Travellers
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The characters will be far from the only folk abroad.
Peddlers, Traders & Merchants
Compared to the average peasant, most adventurers are fantastically wealthy. Thus, they attract the attention of many traders and pedlars during their travels.
Anith Chuckleberry (female halfling) is a local washerwoman on her way to get fresh water for her work. Dressed plainly and carrying four empty buckets on a long stick, the plump, middle-aged halfling woman is cheerful, friendly and happy to offer directions to travellers. Her sleeves are likely wet, and her fingers pruned if she has already started today’s work.
Migar Wafelbuttin (male gnome) is a travelling salesman pushing a cart filled with intricate clockwork toys. This chaotically dressed, bespectacled gnome is covered in tools, gear and splashes of paint from the toys he has recently completed. He tries to sell to other travellers but especially loves children and anyone with a sense of curiosity.
Tharni (female half-elf) is a tanner’s daughter. She has dark raven tresses, ice-blue eyes and hungers for a better station in life. She is angrily jealous of high-born travellers and curses the fate that left her alone with her poor human father.
Celifess (male dwarf priest) wears black leather armour with a deep, dark cowl. His cloak has hidden pockets containing mind-altering drugs and poisons, which he sells to discerning customers. He avoids confrontations and walks away if a deal goes bad.
Bards, Minstrels & Troubadours
Bards, minstrels and troubadours are common sights on many roads as they travel in search of audiences and new stories. Use this list to determine who the characters meet.
Turnen Blackblade (male human bard) is a spy for hire masquerading as a wandering troubadour. He strums a mandolin while wearing a bright red cape and an oversized feather cap. He could have useful information for sale or could have been sent to infiltrate and observe the party by one of the characters’ foes.
Elion Menel (male elf) is the fourth son of an elven noble who fancies himself a poet. Morose and dressed in black, he is looking to emotionally suffer in order to improve his art, and he finds death incredibly romantic. Seeing adventurers as agents of death, he tries to follow them from a distance so that he might draw inspiration from their brutal actions.
Kalie Wintrose (female halfling) appears as a thin halfling just short of starving, dressed in repeatedly patched clothing. She is a desperate artist with a spark of talent who draws portraits with coloured chalks for a few coppers. If someone should choose to sponsor her, she has the potential to be a great artist.
Federol Balderack (male dwarf) wears serviceable workman’s clothes and would not appear the musician that he is, if not for the drums and cymbals he carries. Federol has a deep, gravelly voice and a good sense of rhythm. He specialises in rhythmic chants and beats and often performs to motivate workers who perform repetitive tasks. He prefers socialising with working folk over the artsy crowd.
Mercenaries, Sellswords & Freebooters
In most settings, skill with a blade is a valued skill and is always in demand. The characters likely meet many mercenaries on their travels—perhaps some will join the party if the pay is good. Use this list to determine who they meet.
Ytor Pense (male human veteran warrior) is a hedge knight who wears dented plate and rides a barded warhorse. His shield bears a black and blue chequy with a large yellow star in the upper left quarter. He is a serious man who has been hired to find a half-orc, former soldier and murderer named Gryqo (see ii) and interrogates the characters about whom they have seen on their travels.
Gryqo (male half-orc warrior) is a former soldier wanted for the murder of his commanding officer. He is dirty and frightened, nervously looking over his shoulder. If the characters question him, he says a man named Ytor Pense (see i) murdered his family and is now after him. If the characters cross paths with Ytor, he asks them not to reveal his whereabouts or direction of travel.
Dalat Thunderock (male dwarf veteran warrior) has no left arm, having lost it at the elbow in a long-ago battle. He is dressed in chain armour and carries a many-notched battleaxe on his back. Dalat has no sense of right or wrong and is looking for any way to get ahead. While he quickly sizes up the characters as being too strong for him to attack, he offers to join them in hopes of robbing them in the future.
Alatariel (female elf assassin) skulks nearby, wrapped in an ebon cloak. She is a contract killer, and one of the characters resembles her target, or they are on their way to meet her target.
Credit
This is a short system-neutral extract from Wilderness Dressing: Travellers by Greg Marks.
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