Monday, 12 June 2023

Hex Crawl 23 #163: Four Peasant Prodigies

Eleven hexes north, two northeast of Alakran.

 

As foes, allies, or followers, here are four peasant folk of Shasari who have unusual traits and talents.

Ardul, "the Fearful Theater": A man who, though young, has white hair, and tells the best ghost stories. If an audience listens to him for 3 or more minutes, they will be frightened and unable to do anything possibly dangerous for the next hour, unless they save vs. INT at DC 14

Ehli-Sharruma, "the Cavernous Glamour": This plain and mousy young woman dreamed of Ereshkigal, goddess of the underworld, and now seeks to join subterranean expeditions as a porter, torchbearer, anything. Once under the earth she becomes mysteriously alluring. Anyone who sees her becomes charmed if they are liable to be attracted to her, or distracted (disadvantage to all attacks and skill checks) otherwise. WIS saves, DC 12, apply. She may act as a false guide, leading adventurers to a cave-dwelling cult where her beauty can be properly appreciated.

Kiyarruki, "the Quick Assailant": A broad-shouldered male farmer who seeks to hire out as a bodyguard. He has a sense for never being surprised by an attack, but then has a compulsion to pre-emptively attack the would-be attacker, which has gotten him in trouble more than once*. He seeks employment from people who appreciate his talent and can upgrade his cudgel and sling into more respectable weapons.

Mida, "the Living Darkness": A gimlet-eyed old woman who has been cast out of more than one village when her ability to animate her own shadow was found out. The shadow is a weak unseen servant in artificial light or 2-3 hours away from noon, does not exist if overcast or 1 hour either side of noon, and 3-6 hours from noon in the open sunlight becomes a dreadful presence equivalent to the shadow undead monster. Its main limitation is that it must stay on the ground where it lies, so it is usually prone (unless cast against the wall) and its range of action is determined by the length of Mida's actual shadow.

* "The best form of DEFENCE is ATTACK (Clausewitz) and the most VITAL element of ATTACK is SURPRISE (Oscar HAMMERstein). Therefore, the BEST way to protect yourself AGAINST any ASSAILANT is to ATTACK him before he attacks YOU..." - The Brand New Monty Python Bok, 1973

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