Kosstus, tiefling arcanist

Kosstus is a fiend-blooded woman with red skin and small, black horns. She specializes in the study of relics of the Hells, and has a rough grasp on the Infernal language. She is capable of duplicating some non-Infernal magic items, but she will complain about how boring they are the whole time she is working on them.

Dr. Funktionär, human arcanist

The Doctor is a short woman with pointy ears and black hair. She has devoted her life to trying to replicate the effects of ancient magical items. She uses a complex series of gears, shafts, and gripping arms to manipulate items that she is not familiar with. You never know what kind of curses these things could have, after all.

Grozda T’Chonov, human bookmaker

Grozda is a black-haired man from the frozen northlands. He speaks with what we would call a stereotypical Russian accent, often while gesticulating with his hands. He specializes in bookbinding and paper-making, creating durable and ornate books suitable for scrawling spells into.

Bryn Blazeborn, dwarf arcanist

Bryn is a dwarven woman with pale skin and brown hair. She specializes in making arcane foci, and likes to take exhaustive measurements of the intended user before getting to work. Relative proportions of forearm to upper arm, hand size, height, shoulder width, so on and so forth. Most of these are unnecessary, but the resulting foci are always very impressive.

Ollie, bartender

Ollie is a former guardsman with a sizable lump on his forehead. This lump is a benign tumor that has no ill effects aside from making it impossible for him to wear a helmet. He’s a cheerful man, but he is incapable of making any drink more fancy than “beer in a mug.” He is married to a man who works for one of the local merchants.

Grace, mixologist

Grace is a tall woman with blonde hair and brown eyes. She has an excellent sense of taste and knows how to mix a good drink with any alcohol, no matter its origin. Her personal favourite is what she calls “the Buzzer,” a mix of elven spirits, dwarven coffee, and hot sauce.

Halhaem “Hal” Acidgut, dwarf bartender

Hal is a stout dwarf with a deep love of the art of brewing. He can, and will, talk your ear off about the fermentation process of his brews, the merits of dwarven shroomgrains versus the barley from the humans’ eastern kingdom, and so on. He keeps a few bottles of ancient dwarven spirits behind the bar for special occasions. The oldest of these is an opaque bottle sealed with wax, which he claims was given to him by his father, and to his father by his father’s father and so on, with only the instruction that “you’ll know when the time is right.”

Ashryn R’Ris, elf beetender

Ashryn is an unusual pub employee, in that they specialize not in drinks, but in insects that the elves have spent generations selectively breeding to produce intoxicating effects when eaten. They form hives, like bees, but are docile and do not sting. The most popular of these is the Euphoris, a white fuzzy insect that provides an hour or so of mild euphoria, once you get past the whole “swallowing a fuzzy insect” part of the procedure.

Mick Malan, gardener

Mick is an easy-going guy who spends most of his time sleeping in the shade. Thankfully, his keen knowledge of plants, herbs, and their effects makes up for his lack of work ethic. If you hang out around him too long, he’ll start telling you all about what insects are vital for keeping the plants healthy.

Dendorli, dwarf mycologist

Dendorli is a burly dwarf with gray skin and poor social skills. He grows fungi in a dank, dark chamber that functions exactly like a greenhouse, but for mushrooms. He prefers to grow poisonous mushrooms, which he describes as “the most elegant form of life” before chuckling for an unnervingly long time.

Tree, sentient plant

Tree is a large, woody plant with many branches and vines. In return for safety, sunlight, and soil, it can grow peaches that can be used as the basis for healing potions. It communicates only by projecting feelings. It is a minor nature deity, but does not let that fact go to its crown. Tree only has the name Tree, but cannot argue if the party gives it another name.

Nuk, orc botanist

Nuk is a hulking orc with gray skin and a dark purple scar across her chest. Her Common is stilted and halting, but it’s getting better. She specializes in growing the herbs orcs use for poultices and salves, but is learning to use more local plants as well. She hopes to bring what she learns back to the Orclands, to help deal with the plagues that ravage that region.

Zebulon Jones, human stablehand

Zebulon is a scruffy, short man who feels more at home with animals than people. When communicating with people, he mostly nods or shakes his head, though he can talk a little if he has to.

Wy’lor Firfoot, elf stable manager

Wy’lor is an old elf who absolutely adores beasts of burden, fascinated by their strength, speed, and short lives. In his younger days, he bred and raised prize-winning horses. Now, he uses the lessons learned there to take care of the mounts of adventurers, whatever strange creatures they may be.

Rasjah, lizardfolk stablehand

Rasjah is a green-scaled lizardman with yellow eyes. He raises crocodiles as amphibious mounts, war animals, and even hunting partners. He is quite keen on elven poetry, and has serious opinions on the Common translations of several famous poems.

Finzu, halfling stablehand

Finzu is a three-foot-tall halfling from the eastern deserts. His hair is brown, and he keeps it quite short. He is quite experienced with taking care of camels, but most of that knowledge works just fine for horses as well. His favourite hobby is lying about the rules of foreign gambling activities to his own advantage. Cheating, in other words.

Gunnar Olsen, axeman

Gunnar is a tall, strong soldier who carries a bearded axe with runes carved into its handle. These runes are the names of several of his ancestors. He enjoys playing five-finger-fillet when not on duty.

Sigurd Koch, swordsman

Sigurd is a short man who carries a shortsword and a round shield, emblazoned with the colors of his stronghold. His voice is deep and authoritative, but he starts giggling after he’s had a couple of pints.

Yersa Esperdotr, spearwoman

Yersa is a short woman with copper-colored hair. She carries a spear whose head has clearly been repaired dozens of times. She is devoted equally to her religion and her martial prowess, and starts every morning with prayer followed by training and equipment maintenance.

Ilsa Danielsdotr, archer

Ilsa is a broad-shouldered woman with a high voice. Back in her hometown, she won the spring archery competition three years in a row. She is fascinated by the card games she has encountered in the wider world, and is surprisingly good at them.

The Ballem, defender

The Ballem is a construct made of clay. When idle, it appears to be a red stone sphere, two and a half feet in diameter and completely immobile. When the Ballem detects a threat, it unfolds into a crab-like creature with four legs and two massive hammer-hands.

Dave, human apprentice

Dave is a black haired teenager with pale skin. He hopes that someday, he’ll get his own cool wizard name. He carries a wooden staff with a red gem fastened to the top, which functions both as a spell focus and a stick for beating people with.

Keyr, catfolk apprentice

Keyr is a catfolk woman with black hair and white fur on her ears and tail. She has some minor magical talent, mostly in the field of illusions. Her claws are quite intimidating, which makes her an excellent guard.

Krik, kobold apprentice

Krik is a rust-scaled kobold who dresses like a wizard, with a cloak and a staff. He has no magical talent and can’t read, but he’s just happy to be a part of something. In return for this sense of community, he guards the door, threatening people with his teeth and staff.

Brother Jonas, human acolyte

Jonas is a studious man with a sharp nose and piercing blue eyes. He wears the white robes of his priesthood and stands guard with a heavy mace. Most people would describe him as a dreadfully boring, stoic man, but he can get quite excited when talking about the finer points of the scriptures.

Sister Eula, human acolyte

Sister Eula, human acolyte. Eula is a short, red-haired woman with dark skin. She was raised in an orphanage, among the faithful, for all her life. Now, she is intending to repay the people who raised her by defending one of their sacred Bastions. She carries an ornate blade typical of the Faith Guard.

Brother Arrai, tiefling acolyte

Arrai is a tall, rail-thin tiefling with purple skin and white horns. His arms are covered in tattoos of holy symbols and scripture. He uses his innate tiefling powers to defend the bastion.

Smiter, warforged guard

Smiter is a copper-plated construct built for war. That war is long over, and after years of wandering in search of a purpose, he found the church. He is an unusual member of their order, a machine-man who may or may not have a soul, but he has decided to dedicate his might to protecting the sacred places of the order and its members.

Joris Veld, bruiser

Joris is a large man in every sense. Heavy, tall, broad, and imposing, this bald man makes a very imposing doorman. If his snarl doesn’t make unwanted company vacate the premises, his brass knuckles usually do.

Arwin Tiger, human thug

Arwin is a blond man with a gaunt face and an eyepatch. He talks fast, and violence is his first resort. He carries a heavy wooden club, clearly stained with blood.

Skarmgar, half-orc thug

Skarmgar is a hulking, gray-skinned man with tusks. He works as a doorman to cover his bar tab. It’s a big tab. He is crude and prone to violence, making him perfect for the job.

Galluk Coalgrill, dwarf cook

Galluk is a black-haired dwarf who runs a food stall outside the Bastion, selling grilled meat to passersby. The stall does make decent money, but Galluk is primarily there to catch any would-be invaders off guard and pummel them. The grilled mystery meat kebabs sell for two copper each.