DM-Nastics #135: Missed Connections

Are we doing it where each subsequent post must use the NPC of the post before it? I think that would be fun.

I feel with the half-elf you've set up both the kind of NPC they'd never encounter as well as a reason they'd encounter them!

J'Lyle, drow Debt Collector.

The half-elf (I'll name him George, after his daddy) tapped into his barbarian recklessness in a game of chance in an adventurer's tavern. Unfortunately, he had never learned not to play in a game of chance against a drow matron's spies. Once George recognised the mark of a drow house on his poker opponent's fore-arm, he grabbed all of the gold pieces on the table and made a break for it.

The drow matron sent her debt collector after him.

J'Lyle herself committed a great crime against her matron and carries out her duty as a way of recompense for her failed treachery (weirdly similar to the plot of Cuphead, funnily enough). She is equipped with a spider's ghost as a familiar that telepathically communicates with the matron to keep tabs on her.

J'Lyle had some trouble capturing George, given that he was able to use his elven heritage to resist her poisons. In the chaos, they both ended up captured by Duergar in the Underdark. Reluctantly, they worked together to escape and now must rely on each other's skills to survive the dangers of the Underdark.

George needs J'Lyle to keep him from having a panic attack in the darkness. J'Lyle needs George because he's actually pretty effective at bashing in skulls, and a lot of skulls need smashed in the caves.

They actually have a lot in common: both of them despise their elven heritage, both of them are prone to giving in to their darkest impulses, and both of them enjoy a good fistfight.

Over time, they can almost forget that they came together under duress, but the little eight-legged ghost on J'Lyle's shoulder is always there as a reminder to keep moving in the direction of Mezzoberanzzen. They haven't yet worked out that little hiccup yet.

It's a classic Stockholm Syndrome story.

You can introduce them pretty naturally in an Out of the Abyss campaign. They will certainly ask the players for help. They might be having lunch in a grotto, or struggling to escape a spider's lair, or might be in the midst of fighting off Duergar slavers.

Edit: Oops, meant to switch back to preview from BBCode and accidentally posted the blank form I had created. 

1. Who are they and what do they do?
Bellamy Flunderstrom was a princess of a barbarian clan living to the North of Lostinov County and the realm at large. Unfortunately, her clan, including her parents and husband, were slain when her clan fell, leaving her pregnant, without family, and without clan.

2. Why wouldn't they normally interact with the previous NPC?
While Count Lostinov frequently has to repel attacks from the barbarian clans, the princess herself would never be seen in a raiding party. With diplomatic talks having failed for generations, Sergio doesn't put in effort anymore to initiate such meetings, and Bellamy would probably not attend, even if her clan did.

3. What has come about that these two have come together?
When Clan Flunderstrom was destroyed by a rival clan, a band of adventurers was there to get her out of danger, guided by a prophesy they wildly misinterpreted that brought them to the North. After talking to Bellamy, they realized their error, but couldn't just leave her alone in the wilderness. Having witnessed Sergio's generosity first-hand in the past, they thought it prudent to bring her to his County for protection. While Sergio can't take in every stray that comes within his borders, her bloodline and the bloodline of her unborn child open options for bringing peace to his Northern border that he would need months or years to consider. She is welcome while he works those options out.

4. What is there initial thoughts of this person?
Bellamy doesn't trust Count Lostinov, who has long been an enemy of the clans of the North, but she recognizes that she is in danger and that he is offering her sanctuary. She believes that this is some kind of political move and is wary of him.

5. How do they present themselves?
As a result of her distrust, Bellamy refuses to speak more than she absolutely has to in answering questions and avoids answering if possible, using barbarian platitudes such as "if the sky is broad and the clouds low" to give the appearance of an answer without giving away information.

6. Any interests they may have in common?
As barbarian nobility, Bellamy was trained in shamanistic practices to predict the weather. While Bellamy is slow to share her knowledge, she is happy to provide warnings of omens she has observed to help preserve crop yields. Sergio is greatly interested in this knowledge and takes whatever opportunity he can find to talk about the weather with her, and it's actually a meaningful conversation.

7. Possible small talk they might make?
While politics and the clans are strictly off limits in conversation, it is generally safe to appreciate the beauty of nature together. Though they have very different perspectives, they both love the cold, harsh land in which they live.

8. Anything else?
In the distant future, Count Lostinov's son and Bellamy's daughter grow up fast friends, and are married. The new count is able to bring peace with the clans and grow his County into a March.