog's harness. And so it was that Jacoby dragged the Jabberwock's severed head behind him as he returned to his kinsmen in Amberlea and his waiting father's embrace.
While Jacoby's arm mended, life in Amberlea began to return to a semblance of normalcy. The knight was quietly buried in the village's cemetery and the Jabberwock’s head was soon mounted above the hearth of the local inn. Day after day, while he healed, townsfolk would ask Jacoby to recount the tale of the Jabberwock's demise. He told them the truth; that it was the knight who deserved the credit for the kill; that the beast had been severely wounded by the heroic efforts of the martyred knight and that he himself had only been lucky that the wyrm had run itself through upon his spear before knocking him out cold. When Jacoby failed to elaborate or embellish his tale to the satisfaction of the villagers the local tale-spinners took over, eventually composing the song to commemorate the event.
When he was healed Jacoby left Amberlea; much to the confusion of the locals and the sadness of his family. The moment that he picked up the fallen knight's spear he'd set himself on a different path than that of his kinsmen. Sir Johann had died fighting the good fight and now there was one less knight able to protect the helpless. Jacoby would take the knight's armaments and continue in that valorous hero's footsteps as best he could for as long as he was able.[/sblock]
