NPCs
Villagers
Aerig: (m, child) A precocious four-year-old who’s imprinted on Stella like a duckling. Follows her around and asks a million questions.
Angrad: (f, elder) A clever but irritable old woman. She never got over her husband dying several years ago, and doesn't get along with her adult children.
- Mother of Gwann and Tomo
- Widow of Rusa (deceased)
- Grandmother of Betta and Fio
Auvan: (m, mature) He used to travel, but came back and started running the public house after his joints started bothering him. Tells great stories of his adventures. Does most of the trading with outsiders.
- Adopted father of Nia
- Adopted grandfather of Aerig
Belia Heliorsdottir: (f, elder, deceased) The former Lightbearer, who died of natural causes the year before Stella was born.
Betta: (f, young) Lovely young woman. All the lads of the village compete for her attention. She’s sheltered and naïve, but seems to have inherited her father’s kind personality.
- Daughter of Daffa and Gwann
- Granddaughter of Angrad and Rusa
Cayu: (m, child) Wickla's ten-year-old son. Slowly becoming accepted by the other children his age, but still isn’t quite fitting in.
- Son of Wickla
Honoured Cutha: (m, mature) Priest of Tor the Rain-Maker, the patron god of Stonetop. Highly respected by all of the townsfolk, and jealous of anything that smells of a threat to his authority or respect.
- Brother of Rusa (deceased)
Daffa: (m, adult) Gwann's hen-pecked husband. Good farmer, hard worker, can't do anything right as far as his wife is concerned. Everyone in town feels kind of sorry for him.
- Husband of Gwann
- Father of Betta
Dayed: (m, adult) Farmer, talented brewer, single father; his wife died of disease several years ago. He can't control his children and doesn't even know where to start.
- Father of Rhan and Shan
Delyth: (f, adult) The first person at Stonetop to welcome Soren back after he returned from his adventures, catalyzing the rest of the village's acceptance of him.
Honoured Dove: (f, adult) The priestess of Danu.
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Eliam: (m, adult) Strongest man in town, gentle, quiet, whittles lovely sculptures. Enjoys woodworking and carpentry, but opposes felling trees in the Great Wood.
- Son of Helva and ???
Emmer: (m, adult) This logger and farmer is a real Gaston type: strong, arrogant, wants everyone to look up to him. He's agitating to start felling the trees of the Great Wood so that he doesn't have to schlep to the Foothills and back every year for timber.
- Grandson of Murdoch
Fio: (f, young) This young woman is proud of being the best hunter in the village. She’s very competitive, driven, and serious. Doesn’t get along with her parents.
- Daughter of Tomo and ???
- Granddaughter of Angrad and Rusa
Mad Gethin: (m, elder) An old man, former hunter, whose mind hasn't been quite right ever since he came back from a hunt a decade ago. He’s harmless and good-natured, so people help him out and put up with his spells of confusion and madness.
- No living relatives?
Granny Eadna: (f, elder) Eadna cares for the few orphans and those without a home, she feels it is her responsibility to care for them and give them at least a semblance of a normal upbringing. Stella, having grown up there, acts as an older sister to the other kids and helps Eadna care for them. She is generally respected and beloved by her community, and despite her advancing age she still exudes an aura of love and comfort.
Gwann: (f, adult) This arrogant, gossipy middle-aged woman is a spectacular weaver. She stirs up trouble and coddles her daughter too much.
- Daughter of Angrad
- Sister of Tomo
- Wife of Daffa
- Mother of Betta
Helva: (f, mature) The village blacksmith is a large woman of few words. She’s shy, uncomfortable in groups of people, and will occasionally clobber people who get on her nerves when she’s had a few too many.
- Mother of Eliam
- Mentor of Wickla
Murdoch: (m, elder) A bad-tempered old village elder, a skilled hunter in his younger days. Rua drunkenly accused him of complicity in his parents’ death at the last Midwinter Festival, and he’s been stewing about it ever since.
- Grandfather of Emmer
Nia: (f, adult) Adopted by Auvan after her parents died in a disease outbreak over a decade ago. She’s been learning healing and herb lore from Dove.
- Adopted daughter of Auvan
- Wife of Waldo
- Mother of Aerig
Rhan and Shan: (f, m, children) A pair of thirteen-year-old terrors. Fraternal twins. Unofficial leaders of the pack of village children.
- Daughter and son, respectively, of Dayed
Rusa: (m, elder, deceased) Held the unofficial position of captain of Stonetop’s militia for many years. He was well-respected and well-liked. The militia has become increasingly disorganized and sloppy since he passed away several years ago.
- Father of Weann and Tomo
- Husband of Angrad
- Grandfather of Betta and Fio
Tesmi: (f, mature) A busybody widow who never seems to stop talking. She’s a fantastic baker, and her honey rolls are highly prized by everyone in Stonetop. She’s taken a shine to Stella, and frequently bothers her for blessings and prayers about trivial things.
Judge Khadagan: (m, mature, deceased) Esme’s predecessor and mentor as Judge. Not originally from stonetop, he came to the village as a seeker after a vision prompted him.
Esme, how did he die?
Tomo: (m, adult) A middle-aged man who’s a bit too full of himself and loves to take charge. He drinks a bit too much, and knows that everyone thinks he can’t live up to his father's reputation.
- Son of Angrad and Rusa (deceased)
- Brother of Gwann
- Husband of ???
- Father of Fio
Waldo: (m, adult) The laziest man in town, and possibly the laziest man alive. Often volunteers for shifts in the watchtowers so he can get some sleep up there.
- Husband of Nia
- Father of Aerig
Wickla: (f, adult) She’s a refugee who moved here with her son from Gordin's Delve three years ago. The town decided to let her fix up an abandoned house and stay after she demonstrated her skill with tinsmithing and whitesmithing. There’s not much call for that, though, so she's now the apprentice to the town blacksmith.
- Mother of Cayu
- Apprentice of Helva
Elsewhere
Brennan: (m, mature) The leader of the Claws, the bandit group that eventually became the official police force of the town of Marshedge. Charismatic and calculating. Treasa spent some time running with his crew many years ago before she settled in Stonetop.
Frixet Far-Traveller: (f, adult) A trader from Gordin's Delve who's been all over the region. She wanders about with no set route, occasionally showing up in Stonetop with strange goods and stranger stories.
Stout Jakka: (m, mature) A trader from Marshedge who plies the route between Marshedge and Gordin's Delve. Always welcome in Stonetop, as he generally treats people squarely and sometimes has odd curiosities. It's rumoured that he has friends among the Hillfolk.
Mythological Characters
Greenwood Jack: A trickster figure from old folktales. His origin varies, but he’s usually depicted as a Maker or a descendant of a Maker, larger than life both figuratively and literally. The stories about him are often about him tricking cruel and imperious Green Lords, usually with the aid of various fae allies, in order to help humans.
These stories are often used by elders to teach children how to interact with the fae in a respectful and… well, not safe, because nothing about the fae is ever safe, but minimally dangerous fashion.