Garkender Talmord, Mercenary

AC 2 (chain mail +3 of fire resistance MV 12; F8; hp 71; THACO 13; #AT3/2; Dmg ld10+5 (twohandedsword +a; Str 18/32, Dex 10, Con 17, Int 7, Wis 9, Cha 9; AL NE (N).

Magical items: chain mail +3 of fire resist- ance, two-handed sword + 2, potion of invulner- ability

Garakender is 30 years of age, 6’ 2“, and 232 lbs., with black hair and moustache and brown eyes. He is tough and stern-a hard man, born in Dyvers and having fled to Safeton for a variety of crimes, He’ll sell his skills to anyone if the price is right. Despite his brutish facade, he is a complex man.

Garakender was brutally beaten by his drunkard father and mocked by other children for his characteristic birthmark, a large strawberry-mark that covers his left cheek. As a result, he grew up rejecting his own humanity, becoming hard and unfeeling. He is wanted in Dyvers for the murder of an old merchant for whom he served as a bodyguard, and slew for his money. In Chendl, he committed several serious assaults and one murder while mugging to stay alive after fleeing his wretched home.

So, Garakender is evil. His life in Safeton, where he arrived in CY 580, has been one of a brutal bandit and warrior. He drinks heavily, will beat a man savagely for besting him at a game of dice, and is friendless. Yet he is not lost utterly to evil.

Garakender's residual humanity can manifest in a variety of ways. He fought bravely against the humanoids of the Pomarj in the wars, dragging a terrified farm girl to safety from a burning farmhouse, and nearly ripping the heads off the orcs who chased her. He escorted her to Narwell, and gave her gold to begin a new life there. He carves at wood with his knife, creating delicate and beautiful statues of birds and dolphins (which he does not show in public). In his lodging house room, he has a tattered book of poetry that he can barely read, but he lovingly runs his finger down the illuminated pages, treasuring the pictures therein, weeping over the words that speak to his fearful tenderness as a human being.

Garakender's alignment should be considered fluid. Allow appropriate PCs using know alignment or detect evil to sense (if a Wisdom check is made) that this NPC is evil, but he still has potential for good. A DM may use either pure role-play for subsequent developments, or a numerical scale. Treating NG alignment as + 10, N as zero, and NE as - 10, consider Garakender's alignment to be currently -6. Each act of kindness or true concern shown to Garakender by a PC increases this score by + 1. However, each month that passes decreases the score by -1 (evil is a hard habit to buck). When Garakender's alignment score reaches + 1, he no longer loses points each month. When his alignment score reaches +5, treat him as NG (N). When it reaches + 10, treat him as Neutral Good.

This development needs to be designed into a campaign setting in which PCs interact meaningfully with Garakender (probably adventuring with him). Garakender respects strength and will not dishonor himself with a party of equals; this is important while he remains evilly-inclined.

Role-played well, Garakender can be a powerful NPC. When his alignment score exceeds zero, he may show a PC his carvings, holding them out with a strange gentleness in his great calloused hands, as if begging for acceptance of himself. Such a scene should be sad and poignant. When his alignment score reaches + 4 or so, he may break down and recount the wretchedness of his brutalized childhood to the PC who has most befriended him, a scene that should be shocking and impactful. If that PC is a paladin or priest, Garakendek may seek to convert to the Pc's faith and become a deeply loyal henchman. Garakender is one case where evil may be only skin-deep, if PCs choose to show understanding and compassion. If the DM judges that the PCs respond compassionately to Garakender (even if belatedly), they should receive an appropriate XP award for turning him from the path of evil.