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Orun Vale

Travelers along this road speak of Orun Vale as if he were an unusually stubborn tollkeeper. He remembers every person who has answered him, but never the faces of those who refused. His brass tally is marked with four blank squares, and he claims the fourth toll is always the most important.

Monsters
Medium humanoid · CR 3 , moderate challenge for four 3rd-level characters · Unique

Orun Vale

A supernatural roadside claimant who insists that every traveler owes a toll, though he cannot remember what the original payment was.
AC15
HP52/52
CR3 , moderate challenge for four 3rd-level characters
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

Combat

AC 15 · HP 52 · CR 3 , moderate challenge for four 3rd-level characters

Orun Vale

Medium humanoid (supernatural tollkeeper), lawful neutral
Armor Class15 (patched leather, practiced footwork)
Hit Points52 (8d8 + 16)
Speed
Walking 30 ft.
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Saving ThrowsWisdomCharisma
SkillsInsightIntimidationPerceptionPersuasion
Weaknesses
Orun is reluctant to harm someone who has answered his questions honestly.
If the brass tally is taken from him, Orun has disadvantage on attack rolls until the end of his next turn as he tries to reclaim it.
Senses
Passive Perception 12
Languages
Common
Challenge3 , moderate challenge for four 3rd-level characters
Proficiency Bonus+2
Initiative+2
Claimant's Stance. Orun has advantage on ability checks and saving throws made to avoid being knocked prone or moved against his will while within 5 feet of the handcart.
Broken Word. Orun can tell whether a creature within 30 feet has knowingly broken a promise within the last day. This does not reveal the promise or its details.

Actions

Multiattack. Orun makes two attacks, using Hooked Staff or Tolling Pebble in any combination.
Hooked Staff. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 8 () bludgeoning damage. If the target is Large or smaller, it must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pushed 5 feet. If pushed onto the loose slope, it also falls prone.
Tolling Pebble. Ranged Weapon Attack: to hit, range 30/90 ft., one target. Hit: 9 () bludgeoning damage, and the target cannot take reactions until the start of its next turn. Orun uses a stone from the handcart's cargo.
State Your Business. Orun targets one creature within 30 feet that can hear him. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it is compelled to stop moving and answer Orun's question until the end of its next turn. While compelled, its speed is 0, but it can take actions and reactions normally. A creature that succeeds is immune to this feature for 24 hours. This is a custom supernatural effect.

Reactions

Keep to the Road. When a creature Orun can see moves within 10 feet of the handcart, Orun makes one Hooked Staff attack against it. On a hit, the attack deals its normal damage, but the target is not pushed.
Role
Roadside controller and social gatekeeper
Built for
Level 3 party of four characters

Gear

  • Hooked staff (Weapon, 5 gp)A long ash staff ending in a crooked iron hook, useful for catching packs and steering travelers away from the cart.
  • Brass tally (Wondrous item, custom, 25 gp to a collector, though its supernatural use is uncertain)A brass tally plate engraved with four empty squares. It is cold to the touch and bears no maker's mark.
  • Handcart (Equipment, 15 gp)A battered two-wheeled cart carrying numbered stones, rope, and a folded oilskin.

Notes for the game master

Orun Vale is a custom creature, not an official D&D 5th Edition monster.
The terrain features in the encounter guidance are environmental rules, not additional monster traits.
Orun's CR assumes he fights on the narrow path and uses the handcart and slope to control movement.

Tactics

  1. Opening

    Orun blocks the narrow path with his handcart and demands that each traveler state their business. If ignored or threatened, he uses State Your Business on the most eager character, then attacks.

  2. Mid-fight

    Use the cart and wall to divide the party. Push threats toward the loose slope, then use Tolling Pebble against characters trying to help fallen allies.

  3. End of the fight

    When reduced below 15 hit points, Orun offers to let one creature pass in exchange for a name, a promise, or the cart's brass tally. If refused, he fights defensively beside the wall.

  4. Retreat

    Orun does not pursue anyone who gets more than 60 feet from the cart. If the cart is overturned or its tally is taken, he stops fighting and tries to recover it.

How it fights

Hold the path near the handcart and use the wall as cover.
Use Hooked Staff to displace characters toward the slope rather than focusing on damage.
Save State Your Business for a character attempting to rush past or disrupt the cart.
Do not attack a creature that has fallen down the slope unless it continues to threaten the cart.

Who it attacks first

A character attempting to pass the handcart or move it.
A melee combatant who threatens Orun's position.
A character isolated near the loose slope.

Works well with

A party member who can shove or grapple can exploit the narrow path, but risks being shoved toward the slope in return.
A companion who bargains while another moves the cart can turn the encounter into a tense negotiation and escape.

How to beat it

Ranged attacks and forced movement can keep the party away from the slope and handcart.
A creature that cannot hear Orun is unaffected by State Your Business.
Overturning or moving the handcart disrupts Orun's preferred control of the narrow path.

Ways to avoid a fight

Answer his questions honestly and ask what the toll is. Orun may accept a personal promise instead of coin.
Offer a story, a secret, or a name that matters to the traveler. Orun accepts sincere answers more readily than valuable goods.
Ask about the fourth toll. If treated respectfully, Orun admits that he does not know what it means.
Convince him that the party has already paid by succeeding on a DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion or Deception) check.

Ecology

A lean, weather-beaten traveler in a patched green coat, with a pale scar circling his throat like a tight collar. He stands beside a handcart piled with smooth stones, each marked with a tiny brass number. His eyes keep returning to the path behind whoever speaks.

Behavior

Formal and unnervingly patient. Orun treats every traveler as a debtor until they answer his questions. He fights to control passage rather than kill, but becomes relentless when someone attempts to pass without acknowledging him.

How it lives

Orun appears where a route has seen repeated disputes over passage, debt, or abandonment. He eats little and sleeps in the cart's shadow, though he claims the stones are his provisions.

Lair

Orun's lair is wherever his handcart has stopped. He keeps the cart angled across the path and sleeps with one hand looped through its handle.

Habitat
A narrow hillside path beside a dry-stone wall, with a steep, loose slope on one side and a handcart blocking the center.

Signs that it is near

A handcart stands squarely across the path, though no tracks show how it arrived.
Smooth stones with tiny brass numbers are arranged along the wall.
Travelers report hearing a quiet question behind them after they have already passed the hillside.

Tags

custom,
supernatural,
roadside encounter,
controller,
social encounter

Lore

Travelers along this road speak of Orun Vale as if he were an unusually stubborn tollkeeper. He remembers every person who has answered him, but never the faces of those who refused. His brass tally is marked with four blank squares, and he claims the fourth toll is always the most important.

What drives it

To collect an owed toll and hear a traveler state, plainly, why they must continue onward.

After the fight

If defeated, Orun's brass tally cracks and the cart's wheels turn freely. If spared or paid fairly, he may reveal who last passed along the path and what toll they left unpaid.

“He remembers every person who has answered him, but never the faces of those who refused.”
From its lore

Variants

For a lower-threat social scene, reduce Orun to 36 hit points and remove Multiattack.
For a more dangerous encounter for a level 5 party, increase Orun to 76 hit points and let State Your Business affect two creatures, each making its own saving throw.

Hooks

Plot hooks

Orun remembers a missing villager who passed this way, but only if the party answers his questions.
The brass tally bears a mark matching a symbol on a sealed document the party must deliver.
Orun claims a local lord owes the fourth toll and asks the party to carry a numbered stone to the lord's estate.

How to use it

Run Orun as a social obstacle first. Give the party a chance to answer his questions, bargain, or find a way around him.
The narrow path is about 10 feet wide. The dry-stone wall provides half cover to a creature pressed against it.
The handcart blocks a 10-foot-wide section of the path. A creature can move it with a successful DC 12 Strength check, or overturn it with a successful DC 13 Strength check.
The loose slope is difficult terrain. A creature shoved onto it must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or slide 10 feet downhill and fall prone. It takes 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage if it slides into rocks.
Keep the slope dangerous but not instantly lethal. A fallen creature can climb back to the path with 10 feet of movement and a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check.

Treasure

The brass tally plate, potentially valuable to a collector or scholar.
A small pouch containing 18 sp, 7 gp, and a tarnished copper button.
Numbered stones that serve as clues to the identities of previous travelers.

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