NPC helpful and bane

Have been off writing for a while. I need to get my muse back. That said, I have a notebook full of outlines and a list of writing goals, so stay tuned. In the meantime, six quick NPCs to throw into a campaign or scene...

Big Mary
Mary is a scarred, burly woman sitting at the back of the bar. She bested many men as a pugilist and veteran of the pankration ring.  However, she fled the coliseum after being accused of throwing a match. She seeks employment and shares in an adventure in hopes of securing sufficient gold to quietly disappear to her home country, but will only join a party who appears to be well-sorted, with a strong fighter in the lead.  She speaks a bit slowly, and has short-term memory loss from much time in the ring (10% chance of forgetting a name or some piece of information, per day). Likewise, Mary has a limp from a chronic knee injury and is partially blind in one eye. She is a stout unarmed fighter, and wears a pair of stained cestus (1d4+2, 2 attacks), but can also wield a club or staff with efficiency.

“Sir” Willard DeVroy
Sir DeVroy is an exceptionally lanky mounted fighter or knight. He rides a donkey, but is so tall that his feet nearly drag the ground.  While he appears slightly comical, DeVroy is deadly with the lance.  He is not allowed in tourneys because of his “substandard” mount; however, in impromptu challenges on the road, he and his well-trained mount charge and dodge, the stout donkey outmaneuvering a massive charger.  DeVroy wears a battered gold-plated archer’s ‘kettle’ helm.  When turned upside down, it fills with water twice per day.  He will not go underground.  “Too tall,” he says (claustrophobic). He has the habit of singing poorly-translated foreign ballads.

“Boss" Taite
Thin and greasy, with a protruding potbelly, this knave is a fence and broker of illicit goods along Wharftown. He knows all the entrances to the “Warehouses below the warehouses”. The Boss has an unpleasant penchant for pale-skinned boys and girls, some of which he brainwashes and/or coddles into luring other youth into his slaver pens.  “How dare you accuse me of being a slaver, sir! However, can I help it if an urchin or two finds themselves on a ship for ports abroad?...” For parties of flexible morals, he has work transporting/escorting particularly valuable chattel to discerning clients.

“Lost Lily”
Found on a forest road, this youth of indeterminate age claims to have been abandoned by a caravan, lover, etc.  Tearful, she wiles and distracts travelers, before absconding with several items of value and disappearing.  For parties of substantial wealth, she will lure them to a local bandit band for a share of the loot.

Aleghetha Horsewarden
This exiled tribal queen lives incognito among the community.  She clandestinely seeks a party to assassinate the so-called ‘usuper’ conqueror-governor, allowing her return into the power vacuum.  Aleghetha discretely wears the iron torq of her royal office.  The torq allows her to either calm or panic horses within a 50 foot radius.  There is a low chance that it will be recognized here, several kingdoms from her homeland.  She is an able warrior and rides well, but prefers the chariot, where she rains a quiver of javelins against foes.  Horsewarden is accompanied by a mute guard wielding a bronze-bossed shield and spear.

Brother Orph
A pious itinerant preacher, living on an austere vegetarian diet, he seems wracked with conflict and guilt.  The brother has become afflicted with a moon-bound lycanthropism, transforming him into a were-tiger.  He seeks a cure for the curse, and hopes to find a party to escort him to a Were-priests of Inagha, who have reportedly secured a curative boon from the moon gods. Any party accompanying him must proceed with caution, for if travelling during a transition, there is a high likelihood that he will pick off one character during the night.