Dark Sun NPC Thread

[rosemaryJ (Rosemary)]

Grandma Hamma’s gang:

Sizzkus

Age: 37

Sex: Male

Close Family: Wife and several children. His brothers Rokan, Truvo and Weom.

Race: Human

Sizzkus was born into a military family, his father and grandfather being low ranking officers, no higher than equal to captain. So it was natural that he and his brothers joined the army too. Sizzkus spend some years here and rose in the ranks to a non commissioned officer, after his first campaign. But Sizzkus was never a man who was mend to be in army. Too little respect for authority and too much greed. So he was punished for selling army equipment. When he was released from prison he turned straight to crime, having skills that could be useful for people who could pay.

Sizzkus quickly saw an opportunity and with military precision started taking out the pimps of the bad part of the city state, to take over their trade. Grandma Hamma was clearly aware of this and saw the chance to stop the bickering pimps who had a couple of girls each, and gave Sizzkus an offer he could not refuse. Sizzkus would run the street girls, and Grandma Hamma would supply some muscle to make this happen. The templar seemed to agree, as with less pimps fighting over street corners, the nights were quieter and less need for guards on the streets. Sizzkus taking over the pimps was a bloody war, but the nights have been more peaceful after that.

Sizzkus hired two of his brothers, Rokan and Truvo who left the army, to help with the business, both brutal men. His last brother Weom, stayed in the military and have sworn to end his brothers evil ways.

Today Sizzkus are well of, he has a wife and children, the oldest about 8. Sizzkus and his staff rule the street corners with an iron fist and girls who refuse to pay their taxes to him, can find them self with a scared face or dead in gutter. Sizzkus runs his people in a military manner, and have no problem letting them join in on Grandma Hamma’s other schemes and plans.

Sizzkus have made many enemies over the time and are growing increasingly paranoid. Among other preemptive actions having moved his wife and children to a secret location.

Sizzkus and Lalila hate each other!

Keywords: pimp, violent, militant, greedy, effective, ex-military, paranoid

[rubberlizard (oejlen)]

hope i can write again, how many more you got?
btw. any mod feel free to delete my posts in here, just made them to help out Rose.

[rosemaryJ (Rosemary)]

Grandma Hamma’s gang – Madame Lalila’s girls:

Nysah

Age: 29

Sex: Female

Close Family: Muse of the artist Yahmak

Race: Halfelf

Nysah is not a person you would notice. She is the quite type sitting in a corner. She is polite, courteous, pretty and friendly. I no way the person you would expect her to have killed dozens of people.

Nysah did not grow up in the bad part of town, she does not know why an elderly craftsman pureblood human adopted a halfelf girl. He gave her good childhood, but also taught her all he knew about his other trade – a poison maker and hitman. Poisons, daggers, burglaries and how to make murder look like accidents, was among the things Nysah learned. When the old craftsman grew old, Nysah took over and he mentored her.

Nysah have never been in trouble with the law, but the templars have been close to catching on to her, a couple of times. So she have been far more careful after that. The old craftsman had a handler who send work in his direction, and when the craftsman died Nysah took over. Most of her kills look like accidents or decease, if the customer wants it look violent and send a message, her handler often sends the job in other directions, like Omakh. But she have committed violent murders when there was a need for it. No one knew it was a small woman who cut the head of Lord Grassridge’s nephew.

The old craftman taught her to blend in, among that having a legitimate job, so Nysah works part time in Madame Lalila’s brothel. She likes it there, socializing with the other girls and is friendly with Nua. Plus the food is excellent.

Here she met Yahmak, the famous sculptor, at the brothel. She is somewhat of a muse for him and he has sculpted her several times. He has taken her to see some of the finest bards, the most beautiful gardens and the most exciting plays, all of them Nysah have loved. She is growing into a bit of a gourmet.

Keywords: inconspicuous, assassin, expert poisoner, beautiful, coldhearted, lonely

[rosemaryJ (Rosemary)]

Grandma Hamma’s gang:

Omakh

Age: 27

Sex: Male

Close Family: Several, but contact to none. Gotho the halfgiant is the only one who could be considered close.

Race: Human

Omakh is a psychopath, he has no feeling for everyone except himself. He likes food, women, bling and drink, but what he really loves is cracking skulls. Violence gives Omakh a kick like nothing else, he have killed people for looking at him the wrong way. His family were middleclass, or what counts for middleclass in the city state, but he have screwed them over so many times they do not want to have any contact with him at all. And Omakh does not care.

A few wrong words and Omakh can explode in a volcanic eruption of violence.

Omakh is pretty well of, there is always work for a man like him, and have some pretty good equipment, some of it belonged to his victims and he wears them openly. Omakh have a daughter, but her mother have kept her away from him, and he does not know of her.

His aggressiveness and ease of violence have given him a name as a hitman and muscle for hire. Omakh is not affiliated with any of the criminal gangs but have at some point worked for most of them, plus merchants, nobles and templars with their own plans. Among the Grandma Hamma’s gang. Sometimes with his partner in crime, Gotho. Many will never work with him again, because of him working for their enemies.
This way of life have given him a small army of enemies, and it is only a question of time before someone puts an end to this mad dog.

Keywords: extremely violent, cold, psychopath, hitman, muscle for hire

[rosemaryJ (Rosemary)]

Grandma Hamma’s gang:

Gotho the halfgiant

Age: 37

Sex: Male

Close Family: On a farm far away

Race: halfgiant

Gotho is muscle for hire and freelance gladiator. He has volunteered for gladiator school twice, for two year terms, but never really got as famous as he dreamed of. But he had his victories and hiring a gladiator as hired muscle always sounds good. Violence comes easy to Gotho and he enjoys causing pain on people, he has worked for several criminal gangs, as well as merchants as a caravan guard, templars as muscle and nobles for private gladiatorial fights, and more intimate shows. Gotho is ready to do it all for money.

Gotho grew up on a farm away from the city state, travelled to the city state the second he had the chance, to volunteer to gladiator school and become famous. People often comment on his country accent, but never to his face.

Gotho likes to think of him as a big famous gladiator and dresses the part. He is not dumb, but sometimes naïve and ignorant due to his life on the farm.

When Gotho have money he will spend it all on drink, food and bards, he loves singing and dances violently when he gets drunk enough, and it takes a lot to get a man of his size drunk.

Keywords: muscle for hire, violent, part time gladiator, country bumbkin, sadistic

Thats the last one for now (might add a small team of scam artists and a few more street urchins)

[Damian]

Totally stealing Lalila for a brothel madame in my campaign.

[rosemaryJ (Rosemary)]

Glad you can use her.
Might add some more of her girls if I need them. Players are searching for one of Sa’ram’s children right now, so out of city state, and might not return.

[Ral.of.Tyr]

The Merchant-Emperor:

In a land where trade is everything, merchants are kings.

He lives a life of total decadence; indulging on his every whim, no matter how hedonistic. He rules a small city-state as its Emperor.

This is his wife: The Merchant-Queen:

She is cunning, wise and astute; she is the real power behind the throne while her husband consorts with concubines. She is from a local-tribe and of low-birth; in this land, one can rise if they have skill.

[rosemaryJ (Rosemary)]

Generated images of some of Lalila’s girls, let me know if you need some words on them. Discord

Grandma Hamma’s gang – Madame Lalila’s girls:

Rhona

Age: 19

Sex: Female

Close Family: Parents, siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews

Race: Human

Rhona is very smart, the first time she has heard an epic story or poem she remembers it. She has an amazing voice, but is not a good singer, so she focuses on reciting. She entertain clients and employees alike, always to a applaud. Rhona have an enormous knowledge ranging from history, heraldry, philosophy and modern day politics, and many of her clients come to discuss topics like these with.

Rhona comes from a poor family who are proud of her finding an honest job, several of her family is criminals.

Madame Lalila owns a few books, but cannot read them herself. Rhona have borrowed a few of these, and a client who wanted to show of, showed her he could read, but was not aware how smart she was, and she picked up the basics and to day she reads and writes on a basic level. It have completely blown her mind and she reads everything she can get her hands on.

Rhona is not that happy with her job. True she makes money and can help her family, she meets upperclass noblemen and rich merchants, she dress better then she could ever dream of and the food at the brothel is excellent. But she wants more, she wants to learn and write books herself. She wants to be an alchemist and grow enchanted fruits, experiment and write down her discoveries. She knows it is illegal for her to being able to read, but she is just so excited about it.

Keywords: ambitious, photographic memory, intelligent, scholarly, enthusiastic, articulate, great conversationalist, beautiful,

[rosemaryJ (Rosemary)]

Grandma Hamma’s gang – Madame Lalila’s girls:

“Lady” Ria

Age: 37

Sex: Female

Close Family: Madame Lalila

Race: Halfelf

Ria’s mother was a human slave, her father an elf gladiator, who was killed trying to escape from the gladiatorial ludus of Lord Blooddune, when Ria was just a toddler. Ria was no not even ten years old when she was set to play with Lord Blooddunes younger daughter, Ria does not really remember what happened, but the noble girl hurt herself a bit and started crying, there was little blood and it did not even leave wound.

The sadistic sister of Lord Blooddune demanded the young girl was punished and Ria received a serious beating, but it was not enough, and a few days later she was sold to a slave trader who passed by. It was the last time I saw her mother.

Ria was sold on and changed owners several times, spending time in a bakery, repairing clothing and before getting sold to lower class brothel. Here she soon learned the pleasure she would get from inflicting pain on others and there were always some willing to pay for that particular niche. An older prostitute took her under her wings and taught her the robes – literally. Robes, whips, locks, burning hot oil and so much more.

The owner of the brothel had a large depth to Grandma Hamma and agreed to let Madame Lalila look for talent there. So one night Lalila joined undercover as a customer and impressed by the work of Ria, she made agreement with Grandma Hamma of buying Ria. Hamma agreed and the ownership was turned over to Lalila.

Lalila never liked the idea of slavery and promised Ria her freedom, if she worked for her for a handful of years after. Ria had been a slave her whole life, and found it hard to take decisions herself, but flabbergasted said yes anyway. A choice she has never regretted.

One and a half decade later she still works in Madame Lalilas establishment, specializing in the clients who enjoys, pain, humiliation and bondage. She has her own apartment, a thing she never thought she would have. She is not good at fitting in to societal norms and has a sharp tongue and a dry sense of humor.

She is free to go, but the place is the only family she has ever known. When she gives orders people obay and when she swings the whip it leaves a mark, she has a deep understanding of causing physical and mental pain. Ria has a collection of finely crafted whips, cuffs and ropes.

Keywords: old in the trade, sadistic, traumatized, takes pride in her trade, commanding presence, independent, confident

[rosemaryJ (Rosemary)]

Grandma Hamma’s gang – Madame Lalila’s girls:

Prin

Age: 18

Sex: Female

Close Family: Mistella

Race: Human

Prin do not remember her family, she lived on the streets for so many years it is all the remember. The elf Mistella quickly found her and she is the one parent Prin have ever had. Mistella was in no way a gentle parent, nor a good rolemodel, and Prin learned to steal and look out for herself and the other children on the street. She always sets her hair to hide the scar on ear, that Mistellas cane made when she was drunk and angry one day.

Prin was a pickpocket and she and the other children would run scams, trying to make a few bits. Running messages, robbing the drunk, taking bets, passing on rumours to Mistella and so on.

Being pretty it was easy for Prin to find a person who looked like they had ceramics in their pocket, cry and while they conforted her, the other kids would rob them blind.

When she grow older Mistella lost interest in her, children were easier for her to use, and Mistella was on her own, but she would continue to return to see the alcoholic elf woman who had mistreated her for years. It was here Madame Lalila found her and got her to work in the brothel. It took some time to work the foulmouthed streetgirl into a professional courtesan, but Prin learned fast and for the first time in her life she had three meals a day clothing that were not rags and a real family. So she is grateful for all of this for Lalila.

Mistella have noticed this and nasty as she is, keeps contact with Prin, whom she still have somewhat control over and getting coin, rumours, food and clothing out of. Prin dreams of getting rid of Mistellas control, but have not had the strength yet.

Keywords: young, pickpocket, orphan, thief, sometimes foulmouthed

@rubberlizard help me

[rubberlizard (oejlen)]

Lizard to the rescue

[rosemaryJ (Rosemary)]

Grandma Hamma’s gang – Madame Lalila’s girls:

Tian’ha

Age: 24

Sex: Female

Close Family: Some adoptive siblings far away

Race: halfelf

No one, man or woman, young or old, can walk past Tian’ha without staring at her. She has that certain gift that makes her catch every ones eyes. Combined with her sense of style, striking beauty and exotic blonde hair, there are few like her. In Lalila’s establishment she is the most popular girl, to some of the other girls dismay.

Tian’ha came from a small village, farmers with little contact to the rest of the world. An elderly couple with grown up children found her in the desert and adopted her. Everyone loved her from the start, she was not very bright but her natural charm and love of singing and dancing made her a popular child in the village.

This changed a bit when she grew older and only more beautiful. Soon the boys started courting her, and this cause several fights over the years. Her loving parents grew old and her mother fell into depression when her father died, her following less then a year later. Her adoptive parents had been poor and there were little to inherit.

Tian’ha’s adoptive siblings inherited most of what little there was and the elders in the village saw an unattended girl like her could cause a lot of trouble, with every warmblooded male following her like the long extinct and forgotten puppies. So they took decision and flattered her, and Tian’ha fell for it. So she packed her belongings and left for the big city to become famous.

Tian’ha never became the famous singer and dancer she wanted to, the talent was never really there, but instead Madame Lalila picked her up, right under the nose of Sizzkus, one of the many times the two have build up beef against each other.

Keywords: enchanting, not very bright, irresistible sweet, naive, glamorous

[rosemaryJ (Rosemary)]

Grandma Hamma’s gang – Madame Lalila’s girls:

Kayan

Age: 25

Sex: Female

Close Family: None

Race: Halfling

Kayan once had a halfling name. The name her mother gave her, after she gave birth, but Kayan does not remember, nor does anyone else. Kayan does not remember her mother either, as she was send to fight and die in a gladiatorial arena when Kayan were only a few moons old. A fellow Halfling salvaged the corpse and made a pendant from a piece of the skull, that Kayan still carries today.

She grew up as a house slave. Working inside, cleaning place no one else could reach, climbing up to light great chandeliers, polishing stonewear and so on. Her owner made her entertain during parties and loved being the centre of attention. Singing, dancing, acrobatics, eating and psionics when she learned about her abilities. Kayan have good sense of humour and comedic timing, often joking about the men who likes the thrill of putting things in her mouth, not knowing if they will loose it.

A fellow nobleman won Kayan in a game with high stakes, but Kayan would never get to see her new home, as her new owner died before they reached his estate, and his son who inherited, freed every single slave. Kayan was free and knew little of the real world, she ended in a bad part of town, owning only the clothing on her back.

Madame Lalila picked her up and Kayan fit right in. Loves being the centre of attention and people instantly likes her and some clients will pay for watching her eat, as she has a ferocious appetite. She is quite the skilled psionocists, making her a valuable employee of Madame Lalila.

The older Kayan gets and the stronger a psionocist, the stranger her dreams become. She have never seen mountains, forests or stream, yet she dreams of them, they call for her and she feels a connection to them.

Keywords: Smiling, good natured, curious, psionocist, life of the party, entertainer

[rosemaryJ (Rosemary)]

Grandma Hamma’s gang – Madame Lalila’s girls:

Wira

Age: 44

Sex: Female

Close Family: None, her friend Nesa is the closest.

Race: Human

Wira was born in a distant city state. She was trained as a dancer and joined a famous dancing troupe. They travelled far and wide before she ended up here. The leader of the troupe made an enemy of a powerful templar and the troupe was disbanded and many members arrested. Wira narrowly escaped getting caught and her natural beauty and grace made her an ideal candidate for high class establishments.

Wira have been in the trade for a long time. Decades. She knows every trick in the book and make every client feel like she is their true love. She does not mind the job itself, just that she is aging and in a few years she will not be able to attract clients the same way anymore. This would first her lifestyle, she loves beautiful dresses and jewelry, good food and drink, and then later her ability to make completely, as she have few other usefull skills and no family.

Once she hoped for one of her rich clients to swipe her away and set her up for life. But it has never happened and she have grown tired of waiting. So she have started looking for other ways to get an retirements fund.

Wira have worked for a long time in Madama Lalila’s place and have grown close with the sweet Mul girl Nesa, who she comforts when Nesa is afraid of being alone at night. The other girls gossip about other things then just sleep happening. Whether or not this is true, Wira would bring Nesa with her if she had the chance.

Keywords: hoping to make the big score, aging, afraid of the future, high class, high maintenance, sharp dresser, confident in her trade

[rubberlizard (oejlen)]

Im stealing some of these

[rosemaryJ (Rosemary)]

Grandma Hamma’s gang – Madame Lalila’s girls:

Nesa

Age: 20

Sex: Female

Close Family: Her crippled human mother and her friend Wira

Race: Mul

Nesa’s mother is a rare woman, she survived three mul births – Nesa and her two elder brothers. But this broke both the mind and body of Nesa’s mother, who can only walk with crutches.

Nesa and her brothers grow up owner by a wealthy nobleman and they were all three trained to be gladiators. Nesa’s gentle mind and sweet personality did not go well with this, and she took many beatings for it. Instead she had much more talent as a healer and masseuse, patching up wounded gladiators.

When both her brothers died in the arena, her mother lost what was left of her mind, and the nobleman set her free, so he did not have to feed a useless mouth. Nesa knew her beloved mother would starve to death on the streets, and by luck and determination she managed to escape. She found her mother and took refuge in the bad part of town. She did low paying jobs, living on the street, always afraid someone would spot her psionic branding. Many nights she wakes up from nightmares of being send to the gladiatorial arena.

Until Madame Lalila found her and brought her in. Here she was trained and quickly learned the trade. Making enough money to support herself and her mother. One of Lalilas girls, Kayan, uses her psionic abilities to dampen the psionic branding on her on a regular basis, and only Lalila and the other girl knows that Nesa is a runaway slave. Lalila likes Nesa, but also knows that if she came in a bad situation, selling out Nesa could be an option.

Nesa combination of feminine beauty and the rock hard physique of a mul make both men and women find her attractive. She have a group of regular clients and enjoys her work.

Her mother lived with her in the brothel for a short while, but after a particularly bad psychotic episode she was banned from there, and is now in a small room a bit away. Where she spends her days sobbing and drinking. Nesa tries to get home to her every night, but sometimes it is not possible, and for her entire life she has hated sleeping alone. Nesa have found a friend in Wira, who also works at the brothel, and when Nesa have to sleep there, they spend the night together.

Sa’ram and Nesa have never met each other, and none of them know he is her father.

Keywords: runaway slave, sweet, loves her mother, a bit paranoid, people pleaser, afraid to be alone

[rosemaryJ (Rosemary)]

Grandma Hamma’s gang – Madame Lalila’s girls:

Ashmala

Age: 21

Sex: Female

Close Family: Her mother Lady Hissah Dustwind, born Mirageglow, her elder brothers, her stepfather Lord Dustwind and his children. Her husband Tollgatherer Wem son of Nikolos.

Race: Human

Ashmala is not her real name, her real name is far longer and has a noble ring to it. But nobody at the brothel knows, even though Lalila has her suspicions, she have found who Ashmala really is.

Ashmala was born into noble family as the forth child. Nothing was expect of her, other than marrying in an arranged political marriage when she came of age. She learned poetry and how to look pretty, how to behave herself and how to talk to servants. All of it she found excrutiatingly boring and always got in trouble for misbehaving.

She was a teenager when her father died, in a fall from a crodlu. It hurt her, but it delayed the prospect of her getting married. Her mother, an ambitious woman, quickly remarried Lord Dustwind. And the two of them arranged for Ashmala to get married to a promising young man, Wem, the son of the head tollgatherer Nikolos, who was set to take over his father’s position at some point. Both Wem and his family and Lord Dustwind was pleased with the arrangement. Nikolos for finally, though peripherally, became part of the nobility as he had dreamed of for many years and Lord Dustwind for saving money and sending his troublesome stepdaughter away.

Ashmala found both her new husband and his family extremely dull, and though they were well of not as rich as her own family. So she started going to the more clandestine parties some of the upperclass held and learned of the girls who were payed to attend. Ashmala did not really need to money, but she wanted the excitement and a few coins was enough for one of Madame Lalila’s girls to introduce her.

For about a year Ashmala have snuck out and worked the brothel when she can sneak out, her working name is taken from a famous poem. She enjoys it, and her husband who is a nice, but boring, man have not found out yet. Ashmala have not thought about what would happen, should he or another noble find out. Neither have she tought about what would happen should she become pregnant.

Keywords: reckless, noble in disguise, thrill seeker, young, headstrong, cultivated

[Crosswire (Andrew Warwick)]

I’ve been putting together a few example characters for Dark Sun for a project I was working on, done using 2e rules, so I thought I’d share some of them here as I get them ready.

Thakur Swiftstride was one of the city elves of Tyr, living in the elven slums there. Always ambitious, always on the look out for a better way, he could see that slum life would never see him obtain the power he craved, and that the only power to be had came through the ruler of Tyr, King Kalak, the mighty sorcerer-king. And so it was that Thakur pledged himself to Kalak, becoming one of his feared and dreaded Templars. Thakur had a secret though – he also was a defiler, a status he kept hidden from all. Through templar magic and defiler magic, Thakur had great ambitions to rise high in the ranks of service to Kalak – and perhaps even higher in time.

Thakur Swiftstride: D2/T2; Al NE; AC 6 (dex), 5 (dex & shield), 2 (armour, shield & dex); MV 12, hp 7; THAC0 20 (22 with wood longsword (21 if tribal made), 18 with longbow(17 if tribal made)); #AT 1; Dmg 1d8-3 (wood longsword); #AT 2/1; DMG 1d8-1 (longbow); Str 11, Dex 19, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 14; Spells 4 1st (templar), 2 1st (defiler).
Psionic Summary: PSPs 16; Wild Talent – Dimensional Door (PS Con -1; Cost 4: Maintain 2/rd).
Saves; PPDM 10, RSW 11, PP 13, BW 15, SP 12
Weapon Proficiences; (Long sword, long bow)
Non-weapon Proficiences; (read/write, spellcraft, somantic concealment, bureaucracy, heat protection, forgery, etiquette, rope use)
Spellbook; Read Magic, Detect Magic, Charm Person, Sleep, Identify, Armour
Gear; Studded leather, medium shield, wooden longsword, longbow, 30 bone tipped sheaf arrows.

[Damian]

Cessek of Tyr, Mul Gladiator

Trained in the arena of Tyr, Cessek was an unremarkable gladiator, and was sold to Urikite owners months before the completion of Kalak’s ziggurat. Upon learning of the Rebellion in Tyr, and that Tyr’s slaves had been freed following Tithian’s First Edict, the older mul fighter attempted to escape servitude a number of times, always unsuccessfully. Years later, when he was on-sold once again, this time to a Raamite noble house, he redoubled his efforts, and with the anarchy in the eastern city-state, he was finally successful.

Following his escape, he has slowly made his way west, hoping to get to Tyr, where he knows he can finally live as a free man.

Medium humanoid (mul, male, 47yrs)
6’3”, 237lbs

AC 14 (chain shirt)
HP 27
Move 30ft.

STR 17 (+3)
DEX 12 (+1)
CON 15 (+2)
INT 10 (+0)
WIS 13 (+1)
CHA 8 (-1)

(Image courtesy of one of the AI wizards over at the Dark Sun Discord)