Hex Crawl 23 #208: Lone Herders of the Dhuga

Four hexes northwest, five north of Alakran. 

Although several settlements of the Dhuga Hills occupy themselves largely with herding, there are some wandering loners who might be encountered far from a village -- if, say, a "lair" encounter is rolled in an otherwise empty hex not adjacent to a village, and competing with the other NPCs described previously.

These herders will have, on a d6: 1-3: goats, numbering 4d6; 4-5: sheep, numbering 3d6; 6: 3d6 goats and 1 d6 sheep. 

Herder archetypes on another d6:

1. Dog owner -- has a faithful sheep or goat dog fiercely loyal to its owner. The kind to run and get help if its owner falls in a crevasse, for example.

2. Poseur -- this is the scion of a rich family of Eryptos who, in the manner lampooned by Cervantes, has invested in a flock they do not know how to take care of very well, and retreated to the country to compose forlorn love poetry and play the rebec. This person will be literally starving, not very good at milking or finding forage, and will pay handsomely for aid and provisions from their stash of gold which is never far away.

3. Escapee -- a born herder who has had to flee their village and take their chances in the wild because of the importunings of an unwelcome suitor who will not leave them alone in their home village. Perhaps the person whom they flee is the Poseur (above).

4. Rustler -- someone who by skill and bodily force has stolen much of their herd, who bear disparate markings of ownerships (brands, tattoos, clipped ears). They person will be looking to sell and escape the justice that is surely coming for them -- or at least, transfer the wrath of the mob onto the buyers of the ill-gotten herd.

5. Stampede -- Someone who through no fault of their own has lost control of their flock, who are coming through a ravine that the party now occupies. Find higher ground, make your defense, or get trampled and butted.

6. Were-goat -- This person loves their herd a little too much, and their strange and, dare I say, capricious behavior around the times of the full moon has gotten them expelled from polite society. They have no problem staying fed, because in goat form they can gorge on all manner of plants and things.