Wowee--I've been away a long time! Oh well. Picking up where we left off, here's part two of my odd-ball Planescape NPC concepts:
Dustmen
Setican Stillwater (LG/human/paladin) - Setican is a paladin in the service of Kelemvor--a goodly god of death and repose. The young and surprisingly enthusiastic warrior desires nothing more than to progress from this life into the True Death. Despite his death wish, he's taken the teachings of his faction to heart and would never deliberately take his own life nor dive headlong into certain death. He does however engage in unnecessary risks and attempts to provoke conditions that could very well end in his demise.
Considering he hires himself out as a mercenary adventurer to parties engaged in noble pursuits, this compulsion frequently brings misery upon others. Despite his ability to heal critically wounded allies, Setican is prone to expressing jealousy of their condition and engaging in ideological debate intended to convince the dying berk to embrace their True Death instead. He'll come through on the healing eventually, but not without losing respect for his patient in the process.
Considering he hires himself out as a mercenary adventurer to parties engaged in noble pursuits, this compulsion frequently brings misery upon others. Despite his ability to heal critically wounded allies, Setican is prone to expressing jealousy of their condition and engaging in ideological debate intended to convince the dying berk to embrace their True Death instead. He'll come through on the healing eventually, but not without losing respect for his patient in the process.
Fated
Yudumbox (LN/modron/thief) - The Fated tendency to exploit their power as Sigil's tax collectors is well-known. What better way to weaponize the fine print than with an agent who can instantly calculate interest to the millionth decimal point? The rogue modron's lawful nature grates on its fellow Takers (their exasperated curses became its de facto name!), but you can't argue with results.
Fraternity of Order
Kresimir the Certain (LN/human/druid) - Kresimir was a Xaositect who tagged along with some fellow factioneers in an ill-conceived raid on Mechanus with the intent to smash up some of the natural machinery and spit in the face of order. After a deadly encounter with natives, he was separated from his comrades and stumbled upon an isolated grotto of clockwork trees.
As he set about to jam up the works, Kresimir noticed that the ticking of the fruit-like gears was in sync with his heartbeat; that his breath came to him in time with the hissing of steam valves that sprouted from the soil like mushrooms; that the swinging of a pendulum vine was in perfect rhythm with his subconscious compulsion to blink. While absorbing this strange phenomenon, he idly plucked a bit of detritus that was blocking a collection of gears set among a tree's roots, and as they whirred back into their function, a facial tic he'd suffered all his life was suddenly cured. He literally found himself.
Immediately, Kresimir swore off his old ways and devoted himself to the cause of order as a druid of the clockwork forests.
Free League
Galsk-ub the Indecisive (C?/Athasian half-giant/fighter-psionicist) - As an Athasian Half-Giant (from the Dark Sun campaign setting), Galsk's only alignment constant is Chaotic. Like all members of his race, he's prone to imprint on whomever he's around at the time, shifting his ethical outlook to better fit in. Out on the planes, where belief is made manifest, this quality gets complicated.
Unlike most Indeps, who sign on with the non-faction only to protect their independence, Galsk is a compulsive joiner. His early life under the thumb of one of the Athasian God-Kings acclimated him to hard work, and so he's content to make a living as a porter in the Great Bazaar (his faction's HQ). With a rotating door of merchants from across the multiverse in such close proximity, the half-giant's impressionable nature leads to rapid and radical shifts in philosophy. He's fallen in with every faction at one time or another--the Indeps are just the only ones who haven't run him off.
Unlike most Indeps, who sign on with the non-faction only to protect their independence, Galsk is a compulsive joiner. His early life under the thumb of one of the Athasian God-Kings acclimated him to hard work, and so he's content to make a living as a porter in the Great Bazaar (his faction's HQ). With a rotating door of merchants from across the multiverse in such close proximity, the half-giant's impressionable nature leads to rapid and radical shifts in philosophy. He's fallen in with every faction at one time or another--the Indeps are just the only ones who haven't run him off.
