Burials of Teganshire Post 24 of 30
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Additional NPCs for Burials of Teganshire – The Knight, the Dame, and the Squire
Here are some NPCs you can add to the Burials of Teganshire. They’re not in the adventure, but Burials of Teganshire may mention them in passing. In blog post 20 in our series, we talked about roleplaying additions to the area. This post is specific to NPCs for the Dungeon Master (DM/GM) to use if the PCs engage the setting outside of the module.
Of course, the DM may have their own setting with their own NPCs. The below are lore-generic and can fit right in with some modification or used as-is. Sir Johansson, his wife, and his squire do not make an appearance in Burials of Teganshire. They are included here for the DM to use. Keep track of their dispositions towards the PCs, as that will impact the next adventure.
Sir Johansson
Sir Johansson is a knight that owns nearby farms and ranches north of Teganshire and west of the trade road. He has authority given to him by his Lord, Lord Teragan, and inherited his lands from his father. Sir Kyle Johansson has no political control in Teganshire, but he has considerable influence. He is the employer of the four well-paid guards in the guard tower along the road to Tegan’s bridge.
- Johansson is rich, owning a multitude of farms and having significant inherited funds
- Lord Teragan has Johansson oversee several of his own farms
- The knight is well-liked by the local populous for being fair and hardworking
- He has considerable knowledge on agriculture and animal husbandry
- He’s trained in combat and a thoroughly dangerous individual
- His wife is a minor cleric, known to heal the sick and wounded
Sir Johansson’s Motivations
While a fierce combatant both on horse and on foot, Johansson is less of a knight in charge of farms and more of a farmer with knightly training in logistics. His martial prowess has less to do with innate capability; instead, Johansson is athletic and healthy with good morale and leadership abilities. He has no fewer than a dozen men-at-arms, well-paid individuals with superior arms and armor ready to do violence on his behalf.
As a logistical-ordered individual, Johansson’s primary concern is food production. He does not hold the fascination with horses that his Lord and fellow knights do, believing equestrian dominance is an enormous money sink. His focus on wise spending and agrarian-based wealth has put him at odds with the other knights in the barony.
His motivations:
- Provide for food production of the land, lest during bad times we’re forced to eat the horses we love so much
- Protect the farmers who concern themselves with feeding us
- Increase the Johansson wealth through careful spending and protecting existing assets
- Apply the King’s law fairly
- Protect my family and legacy from a hostile world
- Be the man my wife wants me to be
Roleplaying Sir Johansson
Appearances can be deceiving, and the knight fits the bill of a noble warrior with expensive equipment. However, he has a firm understanding of local life and has a lot of empathy for his farmers and ranchers. He is not impressed with shallowness, bravado, or smarminess. Anyone willing to defend the lives of the common folk has his support.
Kyle has a deep understanding of the logistics of the region and the hazards of warfare without adequate means to feed the troops.
Dame Johansson
A cleric of a good deity and of modest divine power, Serina Johansson is wed to Kyle Johansson through an arranged marriage. Selected by her husband due to her healing abilities, medical knowledge, and education, the Dame and the Knight enjoy a marriage of mutual admiration. They have four children, the oldest now in his early teens.
- The Dame is an educated daughter of a wealthy horse rancher. Her father was surprised when Kyle Johansson’s father approached him to arrange a marriage, but the Dame was the youngest daughter and was set to enter into a life of serving the church. The resultant dowry has paid for itself thrice over
- The Dame holds respect but is seen as a bit naive—she is aware of this and works against it, but she was raised to serve in the church, not lead a life of minor nobility. It doesn’t help that she was the youngest of her siblings, and was a bit spoiled and sheltered
- Serina works to make sure her children have a good education and are pious, respectful children
- Her divine power is academically based. While she understands prayers of battle, she has never used them
- She deeply admires her husband’s firm, but caring leadership abilities
- She has a full understanding of the family’s finances and the Johanssons make joint decisions
Dame Johansson’s Motivations
- Support the Johansson legacy through planning, hard work, and the application of proper business acumen
- Make sure her family and Kyle’s sphere of influence have proper respect for the divine and meet religious obligations
- Heal the wounded and take care of the sick through divine healing and medical know-how
- Raise the children to respect the King’s Law and the Church
- Find Squire Artane a proper wife
- Be the woman my husband wants me to be
Roleplaying Dame Johansson
Serina appears youthful in her mid-30s, and while not the most attractive woman, she carries herself with grace and confidence. She also likes to talk and gossip, feeling it is her duty to know everything about everyone. She is a highly religious person and cares deeply about her immediate family, her extended family, and her husband’s wards.
While she wears a holy symbol, she does not wear cleric vestments, nor carries clerical weapons. She can speak of religious issues and has a passing familiarity with history and arcane knowledge.
Squire Artane
Squire Gil Artane was selected by Sir Johansson as his squire for a combination of two reasons:
- He is extremely accurate with a bow
- He killed a grizzly bear with a pitchfork
Usually, a knight is supposed to squire sons of his peers and other nobility to teach them the ways of the knightly world outside of the influence of the squire’s family. Johansson was set to do that until one of his farmer’s sons killed a goddamn brown bear with a pitchfork. This impressed Sir Johansson so much he made the lad his squire, and the two have operated as a team ever since. It helps that Gil, as a farmer’s son, knows the agricultural trade and is not afraid to roll-up his sleeves during harvest and gets to work.
Gil is not a local yocal. Or, rather, he might have been at one time. Now Artane is a warrior, skilled with a blade, horseback combat, and all things archery. He has killed men in defense of his knight and has grown confident and shrewd. He has formulated a philosophy of “why kill bad guys up close and get stabbed when you can do it far away?”
Squire Artane’s Motivations
- Protect his knight. We have to watch each other’s back
- Become the best archer in the realm
- Avoid getting married and losing my edge
- Stay out of trouble and avoid bringing shame to his employer
- Hard work and loyalty is the hallmark of good men everywhere
- Make sure the men-at-arms have an excellent grasp of bow and crossbow usage
Roleplaying Squire Artane
Gil is well-aware of that his athletic build, youthful appearance, the scar on his face from the bear, and deadly reputation make him attractive to the fair maidens of the region. He has a natural way with people and flirts with the lovely opposite sex as easy as breathing.
Underneath the surface, Squire Artane is a warrior with a firm understanding of the use of violence. Like Sir Johansson, he doesn’t have any aspirations to go to actual war, having seen first hand what an arrow can do to someone’s face. His arrow. He has no regrets, but he also has no wish to prove himself “glorious” in battle, especially if the harvest is coming due.
In Gil’s understanding of the universe and his place in it, he leads a perfect life.
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