Tusken Sparrow
Tusken Sparrow
Tusken Sparrow is an eloquent trollkin who leads a mercenary group known as the Merry Foresters. This clever group has used self-imposed child Queen Amelia Grace’s favorable opinion of adventurers to win her good graces and serve at her bidding. In return, she is completely enraptured with Tusken, whom she sees as a genteel hero reminiscent of the brave knights from fairy tales. Her complete support enables the Merry Foresters to engage in thuggish shakedowns and other skullduggery as Amelia turns a completely blind eye to anything unsavory that they do.
Tusken behaves in completely obsequious fashion around Amelia, an act that she completely buys. Her advisors clearly see that Tusken is manipulating her and is more in charge of the region than she is. They dare not accuse him lest they meet Amelia’s wrath: a wrath that is backed by Tusken’s steel.
Rise to power
Tusken’s mercenary group is relatively new and was assembled by Tusken himself, using his vast network to collect people with various skill sets. It was assembled shortly after Amelia Grace started to gain power, specifically because Tusken saw the child’s naïvité as an opportunity to take that power from her and use it for his own agenda. He and his mercenaries use Amelia’s support to facilitate illegal trade, ambush and rob innocent travelers, blackmail those with an ounce of power, and quietly execute people they view as a threat to Tusken’s vision for the future, in which he sits on the throne of not just the Old Forest, but Kendaria as a whole.
Playing the long game
While the original plan was to get in Amelia’s good graces, slowly seize power and kill her once she was no longer of use, Tusken has found that he has grown to care for the child, much to his own disgust. It is a feeling he hides from his fellow mercenaries, though it does not create a conflict in his morals; he still very much manipulates Amelia without any sense of guilt. Instead of executing her, Tusken has decided that he wants to slowly nudge her into the life of a mercenary and trick her into believing that he is meant to be her only advisor, as her current advisors pose a threat to him. Once he has her to himself, he aims to take even more of her power by manipulating her into believing that the both of them should rule together, only to then slowly push her out of her position.
In combat, Tusken is usually accompanied by one or more Merry Foresters, which may have the stats of Elf Archers or Veteran Soldiers.
| Tusken Sparrow | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monster Level: 7 | |||||
| Medium. Humanoid (Trollkin) | |||||
| STR | DEX | END | AWR | INT | CHA |
| 4 | -1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Ref: 9 | Fort: 14 | Ant: 12 | Log: 10 | Will: 13 | |
| Armor Rating 11 (hide armor) | Resist Cold 3, Toxic 3 | ||||
| Hit Points 60 | |||||
| Speed 30 ft | |||||
| Skills (STR) Athletics +6, Menacing +6; (AWR) Perceiving +4, Sheltering +4, Sneaking +4, Tracking +8; (INT) Woodcarving +12; (CHA) Deceiving +4, Entertaining +6, Instrument (piccolo) +4 | |||||
| Features | |||||
| Natural Camouflage. While outdoors, Concealed, and not actively moving, Tusken gains +3 on checks to remain hidden.
Dual Wield. If Tusken makes two handaxe attacks on his turn, is holding two handaxes, and does not move, he may make a third handaxe attack. If he does, he gains Resist Physical 2 until the start of his next turn. | |||||
| Actions | |||||
| Tusken can MOVE and take TWO of the following actions, or take the same action twice. | |||||
| Move. Tusken can move up to his speed.
Handaxe. Reach 10 ft One-Handed Weapon. +4 vs AR. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) sharp. Javelin. Thrown (60 ft) One-Handed Weapon. +4 vs AR. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) sharp. Rapid Regeneration (Recharge 6). Tusken regains 9 (1d12 + 3) HP. | |||||
| Reactions | |||||
| Preemptive Strike (1/Round). When a hostile creature moves into reach of Tusken’s handaxe, he may make a handaxe attack. | |||||