Rybalka is the only place Nalcu the Wanderer can get what he’s after.
The Bitter Mission
The Grand Convene was one-hundred years ago. For one-hundred years, Nalcu has been exiled to the surface world. It is a bitter fate, for Nalcu is a dvergr born of the Underworld. But he is no outcast; that is not the dvergr way.
Nalcu has been tasked with the impossible: retrieve all adamantium on the surface, returning it to its rightful place in Vergrdrm, the dvergr capitol of the Underworld. Nalcu keeps to himself the circumstances around how he received the dubious honor of this mission, but for one-hundred years he has scoured the surface world for adamantium relics. A dozen times he has returned to Vergrdrm laden with weapons, trinkets, a rare bar of refined adamantium—delivering the artifacts and their collected stories to the Lesser Council, who in turn will relay his efforts at the next Grand Convene. He is honored at each return, briefly, before beginning his trek anew. One-hundred years abroad, for fleeting moments spent at home.
Developer’s Note. Vergrdrm is the conceptual cousin to Stoneholme, the storied city of the dweorg in Aventyr. Dweorg and dvergr are culturally similar in many ways: their familial ties, clan loyalties, and devotion to a communal purpose. The specifics of how dvergr and dweorg practice their mores are what keeps them distant cousins, at best.
Nalcu has traveled to Rybalka in service to his mission, following tales heard in a Vikmordere mead hall of a human warrior, large as a bear, who wields a hammer forged by the dvergr in a forgotten age. Rybalka has its fair share of travelers and outsiders, but the locals take note of such things and are slow to trust, as needs must in the wilds. Nalcu bides his time in the brush, observing the village from afar and gleaning information as he is able. It is simpler to cajole ogres and goblins to do his bidding than to spend years earning the trust of narrow-minded humans.
Nalcu has discovered much about Rybalka and its people in the short time he has been observing.
- The warrior who possesses the adamantium hammer—which he calls a maul, the dolt—is the mayor of Rybalka: Igor Leonid. The skald who first relayed to Nalcu the tale that brought him here exaggerated the man’s size, but not by much.
- The mayor commands a rotating squad of Klavek soldiers. They serve as the town’s constabulary; they don’t often leave town, except to visit the iron mine, which Igor rarely does. Odd, that. Only a few dozen in total, between the town and the mine.
- Most often the town guard is at loggerheads with Vikmordere locals or Klavek lumberjacks. Both factions think Rybalka belongs to them, and neither cares much for being told to keep a civil tongue. The Black Bear Company in particular has a reputation in the region for disturbing the peace.
- It is mercenary companies and adventuring parties that the town uses to deal with the threats of the Dark Wood. Klavek merchant companies use Rybalka to move their goods inland, mostly lumber and iron ore. Vikmordere clans—remarkably dwarflike in their adherence to tradition, Nalcu noted—still treat Rybalka as a remote fishing village, even though they lost a war for control of it some decades ago.
- There is a dwarf in Rybalka, a dweorg named Quorron, smith for the village. He bears no kinship with the arrogant dweorg, but neither does he wish to embroil the dwarf in his activities here.
Plenty of opportunity to find a desperate thief or ambitious brigand to collect the hammer for him. So armed, Nalcu begins the plot that unfolds in A06 Bear Trouble.
Dvergr Wanderer
Large humanoid (dvergr), neutral
Armor Class 17 (adamantine splint mail)
Hit Points 114 (12d10 + 48)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 20 (+5)Â | DEX 10 (+0)| CON 18 (+4)| INT 12 (+1)| WIS 10 (+0)| CHA 9 (-1)
Saving Throws Strength +8, Constitution +7
Skills Athletics +8, Deception +2, Insight +3, Stealth +3, Survival +3
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Common, Dwarven, Undercommon
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)
Wanderer. A dvergr wanderer is a travel adept, as long as they travel alone. After spending a day traveling, they become attuned to that region’s terrain. They can no longer become lost, except by magical means. Difficult terrain doesn’t slow their travel. They move stealthily without slowing the pace of their travel. When they make travel-related skill checks in an attuned terrain, their proficiency bonus is doubled.
Actions
Multiattack. The wanderer makes two glaive attacks or three shortsword attacks.
Glaive. Melee Weapon Attack; +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (2d12 + 5) piercing damage.
Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack; +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) piercing damage.
Vanishing (Recharges after Short or Long Rest). The wanderer magically turns invisible until they attack, cast a spell, uses Suppress Enlarge, or until their concentration is broken, up to 1 hour (as if concentrating on a spell). Any equipment they wear or carry is invisible with them.
Suppress Enlarge. All dvergr have the ability to temporarily enlarge themselves. The dvergr wanderer has undergone an ancient rite that enhances this power: they are permanently enlarged. They can concentrate to suppress this state, becoming Medium-sized, for up to one hour. Like many who undergo this rite, the wanderer believes this is a dwarf’s true form.
A06 Bear Trouble alludes to Nalcu being an exile for crimes against his clan. He’s just one of the background players in that adventure, so giving him a more complex backstory doesn’t suit an already convoluted plot. Still, “criminal because the plot needs one” never sat well with me in an otherwise engaging adventure. With a few tweaks to that story and an evocative epithet, Nalcu the Wanderer emerges as a character with motivations beyond “do crime” that also tie him—and any conversations players have with him—to the larger world of Aventyr.
Did you use Nalcu when you ran A06? Are there other elements of A06 you’d like to see developed further? Let us know on Discord! Are you contemplating purchasing Bear Trouble? Here’s an Endzeitgeist review to help you decide.
